The Ballad of the Inquisition’s Greatest Witch Trial
How a lost ballad detailing the Inquisition’s sentencing of 28 alleged Basque witches spread a witchcraft panic through 17th-century Spain.
History Matters
Thoughts, opinions and commentary on all things historical.
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Solving the Victorian Housing Crisis
The acute housing crisis of mid-Victorian Britain generated stormy opinions about the nature of state intervention and the need for ‘wholesome despotism’.
The Roman Catholic War on Wigs
The Catholic Church’s ban on wigs in the 18th century was as revealing of attitudes towards disability as vanity and sanctity.
Free French Bombers Over France
What happened to the French airmen in the Second World War who bombed France to help liberate it?
The Women who Forged Medieval England
Who were the female blacksmiths of medieval England?
How the South Became Republican
America’s southern states were once strongholds for the Democratic Party. In 1952, Eisenhower decided to win them over.
An Ottoman Winter in Toulon
The unholy alliance between France and the Ottoman Empire in 1530 caused great concern but had little military success.
Radical Conservatives and the Federal Union
Britain’s Second World War Conservatives and their utopian dream of world government.
Richard III and Kingly Justice for All?
Was Richard III a just king or just doing what a king should do?
The Powers of Soviet Puppetry
The puppet theatres of Kazakhstan combined Soviet ideals with Kazakh traditions to educate the masses.