The Historian Circle

How Did Dickens' A Christmas Carol Help Shape the Christmas We Recognise Today? by Georgia Alzapiedi  Georgia Alzapiedi graduated with a BA in English Literature from University of Westminster in 2014, and takes interest in the writings and historical contexts of Shakespeare and Victorian authors. However, Georgia’s particular interest is in the Modernist movement and the First World War, and the impact of this period in history. She currently works as an English teacher in a secondary school, teaching GCSE and A-Level English Language and English Literature. In her spare time, Georgia runs a travel blog , where she regularly writes about key historical and cultural attractions worth visiting in the UK.  Before the reign of Queen Victoria, Christmas was not as festive as we recognise it to be today. Naturally, the English people observed Christmas - Christ’s Mass - by partaking in mass, but there was little sense of celebration. The midwinter festival - a pagan tradition of...

  Evaluating the Success of the Crusades against Heretics. by Quincy de Vries Quincy de Vries is currently doing their MPhil in Medieval History at the University of Cambridge and have a B.A in History from McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada. I first fell in love with history watching YouTube videos about Anne Boleyn but didn’t actually decide to study it at University until I finished my first year in another program and realized history was what I loved to do. I hope to one day publish in either non-fiction or fiction to help make history accessible for all.   The crusades are deeply ingrained in cultural memory throughout the world and especially in the West. The depictions of crusades in popular culture typically paint crusades with one broad stroke; as violent movements against non-Christian groups in Outremer featuring epic rivalries such as that between Richard the Lionheart and Saladin. However, crusading was a Papal tool aimed not only at non-Christians; cr...

The Tomb of Julius II; A Discussion of Changing Attitudes Towards the Dead and the Symbolism of High-Status Funerary Monuments  by Angel-Celeste Drinkwater Angel Celeste is c urrently in my second year of an undergraduate degree in English Literature & History at the University of Winchester. My main academic focus revolves around Medieval England & France, as well as Early Modern France (specifically the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution, and the lives of Maximilien de Robespierre and Louis Antoine de Saint-Just), however, other areas that I’m interested in include Renaissance Italy, Victorian Crime & Punishment, and general Queer History. The tomb of Pope Julius II is perhaps one of the most influential funerary monuments of the Renaissance period, having been planned, and later constructed, by Michelangelo between 1505 and 1545. The tomb and its sculptures act as a monument to the life and legacy of Julius II. However, the main focus of this discussion ...