Who Was the Real Henry III?
What makes someone a king? More importantly, what unmakes a king? Henry II’s experiment in co-kingship saw one Henry III fall and another rise.
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.](/sites/default/files/styles/teaser_list/public/2024-12/deon_libel_history_today_0.jpeg?itok=0Q1FQcZr)
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.
New Year, Old Books
A new book for the new year is an old British custom, but an old book can be even better.
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.
Who was Thorkell the Tall?
A viking mercenary who fought on three sides, who was Thorkell the Tall?
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?
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 Allure of Medieval Churches
The ancient stones of churches are portals to the past. Each new generation becomes a custodian.
The Tudor War on Libel
As rude rhymes and rumours threatened reputations, the Elizabethan government attempted to regulate barbed language.
‘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.