Timekeeping in Early Modern England
In early modern England the time and date was often an informal matter, which had the potential to pose problems.
England
‘Turncoat’ by Dennis Sewell review
In Turncoat: Roundhead to Royalist, the Double Life of Cromwell’s Spy, Dennis Sewell asks whether George Downing was the ‘biggest scoundrel in Stuart England’?
The Excommunication of Henry VIII
Henry VIII’s break with Rome was a watershed moment for England and for Christendom. Did the papacy have itself to blame?
The Longest-Running Newspaper
The ancestor of the London Gazette was launched on 16 November 1665, surviving its bitter rival to become the oldest newspaper in the English-speaking world still in print.
How Medieval Scribes Balanced the Books
As the medieval book trade declined, Oxford scribes had to turn their hands to other crafts to get by.
Bringing Down the Curtain on the Touring Theatre
For most of the late 16th and early 17th century, theatre companies touring England were welcomed in provincial towns. But as tastes changed, players found themselves take second billing to moral concerns.
The Radical John Wilkes
Parliament’s champion of the people or scandalous, self-serving politician? Georgian radical John Wilkes kept a foot in both camps.
‘Fenwomen’ by Mary Chamberlain review
Mary Chamberlain’s groundbreaking oral history turns 50. This new edition of Fenwomen: A Portrait of Women in an English Village invites reflection on half a century of change.
The Battle of Stamford Bridge
On 25 September 1066 the ‘Viking Age’ came to a close when Harold Hardrada was slain at the Battle of Stamford Bridge.
‘The Rage of Party’ by George Owers review
They go low, we go lower. The Rage of Party: How Whig Versus Tory Made Modern Britain by George Owers offers up the origins of Britain’s fractious political culture.