We have a great guest today for our Interview With series: Ari Ryan. Ari is a medieval reenactor and living historian and has participated in living history and reenactment activities both professionally and as a hobby since 2006. Under the moniker “The Turnip of Terror” Ari has established himself in the medieval living history and reenactment community. He curates and shares medieval content and maintains reliable link and resource lists, shares reviews of events, interviews with prominent figures in the hobby, tips, product reviews, videos, community resources, provides authentic medieval t ..read more

One of the most characterising events of the Early Modern period in Europe were the hunts against people perceived to be witches. It is estimated that anywhere up to 100,000 witch trials may have taken place during this time, with further estimates that between half and two-thirds of these people were executed for their supposed crimes. The nature of these trials and hunts varied from country to country and century to century, but those that occurred in Trier, Germany, during the 1580s and 1590s are usually considered to be the largest of all. Witches making a pact with the devil from the  ..read more

Objects made in previous centuries hold great power over us today. Whether it is admiring the stunning craftsmanship of people who lived long ago in much harsher times but still wanted to create something beautiful, or forging a connection between people whose lives were so different to our own and yet used the same everyday items as us, historical objects constantly capture our imagination. It’s why we have museums full of items the world over. One favourite of mine is two little golden bees. Over 1,500 years old, these bees appear unassuming, and yet their history provides a compelling and d ..read more

If I told you to guess who the richest person who has ever lived was, you would probably think of a modern billionaire. Someone like Bill Gates, Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos. But what if I told you that there was an African king who lived 700 years ago whose wealth made theirs pale in comparison? Enter Mansa Musa, King of Mali, whose wealth was so incredible that it is indescribable even today. Mansa Musa as he is depicted on the Dulcert 1339 Map by Angelino Dulcert. Having started this article with so much grandeur, you may be surprised to hear that there is surprisingly (and frustratingly) little ..read more

Happy summer everybody! (Or, happy winter to my southern hemisphere friends). Just History Posts is approaching its 7th birthday in just a couple of months, and having taken the last few weeks off from posting daily on social media, and with lots of other things going on in my life at the moment, I thought now was a good time to pause, take stock of everything, and make some changes around here. So here is a little check-in post for you all to let you know what’s going on! A visual representation of me (Detail of a miniature of a hermit at work on a manuscript, from the Estoire del Saint ..read more

The general public knows bits about the medieval period. Unfortunately, the general public think they know a lot about the medieval period. Whilst we start learning about this time in our history at school, a lot of what people pick up comes from popular media, in particular films and television series. And, even worse, from fantasy shows “based” on medieval society. The impression most people pick up, then, is that the medieval period was dark, dirty, without colour; people had no hygiene, rotten teeth, never washed and threw their toilet waste into the streets. Food was bland and brown, they ..read more

Today I am pleased to be hosting another fantastic guest post, this time by author Louise Wyatt. Louise has loved history since discovering Dunster Castle in Somerset aged six years old. Reading and writing as soon as school started, Louise has published three local history books between 2017 and 2018 and more recently, A History of Nursing. A registered nurse and author, medieval history is a particular passion, with nursing history from antiquity onwards coming a close second. Her next book, Edward I’s Granddaughters: Murder, Power and Plantagenets, tells the story of Edw ..read more

Spring is in the air, and it felt like a perfect time to revisit the Historic Houses series. This tends to be the time of year us Brits start to make plans, as the weather gets (generally) better and the days are now longer again. Years ago I visited Sir John Soane’s Museum in London, and a friend’s recent visit reminded me of what a wonderful place it is. So, it seemed like the perfect pick for the next of the series! The exterior of Sir John Soane’s Museum. History of the House Although this section is for the history of the house, it is pertinent to start with the history of the man himself ..read more

People love a good story. And when real life seems to mirror tales of old, then we can get caught up in it all and conflate them into our own romanticised version. One woman who this certainly applies to is Princess Nest ferch Rhys who, since the 19th century, has been known as “Helen of Wales” for her supposed similarity to the legendary Helen of Troy. Both women were said to have been so beautiful that they inspired their own abductions and created civil war. But is this comparison reductionist and sexist, and does it hide Nest’s real story? (Content note: discussions of rape) No image of Ne ..read more

In a world still reeling from a global pandemic, it can feel fresh to look at situations from the past that echo that which we have lived through the past few years. But a moment in history that has remained tucked away in my brain for years, ever since reading a historical fiction novel about it in my teenage years, is the isolation of the village of Eyam during the plague. The story struck a chord with me – and in recent years with many others, as shown by the numerous news articles which referred to the lockdown during our own. So, let’s explore what really happened in this small Lake Distr ..read more