Riots

For digital offices, IHR Digital always seems to have a lot of paper products around. At the nexus of Reviews in History sits the Great Cham of reviewing, Danny Millum, with teams of assistants bringing copies of the latest history titles to his desk. The editors of...

Was Titus Oates Ugly?

I’m struck by the fact that in Volume 8 of English Historical Documents, both the documents which deal with Titus Oates concentrate on his physical appearance. Roger North’s Examen (document 397) describes him like this:He was a low man, of an ill-cut,...

Christmas violence

The Christmas story is a violent one, at least according to the account in Matthew’s gospel:When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old...

What’s in a name?

Christian attitudes to hell seem to have changed somewhat in the last century or two. Tertullian and Aquinas both thought that one of the delights of heaven would be a ringside seat to watch the torments of the damned. By contrast, in the salons of Proust’s...

An Imaginative Punishment

The reputation of English wine has improved dramatically in recent years, and even some world-class wines are being produced, but in general England is not thought of as a centre of viticulture.So it’s not surprising to find that in London in 1364, at the tavern...