Mathew Lyons
Mathew is a writer and historian based in London. His most recent book, The Favourite, the first book-length exploration of the love affair between Walter Ralegh and Elizabeth I, was published by Constable & Robinson in March 2011.
Categories used most frequently by the blogger:
Mathew and his work History Today Months Past Books and literature Reviews Articles & essays Articles Early Modern life and culture Journalism London Films Social history Personal History Tudor England Pre-Reformation life and culture monasticism Poetry Catholicism Elizabeth I
8 October 2023
In the 1870s, the Manchester Corporation Waterworks made plans to buy two small Cumbrian lakes, Wythburn Water and Leathes Water, and the surrounding land, to build a reservoir. The...
7 October 2023
Locals called the area ‘La Cività’; a clue, perhaps. Antiquarian Lucas Holstenius proposed it as the site of Pompeii as early as 1637. But formal excavations didn’t begin until...
Generations: Age, Ancestry and Memory in the English Reformations by Alexandra Walsham
6 October 2023
In 1700 a mathematician submitted a paper to the Royal Society in which he attempted to calculate, among other things, the rate at which oral testimony – that is, memory – decayed...
Human rights, Christianity and conquest: the Valladolid debates
6 October 2023
In April 1550, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and king of Spain, halted Spanish conquests in the Americas. He needed to know if such conquests were lawful. He had scruples; could they...