Long Live the Ancien Régime!
The coronation of Charles III was dense with meaning. It’s complicated; and easy to misunderstand.
England
The First Map of the Moon
At 9pm on 26 July 1609, Thomas Harriot pointed his telescope at a five-day-old crescent moon. It made him the first person to train such an instrument on the skies and map the moon.
‘Found Incapable’
As senility came to be recognised as a distinct diagnosis, methods of protecting patients – from themselves and from others – had to change.
Off with Their Heads!
Recent royal crises reveal echoes of discontent in 1870s Britain, when disquiet with monarchy manifested in calls for its abolition.
Tudor Liveliness by Christina J. Faraday review
Art reveals the past – if you know how to look.
Origins and Originality
What does it mean to be happy? For poets, medieval and modern, joy comes in many forms.
Was Richard III a Bad King?
Child-murderer, arch villain, failed monarch, ‘northern’. Have efforts to redeem Richard III succeeded or is he still one of history’s worst kings?
The Great White Bard and Shakespeare Without a Life review
Two significant new publications push the parameters of how we engage with the most revered writer in the English language.
Crowning Triumph
Westminster Abbey was the focus of the world during the recent coronation. How and why was it built?
The Other Favourite
Christopher Hatton rose to great power as a favourite of Elizabeth I. Born in obscurity, why has he returned to it?