First portrait of a criminal published in a British newspaper
On 27th June 1881, 64-years-old coin dealer Isaac Gold was brutally murdered on the 14:00 London to Brighton express train....
16/05/2015
Key develoments in the British army in 17th century
In the 1690s the English army’s matchlock musket (slow to load, clumsy to operate at the mercy of the elements)...
31/03/2015
Organised crime in Medieval England
A large sum of money – £4,000 in gold, to be precise – is due to be transferred from London...
02/03/2015
Scotland under the rule of Alexander III
The eight-year-old Alexander III had been king for only a few days when two factions began to struggle for control...
13/02/2015
One year in Henry VIII’s life: 1536
Katherine of Aragon died on 7th January, at Kimbolton House, possibly as a result of coronary thrombosis. She was buried...
30/01/2015
Matilda: A Queen in King’s World
Power was inherently and inescapably male in the Middle Ages. The images displayed on the Great Seal of England encapsulated...
14/01/2015
Manpower for sea power
Life at sea may not have been a particularly attractive prospect for a man in Georgian England, but it was...
08/01/2015
The changing faces of Santa Claus
On 23 December 1951, the Catholic clergy at Dijon organised an execution of Santa Claus. An image of him was...
24/12/2014
The short history of banishment
Even in primitive societies, the threat of exile struck terror into people’s hearts and minds. A savage punishment, it snatched...
18/12/2014
The Venerable Bede
Bede was a Northumbrian, born in 673 on the lands of the monastery of St Peter at Wearmouth. At the...
15/12/2014