Volume 72 Issue 10 October 2022

Scene from the Siege of Lisbon, by Pereira Cão, Palácio da Rosa, Lisbon, 19th century.

The Conquest of Lisbon

The city surrendered to Afonso I of Portugal and a group of crusaders on 25 October 1147.

New Heights

Admiring the world’s most famous ceiling.

On the Spot: Amanda H. Podany

‘I’d like to have met Baranamtara, the Queen of Lagash in the early 24th century BC.’

Death of Sultan Razia

The ruler with ‘a talent for war’ was murdered by her captors on 13 October 1240.

What Influence has the BBC had on History?

Founded as the British Broadcasting Company in October 1922, the BBC has sought to ‘inform, educate and entertain’ for a century. Facing an uncertain future, what impact has it had on the past?

The coronation of Henry VI in Paris, from the Anciennes chroniques d’Angleterre, 15th century.

Minor Monarchs

A child’s rule did not inevitably lead to instability.

Benito Mussolini, during the march on Rome, with some of the quadruplets: from left Emilio De Bono, Italo Balbo and Cesare Maria De Vecchi.

Shut Up and Eat!

Does silence endure in Italy over Mussolini’s murderous regime?

Liar Liar

The courtroom drama, executions, and street pageantry of the so-called ‘Popish Plot’.

Yonker Ramp and His Sweetheart, by Frans Hals, 1623

No Laughing Matter

Aristotle’s lost treatise on laughter is a serious business. Could laughter lead to the downfall of society?

Muhammad is visited by the Archangel Gabriel at Al-Masjid an-Nabawi, the Prophet’s Mosque, Medina. Turkish, 18th century

Words and Deeds

Controversy surrounding the ‘Satanic Verses’ is centuries old.