All articles in History
13th April, 2022 in History, Maritime, Natural World
Polar regions today and yesterday
The ‘Heroic Age’ of Polar Exploration extended from the late 19th century until World War I, a period of about 20 years. In the North Polar region, as in the South, the ultimate goal was the pole itself. However, because the North Pole was a hypothetical location in the mids…
26th January, 2022 in History, Society & Culture
Antisemitism
The twenty-first century bears witness to the continuing hostility that has been expressed towards the Jewish people. Why is it that Jews have been so bitterly hated? The aim of Antisemitism is to answer this question by surveying the history of antisemitism from a global perspec…
14th January, 2022 in History, Natural World
Reaching the South Pole, 110 years ago
By mid-January 1912, Dr Edward Wilson, Captain Robert Scott, Henry ‘Birdie’ Bowers, Lawrence ‘Titus’ Oates and Edgar ‘Taff’ Evans were approaching their destination. On 16 January, as they lunched, they discussed the possibility of reaching the South Pole the following day – but…
22nd November, 2021 in History, Society & Culture
Christmas in the Middle Ages
It’s a common misconception that our modern view of Christmas and how to celebrate it in the UK originated only in the nineteenth century. But although Queen Victoria and Prince Albert did much to promote various seasonal customs – for which I, for one, am grateful! – many of tho…
11th June, 2021 in History, Society & Culture
Richard II and the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381
It was the year 1381. King Richard II was now in his fourteenth year and about to be tested by the Peasants’ Revolt… The coronation of Richard II and Anne of Bohemia He ruled over a troubled country. In the east and south of England there was great unrest, incited by the g…
10th June, 2021 in Archaeology, History, Local & Family History, Natural World
Top 10 stone circles in the Lake District National Park
For those interested in British prehistory, nothing beats a ring of big stones. Indeed, people all over the world are fascinated by them. Together with henges, passage tombs, and burial cairns, stone circles stand as icons of Britain’s prehistory. But while most only know of Ston…
5th May, 2021 in History, Women in History
Portrait of a queen: Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour
Within 24 hours in May 1536, Anne Boleyn was executed and Jane Seymour was betrothed. King Henry VIII was the catalyst in these two inextricably linked events. Portraits of Henry have remained fixed in the nation’s consciousness for the past 500 years, but of the queens, there ar…
30th April, 2021 in History, Military
The Battle of Tewkesbury 1471
The Wars of the Roses were complicated; roughly forty years of political instability and outright fighting across England, interspersed with family feuds and encroaching foreign rulers. The Battle of Tewkesbury falls in the middle, but it was very nearly the end. The seeds of Tew…
22nd April, 2021 in History, Local & Family History, Military
Spike Island’s Republican Prisoners in 1921
During the Irish War of Independence‚ the fort on Spike Island in County Cork was the largest British military run prison for republican prisoners and internees in the Martial Law area. During 1921‚ approximately 300 prisoners and 900 internees were imprisoned there. Most of…
17th March, 2021 in History, Society & Culture, Women in History
A brief history of women in power
Historically, the most common way for a woman to become a ruler was as a regent. There were, however, many cases where the regent decided to stay in power. A prime example is Empress Wu Zetian who, as consort, ruled over China’s Tang Dynasty. She married Emperor Gaozong in 655; h…
16th December, 2020 in Biography & Memoir, History, Natural World
A Christmas like no other? Captain Robert Scott’s 1910 expedition to the Southern Ocean
By late December, Captain Robert Scott’s expedition ship, the Terra Nova, had been on the Southern Ocean for almost a month. After a sea-sickness-inducing passage through the Roaring Forties and a ferocious storm in the Furious Fifties, photographer Herbert Ponting and his compan…
23rd July, 2020 in Fiction, History
Medieval England: Filling in the blanks
One of the challenges of writing historical fiction is making sure you get your facts right: nobody wants to read about medieval peasants wearing digital watches or historical characters taking centre stage at a time before they were actually born. But one of the other challenges…