Alfred the Great’s Indian Embassy
How likely is it that Alfred the Great sent two emissaries to India in the ninth century?
Religion
Edward Lee: Erasmus’ English Foe
Shortly after Edward Lee arrived in Europe he found himself embroiled in a bitter dispute with one of the era’s most famous intellectuals. He was soon reviled across the Continent.
The Coffee Poets of 16th-Century Islam
The early modern Islamic world was embroiled in a bitter controversy over coffee. Much ink was spilt by poets on both sides.
‘Folklore’ by Owen Davies and Ceri Houlbrook review
Rather than a catalogue of a fanciful past, Folklore: A Journey Through the Past and Present by Owen Davies and Ceri Houlbrook is a field guide to a constantly changing Britain.
‘Elves and Fairies’ by Matthias Egeler review
In Elves and Fairies: A Short History of the Otherworld, Matthias Egeler follows the huldufólk from the wild places of Iceland, Britain, and Ireland to the domesticity of the bedtime story.
When Did the Reformation End?
From 1517, when Luther’s 95 Theses sparked schism and bloodshed, the Protestant Reformation divided Europe. Can we say when – or if – the conflict concluded?
Kent Philpott and the Origins of Conversion Therapy
1960s San Francisco is remembered as the capital of gay liberation, but it also saw the birth of conversion therapy.
The First Christmas Celebration
On 25 December 336 Rome’s believers celebrated Christmas Day – the earliest recorded use of that date as it spread across Christendom.
Oswald of Northumbria: An English Saint in the Alps
The English saint Oswald of Northumbria proved incredibly popular in the medieval German-speaking world. How did he get there?
‘Christianity at the Crossroads’ by David N. Hempton review
Christianity at the Crossroads: The Global Church from the Print Revolution to the Digital Era by David N. Hempton peers beyond the pulpit and into the congregation.