History

  • The Livonian Rhymed Chronicle

    The Livonian Rhymed Chronicle

    My most recent article on the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle is now available to read on the World History Encyclopedia. A link to the entry can be found below.

  • Owain Gwynedd

    Owain Gwynedd

    I am very pleased to share the news that I have recently had an entry on Owain Gwynedd published in the World History Encyclopedia. A link to the entry can be found below.

  • Trump’s Israel Policy: How ‘Bad History’ Shapes Politics

    Trump’s Israel Policy: How ‘Bad History’ Shapes Politics

    What is ‘bad history’, and what dangers does it pose to international politics? A look at ‘Biblical Rights’, Zionism, the Crusades, and how they all influence the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict.

  • What Was The Livonian Rhymed Chronicle?

    What Was The Livonian Rhymed Chronicle?

    Most medieval European chronicles share a fairly common formula. You’d be forgiven for confusing one with another, forgetting their names, ignoring their details. Yet the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle sits so far outside the norm of a typical chronicle that it demands close attention. So what makes the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle so special?

  • Anglo-Saxons, Racists, Instagram Reels

    Anglo-Saxons, Racists, Instagram Reels

    The weaponisation of history is nothing novel. It has always been, unfortunately, almost inseparable from history itself. As long as the study of the past has existed, so too have people that will dig up the past and invoke chosen aspects to support their own aims, ideals, or views. Even today we are still shaking…

  • An Italian Egyptian in Croatia: Who was the Zagreb Mummy?

    An Italian Egyptian in Croatia: Who was the Zagreb Mummy?

    Some time around 1848, a man named Mihajlo Barić found himself in the Egyptian city of Alexandria. Few records on the details of Barić’s life remain. By the time he died in 1859, no one could have guessed the accidental contribution he had already unwittingly made to history. What we do know, is that during…

  • Can We Trust English Accounts of a Welsh Hero?

    Can We Trust English Accounts of a Welsh Hero?

    For a long time Owain Glyndwr has been depicted by historians as a leader of a great national revolt, a freedom fighter, the last native prince of Wales, a man who stirred his people to rise against their English colonisers. Recent scrutiny of the contemporary evidence by has suggested, however, that this image may be…

  • In Spiritus —The Linguistic Link Between Life and Breath

    In Spiritus —The Linguistic Link Between Life and Breath

    The connection between life and breath can be found within cultures and languages across the globe and through time. But how did it develop, and where can it still be found?

  • Arthur of Brittany: The King That Could Have Been

    Arthur of Brittany: The King That Could Have Been

    In 1166, the Duke of Brittany was in trouble. Across his duchy, powerful nobles were rising up in revolt against him. Desperate, he turned to Henry Plantagenet, King of England and ruler of the Angevin Empire, which at its zenith stretched from the forests of Northumberland to the vineyards of Bordeaux. Henry responded. He rode…

  • Where Did the Phoenix Come From, and Why Does It Keep Coming Back?

    Where Did the Phoenix Come From, and Why Does It Keep Coming Back?

    “A mysterious fire flashes from its eye, and a flaming aureole enriches its head. Its crest shines with the sun’s own light and shatters the darkness with its calm brilliance. Its legs are of Tyrian purple; swifter than those of the Zephyrs are its wings of flower-like blue dappled with rich gold.”