Medieval

The early Renaissance royal palace on the Thames

Top gun? Alexander McKee assesses Henry VIII's prowess as a commander by land and sea in the light of his 1545 campaigns against the French.

Business with pleasure - Steven Gunn shows how the spectacle of the joust oiled the wheels of service and diplomacy as well as building up the court's image, not just for Henry VIII but for his dynasty-founding father as well.

Akbar Ahmed offers the most timely review of how history and stereotype have often combined to make Western Orientalism a hindrance rather than a help in mutual understanding between two cultures.

Geoffrey Clarke on netting the Poll Tax in Hastings.

by Christopher N.L. Brooke

Alexander Kazhdan considers the influence of totalitarianism and meritocracy in the Byzantine empire – and its relationship to the growth of the Russian and other successor states in the East.

David Stephens discerns an undercurrent of social protest and complaint beneath the usual exuberance of the bagpiper in medieval art.

Edited by Christopher Harper-Bill, Christopher Holdsworth and Janet L. Nelson