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In the turbulent setting of fifteenth-century England – marked by the Wars of the Roses, in which the crown changed hands seven times over thirty years – few figures embody resistance as controversially as Margaret of Anjou. As Queen consort to the mentally fragile Henry VI, she faced significant opposition from the House of York, emerging as one of the most persistent political figures of the era. This article seeks to move beyond the traditional caricature of Margaret of An

In early 13th-century France, the county of Toulouse found itself the focus of Pope Innocent III's ire. It was an area that housed heretics who followed the Cathar religion – an amalgamation of various religions, including Christianity, that challenged the religious orthodoxy of the Catholic Church with conflicting accounts of spirituality. Between 1209 and 1229, the crusade waged against this group of people within the confines of Europe was the first of its kind to guarante

On the 15th of July, 1099, over ten thousand Christian soldiers forced their way into the Holy City of Jerusalem. What was to follow was one of the most infamous massacres of the medieval period. Thirsty, hungry, and exhausted from 5 weeks of siege warfare, the Crusaders were utterly brutal in their treatment of the city’s Muslim population. The chronicler Raymond d'Aguilliers describes the sack which followed the Latin victory with nauseating piety and reverence: "Indeed, it

On 15 June 1381, Wat Tyler, the elected leader of the Peasants’ Revolt, was killed during attempted negotiations in an audience with King Richard II, signalling the downfall of a revolt that had been building since the mid-fourteenth century. From this perspective, the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 was an immediate failure in achieving its goals of equality and representation, but the long-term consequences tell a more complex story. Fourteenth century England was characterised by

Since the dawn of time, humanity always sought new ways to kill one another in war. The Medieval Era was no exception, having its fair share of military revolutions. The Hussite Wars of the early fifteenth century were one such instance of innovation. After attempts to swiftly deal with the growing Hussite heresy in Bohemia were metaphorically and physically thrown out the window in 1419, war was the only option left. Across Catholic Europe, many lords, knights and soldiers o

In a field outside Maxey in Cambridgeshire, there is almost nothing to see. The land is flat, the sky enormous, the earthworks long ploughed away. Yet beneath the soil lies a causewayed enclosure built around 3800 BCE, its ditches filled not with rubbish but with ritual: smashed pottery, animal bone, human remains, deposits laid down, covered, and reopened over generations. Etton was not a settlement. It was a place where people bound themselves to the land and kept returning

In 60/61 CE, Boudica, queen of the Iceni, led a revolt that unleashed devastation upon the early Roman settlements in Camulodunum, Londinium and Verulamium. With no voice of her own in the historical record,our knowledge of the revolt and the woman herself comes from Roman writers and what was left behind in Colchester, London and St. Albans. Textual evidence for Boudica’s revolt comes from Publius Cornelius Tacitus and Lucius Cassius Dio, Roman historians writing about Bo

The 1960 film 'Spartacus' is regarded as a cinematic masterpiece of its day, with an A-list cast including Kirk Douglas and Laurence Olivier. However, its historical accuracy is questionable. Spartacus never had a romance with the daughter of a Roman official, nor did Crassus ever know Spartacus when he was a gladiator. So, who was the real Spartacus, and how did he cement his place as a symbol of resistance and freedom? To the surprise of many, Spartacus' origins were as a

I. There was no glory to be won after war was done. Qin, Han, Zhao, Yan, Wei, Chu, Qi. Six states, divided, following the end of the Zhou. Qin Shi Huang, leader of the Qin, had prevailed to unite Zhongguo under one ruler - the nation’s first emperor. When history is written, it also tends to overlook the events in the aftermath. After eleven long years, the nation was rebuilt. The streets that once ran red with the people’s blood were beginning to clear, with new bonds being

When we hear the word alchemy, we may picture an eccentric old man, locked away obsessing over the transmutation of lead to gold, or with the discovery of the secret to eternal life. In truth however, alchemy is a much more complex and ancient discipline than one may assume. Whilst it is not possible to cover the whole history of alchemy in adequate depth within a small article such as this, I will be covering key features and changes, whilst highlighting the pervasive Hermet

A short piece of historical fiction set in Reformation-era Suffolk, following Thomas, an illiterate wool merchant, as he confronts the whitewashing of his parish church’s medieval wall paintings under royal commission. --- Thomas could not read. He had never thought of this as a lack until the year the paintings came down. He was forty-three, a Suffolk wool merchant, and he had managed a household, negotiated with suppliers, raised five children, and buried two of them, all w

Nationalism and a national spirit are so often the foundation for what society perceives as a 'Great Nation'. However, the problem doesn't come in asking what makes us great, but assuming who doesn’t fit into that mould. Nationalism seems to so frequently descend into narcissism, exclusion and a downwards spiral towards the eras of our past we claim to have left behind: Lest we forget. What becomes dangerous is the way nationalism can be weaponised without people seemingly ev

Apartheid is an Afrikaans word meaning separateness or apartness. In practical terms, these were laws and statutes which enforced white South African superiority. The roots of apartheid can be traced back to colonial South Africa when the British arrived into the area and despite tensions with the Boer tribes were motivated to stay in the area due to finding gold and diamonds there. This discovery also led to increased numbers of Europeans coming into the country. The tension

Across this past year, the people who make Rewind what it is – writers, editors, designers, researchers, and more – have shared what it has meant to them. “I have been with Rewind (pretty much) since the very beginning, and it has been so incredible watching it grow into print editions, projects, and even a national award! Working on the design team has meant I have been able to read and interact with so many outstanding articles. It is undeniable how much impact Rewind has h

The use of pigs as relevant to the function of a fascist in matters of agriculture and in opposition to a fascist nation and narrative in the 20th century emerges as an interesting lens through which to observe totalitarian states. In matters of material importance, pigs can display the function of independent industry from imports that fascists would seek to achieve. They also allow us to analyse the use of propaganda to construct ideas that could either support or defeat a

On February 5, 2003, United States Secretary of State Colin Powell addressed the United Nations Security Council and declared Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. He held up a vial of white powder, displayed satellite photographs and played intercepted Iraqi phone calls. The Washington Post called the presentation “irrefutable”. Nine days after, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin rose at the same podium with no props, no satellite imagery and argued the insp

There is a bronze statue in a Suffolk town that most people will never visit. It stands among the ruins of what was once the largest Romanesque church ever built – a building whose footprint would have dwarfed Salisbury Cathedral, its west front reckoned amongst the most extraordinary architectural facades in all of Europe. The man in bronze is young, crowned, and his eyes are closed. He is St Edmund: ninth-century king of East Anglia, martyr, and – long before St George acqu

The contested memory of colonisation plays a key role in the culture wars that are currently engulfing British politics. In response to the increasing historiographical and societal challenge to the glorification of the British Empire, prominent right-wing politicians have long claimed that the empire is portrayed unfairly. In 2002, Boris Johnson stated that we should celebrate our imperial history, and that “The problem is not that we were once in charge, but that we are not

Content Warning: This article contains detailed descriptions of torture, bodily mutilation, and execution. The early modern period has become synonymous with the witch-hunts that took place over the course of four centuries throughout Europe and Colonial America. Those who found themselves standing accused of witchcraft, predominantly women, were subjected to a rigorous process that often resulted in execution. As suspicions arose within communities, neighbours began to turn

Fontana was a sculptor, painter and visionary artist. He was born in Rosario de Santa Fe, Argentina in 1899 to Italian parents. At the age of six he moved to Italy, where he later studied at the Brera Academy in Milan. He began his artistic career as a sculptor, initially working alongside his father, before developing his own independent practice throughout the 1930s.  In his own words, he did not want to be a painter, he did not want to be a sculptor, he wanted to be a spa