The History of England Magazine

Sir Christopher Wren is perhaps most famous for the buildings he designed after the Great Fire of London, including the iconic St Paul’s Cathedral.

1066: possibly the most famous date in British history. The Bayeux tapestry documents the heroic battle and death of King Harold II, the last Anglo-Saxon king of England…

When King James II came to the throne in 1685, he set about enlarging the army in case of civil unrest. Between 1686 and 1688 annual military manoeuvres and public exhibitions were held on Hounslow Heath…

The Crusades were a series of eight military campaigns, organised by Christian kings and religious leaders, in order to retake Jerusalem and the Holy Land from Muslim control, and took place over almost 200 hundred years…

When you think of pivotal battles that shaped the course of British history, what first comes to mind? The Battle of Hastings? The Battle of Bosworth Field? Waterloo? Curiously, it was The Battle of Brunanburh that defined the countries that we now know as England, Scotland and…

St Dunstan was a tenth-century monk with a very eventful life, accused with witchcraft and most famously, allegedly confronting the devil himself…

In 1128, the French nobleman Hughes de Payens visited England with a mission; to gather men and funds for the Crusades…

In 2023 Ely Cathedral will be celebrating the 1,350th anniversary of the founding of the first religious foundation on the site, in 673, by the Saxon Queen and Saint Etheldreda. Her shrine at Ely was a popular pilgrimage site until the Reformation…