HistoryExtra
type: channel
link: https://www.historyextra.com
description: Home of Britain’s bestselling history magazine and award-winning podcast
date: 2026-01-20T16:42:53.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: Did the ancient Egyptians really love cats? The dark truth might break your heart
items: Was a ruthless Tudor matriarch behind the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower?
items: Thor was the Vikings’ “archetypal masculine god” – so why did he dress as a bride?
items: After 1066, this medieval fine was imposed to deter anti-Norman violence
items: Inside the Viking battle of the genders
items: Warhorses were one of the most deadly weapons on a medieval battlefield. But why didn’t they run away?
items: No, Marty Supreme isn’t a true story. But the history of the real Marty Reisman is just as exciting
items: The First World War’s Christmas truce is a heartwarming story – but it never happened
items: Is The Sound of Music a true story? The astonishing real history of the von Trapp family’s escape from Nazism
items: Meet the reluctant US president who accidentally changed American political norms forever

Did the ancient Egyptians really love cats? The dark truth might break your heart
type: item
date: 2026-01-20T16:42:53.000Z
creator: James Osborne
subject: Ancient Egypt
subject: General ancient history
subject: Period
subject: Discover / Apple News
description: Cats might have been sacred in ancient Egypt, but they were far from cherished pets. Discover why our assumptions about their treatment draw far more on modern sensibilities than historical reality
encoded: A sleek Egyptian cat is an ancient image immortalised in bronze statues and painted on tomb walls. They also don’t just exist in art; cats from this period are preserved today in museums across the world in tiny sarcophaguses or swaddled in linen. These remarkable traces have left many assumptions that cultures across the vast span of ancient Egyptian history adored cats, treated them as beloved companions and elevated them above other animals as uniquely sacred beings. But according to Campbell Price, speaking on the HistoryExtra podcast series Ancient Egypt: The Big Questions, that picture rests on a total misunderstanding. It reflects our modern attitudes towards animals whilst, in reality, cats were viewed in ways many would find alien – and brutal. The evidence, when examined more closely, is much more unsettling, and far more revealing about how ancient Egyptian belief actually functioned. What did that belief really look like? The system of belief in ancient Egypt “The ancient Egyptian belief system was polytheistic,” Price says. “There are lots of ancient Egyptian gods and they are in a hierarchy. But divinity is in lots of different things, and you can encounter the gods in different places.” The ancient Egyptians believed that deities could be encountered in dreams, in natural forces, in the landscape, in the afterlife and, crucially, in living beings. Read more | 10 things you (probably) didn't know about ancient Egypt For that reason, Price says that addressing ancient Egyptian faith as a “belief system” is often more accurate than calling it a religion. It was flexible, and capable of absorbing new deities and practices over time. This flexibility meant that religious experience varied by region and was shaped by local cults and traditions. What unified these variations was a shared understanding that divine power was infused within the material world, and that humans could interact with it through physical acts. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk…

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Was a ruthless Tudor matriarch behind the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower?
type: item
date: 2026-01-03T10:15:16.000Z
creator: James Osborne
subject: Period
subject: Tudor
subject: Discover / Apple News
description: Margaret Beaufort has long been put forward as a shadowy mastermind potentially behind one of England’s greatest royal mysteries. Does the case against her stand up to scrutiny?
encoded: In the summer of 1483, two boys vanished inside the most famous fortress in England. Edward V, aged 12, and his younger brother Richard, Duke of York, were last seen in the Tower of London after their uncle seized the throne as Richard III. Within months, they were gone, and Richard stood to benefit. But he’s not the only potential culprit behind the disappearance of the two boys who became known to history as the Princes in the Tower. Over the centuries, suspicion has settled on other figures including Henry VII, Henry Stafford, and Margaret Beaufort. Beaufort was the canny and formidable mother of Henry VII, and matriarch of the Tudor dynasty. Was she, as some rumours have suggested, the hidden hand behind the princes’ disappearance? According to historian Lauren Johnson, speaking on the HistoryExtra podcast, the answer is unequivocal. “There is absolutely no evidence that Margaret orchestrated the disappearance – or the murder, I believe – of the Princes in the Tower.” The Princes in the Tower, and the problem of power Who were the princes in the Tower, and why were they important? Young Edward V was the eldest son of Edward IV, and an uncrowned king; his brother Richard was next in line. After Edward IV’s sudden death in April 1483, the boys were placed in the Tower of London, ostensibly for Edward’s protection before his coronation. Instead, their uncle Richard, Duke of Gloucester, declared their parents’ marriage invalid, had himself crowned Richard III, and kept the boys locked away. By the autumn of that year, they had disappeared. Some have suggested they might have escaped to a foreign country, smuggled out by a benign benefactor. But, as Johnson argues, given the violence of the period and the amount that people stood to gain from their removal, it was more likely that they were murdered. In late medieval England, royal imprisonment could be a death sentence. “Look at what happened to Henry VI: he gets murdered in the Tower. There are other instances of k…

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Thor was the Vikings’ “archetypal masculine god” – so why did he dress as a bride?
type: item
date: 2026-01-01T10:15:48.000Z
creator: James Osborne
subject: Period
subject: Viking
subject: Discover / Apple News
description: One of the earliest Norse myths depicts the so-called god of thunder in women’s clothing. Far from undermining Thor’s power, the story speaks volumes about how the Vikings understood humour and the gods themselves
encoded: Thor, bearded with hammer in hand, is one of the central and most recognisable characters of Norse mythology. He was synonymous with strength, virility and thunder; a figure closely associated with physical labour, farming and warfare, all of which were aspects central to life across the Norse diaspora. In the context of the Viking Age, Thor was widely revered as a dependable presence in a dangerous world. And that makes the poem Thrymskvitha, one of the earliest surviving Norse myths about him, all the more surprising. “Thrymskvitha is the oldest complete poem we have about the gods,” says Dr Jackson Crawford, speaking on the HistoryExtra podcast. It’s preserved in the Poetic Edda – the compilation of Old Norse poems recorded in the 13th century – and tells of how Thor disguises himself as a bride-to-be and attends a wedding feast in order become the ‘wife’ of a powerful Jotun, a giant from the realm of Jotunheim. But it’s all a ruse. Planned alongside his adopted half-brother, the trickster god Loki, the disguise is part of a scheme for Thor to recover his precious hammer Mjölnir, which has been stolen by the Jotun. Thrymskvitha – or Þrymskviða – was likely composed and circulated well before the Norse conversion to Christianity. Crawford describes it as “a really goofy adventure-comedy story”, yet it also offers a revealing insight into how Viking Age audiences related to their gods. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2025/12/GettyImages-152204607-e0e1556-e1766500509342.jpg" width="1500" height="1000" alt="This Viking Age relief from Gosforth churchyard depicts the god Thor fishing for the Midgard Serpent alongside the giant Hymir, a scene drawn from Norse Poetic Edda." title="Relief sculpture of Scandinavian origin from the Gosforth churchyard, depicts Thor fishing with the giant Hymir" /> Thor’s place in the Norse world Unlike Odin – Thor’s father, ruler of Asgard, who was associated with kingship, poetry and hidden knowledge –…

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After 1066, this medieval fine was imposed to deter anti-Norman violence
type: item
date: 2025-12-30T10:15:48.000Z
creator: James Osborne
subject: Medieval
subject: Period
subject: Discover / Apple News
description: Introduced in the wake of the Norman Conquest, the murdrum fine was meant to protect Norman settlers from revenge killings. But it quickly became a blunt instrument of inequality and exploitation
encoded: It’s early in the 13th century. You stumble across a corpse: clearly the victim of murder. What should you do? To modern eyes, there’s no question; no reasonable grounds for equivocation. The only option is to tell someone. But in medieval England, finding a dead body was a more fraught – and risky – incident. Entire villages and communities could be fined not because they had committed a crime, but because the burden lay with them to prove who the deceased was – or, more precisely, whether they were English or Norman. This wasn’t a quirk of legal technicality. In the decades after the Norman Conquest of 1066, questions of identity were difficult and tense. To deter violence against Norman settlers, a striking piece of collective punishment known as the murdrum fine was designed. It was created to limit violence against Normans in post-Conquest England, but in practice, all it did was expose resonant inequalities within medieval society. Speaking on the HistoryExtra podcast, historian Luke Foddy explains how the murdrum fine emerged, how it operated on the ground, and how it was later manipulated in ways that caused real hardship. A legal system under strain after the Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest in 1066 had reshaped England’s ruling class with extraordinary speed. William the Conqueror replaced much of the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy with Norman lords, bishops and officials, creating a sharp national and social divide between rulers and the majority English population they governed. The legal system struggled to cope with this change, and it was in this strained legal environment that the murdrum fine took on particular importance. What was the murdrum fine? The murdrum fine was enforced by King William I after 1066, although, as Foddy notes, “there’s some evidence that it was around before then, particularly in the Danelaw” – referring to the English region where the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons coexisted uneasily together from the late 9th century. It was imposed …

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Inside the Viking battle of the genders
type: item
date: 2025-12-29T07:00:56.000Z
creator: James Osborne
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Viking
description: Dr Jackson Crawford explores the history and stories of Old Norse mythology told in the Poetic Edda, including what we can learn about the relationships between men and women
encoded: What do we know for certain about Old Norse ideas about masculinity and femininity, and can Viking Age mythology provide any answers? In conversation with James Osborne, Dr Jackson Crawford discusses the second edition of his translation of the Poetic Edda, and explores what can still be learned from the collection of Old Norse narrative poems that forms the foundation of our understanding of Viking mythology.

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Warhorses were one of the most deadly weapons on a medieval battlefield. But why didn’t they run away?
type: item
date: 2025-12-27T10:45:36.000Z
creator: James Osborne
subject: Medieval
subject: Period
subject: Discover / Apple News
description: Horses are instinctively wired to run from danger. So how did medieval armies train them to thunder towards enemy lines without breaking?
encoded: The medieval warhorse is, seemingly, a contradiction in terms. Horses are prey animals. Their instinct, when confronted with loud noises, sudden movement or danger, is to run as far away as possible, as quickly as possible. And yet, for centuries across the Middle Ages, these animals were incredible weapons of war. With armoured warriors in the saddle, they charged directly into some of the most terrifying scenes imaginable: walls of sharpened spears held by lines of screaming men. And warhorses weren’t a peripheral tool, either. They were at the centre of medieval warfare. Mounted combat dominated European battlefields for hundreds of years, shaping the grand military strategies that upheld political power. Cavalry charges could decide entire battles, and the men who could afford to fight on horseback were part of a powerful military elite. None of that was possible without horses that could be controlled under extreme stress. So how did they do it? As historian Robert Liddiard explains on the HistoryExtra podcast, these horses were honed through immense financial investment and extraordinary, long-term training. Why medieval warhorses mattered But first, what was so special about warhorses anyway? The answer, according to Liddiard, can be found in 1066’s battle of Hastings, which was a potent demonstration of the differences between a force that deployed warhorses – the Normans – in contrast to a force that didn’t – the Anglo-Saxons. “Arguably it's horses that allowed Duke William of Normandy to gain the edge,” he says. “The warhorses provide mobility on the battlefield in a way that Harold Godwinson’s forces simply haven't got, and this has great tactical benefits. The possession of trained cavalry allows William to have greater tactical options and flexibility.” A trained warhorse was, therefore, a force multiplier. And alongside the tactical advantage, they offered a psychological one, too. The sight and sound of armoured men charging toward you at speed could …

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No, Marty Supreme isn’t a true story. But the history of the real Marty Reisman is just as exciting
type: item
date: 2025-12-25T08:30:04.000Z
creator: James Osborne
subject: 20th Century
subject: Period
subject: Trends-Entertainment
description: Sports drama Marty Supreme might not be a true story, but it is loosely based on the real history of its titular table tennis champ, Marty Reisman. Here are all the facts you need to know about the real history of Marty Supreme
encoded: It’s New York in the 1950s. The Second World War is over, the Cold War has begun, and the United States is grappling with its newfound position as the world’s premier superpower: this is Eisenhower’s America. It’s also the America that serves as the setting for Marty Supreme: Timothée Chalamet’s explosive sports drama about a young hustler’s rise to ping-pong superstardom. But how much of Marty Supreme is based on a true story, and how close does the film get to the real history of Marty Reisman? Is Marty Supreme based on a true story? Marty Supreme is loosely inspired by the real Marty Reisman’s 1974 autobiography and memoir, The Money Player. But it is not a true story. Chalamet takes on a fictionalised version of the real Marty Reisman: an obscure sports star who became one of the most distinctive figures in 20th-century American sport. Though the film fictionalises its subject, the true story of Marty Reisman is one that needs no embellishment to be entertaining. Who was the real Marty Reisman? The real Marty Reisman was an American table tennis champion, professional hustler and showman whose career spanned more than six decades. Born in 1930, Reisman became a two-time US men’s singles table tennis champion and a celebrated practitioner of the traditional hardbat style (which uses rackets with short outward "pips" and no sponge). During his career, Reisman was one of the most recognisable personalities in the sport. His memoir, The Money Player (1974), chronicled his early life in New York’s postwar street-hustling scene and cemented his legacy as an athlete and entertainer. How did Marty Reisman begin his career? Reisman was born on 1 February 1930 in Manhattan and grew up in the city’s Lower East Side. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, table tennis was still developing as a competitive sport in the United States and offered unique opportunities for aspiring young players with a burgeoning and enthusiastic subculture. It was in this context that Reisman first…

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The First World War’s Christmas truce is a heartwarming story – but it never happened
type: item
date: 2025-12-24T10:45:32.000Z
creator: James Osborne
subject: First World War
subject: Period
subject: Discover / Apple News
description: In the early stages of the First World War, Brits and Germans came together on the frontlines to pause the fighting for Christmas – at least, that’s how the story goes. But what really happened, and are Christmas truces just a wishful myth?
encoded: The story is genuinely irresistible. On a frozen battlefield in December 1914, the sound of artillery stops, and British and German soldiers fighting in the First World War climb out of the trenches. They meet in the hellscape that is No Man's Land, transforming it into a site of warm Christmas spirit. They exchange gifts, sing carols and play football together. It’s a reassuringly humanising moment that proves ordinary people could still recognise one another as individuals, even if they were still enemies. The problem is that this version of events is largely a myth. As historian Alex Churchill explains on the HistoryExtra podcast, what did happen across European battlefields during the Christmas of 1914 was far more limited and fragmented than popular memory suggests. So, what really happened, and why does the myth persist? No single Christmas truce, and no football match “The Christmas truce is a misnomer,” Churchill says. “It’s Christmas truces: plural.” There was no single, unified ceasefire stretching along the Western Front and crucially, as Churchill emphasises, “fighting didn’t officially stop”. Instead, what occurred in late December 1914 was a series of highly localised, informal pauses in certain sectors, while in others, the war continued uninterrupted. That’s one of the biggest misconceptions. Another is the story of the football match – perhaps the single most enduring part of the Christmas truce story. In retellings, British and German soldiers are said to have organised an impromptu but orderly game in No Man's Land, complete with teams, goals and spectators. It’s subsequently become a symbol of the combatants’ shared culture, values and goodwill. Read more | Life in the trenches during WWI: your essential guide But, as Churchill sets out, this almost certainly never happened. “What people think happened is the equivalent of a Premier League football match with thousands of people watching on a vast open space,” Churchill explains. “But that didn’t…

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Is The Sound of Music a true story? The astonishing real history of the von Trapp family’s escape from Nazism
type: item
date: 2025-12-24T06:00:54.000Z
creator: James Osborne
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
subject: Trends-Entertainment
description: The Sound of Music has long sat among the greatest historical films of all time – and become a staple of the winter TV schedule. But how much of it is a true story, and what's the real history of the von Trapp family?
encoded: Since its movie release in 1965, 20 years after the end of the Second World War, The Sound of Music has cemented itself among the best historical films of its era. It’s a timeless story of romance, family and the power of art and resistance, premiering on Broadway in 1959, before becoming the box office hit starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer later that decade. But behind the soaring musical numbers, it’s inseparable from the darker backdrop that serves as its setting – Adolf Hitler’s relentless ascent to power in Germany, culminating in the Anschluss: the annexation of Austria and the rise of Nazism in the adjoining country. Clearly, it’s not entirely fiction. But where is the line drawn? How much of the story of The Sound of Music is rooted in the true story of the von Trapp family? How accurate is The Sound of Music overall? The Sound of Music is a broadly accurate retelling of the story of the von Trapp family, their struggle to escape the clutches of Nazi officials, and the context surrounding the Anschluss. There’s a lot of real history in how the film portrays Maria’s entry into the von Trapp household, her subsequent marriage to Georg, the family’s opposition to Nazism, and their eventual departure from Austria. Indeed, the real von Trapp family lived through profound political upheaval amid the transformation of Austria in the 1930s. However, there are also substantial liberties taken with timelines, characterisation and events: Maria and Georg were married in the 1920s, not on the eve of the Anschluss; the children were older than portrayed, and their names were changed for the film. They really did flee the country shortly after the Anschluss – but not in the way the film suggests. So, what’s the reality that inspired The Sound of Music? Who were the real von Trapp family? The von Trapps were an upper-middle-class Austrian family centred around Georg von Trapp, a decorated former naval officer, and Maria Kutschera, who entered the household as …

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Meet the reluctant US president who accidentally changed American political norms forever
type: item
date: 2025-12-20T10:45:42.000Z
creator: James Osborne
subject: Period
subject: Victorian
subject: Discover / Apple News
description: In an era when candidates were expected to remain silent, detached and above the chase for votes, James Garfield’s improvised presidential campaign in the late 19th century transformed the race for the highest office in the USA
encoded: When James A Garfield reluctantly accepted the Republican nomination for president in June 1880, he stepped into a fraught political culture that was governed by strict codes of restraint. Put simply, in the late 19th century, a presidential candidate wasn’t meant to appear eager for the job. Publicly courting votes was distasteful, demeaning, and incompatible with the dignity of the office. As biographer CW Goodyear puts it, speaking on the HistoryExtra podcast, the prevailing view was that “if you are interested in the job, it’s not for you.” The job of actively campaigning was delegated to party operatives, loyal newspapers and travelling surrogates. The candidate was supposed to stay out of public view while conveying lofty neutrality. On one level, that was a culture that suited Garfield. He was a man who, to all appearances, never intended to become the Republican party’s presidential nominee, let alone the actual president. So how did he – who was both dignified and reluctant – end up being the man who dismantled such norms of dignified reluctance? It feels like an irony, and yet, as Goodyear explains, Garfield’s election campaign of 1880 did indeed mark a turning point that upended the long-standing taboo against candidates speaking directly to voters. It changed campaign culture forever. American presidential ideals in the 19th century “It was seen as being desperate and pathetic for a presidential candidate to go rally voters. That was seen as being beneath the office,” explains Goodyear, setting out the attitudes that prevailed as the 1880 presidential election loomed. But where had that notion come from? Read more | The 5 most notorious presidents in US history The expectation that candidates should remain silent was rooted in early republican ideals inherited from the late 18th century, when the American colonies had won their independence from Britain and forged the United States of America. The Founding Fathers had worried that unrestrained electionee…

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