England

March is the loudest month. The late survival of a dialect name – Lide – for the month poses a medieval puzzle. 

The 14th century was a period of great upheaval. People yearned for the good old days, when everyone knew their place, prices were lower and kings were better.

Once maligned as a record ‘of the dullest kind’, a 1535 audit of Church wealth – the Valor ecclesiasticus – offers a unique view of England’s religious, social and cultural life just months after the break with Rome.

The Norman Conquest brought French kings, language and culture across the Channel. What did that mean for medieval England?

Arrested over 400 times, Annie Parker found redemption in intricate cross-stitch and crochet using her own hair.

An earthquake in Chile and the observations of eye-witness Maria Graham caused open hostility among 19th-century geologists.

Early modern fairy tale or urban legend? Who was London’s pig-faced lady and where did she come from?

Ancient traditions such as wassailing can be an inspiration rather than a burden for the communities that embrace them.

In January 1944 the Daily Mail became the first transoceanic newspaper, having transformed the relationship between politics, the press and the people. How powerful is it really?

There is an enduring obsession with understanding the body and mind of Henry VIII, but how sound are diagnoses past and present – and do we need them?