Royal Historical Society

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The Royal Historical Society is the UK's foremost society promoting the scholarly and professional study of the past. Our membership is an international community of 7000+ historians - please join us: https://royalhistsoc.org/

Opening page for the post: 'How to Read Foreign-language Sources in 80 Days: Helping History Students Get the Most out of Translation Software', by Dr Jasper Heinzen, University of York. Full abstract: "In this post Dr Jasper Heinzen reflects on the design and implementation of his recent project, ‘How to Read Foreign-language Sources in 80 Days: Helping Students Get the Most out of Translation Software’. This project, run at the University of York, was supported by the award from the Society of a Jinty Nelson Teaching Fellowship for 2025-26. The project enabled Year 3 History Undergraduates to gain a basic understanding of the German language in order to support primary research in German texts for their dissertations. Jasper emphasises the necessity of expanding language knowledge and education ‘to prevent the refraction of global cultural knowledge through the prism of one language’. The Society’s Teaching Fellowships programme runs annually to encourage innovative practice in the teaching of history in higher education. The Fellowships are generously supported by the Scouloudi Foundation. Recipients of Fellowships for 2026-27 will be announced in the near future."
Map image with text: Join the Royal Historical Society: Fellowship, Associate Fellowship, Membership, Postgraduate Members. Closing dates for next applications: Mondays 27 July and 5 October 2026.
Front covers of 'Transactions of the Royal Historical Society' (2023 to 2025)
Front page of new Transactions article: 'Men, Emotions and the Sickbed in a Sorcery Trial from Seventeenth-Century Germany', by Alison Rowlands. Full abstract: "Some early modern Europeans believed that illness was caused by an act of harmful magic perpetrated against a sufferer by another person. This attribution of magical blame was not inevitable, however, although historians’ understanding of the social and emotional dynamics of the process by which illness might be linked to bewitchment remains patchy. This article deepens our understanding of this ‘witch-making’ process and how it was gendered through in-depth analysis of a seventeenth-century German sorcery trial involving two urban craftsmen. It explains how two men who had previously had a socially intimate relationship reached a point at which one began to suspect the other of bewitching him into ill-health. It also establishes when and why the moments of greatest social and emotional tension were reached between the men and their families. This article argues that the sickbed constituted a particularly important temporal stage and spatial context in this process. As a site of bodily suffering, caring expectations and practices, and intense emotions, it required visitors and caregivers to manage their interactions carefully to maintain peace between neighbours. In the trial examined here, those efforts failed."
Chart showing 'Academic Staff, History, by contract / career stage, for the years: 2012/13, 2018/19 and 2024/25'
he British Academy Mapping SHAPE academic staff briefing: Pathways for early career SHAPE academics are in decline
Screen shot of British Academy mapping staff in SHAPE showing decline in History staff (contract type 'early career' for 2018-19 to 2024-25 in all institutions: 25% decline (435 FPE).
Screen shot of British Academy mapping staff in SHAPE showing decline in History staff for 2018-19 to 2024-25 in Post-92 institutions: 25% decline (200 FPE).
Screen shot from British Academy mapping SHAPE staff resource, showing change in History staff between 2018/19 and 2024/25. A loss of 440 FPE or 11% of the total.
Main page of new British Academy resource on Mapping SHAPE academic staff in UK HE.
Opening page of the RHS blog post: 'Unsettling Shared Identity: Positionality and the Oral History'. Image of recording equipment and full abstract: 'In this post, Dr Nilakshi Das introduces her new article, ‘Positionality in Oral History Research: Proximities and Paradoxes of an “Insider” Status’, recently published in ‘Transactions of the Royal Historical Society’. Drawing on thirteen life-history interviews with South Asian scientists who trained in post-war British universities, the article asks what happens to the familiar ‘insider’ and ‘outsider’ distinction when a researcher shares a broad regional identity with the people they interview. It argues that insider status is not a stable category but a shifting, relational condition, and that reflecting on our disciplinary training matters as much as consideration of our biographical identities. The article proposes a more nuanced application of positionality in historical research and analysis—one that is fluid, reflexive and critical of exclusive knowledge claims based on demographic sameness. Nilakshi’s article is now available, Open Access, via FirstView in ‘Transactions of the Royal Historical Society’.
Opening page of Dr Nilakshi Das's article in 'Transactions of the Royal Historical Society': 'Positionality in Oral History Research: Proximities and Paradoxes of ‘Insider’ Status'. Full abstract: "A long-standing debate in oral history centres on the researcher’s positionality as either an ‘insider’ or ‘outsider’ to the research participants. This comment argues that insider status is not a stable but a relational category, one that must be critically interrogated to avoid privileging insider perspectives. Reflecting on thirteen life-history interviews with South Asian scientists who undertook postgraduate training at post-war British universities, I examine how the normative assumption of a shared ‘South Asianness’ shaped my negotiation of the insider/outsider positionality continuum. My positionality as a South Asian researcher in the UK studying previous generations of South Asian students certainly reduced intersubjective distance with interviewees. However, the presumption of insider status also exposes the instability of identity-based claims to authority. The immense heterogeneity of nationality, language, age, class, gender, occupation, educational and migration trajectories of the interviewees complicated any straightforward claim to insider status on my part. By examining how shared identity both enabled and complicated the research encounter, this comment destabilises the insider/outsider dialectic underpinning research positionality, arguing instead that positionality is a shifting intersubjective condition, constituted through an iterative process of reflexive praxis within historical research and analysis."
Graphic taken from a recent post in WonkHe showing responses by history students to the 2026 National Student Survey, 26 questions in total: dark green indicates the response 'Very Good' and light green 'Good'.
Chart of NSS 2026 date relating to Question 9: 'How well has your course developed your knowledge and skills that you think you will need for your future?' This shows all available CAH Level 1 subjects (including History within 'Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies') in terms of their positivity score for Question 9. HPRS scores 84.4% against an all subject mean of 86.8%.
NSS 2026 data, showing the change in positivity scores for Questions 5, 6, 7 and 9 of the Survey, including NSS Question 9: 'How well has your course developed your knowledge and skills that you think you will need for your future?'
Chart showing selected NSS date for 2026. Eight selected questions from this year's survey, comparing responses for all subjects and for History.
Opening page of Royal Historical Society blog post: 'History and its Historians in the National Student Survey, 2026' Full abstract: This week sees publication of the National Student Survey for 2026, by the Office for Students. This year’s survey asked final-year undergraduates (2025), finishing their studies in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, to complete the annual set of 26 questions on themes including teaching and assessments, academic support, and the wider student experience. The resulting data may be filtered to provide insights on recent students’ experience of a particular subjects at degree level. This includes ‘history’ and allows comparison of responses from 2025 graduates with those for all subjects studied in UK higher education. Archived data also shows trends in the views and experience of history undergraduates. In both cases, UK history undergraduates demonstrate very high levels of appreciation: for the quality of teaching by university historians, for the rigour and intellectual richness of the courses designed by these historians; and the value of a history degree in preparing them for personal and professional life on leaving university.
Text for Jinty Nelson Teaching fellowships, 2026-27: Launched in 2023, the Jinty Nelson Teaching Fellowships support History teaching in UK Higher Education. The Fellowships are named after Dame Jinty Nelson FBA (1942-2024), President of the Society between 2000 and 2004.
Image of book with accompanying text: "The Society's Funded Book Workshop Grants support historians, currently working on a second or third major research project, and which will lead to publication of a monograph. The Book Workshops enable an author to bring together fellow scholars to discuss and develop the manuscript of a scholarly monograph."
Opening page of the RHS blog post, 'Dwarfism, Institutionalisation and Marginalisation at the Court in Early Bourbon France' by Marc W. S. Jaffré. Image of Person with dwarfism dressed as a fool accompanying the fairy Macette in the court ballet Les Fées des forêts de Saint-Germain (1625). Daniel Rabel, Macette La Caprioleuse (1625). BnF, RESERVE QB-3-FOL. Full abstract for post: "In this post, Marc Jaffré introduces his new article — ‘Dwarfism, Institutionalisation and Marginalisation at the Court in Early Bourbon France, 1589–1715’ — published in Transactions of the Royal Historical Society. Marc’s article is a study of people with dwarfism employed as court dwarfs during the reigns of Henri IV, Louis XIII, and Louis XIV of France. Through an analysis of the varying positions held by people with dwarfism at court, and the roles they performed there, the article challenges existing historiographies that emphasise contemporary responses of ‘wonder’ and curiosity regarding physical difference. Marc focuses instead on the activities and experiences of people with dwarfism. This shows how the archival invisibility of people with dwarfism is partly due to their reticence to be identified with the office of court dwarf. More broadly, its demonstrates the rich potential of an approach to early modern court studies that de-centres the monarch, ministers and absolutism to better understand the court – its institutions and its culture – in its own right. Marc’s new article is now available, Open Access, in Transactions via CUP’s FirstView."
Opening page of the 'Transactions of the Royal Historical Society' article: 'Dwarfism, Institutionalisation and Marginalisation at the Court in Early Bourbon France, 1589–1715' by Marc W. S. Jaffré. Full abstract: "This article is a study of people with dwarfism employed as court dwarfs during the reigns of Henri IV, Louis XIII and Louis XIV of France. Through an analysis of the varying positions held by people with dwarfism at court and the roles they performed there, it challenges existing historiographies that emphasise the wonder their physical difference elicited and their function as the monarch’s alter ego to explain their presence at court. Instead of focusing on symbolic meanings attached to dwarfism, this study centres on the activities and experiences of people with dwarfism. This approach reveals that the invisibility of people with dwarfism in the archive is partly due to their reticence to be identified with the office of court dwarf. Indeed, they struggled to power the institutional development of the office because it was a constant reminder of their marginal status at court. The office’s eventual disappearance under Louis XIV thus reveals how marginalisation combined with processes of institutionalisation to destabilise the lives and careers of people with dwarfism at court. The article’s analysis rests on a granular approach to primary sources, re-emphasising the value of archival research for the study of marginalised groups, even when surviving material is relatively lacking."
Professor Rebecca Earle gives the 2026 Royal Historical Society Prothero Lecture: ‘The Last Voyage of the Santiago: A Ship and its World in the Age of Revolution’, on 1 July 2026.
Lucy Noakes announces the winners of the 2026 RHS First Book and Early Career Article Prizes.
Images of the journals 'Past and Present' and 'Development and Change' and the text: Early Career Article Prize WINNERS, 2026 Gianamar Giovannetti-Singh & Stephanie Wanga
Lucy Noakes announces the winners of the 2026 RHS First Book and Early Career Article Prizes.
Cover image of of John Latham-Sprinkle's book The North Caucasian Kingdom of Alania, 850-1240 (Cambridge University Press, 2025)
Image of Kiran Mehta's 'To Detain or To Punish: Magistrates and the Making of the London Prison System, 1750-1840' (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2025)
Images of book covers for Kiran Mehta's book 'To Detain or To Punish: Magistrates and the Making of the London Prison System, 1750-1840' (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2025) and John Latham-Sprinkle's 'The North Caucasian Kingdom of Alania, 850-1240' (Cambridge University Press) with text First Book Prize WINNERS, 2026 Kiran Mehta & John Latham-Sprinkle
Text for the listing of the Royal Historical Society's 2026 Early Career Article Prize: "The Royal Historical Society’s Early Career Article Prize 2026 recognises the scholarly contribution and quality of journal articles published in 2025. This year’s shortlist of eight articles is now available and follows an open call for early career historians to submit a article or book chapter, published last year, for consideration. Two final winners of the 2026 prize will be chosen, with the announcement to take place in July. Also now available: the shortlist of the Society’s First Book Prize, 2026, for a first scholarly monograph written by an early career historian and published in 2025."
Image the journal 'American Nineteenth Century History' and text: 'Challenging the overseer: enslaved women’s violent resistance in the US antebellum South'. Erin Shearer American Nineteenth Century History SHORTLISTED Royal Historical Society Early Career Article Prize, 2026
Front page of blog listing shortlist of the 2026 RHS First Book Prize, 2026. With full text: "The Royal Historical Society’s First Book Prize 2026 recognises the scholarly contribution and quality of history monographs published in 2025. This year’s shortlist of eight titles is now available and follows an open call for early career historians to submit a first sole-authored monograph, published last year, for consideration. Two final winners of the 2025 prize will be chosen, with the announcement to take place in early July. The shortlist of the Society’s second annual prize – the Early Career Article Prize, 2026 – for an article written by an early career historian within three years of completion of a PhD, is also now available."
Cover image of 'The North Caucasian Kingdom of Alania, 850-1240' by John Latham-Sprinkle (Cambridge University Press) SHORTLISTED Royal Historical Society First Book Prize, 2026
Text for the listing of the Royal Historical Society's 2026 Early Career Article Prize: "The Royal Historical Society’s Early Career Article Prize 2026 recognises the scholarly contribution and quality of journal articles published in 2025. This year’s shortlist of eight articles is now available and follows an open call for early career historians to submit a article or book chapter, published last year, for consideration. Two final winners of the 2026 prize will be chosen, with the announcement to take place in July. Also now available: the shortlist of the Society’s First Book Prize, 2026, for a first scholarly monograph written by an early career historian and published in 2025."
Image the journal 'Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History' and text: 'Hong Kong Colonial Government Migrated Archives at Hanslope Park' Matthew Hurst Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History SHORTLISTED Royal Historical Society Early Career Article Prize, 2026
Front page of blog listing shortlist of the 2026 RHS First Book Prize, 2026. With full text: "The Royal Historical Society’s First Book Prize 2026 recognises the scholarly contribution and quality of history monographs published in 2025. This year’s shortlist of eight titles is now available and follows an open call for early career historians to submit a first sole-authored monograph, published last year, for consideration. Two final winners of the 2025 prize will be chosen, with the announcement to take place in early July. The shortlist of the Society’s second annual prize – the Early Career Article Prize, 2026 – for an article written by an early career historian within three years of completion of a PhD, is also now available."
Cover image of 'Slave trading in the Early Middle Ages Long-distance connections in northern and east central Europe' by Janel M. Fontaine (Manchester University Press) SHORTLISTED Royal Historical Society First Book Prize, 2026
Text for the listing of the Royal Historical Society's 2026 Early Career Article Prize: "The Royal Historical Society’s Early Career Article Prize 2026 recognises the scholarly contribution and quality of journal articles published in 2025. This year’s shortlist of eight articles is now available and follows an open call for early career historians to submit a article or book chapter, published last year, for consideration. Two final winners of the 2026 prize will be chosen, with the announcement to take place in July. Also now available: the shortlist of the Society’s First Book Prize, 2026, for a first scholarly monograph written by an early career historian and published in 2025."
Image the journal 'Development and Change' and text: ‘Rereading Ujamaa, Rethinking Freedom' Stephanie Wanga Development and Change SHORTLISTED Royal Historical Society Early Career Article Prize, 2026
Image of historical map of the Britain and Ireland with text: "The Royal Historical Society works closely with a number of other UK and Irish societies dedicated to the study, communication and promotion of historical knowledge and understanding. Once a year, the Society hosts a half-day meeting of heads of UK history societies to discuss subjects of shared interest, such as publishing, membership and advocacy for the discipline. The Society also holds regular online meetings with its equivalent national organisations worldwide."
Front page of blog listing shortlist of the 2026 RHS First Book Prize, 2026. With full text: "The Royal Historical Society’s First Book Prize 2026 recognises the scholarly contribution and quality of history monographs published in 2025. This year’s shortlist of eight titles is now available and follows an open call for early career historians to submit a first sole-authored monograph, published last year, for consideration. Two final winners of the 2025 prize will be chosen, with the announcement to take place in early July. The shortlist of the Society’s second annual prize – the Early Career Article Prize, 2026 – for an article written by an early career historian within three years of completion of a PhD, is also now available."
Cover image of 'Birth, Death, and Domestic Religion in Early Modern London' by Emily Vine (Cambridge University Press) SHORTLISTED Royal Historical Society First Book Prize, 2026
Society Focus: Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society. Image of members of this society from BALH.
Text for the listing of the Royal Historical Society's 2026 Early Career Article Prize: "The Royal Historical Society’s Early Career Article Prize 2026 recognises the scholarly contribution and quality of journal articles published in 2025. This year’s shortlist of eight articles is now available and follows an open call for early career historians to submit a article or book chapter, published last year, for consideration. Two final winners of the 2026 prize will be chosen, with the announcement to take place in July. Also now available: the shortlist of the Society’s First Book Prize, 2026, for a first scholarly monograph written by an early career historian and published in 2025."
Image the journal 'Past & Present' and text: ‘Colonial world-making and global knowledges at the early modern Cape of Good Hope' Gianamar Giovannetti-Singh Past & Present SHORTLISTED Royal Historical Society Early Career Article Prize, 2026
over image of 'The Correspondence of Katherine Jones, Viscountess Ranelagh, 1640–1691', edited by Evan Bourke. Published online on 11 June, this new volume is available online and in print from Cambridge University Press.
Opening page of RHS blog post: 'What’s the value of a History PhD? A view from business'. Full abstract: "In this post we hear from Dr Richard Marks, a former business analyst who, having completed a PhD in 2024, now works as an independent historical researcher and author. After a long career outside education, Richard’s experience both of business and PhD research means he’s well placed to identify the broader skills History PhDs acquire while designing and studying for a doctorate. In creating and completing a PhD, you’re gaining capacity in project design and management, data retrieval and analysis, as well as engagement with varied audiences. Such skills are central to professions beyond higher education and highly valued by employers. Richard was one of 25 researchers who attended a recent workshop for independent historians, organised by the Royal Historical Society and held at the University of Warwick in May 2026."
Front page of blog listing shortlist of the 2026 RHS First Book Prize, 2026. With full text: "The Royal Historical Society’s First Book Prize 2026 recognises the scholarly contribution and quality of history monographs published in 2025. This year’s shortlist of eight titles is now available and follows an open call for early career historians to submit a first sole-authored monograph, published last year, for consideration. Two final winners of the 2025 prize will be chosen, with the announcement to take place in early July. The shortlist of the Society’s second annual prize – the Early Career Article Prize, 2026 – for an article written by an early career historian within three years of completion of a PhD, is also now available."
Cover image of 'Global Decolonisation and Non-Sovereignty Small Island States in the Caribbean' by Grace Carrington (Cambridge University Press) SHORTLISTED Royal Historical Society First Book Prize, 2026
Text for the listing of the Royal Historical Society's 2026 Early Career Article Prize: "The Royal Historical Society’s Early Career Article Prize 2026 recognises the scholarly contribution and quality of journal articles published in 2025. This year’s shortlist of eight articles is now available and follows an open call for early career historians to submit a article or book chapter, published last year, for consideration. Two final winners of the 2026 prize will be chosen, with the announcement to take place in July. Also now available: the shortlist of the Society’s First Book Prize, 2026, for a first scholarly monograph written by an early career historian and published in 2025."
Image the journal Plant Perspectives and text: ‘The Absence of the Ackee Tree: Jamaican Botanical Resistance and Kew’s Colonial Archive' Heather Craddock Plant Perspectives SHORTLISTED Royal Historical Society Early Career Article Prize, 2026
Cover images of five books by Professor Rosamond McKitterick.
Front page of blog listing shortlist of the 2026 RHS First Book Prize, 2026. With full text: The Royal Historical Society’s First Book Prize 2026 recognises the scholarly contribution and quality of history monographs published in 2025. This year’s shortlist of eight titles is now available and follows an open call for early career historians to submit a first sole-authored monograph, published last year, for consideration. Two final winners of the 2025 prize will be chosen, with the announcement to take place in early July. The shortlist of the Society’s second annual prize – the Early Career Article Prize, 2026 – for an article written by an early career historian within three years of completion of a PhD, is also now available.
Cover image of 'To Detain or to Punish Magistrates and the Making of the London Prison System, 1750–1840' by Kiran Mehta (McGill-Queens University Press) SHORTLISTED Royal Historical Society First Book Prize, 2026
Cover image of 'The Correspondence of Katherine Jones, Viscountess Ranelagh, 1640–1691', edited by Evan Bourke. Published online on 11 June, this new volume is available online and in print from Cambridge University Press.
Text for the listing of the Royal Historical Society's 2026 Early Career Article Prize: "The Royal Historical Society’s Early Career Article Prize 2026 recognises the scholarly contribution and quality of journal articles published in 2025. This year’s shortlist of eight articles is now available and follows an open call for early career historians to submit a article or book chapter, published last year, for consideration. Two final winners of the 2026 prize will be chosen, with the announcement to take place in July. Also now available: the shortlist of the Society’s First Book Prize, 2026, for a first scholarly monograph written by an early career historian and published in 2025."
Image the Journal of British Studies and text: ‘‘A Lazy Mistress Makes a Lazy Servant’: domestic labor and white Creole womanhood in Jamaica, ca.1865–1938’ Liz Egan Journal of British Studies SHORTLISTED Royal Historical Society Early Career Article Prize, 2026
Front page of blog listing shortlist of the 2026 RHS First Book Prize, 2026. With full text: The Royal Historical Society’s First Book Prize 2026 recognises the scholarly contribution and quality of history monographs published in 2025. This year’s shortlist of eight titles is now available and follows an open call for early career historians to submit a first sole-authored monograph, published last year, for consideration. Two final winners of the 2025 prize will be chosen, with the announcement to take place in early July. The shortlist of the Society’s second annual prize – the Early Career Article Prize, 2026 – for an article written by an early career historian within three years of completion of a PhD, is also now available.
Cover image of 'Beauty and the Gods: A History from Homer to Plato' with text 'Beauty and the Gods: A History from Homer to Plato' by Hugo Shakeshaft (Princeton University Press) SHORTLISTED Royal Historical Society First Book Prize, 2026
Opening page of RHS blog post: 'What’s the value of a History PhD? A view from business'. Full abstract: "In this post we hear from Dr Richard Marks, a former business analyst who, having completed a PhD in 2024, now works as an independent historical researcher and author. After a long career outside education, Richard’s experience both of business and PhD research means he’s well placed to identify the broader skills History PhDs acquire while designing and studying for a doctorate. In creating and completing a PhD, you’re gaining capacity in project design and management, data retrieval and analysis, as well as engagement with varied audiences. Such skills are central to professions beyond higher education and highly valued by employers. Richard was one of 25 researchers who attended a recent workshop for independent historians, organised by the Royal Historical Society and held at the University of Warwick in May 2026."