How England Learnt Old English
In the 16th and 17th centuries, as scholars first started to translate and study Old English, they struggled to reconcile England’s past with its present.
Stuart
‘This Little World’ and ‘A Golden World’ review
Two recent books – This Little World: A New History of Tudor and Stuart England by Nandini Das and A Golden World: How the Americas Transformed Renaissance England by Lauren Working – put 16th- and 17th-century England on the map.
Isaac Newton on Laputa
Irked by both his character and his tendency towards corruption, Jonathan Swift spent years ruthlessly satirising Isaac Newton.
Exclusion Crisis: Challenging James II’s Right to Rule
The Exclusion Crisis of the late 17th century posed a question of national importance: should the Catholic duke of York be allowed to succeed to the throne? And should he be subject to the same law as everyone else?
The Wreck of the San José
Since 1708 there has been vicious competition over the Spanish treasure galleon San José, its cargo, and, now, its sunken remains.
Hortense Mancini’s English Affairs
In exile, Hortense Mancini captivated 17th-century Europe – and king Charles II – with her beauty and charm. But her path to freedom was mired in scandal.
‘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 Worlds at the Earth’s Core
What sits beneath the planet’s crust? Scientists, writers, and conspiracy theorists have all had a guess, with Hollow-Earth Theory providing surprisingly resilient.
Doctor Chamberlen’s Forceps
Childbirth in the early modern period was a battleground between midwives and surgeons. The Chamberlen family of surgeons sought to reform the system with a revolutionary new tool: the forceps.
‘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.