Topic description and stories

Discarded History exhibition lifts the lid on 1,000 years of medieval history

27 Apr 2017

Treasures from the world’s largest and most important collection of medieval Jewish manuscripts – chronicling 1,000 years of history in Old Cairo –...

Read more
Portrait of Andreas Eberhard Rauber (1575/ around 1700); Barbershop in ‘The Book of Trades’ (‘Das Ständebuch’), Frankfurt am Main, 1568; portrait of Lucas Cranach the Elder

A very hairy story

07 Nov 2016

Beards are back in fashion. But today’s hipster styles convey rather different messages to the hair men cultivated in the early modern period...

Read more

Lines of Thought: Communicating Faith

27 May 2016

Some of the world’s most important religious texts are currently on display in Cambridge as part of Cambridge University Library’s 600th anniversary...

Read more

The adventures of Sir Kenelm Digby: 17th-century pirate, philosopher and foodie

30 Apr 2016

A dark shadow lay over his family name when, aged 24, Sir Kenelm Digby raised a fleet to sail against the enemy French in the multicultural world of...

Read more
Priceless treasures: in a shot commissioned to celebrate Cambridge University Library’s 600th anniversary, Professor Stephen Hawking is pictured with Newton’s annotated first edition of Principia Mathematica.

Lines of Thought: Discoveries that Changed the World

10 Mar 2016

Some of the world’s most valuable books and manuscripts – texts which have altered the very fabric of our understanding – will go on display in...

Read more

Virtual Florence: religious art is ‘restored’ to its original setting

10 Mar 2016

A team of experts has pieced together the architectural context of two treasures of Renaissance art in the National Gallery collection. The research...

Read more

The Chariot of Zeus, from Stories from the Greek Tragedians by Alfred Church

Disbelieve it or not, ancient history suggests that atheism is as natural to humans as religion

16 Feb 2016

People in the ancient world did not always believe in the gods, a new study suggests – casting doubt on the idea that religious belief is a 'default...

Read more
Charles I and Henrietta Maria with their children by Anthony Van Dyke (detail)

The language and literature of chastity

09 Feb 2016

In her debut book, Dr Bonnie Lander Johnson (Faculty of English) shows how deeply the Christian virtue of chastity was embedded into the culture of...

Read more
Pope Visits Philadelphia

Opinion: What will happen when the Pope meets the Patriarch?

09 Feb 2016

John Pollard (Trinity Hall) discusses the relationship between the Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches, and what the meeting between their...

Read more

Uthman Ibrahim-Morrison at prayer in Norwich, 2016

Male converts to Islam: landmark report examines conversion experience of British Muslims

03 Feb 2016

The experiences of British male converts to Islam have been captured in a unique report launched today by the University of Cambridge.

Read more
Bataclan Paris attacks memorial

Opinion: Governments should turn to academics for advice on radicalisation, religion and security

03 Dec 2015

Tristram Riley-Smith (Department of Politics and International Studies) discusses how universities and academics can add insight and depth to...

Read more

Reformation ‘recycling’ may have saved rare painting from destruction

27 Nov 2015

A rare medieval painting depicting Judas’ betrayal of Christ may have survived destruction at the hands of 16th century iconoclasts after being ‘...

Read more

Pages