HistoryExtra
type: channel
link: https://www.historyextra.com
description: Home of Britain’s bestselling history magazine and award-winning podcast
date: 2025-06-25T20:05:37.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: John Singer Sargent and the scandalous Madame X portrait that set the Gilded Age alight
items: Which treasures were lost when Titanic sank, and what did some survivors smuggle onto lifeboats?
items: Your guide to the Pankhursts, the pioneering family who fought for Votes for Women
items: Anxieties of the Edwardian age
items: What was the Cat and Mouse Act? The reason why suffragettes were force-fed
items: Marie Curie: a guide to the scientist's life, achievements and legacy
items: King Edward VII’s love chair: how did Dirty Bertie’s siège d’amour actually work?
items: Suffragettes history facts: 10 things you might not know about the Votes for Women campaigners
items: 8 famous suffragettes and votes for women campaigners
items: Deeds not words | 1. Battlelines are drawn

John Singer Sargent and the scandalous Madame X portrait that set the Gilded Age alight
type: item
date: 2025-06-25T19:42:51.000Z
subject: Edwardian
subject: Period
description: Anna Maria Barry takes a look at what the bold portraits of celebrated society artist John Singer Sargent can tell us about the gilded world of the Edwardian elite
encoded: John Singer Sargent was the most in-demand portrait artist of his generation, though his career was not without controversy. Building his career with daring portraits of Edwardian socialites, he would later make waves for his art depicting the harrowing realities of the First World War, while his avant garde personal life remains a source of fascination. Born to American parents in Florence in 1856, the young Sargent spent his early years travelling around Europe with his family. He showed a precocious aptitude for art, sketching and painting the many cities and landscapes they visited – from Paris to the Pyrenees. In 1870 Sargent started to attend drawing classes in Florence. He moved to Paris in 1874 where he entered the studio of French painter Carolus-Duran. Over the next ten years, Sargent travelled and worked, gradually building his reputation as an artist. Read more | A beginner's guide to art history The scandal of Sargent's Madame X In 1884, scandal hit when Sargent exhibited his famous Portrait of Madame X at the Paris Salon. The sitter was Virginie Amélie Gautreau, a well-known Parisian socialite with a salacious private life. A good friend of Sargent’s, the statuesque Gautreau was a striking beauty – she accentuated her pale complexion with lavender powder, and dyed her hair red with henna. Sargent’s daring full-length portrait captures Gautreau turning coquettishly away from the artist, so that her face is shown in profile. Her pale skin contrasts with the shimmering black dress accentuating her narrow waist and ample cleavage. While her pose was interpreted as sexually suggestive, what caused most comment was a single strap of her dress which Sargent captured slipping down over her shoulder. Gautreau appeared a mere wiggle away from exposing herself to the viewer. Read more | Are Bertha and George Russell real? Inside the real Vanderbilt divorces that rocked the Gilded Age The painting caused an immediate stir when it was exhibited, with many claiming …

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Which treasures were lost when Titanic sank, and what did some survivors smuggle onto lifeboats?
type: item
date: 2025-06-03T12:45:39.000Z
creator: Hilary Mitchell
subject: Edwardian
subject: Period
subject: Evergreen
description: When Titanic sank in April 1912, undoubtedly the highest cost was the more than 1,500 people who perished in the disaster on the Atlantic Ocean. But with the prestige of its maiden voyage attracting wealthy clientele, there was also a huge number of treasures on board. Hilary Mitchell reveals the historical riches lost to the sea – from ancient trinkets to Victorian art valued as the most valuable of its day…
encoded: It’s an eerie photograph, to say the least. A two-foot-tall bronze statuette of the Roman goddess of the hunt, known as Diana of Versailles, peers sightlessly to the right, the carefully cast, delicate folds of her tunic tarnished and darkened by decades of salt water. Originally gracing the mantlepiece of the ornate fireplace in Titanic’s opulent first-class lounge, she now lies half-buried in the abyssal darkness, 2.5 miles below the ocean’s surface. The picture was taken in 2024 by oceanographers from RMS Titanic Inc, a US company that holds the rights to the 113-year-old wreck. The statuette hadn’t been caught on camera since 1986, when marine scientist Bob Ballard led an expedition to the site using the deep-sea vehicle Alvin. Eight subsequent visits had failed to locate her, and there was some concern she had been illegally salvaged and sold. Finding her was like “finding a needle in a haystack”, said James Penca, a researcher on the RMS Titanic Inc. project. She was rediscovered in the final hours of the three-week-long dive. The statuette isn’t an original Roman bronze. It’s a replica of a much-larger marble sculpture currently on display in the Louvre in Paris, itself a partially restored Roman copy (first or second century BC) of a lost Greek bronze original attributed to Athenian sculptor Leochares (c325 BC). However, it was valuable in its own right; a prestigious, costly piece of decoration. In some ways, the Diana statuette can be used as a symbol to represent thousands of artefacts that were lost when Titanic hit an iceberg and sank beneath the waves on her maiden voyage in the early hours of 15 April 1912, resulting in the tragic, harrowing deaths of more than 1,500 men, women and children. Who was the richest person to die in the Titanic disaster? On its maiden voyage, Titanic was transporting many of the era’s wealthiest people to the US, several of whom were returning from lengthy sojourns in Europe. One of these elite passengers was John Jacob As…

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Your guide to the Pankhursts, the pioneering family who fought for Votes for Women
type: item
date: 2024-07-16T11:10:36.000Z
creator: Emma Slattery Williams
subject: Edwardian
subject: Period
subject: Evergreen
subject: The Suffragettes
description: One family, led by Emmeline Pankhurst, would lead the charge towards equality and votes for women. Find out more about the accomplishments of the founder and leader of the WSPU, and her pioneering daughters
encoded: Who was Emmeline Pankhurst? Emmeline Goulden was born in 1858 to parents who fiercely supported reform and activism. She accompanied her mother to suffrage meetings and her grandfather had witnessed the Peterloo Massacre of 1819. Emmeline attended schools in both Manchester and Paris and soon noticed the stark differences between her education and that of her brothers – they studied business, the sciences and mathematics, while she was taught how to cook and look after the home. This would light a fire within her; a burning desire to one day see women treated as equal to men. Emmeline married likeminded lawyer Dr Richard Pankhurst in 1879 – he was a radical and a supporter of women’s rights, free speech and educational reform. Together they had five children: Christabel, Sylvia, Adela, Henry Francis Robert (Frank) and Henry Francis (Harry). The younger brother was named after the elder, who died of diphtheria at the age of four. The Pankhursts moved from Manchester to London in 1886, and it was while there that Emmeline became interested in the experiences of working-class women. She followed with great interest the Match Girls’ strike of 1888. Girls and women worked up to 14 hours a day in match factories for low pay, suffered ill health caused by the chemicals they used, and were threatened with fines for talking or going to the toilet without permission. More than a thousand women walked out on a strike that lasted for three weeks – the protest was one of several that inspired Emmeline. By 1889, Emmeline had helped to form the Women’s Franchise League in London – its main goal was to secure married women’s right to vote in local elections. The Pankhursts returned to Manchester in 1893 and it was then that Emmeline began establishing herself as an activist. Deeds not Words: the suffragette story Member exclusive | With their radical demands for votes for women, the suffragettes shook up Edwardian Britain. Their campaign for equal rights would see them not just ral…

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Anxieties of the Edwardian age
type: item
date: 2024-07-12T06:15:06.000Z
creator: Jon Bauckham
subject: Edwardian
subject: Membership
subject: Period
description: Alwyn Turner discusses life in Britain at the turn of the 20th century – an era of music halls, mass media and mixed feelings about the nation's future
encoded: The Edwardian era is sometimes regarded as an uneventful stopgap between the cultural and technological innovations of the Victorian period and the seismic shifts brought about by the First World War. But is this a fair assessment? Alwyn Turner talks to Jon Bauckham about what life was really like during the reign of Edward VII, and how anxieties about Britain's place in the world were beginning to take centre stage. Alwyn Turner is the author of Little Englanders: Britain in the Edwardian Era (Profile, 2024) Buy now on Bookshop.org Buy now on Amazon <a href="https://www.awin1.com/cread.php?id=489797&clickref=historyextra-269498&awinmid=3787&p=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.waterstones.com%2Fbook%2Flittle-englanders%2Falwyn-turner%2F9781800815308%23%3A%7E%3Atext%3DLittle%2520Englanders%253A%2520Britain%2520in%2520the%2520Edwardian%2520Era%2520%28Hardback%29%26text%3DReflecting%2520on%2520the%2520Edwardian%2520era%2Cthe%2520birth%2520of%2520modern%2520Britain.#:~:text=Little%20Englanders%3A%20Britain%20in%20the%20Edwardian%20Era%20(Hardback)&text=Reflecting%20on%20the%20Edwardian%20era,the%20birth%20of%20modern%20Britain." rel="sponsored" target="_blank">Buy now on Waterstones

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What was the Cat and Mouse Act? The reason why suffragettes were force-fed
type: item
date: 2024-07-10T09:47:17.000Z
creator: Professor June Purvis
subject: Edwardian
subject: First World War
subject: Period
subject: The Suffragettes
description: June Purvis considers the power of the hunger strike and the importance of this radical form of protest to the suffragettes' political arsenal
encoded: “They fed me five weeks by the nose and at the end of that time my nose what they called ‘bit’ the tube, and it would not pass into the throat even though they bent it and twisted it into all kinds of shapes. Instead, it went up to the top of my nose and seemed to pierce my eyes… Then they forced my mouth open by inserting their fingers and cutting my gums… and the lining of my cheeks… when I was blind and mad with pain they drove in two large gags. Then the tubes followed and they pressed my tongue down with their fingers and pinched my nose to weaken the natural, and also the purposeful, resistance of my throat.” This was how imprisoned suffragette Mary Richardson described one of the many times she was forcibly fed in 1914, after going on hunger strike. Her fate was that of many members of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), founded by Emmeline Pankhurst in October 1903 to campaign for the parliamentary vote for women in Britain. The WSPU, with its slogan ‘Deeds, not words’, became the most notorious of the women’s suffrage groupings, some one thousand of its members being imprisoned from 1905 to the outbreak of the First World War, in August 1914. A women-only organisation, the WSPU sought not just to end the discrimination that barred all females from their democratic right to elect a government but also to press for wider social reforms that would bring equality within the law, education and employment. Read more | How the battle for female suffrage in Britain was won Prior to the general election of 1906, which the Liberals were expected to win, the suffragettes engaged in non-violent actions to press their cause – such as assertive questioning of leading members of the Liberal Party and deputations to parliament. When a Liberal government was returned and Herbert Asquith, a renowned opponent of women’s suffrage, became prime minister in 1908, the fight for women’s enfranchisement became much harder. Banned from Liberal Party meetings, the suffrage…

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Marie Curie: a guide to the scientist's life, achievements and legacy
type: item
date: 2024-07-02T09:35:01.000Z
subject: Edwardian
subject: First World War
subject: Period
description: Hailed as a 'celebrity scientist' in her lifetime, Marie Curie was the first female to win the Nobel Prize in 1903 – for her pioneering research on radioactivity – and the first person to win a second Nobel Prize
encoded: Who was Marie Curie and what is she famous for? Marie Curie is a Polish-born physicist and chemist who is remembered for being the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize, in 1903 for her research into radioactivity. Curie later went on to win a second Nobel Prize, for chemistry, in 1911. She is still the only person to have won two Nobels in two different sciences. Born in Warsaw, Curie studied physics at university in Paris where she met her future research collaborator and husband, Pierre. Together they identified two new elements: radium and polonium, named after her native Poland. After he died, she raised a small fortune in the US and Europe to fund laboratories and to develop cancer treatments. Despite becoming ill from the radioactive materials she constantly handled, Curie never lost her determination to excel in the scientific career that she loved. Her memory is preserved by the cancer society that bears her name and continues to help terminally ill patients all over the world. Marie Curie's early life and education Marie Curie – or as she was named at birth, Marie Skłodowski – was born on 7 November 1867 in Warsaw, Poland. She was the youngest of five children. Both her parents, Władysław and Bronisława (née Boguska) Skłodowski, were prominent teachers in their local area. Her father taught physics and mathematics – subjects Marie would later pursue. Marie’s family was hit hard by the Polish national uprisings that broke out during the 19th century with the aim of restoring Polish independence. Her father was fired by his Russian supervisors for his pro-Polish beliefs, and the family was forced to take in lodgers in order to survive financially. Growing up in Warsaw in the 19th century, Marie displayed an interest in science from an early age. She excelled at boarding school and graduated with a gold medal from a gymnasium – a European form of grammar school – for girls in 1883. Despite not being allowed to attend the University of Warsaw owing to her …

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King Edward VII’s love chair: how did Dirty Bertie’s siège d’amour actually work?
type: item
date: 2024-06-27T14:35:03.000Z
subject: Edwardian
subject: Period
subject: Evergreen
description: Yes, King Edward VII really did have a specially made ‘love chair’ that he kept at a Paris brothel – but how did it work?
encoded: As a young man, the perpetually pleasure-seeking Albert, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) was responsible for commissioning arguably one of the most famous pieces of erotic furniture of all time – the love chair. It took the form of a brocade 'bunk bed' of stacking seats, complete with stirrups to hold the legs of not one, but two different partners. A threesome chair, if you will, designed for a royal with famously gargantuan sexual appetites. King Edward VII's love chair, known as the ‘siège d'amour’ in French, epitomised opulence and sensuality. And, possibly more importantly, it allowed the overweight king-to-be to have sex with two women at the same time without crushing them. Why did Edward VII need his love chair, or siège d’amour? It was a surprisingly beautiful piece of furniture, manufactured by Louis Soubrier, a famed cabinetmaker of the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine. Clearly there could be nothing but the best for a member of the British royal family. It's worth noting at this point that by the time of his coronation in 1902, King Edward VII had an impressive 48-inch waist and was clinically obese, a symptom of a life-long love affair with fine food and even finer alcohol. According to contemporary reports, the playboy Prince of Wales would regularly sit down to five meals a day, comprising mostly ten-course affairs. All of this was washed down with large volumes of fine wine and champagne, hence his rapidly expanding waistline. This is where the siège d'amour came in. Edward VII’s love chair: how did it work? The famous love chair, kept at the famed Parisian brothel Le Chabanais, allowed the unathletic Bertie to have relations with two women simultaneously, all with the minimum of effort to himself, or risk to them. It also ensured his stomach was kept out of the way. Read more | Sexing up history: how to study and tell the history of sex So, how did it work? Picture, if you will, the hedonistic Prince Albert (referred to as 'Dirtie Bertie' by th…

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Suffragettes history facts: 10 things you might not know about the Votes for Women campaigners
type: item
date: 2024-06-13T10:12:24.000Z
subject: 20th Century
subject: Edwardian
subject: First World War
subject: General Modern
subject: Period
subject: Victorian
subject: Historical people
subject: The Suffragettes
subject: Trends-News
description: Dr Jacqui Turner from the University of Reading reveals some lesser-known facts about the political movement
encoded: Passionate about women's rights, in 1903 the suffragettes of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) split from the suffragists of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) to follow the militant agenda 'deeds not words'. In the years that followed, these women took radical steps to force a change in the laws in Britain for women. But how much do we really know about the suffragettes? Read more | What was the difference between the suffragists and the suffragettes? 1. Women did not get the vote on the same terms as men in 1918 Many people assume that, as a direct result of women’s war work during the First World War, they were given the vote on equal terms to men. However, they were not. The Representation of the People Act of 1918 was primarily needed to resolve the issue of soldiers returning from service in the First World War who were not entitled to the vote, as they did not meet existing property qualifications. The 1918 act abolished almost all property qualifications for men over the age of 21 and gave the vote to women over 30 – but only if they met minimum property qualifications or were married to a man who did. Women could also vote as part of a university constituency if they were a university graduate. The age differential was to ensure that, following the loss of men in the war, women did not become the majority voters. After the act was passed, women made up 43 per cent of the electorate. Women were not given the vote on the same terms as men until a decade after the act was passed: on 2 July 1928, the Second Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Actwas passed into law. In a cruel twist of fate, Emmeline Pankhurst, leader of the militant WSPU, died on 14 June 1928, some 18 days before equal suffrage rights were granted. Deeds not Words: the suffragette story Member exclusive | The suffragettes' campaign for equal rights would see them not just rallying crowds with speeches and marching on the streets, but setting fire to…

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8 famous suffragettes and votes for women campaigners
type: item
date: 2024-06-13T08:32:28.000Z
creator: Ellie Cawthorne
subject: 20th Century
subject: Edwardian
subject: Period
subject: Historical people
subject: The Suffragettes
description: The Pankhursts and Millicent Fawcett were leading figures of the suffrage movement whose names are often invoked and remembered today. Here we take a closer look at eight other people who supported the campaign for women’s right to vote…
encoded: Lady Constance Lytton The aristocrat in disguise As the daughter of the Viceroy of India, Lady Constance Lytton (1869–1923) was born into a life of immense privilege. But her involvement in the women’s suffrage movement saw her swap palaces for prison cells. Lytton was converted to the cause after meeting suffragettes while campaigning for prison reform. Soon she was speaking across the country and petitioning her influential political connections on behalf of the Pankhursts. In 1909, Lytton was imprisoned in Holloway but was swiftly released when officers learned of her illustrious family background. In order to avoid similar special treatment on later arrests, Lytton adopted the alias Jane Warton, disguising herself as an “ugly London seamstress” during activities that might land her in prison, such as pelting MPs’ cars with stones. Lytton’s dedication to the cause ran so deep that she even attempted to carve the words ‘Votes for Women’ into her skin while in prison. However, after carving a letter ‘V’ over her heart, she was prevented from completing the job by prison doctors. In 1914, she published a book about her experiences of incarceration and force feeding, reflecting: “When the ghastly process was over, I tapped on the wall and called out... ‘No surrender’ and there came the answer past any doubt… ‘No surrender’.” Deeds not Words: the suffragette story Member exclusive | The suffragettes' campaign for equal rights would see them not just rallying crowds with speeches and marching on the streets, but setting fire to politicians’ homes and planting bombs in public places. Find out more in our podcast series: Deeds Not Words. Listen to all episodes now Sophia Duleep Singh The publicity-grabbing princess Princess Sophia Duleep Singh (1876–1948) didn’t fit the standard profile for a street-fighting political activist. Descended from Sikh royalty that had once ruled in northwest India, Sophia was a goddaughter of Queen Victoria and a fixture of the royal court. …

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Deeds not words | 1. Battlelines are drawn
type: item
date: 2024-06-13T06:00:33.000Z
creator: Ellie Cawthorne
subject: Edwardian
subject: Membership
subject: Period
description: We explore how calls for women’s suffrage reached boiling point in Edwardian Britain – and a dynamic new movement emerged to fight for the cause
encoded: In the opening episode of our new series on the suffragettes, Ellie Cawthorne charts how calls of “votes for women” reached boiling point in Edwardian Britain. Speaking to expert historians, she uncovers how a dynamic new movement was formed to campaign for women’s suffrage using “deeds not words”, and how it would go on to become locked in a bitter war of attrition with the British establishment. Want to hear more? Browse more episodes in this podcast series

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