England

‘Hail! Thou Production most uncommon. Woman half man and man half Woman!’, frontispiece to An Epistle from Mademoiselle D’Eon to the Right Honorable L[or]d M[ansfiel]d, 1778.

The Libellous Letters of the Chevalier d’Eon

Chevaliere d’Eon or Chevalier d’Eon? An 18th-century legal dispute between two French spies unravelled into a public battle about identity.

Thomas More reading a book, Flemish, 16th century. Photo Josse/Bridgeman Images.

New Year, Old Books

A new book for the new year is an old British custom, but an old book can be even better.

Turkey, by Anselmus de Boodt, 1596-1610. Rijksmuseum. Public Domain.

Death of a Turkey Legend

William Strickland died on 8 December 1598. He was said to have introduced the turkey to England, but the truth followed him to his grave.

The Danish fleet, from the Miscellany on the life of St. Edmund, Bury St Edmunds, c.1130. Bridgeman Images.

Who was Thorkell the Tall?

A viking mercenary who fought on three sides, who was Thorkell the Tall?

Manuel II Palaiologos meeting with Henry IV, from the St Albans Chronicle, late 15th century. Lambeth Palace Library/Bridgeman Images.

A Christmas to Save the Byzantine Empire

Henry IV had a special guest for Christmas in 1400: the Byzantine emperor Manuel II Palaiologos. United by their Christian faith, they were nonetheless on separate sides of the East-West schism. How did they celebrate?

St Brice’s Day Massacre, from Cassell’s Illustrated History of England, 1890. Chronicle/Alamy Stock Photo.

The St Brice’s Day Massacre

When paying off the Vikings failed to yield lasting peace, on 13 November 1002 king Æthelred ordered the slaughter of England’s Danes instead.

The collapsed spire of Chichester Cathedral, 1861. Historic England.

The Allure of Medieval Churches

The ancient stones of churches are portals to the past. Each new generation becomes a custodian.

Woodcut illustration from the Roxburghe Ballads showing a man pleading before a lawyer or magistrate, early 17th century. Bridgeman Images.

The Tudor War on Libel

As rude rhymes and rumours threatened reputations, the Elizabethan government attempted to regulate barbed language.

Reason, Righteousness and Sincerity teaching some women, c. 1425-50. KB, National Library of the Netherlands. Public Domain.

‘Poet, Mystic, Widow, Wife’ and ‘God’s Own Gentlewoman’ review

Poet, Mystic, Widow, Wife: The Extraordinary Lives of Medieval Women and God’s Own Gentlewoman bring the real world of medieval women out of the margins.

Carthusian monks at the dining table, from an account of rules of the Carthusian Order, the Netherlands, 15th century. British Library/Bridgeman Images.

The Violent Life of the Medieval Monks

Meant to live a life of perfect peacefulness and contemplation, in reality monks were human and fallible. How violent could life in the medieval cloister be?