REMEMBERING THE REFORMATION
The English Reformation in the national Church affected the lives of ordinary people throughout the country more than it did Henry V111’s way of life. He remained the ruler, and…
DESERTED MEDIEVAL SETTLEMENTS: RE-EVALUATING LOST VILLLAGES
Have you ever been told that many villages were deserted in the Medieval period due to the Black Death? Have you read that there are about 3000 deserted villages in…
A KING’S MURDER—AND A KING’S RANSOM: A 12th CENTURY ADVENTURE (with music)
Conrad of Montferrat, King of Jerusalem, was stabbed to death in broad daylight on 28th April, 1192. He was king of the crusader kingdom by marriage, and had been unanimously…
“Long Shadows”
“Long Shadows” were the effects of debilitating injuries and what was worse, amputations, suffered by men who had fought in World War 1. The cheerful approach of ‘Home by Christmas’…
1708! QUEEN ANNE’S LONDON BROUGHT TO LIFE
Were people 300 years ago like us in many ways? Look at this picture of a Coffee House, new and very popular in Queen Anne’s reign. Discussion ranged from trivial…
THE PEOPLE OF 1381: RIOTS IN BEVERLEY AND EAST YORKSHIRE
Beverley. and East Yorkshire took part in the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381. Surely not! We saw pictures of rebels from Kent and Essex following Wat Tyler into London. The people…
POST-WAR CHILDHOOD AND THE WELFARE STATE, 1948-1989
The Second World War impacted on all aspects of children’s lives, from their home life and education to the games they played. Later in the post-war period new ideas emerged…
Why did American Civil War Memorials Raise such Bitterness?
Lasting memories of the American Civil War (1861-65) challenge the view that ’History is written by the victors’. War leaders’ statues, in both the South (the Confederacy) and the North,…
THE EUROVISION SONG CONTEST AND ITS POLITICS IN POST-COLD WAR EUROPE
The Eurovision Song Contest catches headline news. In the early days when families sat round their relatively new TV set it was a one night programme from a concert hall….
40 YEARS OF JORVIK VIKING CENTRE
Coppergate excavations at York were drawing visitors by 1980. This was an enormous site. Interest in Roman York and the medieval Minster were no longer the main places to visit….