January 2021

Articles from the January 2021 issue of BBC History Magazine

A 19th-century lithograph showing a medieval criminal claiming sanctuary by placing his arm through the ring on a church door (Picture by Bridgman)

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Sanctuary in medieval churches: how criminals found protection from capture and punishment. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Painting of Bonnie Prince Charlie

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Bonnie Prince Charlie: Scottish superhero or Italian coward?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Residents of Palermo, Sicily, line the streets to greet the American Sherman tanks after the town had surrendered to the Allies

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The battle for Sicily: breaking into Fortress Europe. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A drag queen applies lipstick in this 1959 photograph

Victorian

Q&AWho was the first person to call themselves a ‘drag queen’?

Four knights hack Thomas Becket to death

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Europe's greatest martyr: how Thomas Becket rose from the dead. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Edward Jenner performs a vaccination, in an 1802 cartoon that lampoons the notion that being vaccinated will turn you into a cow

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The race for a cure: how we found vaccines for 4 of history's most dangerous diseases. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Félix Kir in 1947, when he was the mayor of Dijon

Second World War

History heroSimon Farnaby chooses Félix Kir (1876–1968)

Muslim women embrace after Ramadan ends, 2012

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"Does every generation have to prove itself in Britain?" Kavita Puri on the experiences of South Asians in Britain. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Professor Robert Tombs, Fellow of French history at St John's College

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"Both sides of the Brexit debate have got things wrong about our history": Robert Tombs on Britain's complex relationship with Europe. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.