History Matters: This is the first in a new occasional series of articles on the RHS blog which show how history can help us to understand our present times. In this first article, Nadine Rossol (University of Essex) explores the power of flags as political symbols in Weimar Germany. As Nadine argues, contests over the use and display of flags have long histories and are significant. Flag conflicts are about emotions, agency and identity. They are typically blunt and intense, going to the hea...| Historical Transactions
In this post, Karen Smyth shares her recent experience of introducing medieval heritage trails to students on a Medical Humanities MA pathway. In moving beyond the traditional discipline of History, what are the challenges and opportunities in teaching not only a cross-disciplinary but also a cross-sector cohort of students? How might the Creative Health agenda, now emerging in the heritage sector, enable medieval history to play a central role in the discipline of Medical Humanities? Karen s...| Historical Transactions
In this post, Jonathan Willis introduces his new article, ‘“your poore distressed suppliant”: ‘Madness’, Emotion and the Archive in Early Modern England’, recently published in 'Transactions of the Royal Historical Society'. The article focusses on the British Library's MS Lansdowne 99, a collection of letters written to the government of Elizabethan England and annotated at several points in their history to describe their authors or contents as ‘crazy’, ‘mad’, ‘frantic...| Historical Transactions
The Society was very sorry to learn of the death, in July, of the historian Peter J. Marshall (1933-2025). Peter’s association with the Royal Historical Society spanned more than 50 years. Elected a Fellow in 1969, Peter served as a member of the Society’s Council between 1983 to 1987, thereafter becoming Vice President until November 1991. He returned to the Council in November 1996 as President and held this position for four years. In this post, Peter Mandler, who served on the RHS Cou...| Historical Transactions
The building of reservoirs in England and Wales was key to urban growth across the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. In this post, Andrew McTominey introduces his new book—'Waterscapes: Reservoirs, Environment and Identity in Modern England and Wales'—which is published in the Society’s ‘New Historical Perspectives’ series with University of London Press. Drawing on methods from environmental history, cultural history and historical geography, Andrew's book explores th...| Historical Transactions
In this post, Eve Pennington describes the use and value of oral history in her study of the Lancashire new town of Skelmersdale. As Eve argues, oral history offers creative approaches to urban history, helping us better appreciate the motivations, expectations and actions of residents. The result is a narrative of urban development that is often at odds with those found in the official reports of planners and councils. In 2024-25, Eve held a Royal Historical Society Centenary PhD Fellowship....| Historical Transactions
Preserved in the Dutch town of Breda, an unassuming manuscript offers exceptional insights into the way that vikings were (re)conceived during the later medieval period – their memory built on a historical bedrock that never was. In this post, Christian Cooijmans delves into the rich tale of the Dane Saga (‘Denensage’), exploring through this text the development of urban social memory in the late medieval Dutch town of Breda. Christian's research, funded by the recent award of a Royal ...| Historical Transactions
Helen Newsome-Chandler introduces her new volume in the Society’s Camden Series, 'The Holograph Letters of Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots (1489-1541)', published in August 2025. This volume presents the surviving holograph correspondence of Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots as a stand-alone edition for the first time. The 111 holograph letters and 4 ‘hybrid’ letters form an unprecedented epistolary archive, featuring the largest collection of holograph correspondence written in English or ...| Historical Transactions
In April 2023, eighteen scholars from a range of disciplinary backgrounds in the humanities, natural and social sciences came together for a one-day workshop to study past environmental change and its effects on human societies. Selected conversations from this workshop have recently been published as 'The Future of (Environmental History', a roundtable article in 'Transactions of the Royal Historical Society'. To mark publication, Alex Hibberts identifies four suggestions for the future of...| Historical Transactions
Each year the Royal Historical Society holds elections to appoint three current Fellows as new members to its Council. The Council is the Society’s governing body, with responsibility for the objectives and work of the RHS. The election round for 2025 is now open, with an invitation to all RHS Fellows to submit nominations to stand in this year’s ballot. All Councillors are Fellows of the Society, and those seeking election must also be current Fellows. If you’re a Fellow, and interest...| Historical Transactions