Just how much immigrant newcomers should have a voice in the political life of their new communities is a question that has occupied people for centuries. Bart Lambert explores the twists and turns of that issue in later medieval England in this companion piece to his new article in HWJ 90.
Perhaps we share the medieval fantasy that if only evil counsel were removed or more closely supervised, governance would be much improved, argues Jenni Nuttall as she sets the Dominic Cummings dispute in medieval context.
The oldest surviving book owned by English speakers was a book made in North Africa. Alison Hudson traces how these radical fragments reveal that immigrants and cultural exchange have always been fundamental to British economies, culture, and communities.
‘Anglo-Saxons’ has long been associated with the early English people, but this label suffers from a long history of misuse. Mary Rambaran-Olm explores the racist legacy of this term.
Why are so few women found participating in premodern revolts? Shannon McSheffrey uses the Evil May Day riots of 1517 to unpack the patriarchal underpinnings of all our political practices
Alaya Swann explores connections between white supremacy and Dungeons and Dragons online communities, focusing on the perpetuation of the myth of a white medieval Europe.
Tensions about the rights of native and foreign-born workers in Britain, and attempts to deal with them, are not new but have been the subject of public debate for centuries. Even during the later Middle Ages, the influx of alien workers and its implications for the employment of English-born people was high on the agenda, provoking political crises and prompting the central government to issue new legislation.
