Slavery

The ship ‘Jesus of Lübeck’ was used in John Hawkins’ infamous early slaving voyages, some of which were sponsored by Elizabeth I. (Image by Alamy)

Were there slaves in Elizabethan England?

English admiral Sir Francis Drake (1540-1596), circa 1585. (Photo by Getty Images)

Francis Drake: slave trader

Francis Drake portrait

Francis Drake’s forgotten role in the English slave trade

A slave in chains expressing the inhumanity of slavery with the words 'Am I not a man and a brother?', 1774. (Photo by Getty Images)

8 podcasts about slavery and the slave trade to listen to right now

Emmett Till funeral

American spotlight: how today’s protests echo historical outrage

A slave in chains expressing the inhumanity of slavery with the words 'Am I not a man and a brother?', 1774. (Photo by Getty Images)

Britain and the slave trade

Podcast Website large Afua Hirsch

From Nelson to Churchill: challenging British heroes with Afua Hirsch

Men operate a cotton gin in Dahomey, Mississippi, in 1898

7 key questions about the transatlantic slave trade – answered

An African man after being liberated from a slave ship by the Royal Navy, 1871. In all, more than 12 million captives were loaded onto Atlantic slavers’ vessels. (Pictures from History/Bridgeman Images)

A brief guide to the transatlantic slave trade

1774: A slave in chains expressing the inhumanity of slavery with the words 'Am I not a man and a brother?'. (Photo by MPI/Getty Images)

Abolition in Britain: the link between slavery and the British national identity

Woodcut illustration of slave labour on a sugar plantation

Success, sugar and slaves: the uncomfortable story of slaveholder Simon Taylor

Olaudah Equiano (Photo by Getty)

General Early Modern

Who was Olaudah Equiano – and why was his story of slavery so important?

An 1826 illustration from 'The Black Man's Lament

David Olusoga: “Thousands of Britons opposed abolition – because they owned slaves”

Lemuel F Abbott's famous 1797 portrait of Horatio Nelson. In 1805, the British naval hero promised to speak publicly against the abolition of slavery, but was denied the opportunity by his death at Trafalgar later that year. (Picture by Alamy)

Lord Nelson and slavery: Nelson’s dark side

A scene from the Smithfield Decretals depicting a rabbit beheading a man. Rabbits seem to have a strange place in medieval imagery – and are depicted as having strangely violent tendencies.

Blog Medieval(ish) matters #5: chivalry, medieval killer rabbits and prisoners of war in the 15th century