Did Charles I Have to Die?
King Charles I’s execution in 1649 turned the world upside down – were other outcomes possible?
Political
James VI and I: Spinning the English Succession
Eager to be first in line, the astute James VI of Scotland responded to the question of the English succession with a war of words.
Bloody Mary and the Missing Heir
A male heir might have saved Queen Mary’s reign, and changed the shape of global Catholicism for good.
The African King at Edward VII’s Coronation
King Lewanika’s invitation to the coronation of Edward VII was intended to stabilise British relations with the Barotse nation. Instead, it exposed the cracks in the imperial veneer.
‘Friends in Youth’ by Minoo Dinshaw review
Friends in Youth: Choosing Sides in the English Civil War by Minoo Dinshaw views the conflict through the sad case of Bulstrode Whitelock and Edward Hyde.
Curbing the Power of the Popes
The survival of the papacy has always been dependent on a precarious balancing act between the pope’s religious and secular powers.
Pelayo: the Reluctant Visigoth and the Reconquista
Pelayo, King of Asturias, is Spain’s first national hero, credited with beginning the Reconquista with his victory at the Battle of Covadonga. What do we really know about him?
The Great German Peasants’ War
More than 100,000 people took up arms across the Holy Roman Empire in the spring of 1525. What drove them? And why were they ultimately crushed?
The Englishman Who Cried ‘Let Ireland Go’
In 1920 the English writer Jerome K. Jerome set out the arguments in favour of Irish home rule.
‘Augustus the Strong’ by Tim Blanning review
In Augustus the Strong: A Study in Artistic Greatness and Political Fiasco, Tim Blanning looks for a legacy for the ‘incorrigible Saxon’.