Topic description and stories

Black and white photograph of a family lined up against a wall, taken from a report on the physical welfare of mothers and children.

Cambridge experts bust myths about family, sex, marriage and work in English history

11 Jul 2024

On World Population Day, University of Cambridge researchers bust some of the biggest myths about life in England since the Middle Ages, challenging...

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Britain industrialised much earlier than history books claim

05 Apr 2024

Millions of historical employment records show the British workforce turned sharply towards manufacturing jobs during the 1600s – suggesting the...

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CamFest Speaker Spotlight: Professor Sir Richard Evans

21 Feb 2024

Cambridge historian Professor Sir Richard Evans, a world authority on the Nazis and author of the forthcoming Hitler’s People, will be speaking at a...

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Medieval Murder Maps: homicidal Oxford students in the 14th century

28 Sep 2023

A project mapping medieval England’s known murder cases has now added Oxford and York to its street plan of London’s 14th century slayings.

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Black Atlantic: Power, People, Resistance

21 Sep 2023

A major new exhibition explores Cambridge's role in slavery, the people it affected and their resistance to it.

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Witchcraft accusations an ‘occupational hazard’ for female workers

19 Sep 2023

Women’s working conditions increased the odds of them being suspected as witches, according to a new analysis of an English astrologer’s case files...

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An illuminated manuscript from the late 14th to the early 15th century, depicting two individuals observing a lunar eclipse

Medieval monks accidentally recorded some of history’s biggest volcanic eruptions

05 Apr 2023

By observing the night sky, medieval monks unwittingly recorded some of history’s largest volcanic eruptions, according to a new analysis of 12th and...

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Saffron: a Cambridge spice

17 Jan 2023

An investigation into the local histories of saffron in Cambridgeshire.

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Do not try this at home: Medieval medicine under the spotlight in major new project

17 Aug 2022

How did our medieval ancestors use dove faeces, fox lungs, salted owl or eel grease in medical treatments? A Wellcome-funded project at Cambridge...

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Discarded history: Cairo Genizah treasures

31 May 2022

How the discovery and study of ancient deeds, fables, letters, magical amulets, contracts and lists in a sacred storeroom created unparalleled...

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Portrait of Sappho

Students taking GCSE Ancient History worry they appear ‘elitist’ to friends and family

04 Mar 2022

The tiny minority of state-educated students who take Ancient History at GCSE worry that the subject’s exclusive reputation will brand them ‘elitist...

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Oldest Scottish manuscript to go on display in Aberdeen

24 Nov 2021

The Book of Deer, possibly Scotland’s oldest surviving manuscript, is set to return to the north-east of Scotland for the first time in 1,000 years...

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