Medieval

'A people's prospects are affected by its image of its past' - Arnold Toynbee presents an exclusive extract from his book on the Greek sense of the past, The Greeks and Their Heritages.

Arthur Waley profiles life and ideas in the 3rd century Chinese capital at the time of its capture and destruction by Huns.

The loss to the Turks of Constantinople, the ancient capital of the Eastern Empire, in 1453 had been a terrible blow to Christendom. It was the crusading dream of Charles V, argues Sinclair Atkins, to reconquer the Byzantine city.

The year 1980 is being celebrated throughout the world as the fifteen-hundredth anniversary of the birth of St Benedict, whose rule, explains Henry Loyn, has been the leading inspiration for monastic life in the Western church.

David Nicholls examines the central position of Satan in early modern French popular culture.

What did medieval monasteries mean to those living inside them, to those who founded and helped them with gifts or protection, and to those who lived near them? Professor Holdsworth examines these questions in relation to the Cistercian order.

Hinduism in the late nineteenth century, explains Lenah Leneman, experienced a revival that was to reawaken its devotees to their ancient faith, expose them to Christian and Muslim ideas, and finally to make its influence felt as far afield as America.

Anne Roberts explores the incidence of plague in England from 1348 to 1679.

At first the English withstood the Norman attack of 1066. But soon they succumbed to the invaders, as did their virile language of record. An article by H.R. Loyn.