History Today

A cultural history of fat.

Faced with extreme pressures, King Henry VI of England suffered a complete breakdown. But beware modern diagnoses of medieval mental health.

How can we work out the true value of money in the past? It depends how you do the sums.

Four historians consider one of the most contentious questions facing the West’s museums and galleries.

We remember the Dutch Golden Age for its paintings – which may be why so few realise that it was Europe’s publishing powerhouse. 

‘Humans change very little over time. We love, worry and hope today in much the same way as we did 5,000 years ago.’

The classical world created a variety of means of mobility for the disabled – both mythical and real.

Good intentions, misinformation and fear contributed to haemophiliacs becoming the hidden victims of HIV in Ireland.

Though long established as the national dish of Hungary, its origins lie with the rootless, itinerant stockmen who roamed the plains of medieval Mitteleuropa. 

Gardens and Gardening in Early Modern England and Wales by Jill Francis explores four centuries of horticultural endeavours.