Lothar's Loveless Marriage
The first royal divorce scandal in European history pioneered a new kind of crisis.
History Matters
Thoughts, opinions and commentary on all things historical.
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The Air of Freedom
Before the British Empire and the Atlantic slave trade, Africans lived freely in Tudor England.
All’s Fair in Blood and War
The pain of war had at least one positive side-effect: medical advances in haematology.
Cnut’s Rivals
A new old take on the Danish succession, complete with tales of derring do.
Lubaina Himid: Naming the Un-Named
Turner Prize winner Lubaina Himid’s artworks fill in the gaps that history leaves behind.
Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover
The Parisian pornographer who modernised literature.
Roman Loans
Dealing with debt in the Roman Empire.
The Savagery and Civility of the Thanksgiving Feast
A celebrated image of the first Thanksgiving presents an idealised view of a troubled relationship.
A Blueprint for Byzantine Power
An embattled emperor offered guidance to his successors in the shape of a ‘mirror for princes’.
The Unusual Afterlife of Richard Parker
A tale of mutiny, scandal, post-mortem celebrity and repeated body snatching in the 18th century.