March 2012 cover

March 2012

Articles from the March 2012 issue of BBC History Magazine

Biddenden cakes

Medieval

What are the Easter treats known as Biddenden cakes, and who were the Biddenden Maids?

A woodcut showing the interior of a kitchen in Elizabethan England. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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Hold your noses: the smells, sounds and sights of Elizabethan England. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A view towards the Carew estuary between a dry stone wall and the ruins of Carew Castle, Pembrokeshire, UK. (Dreamstime)

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Where history happened: Tudor courtiers with Suzannah Lipscomb. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Painting depicting medieval nuns. (Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

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17th-century nuns on the run. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Mikado Maids

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A big day in history: Gilbert and Sullivan unveil 'The Mikado'. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Britain’s medieval identity crisis. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Vintage map of the Bahamas. (Library of Congress)

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Ye Olde Travel Guide: Bahamas 1718. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

'Tirpitz' hiding in a Norwegian fjord in 1942. “She outclassed anything in the British fleet,” says Patrick Bishop. (Getty Images) 

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The Second World War: sinking the Tirpitz. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A painting depicting the Duke of Wellington at the battle of Waterloo. "Wellington’s victories at Roliça and Vimeiro in 1808 were the first significant defeats inflicted upon the French emperor’s armies in Europe," says Saul David. (Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

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The triumph of the redcoats. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Hard labour: a woman tarring and flinting in Oxford Street, central London, 1919. (Getty Images) 

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The Library“Our Excess Girls": women after the First World War. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Ernest Bevin

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My history hero: Ernest Bevin (1881-1951). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.