Medieval

Portrait Of Britain: 1500

Steven Gunn looks at the condition of Britain at the beginning of the Tudor era, and finds a society that was increasingly cohesive, confident and cosmopolitan.

Portrait of Britain: AD 1400

Nigel Saul tells how, in spite of famines and visitations of the plague, conditions were better than ever before for those living in 1400.

Portrait of Britain: AD 1300

Bruce Campbell argues that a unique conjunction of human and environmental factors went into creating the crisis of the mid-14th century.

Portrait of Britain: AD 1200

Emma Mason argues that rising population brought a surprising degree of movement, politically, geographically and socially.

Portrait of Britain: AD 1000

Ann Williams describes the state of the island at a time when Anglo-Saxon culture was reaching its peak, while also politically challenged by the Vikings.

Portrait of Britain: AD 500

James Campbell peers into the murk of the ‘Dark Ages’ and sifts truth from fiction about our post-Roman history.

Monsters and Christian Enemies

Debra Higgs Strickland examines the extraordinary demonology of medieval Christendom and the way it endowed strangers and enemies with monstrous qualities.

Battles and Hastings

The editor of the Evening Standard reflects on the romantic roots of his interest in history.