Category: Archive

  • Growing Up Without a Beard: Child Kings and Facial Hair

    Growing Up Without a Beard: Child Kings and Facial Hair

    By Emily Ward From discussions about how to decorate it for Christmas, to a phenomenon called ‘peak beard’, and even an entire forthcoming Somerset House exhibition, one thing is certain – beards are having their moment in the media spotlight. Facial hair has been linked with a range of characteristics across a number of studies, including…

  • Becoming a Lord in Three Easy Steps

    Becoming a Lord in Three Easy Steps

    By Fraser McNair Social mobility is not new. Any medieval society was filled with as many ambitious people looking to make their way in the world as any modern one. What is more difficult to see, in many cases, is how a wannabe nobleman turned their dreams into reality…

  • And the rest as they say… (a manifesto for Techno-enviro-cultural-socioeconomic-politics)

    And the rest as they say… (a manifesto for Techno-enviro-cultural-socioeconomic-politics)

    By Kayt Button When we think about historical research, it is easy to picture someone trapped behind piles of dusty literature and papers, getting lost in the minutiae of their chosen subject. After all, years of study of history have preceded their final, chosen, specialised subject of “The Pig War of 1859”!

  • Homosexuality in the ‘Enlightenment’?

    Homosexuality in the ‘Enlightenment’?

    By Nailya Shamgunova Nailya is working on European conceptualisations of sexual diversity in South East Asia and Japan in the 17th century. France was the first European state to repeal its sodomy laws as far back as 1791. The event, which is now hailed by LGBTQ+ groups as a landmark, at first glance seems like a…