History Matters

A battle of wills between Adolphe Sax and musical instrument makers in 19th-century France saw an unprecedented legal contest unfold.

Are beavers beasts or fish? For medieval philosophers, this was an important question with implications for the dining table.

In 1920 the English writer Jerome K. Jerome set out the arguments in favour of Irish home rule.

Two rare textile discoveries connect 18th-century Barbadian schoolgirls to England.

The changing climate of the Little Ice Age forced radical thinkers to reconsider humanity’s place in the universe.

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.

The concerns of daily life prompted early modern people to seek reassurance in fate, stars, and astrologers.

Rebecca’s radical rural protests consumed South Wales in the 19th century. Who – or what – was she?

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

The remarkable fall of absinthe: from 19th-century ‘Green Fairy’ to scourge of society.