Archive - Free-Range History

Re-post: How the Romans kept bad luck at bay

The (NSFW-ish) practice of preventing the evil eye from causing harm through rude iconography.

Jul 11

History writing, history, and writing #6

Handbags, manuscripts, Night Witches, and another London relic revisited.

Jul 1 •

June 2025

Re-post: The most important publication in science was paid for in fish books

‘It defined how we understand the universe and popularised the ‘scientific method’, which is the bedrock of modern science.’

Jun 27 •

Exploring the lives of women through the instructions they left for their deaths

Wills can provide a tangible sense of the personalities of, the people and possession that were important to, ordinary people from the past.

Jun 13 •

History writing, history, and writing #5

Digital archives, bone music, purple dye, and textile design.

Jun 1 •

May 2025

Ill-gotten game and other wartime fun

In between the fighting, there was still time for a bit of mischief.

May 30 •

Women’s role in writing the historical record

The research that’s established a baseline of activity and revealed there’s still more to uncover.

May 16 •

A unique manuscript on the production and consumption of cheese in 16th Century England

The good, the bad, and the horse-y of the “chiefest” of foods in the Tudor period.

May 2 •

History writing, history, and writing #4

A literary theory, librarians, the right to light, and a cheeky cat.

May 1 •

April 2025

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