The Bayeux Tapestry 2026

Posted on 28 August 2026 by ljones

This month, the Bayeux Tapestry returns to England for the first time since is was made, going on display at the British Museum for 10 months. The tapestry depicts the events of 1066, from the death of Edward the Confessor to the defeat of Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings, and the conquest of England by William the Conqueror.

Historians generally believe that the tapestry was commissioned by Odo, Bishop of Bayeux and half-brother of William. Analysis shows it was likely made by English women in Canterbury, before being sent back across the channel. It remained at Bayeux Cathedral, being brought out for one week each year until the 18th Century. In 1797, it was displayed at the Louvre, before being returned to Bayeux 7 years later. It’s current home is a purpose-built museum.

William prepares for battle at Hastings with his half-brothers, Bishop Odo, and Count Robert.

Our display seeks to give you a deeper look into the history of the tapestry itself, as well as biographies of the key figures around 1066. We have also picked some books which look at the broader context of the Norman conquest, and how life changed for Saxons in the decades following 1066.

Did you know?

Historians are unsure whether Harold died from an arrow to the eye, as is widely believed. The earliest source we have for this comes from a few decades after Harold’s death – all earlier sources claim he was hacked apart by a great number of soldiers. Even the Bayeux Tapestry’s depiction is a Victorian restoration; some believe he was originally holding a spear.

Physical resources from top left to bottom right: Edward the confessor : last of the royal blood by Tom Licence ; Conquered : the last children of Anglo-Saxon England by Catherine Eleanor Parker ; Authority, gender and space in the Anglo-Norman world, 900-1200 by Katherine Weikert ; Anglo-Saxon propaganda in the Bayeux tapestry by Meredith Clermont-Ferrand ; The Bayeux tapestry by Lucien Musset ; The Bayeux tapestry : the complete tapestry in colour by David M. Wilson ; Harold II : The Doomed Saxon King by Peter Rex ; The Battle of Hastings, 1066 by M.K. Lawson ; William the Conqueror by David Bates ; The moral economy of the countryside : Anglo-Saxon to Anglo-Norman England by Rosamond Faith ; The Bayeux tapestry and its contexts : a reassessment by Elizabeth Carson Paston, Stephen D. Whiten with Kate Gilbert ; The Normans : power, conquest and culture in 11th-century Europe by Judith A. Green ; King Harold II and the Bayeux Tapestry by Gale R. Owen-Crocker.

*The Design of the Bayeux Tapestry* by Gale R. Owen-Crocker

*An Archaeological Study of the Bayeux Tapestry* by Trevor Rowley

*The Queenship of Mathilda of Flanders c.1031-1083* by Laura L. Gathagan

*The Invention of Norman Visual Culture* by Lisa Reilly

*Conquests in Eleventh-Century England: 1016, 1066*, edited by Laura Ashe and Emily Joan Ward

*The Cambridge Companion to: the Age of William the Conqueror*, edited by Benjamin Pohl

*The Archaeology of the 11th Century*, edited by Dawn M Hadley and Christopher Dyer

International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples 2026

Posted on 31 July 2026 by ljones

The 9th of August celebrates the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. First announced by the UN General Assembly in 1994, the day aims to raise awareness of the needs of indigenous communities worldwide, celebrate indigenous contributions to culture and the environment, and mark the anniversary of the first meeting of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations in 1982.

We have selected a range of books to display in the Upper Gladstone Link of the Radcliffe Camera which cover indigenous communities from across the world and showcase the variety of cultures, languages, food, religion, and literature they have produced. From first hand accounts to collections of local legends and stories, we hope our display inspires interest and appreciation for the rich and varied indigenous cultures from across the world.

For further information and upcoming events, please visit the UN and UNESCO websites.

Resources from top left to bottom right: A revolution for our rights : indigenous struggles for land and justice in Bolivia, 1880-1952 by Laura Gotkowitz | With our labor and sweat : indigenous women and the formation of colonial society in Peru, 1550-1700 by Karen B. Graubart | We people here : Nahuatl accounts of the conquest of Mexico translated and edited by James Lockhart | Possessions : indigenous art, colonial culture by Nicholas Thomas | On our own ground : the complete writings of William Apess, a Pequot edited by Barry O’Connell | Bury my heart at Wounded Knee : an Indian history of the American West by Dee Brown | The heartbeat of Wounded Knee : native America from 1890 to the present by David Treuer | Indigenous citizens : Native Americans’ fight for sovereignty, 1776-2025 by Paul C. Rosier | The rediscovery of America : native peoples and the unmaking of U.S. history by Ned Blackhawk | Native nations : a millennium in North America by Kathleen DuVal | The Shona & Zimbabwe 900-1850 : an outline of Shona history by D. N. Beach | The Shona and their neighbours by D. N. Beach | Indigenous continent : a new history of America by Pekka Hämäläinen | A history of the peoples of Siberia : Russia’s north Asian colony, 1581-1990 by James Forsyth | The coming of the Maori by Peter Henry Buck (Te Rangi Hiroa) | The Maori : yesterday and to-day by James Cowan

Accessing these e-resource materials will require a Single Sign On (SSO) login for Oxford University members. External readers will need to log in with their Bodleian accounts while using the Bodleian libraries network (either the Bodleian Libraries Wi-fi network or using the reader PCs within the library).

The Festival of Archaeology 2026

Posted on 2 July 2026 by ljones

The Festival of Archaeology, held annually by the Council for British Archaeology, is an event that invites the public to participate in and learn about archaeological practices and discoveries in the UK.

The History Faculty Library is using this opportunity to highlight our collections focusing on archaeological discoveries in the UK, as well as British archaeological practices abroad. Please feel free to browse the display in the Upper Gladstone Link at the Radcliffe Camera, as well as the e-book display listed further below. Explore the realities of commercial archaeology in the UK with Paul Everill’s book here or read about the discovery of roundhouses built on slits over a river that collapsed in a catastrophic fire around 950 BCE in modern day Cambridgeshire here.

The books present on the physical display are as follows :

In Search of Cult: Archaeological Investigations in Honour of Philip Rahtz edited by M. Carver | Appropriated Pasts: Indigenous Peoples and the Colonial Culture of Archaeology by I. J McNiven | The Making of England: Anglo-Saxon Art and Culture, AD 600-900 edited by L. Webster and J. Backhouse | The Archaeology of Celtic Britain and Ireland, c.AD 400-1200 by L. Laing | Oxford Before the University: The Saxon and Norman Archaeology of the Thames Crossing, Defences and the Town by A. Dodd | The Staffordshire Hoard: An Anglo-Saxon Treasure by C. Fern | Archaeology in British Towns: From the Emperor Claudius to the Black Death by P. Ottoway | Gold, Gilt, Pots and Pins: Possessions and People in Medieval Britain by D. A. Hinton | An Archaeology of the Early Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms by C. J. Arnold | The Archaeology of Medieval England and Wales by J. Steane | Excavating Women: A History of Women in European Archaeology edited by M. Díaz-Andreu García and M. L. S. Sørenson | A Smith in Lindsey: The Anglo-Saxon Grave and Tattersall Thrope, Lincolnshire by D. A. Hinton | The Archaeology of Early Medieval Ireland by N. Edwards | Vikings in Scotland: An Archaeological Survey by J. Graham-Campbell and C. E. Batey | The Bretons by P. Galliou and J. Michael | Blood Red Roses: The Archaeology of a Mass Grave from the Battle of Towton AD 1461 edited by C. Knüsel, V. Fiorato, A. Boylston, A. W. Boardman

Accessing these e-resource materials will require a Single-Sign-On Login for Oxford University members. External readers will need to log in with their Bodleian accounts while using the Bodleian libraries network (either the Bodleian Libraries Wi-fi network or using the reader PCs within the library.)

Pride 2026

Posted on 2 June 2026 by ljones

This Pride month, the History Faculty Library has arranged a display commemorating the history of LGBT+ communities throughout the world. This display aims to address diverse experiences throughout the LGBT+ spectrum, as well as across many different cultures and time periods. The display can be browsed in the Upper Gladstone Link of the Radcliffe Camera, in addition to the collection of e-books which can be accessed by clicking on the book cover pictures further below.

Check out the events that are being held by Oxford University for pride by clicking here and scrolling to the second sub-section, or head to Oxford Pride to see the itinerary of events throughout Oxford and how to get involved.

Books featured on the display above, from left to right:
Before we were trans by Kit Heyam ; In her hands by Emma Day ; Haunted Bauhaus by Elizabeth Otto ; Queer Georgians by Anthony Delaney ; A black queer history of the United States by C. Riley Snorton and Darius Bost ; Lesbian intimacies and family life by Rebecca Jennings ; Histories of the transgender child by Jules Gill-Peterson ; Public faces, secret lives by Wendy L. Rouse ; Queen James by Gareth Russell ; The straight state by Margot Canaday.

Accessing the e-resource materials below will require a Single-Sign-On Login for Oxford University members. External readers will need to log in with their Bodleian accounts while using the Bodleian libraries network (either the Bodleian Libraries Wi-fi network or using the reader PCs within the library.)

Mental Health Awareness Week 2026

Posted on 4 May 2026 by ljones

This year, Mental Health Awareness Week runs from the 11^th to the 17^th of May, organised by the Mental Health Foundation. In support of this important campaign, the History Faculty Library’s book display features a collection of items on the history of mental health, in Britain and around the world, to showcase how our understanding of mental illness and wellbeing has developed differently across the globe.

Books featured on the display above, from left to right:
A history of male psychological disorders in Britain, 1945-1980 by Ali Haggett | Psyche on the skin : a history of self-harm by Sarah Chaney | Cultures of psychiatry and mental health care in postwar Britain and The Netherlands edited by Marijke Gijswijt-Hofstra and Roy Porter | The Routledge history of madness and mental health edited by Greg Eghigian | “Shattered nerves” : doctors, patients, and depression in Victorian England by Janet Oppenheim | Mad princes of renaissance Germany by H.C. Erik Midelfort | Madness, religion and the state in early modern Europe : a Bavarian beacon by David Lederer | Invention of hysteria : Charcot and the photographic iconography of the Salpêtrière by Georges Didi-Huberman ; translated by Alisa Hartz | Surfacing up : psychiatry and social order in colonial Zimbabwe, 1908-1968 by Lynette A. Jackson | Mass hysteria : medicine, culture, and mothers’ bodies by Rebecca Kukla | Remembrance of patients past : patient life at the Toronto Hospital for the Insane, 1870-1940 by Geoffrey Reaume | From swords to sorrow : homicide and suicide in early modern Stockholm by Arne Jansson

With Trinity Term upon us, now is a particularly relevant time to remind students of the array of mental health resources that they can access through the University and the Bodleian Libraries. You can find out more about available supportive resources here, and a list of wellbeing initiatives and activities currently running here. Additionally, the Oxford Student Union offers a wide range of advice and support, which can be found on their website.

We would also like to spotlight the wellbeing display in the Bodleian Old Library, which can be found outside the Upper Reading Room. This is a breakout space that offers a selection of poetry, self-help books and even a collection of zines, submitted by kind contributors both within and beyond the university. Do stop by when you need a peaceful moment away from your studies!

Accessing the following e-resource materials will require a Single-Sign-On Login for Oxford University members. External readers will need to log in with their Bodleian accounts while using the Bodleian libraries network (either with a device connected to the Bodleian Libraries Wi-Fi network or using the reader PCs within the library). Select a cover to be taken to that item’s SOLO page.

To add to our display, the following is a selection of more books on the history of mental health that are available to read online, in addition to a number of memoirs. Reading about others’ experiences begets greater understanding, and can help those struggling feel less isolated, hence these personal stories have been chosen to that end.

International Women’s Day 2026

Posted on 4 March 2026 by ljones

This March, to mark International Women’s Day 2026, the History Faculty Library’s book display shines a light on women whose lives, labour, and influence have too often been overlooked. The theme, untold and forgotten female histories, invites us to look beyond familiar names and stories, and to consider how history is shaped by power and access. These books challenge us to ask why so many women have been left out of historical narratives.

Among the works on display is The Graces: The Extraordinary Untold Lives of Women at the Restoration Court, which uncovers the political, cultural, and personal influence of women navigating the male-dominated world of seventeenth-century England. Similarly, Immaculate Forms: Uncovering the History of Women’s Bodies explores how women’s bodies have been understood, controlled, and represented across time, revealing the deep connections between gender, medicine, and social power. Together, these texts show how women’s experiences were central to historical change, even when they were excluded from official accounts.

We are also highlighting HFL’s online materials such as Thanks for Typing: Remembering Forgotten Women in History, dedicated to recovering the uncredited female contributions throughout history. From court insiders to clerical workers, these books and resources remind us that history is full of hidden lives waiting to be rediscovered.

This International Women’s Day, we invite you to explore the display, reflect on whose stories have been marginalised, and consider how recovering women’s histories can reshape our understanding of the past.

Books featured on the display above, from left to right:

Legenda : the real women behind the myths that shaped Europe by Janina Ramirez | Medieval women religious, c. 800-c. 1500 : new perspectives by Kimm Curran and Janet Burton | I am not afraid of looking into the rifles : women of the resistance in World War One by Rick Stroud | Femina : a new history of the Middle Ages, through the women written out of it by Janina Ramirez | The graces : the extraordinary untold lives of women at the Restoration court by Breeze Barrington | Not just a man’s war : Chinese women’s memories of the war of resistance against Japan, 1931-45 by Yihong Pan | La Duchesse : the life of Marie de Vignerot : Cardinal Richelieu’s forgotten heiress who shaped the fate of France by Bronwen McShea | Women, witchcraft and the Inquisition in Spain and the New World by María Jesús Zamora Calvo | Public faces, secret lives : a queer history of the women’s suffrage movement by Wendy L. Rouse | Immaculate forms : uncovering the history of women’s bodies by Helen King | Bringing home the White House : the hidden history of women who shaped the presidency in the twentieth century by Melissa Estes Blair.

These e-book resources can be accessed via SOLO, which will require an Oxford University SSO login. Alternatively, they can be used through a Bodleian reader account for external readers who can access the material by connecting to the Bodleian Libraries Wi-fi network or logging on to the reader PCs within the library.

LGBT+ History Month 2026

Posted on 4 February 2026 by ljones

With the start of February comes LGBT+ History Month in the UK, which was founded by the LGBT+ education charity Schools OUT in 2004. You can learn more about their history and work on their official website.

Here in the Radcliffe Camera, we have put together a display to celebrate this important period of observance, focused on the theme of ‘Science & Innovation’.

Our display covers multiple aspects of this theme: spotlighting the lives of queer scientists and other intellectuals, showcasing their work, as well as considering the harm and other discrimination LGBT+ people have faced in the medical world and beyond due to bias and prejudice or even just inadequate research. Therefore, our selection features varying topics.

You will find several biographies, as well as compiled letters, first-hand accounts and other writings from queer voices in these relevant spaces. There are stories from AIDS activists, collections of medical and social research over the years, and the published works of LGBT+ writers.

Examples include: gay rights activist Frank Kameny, an astronomer who was fired for his sexuality during the Lavender Scare; marine biologist Rachel Carson, the nature of whose relationship with Dorothy Freeman has been debated as a result of them destroying many of their letters before her death, and the contents of the correspondence that remains; Florence Nightingale and Leonardo da Vinci, two widely renowned figures who are believed to have been queer in some way.

Of course, most historic figures can only be speculated as LGBT+, given that the times and societies they lived in did not have the same standards and definitions we use today. Until recent years, it would be rare to find records of anybody identifying with specific queer terminology.

Interpretations are made based on their words and actions and relevant cultural context, and it’s important to remember that we can appreciate and identify with those that were likely queer without needing to assign strict labels. We encourage readers who are interested to have a look into these fascinating people themselves!

Books featured on the display above, from left to right:

Florence Nightingale : the woman and her legend by Mark Bostridge | The New Negro edited by Alain Locke ; with an introduction by Arnold Rampersad | Turing : pioneer of the information age by B. Jack Copeland | The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall ; with an introduction by Maureen Duffy | Silent Spring by Rachel Carson ; with an introduction by Caroline Lucas | Let the record show : a political history of ACT UP New York , 1987-1993 by Sarah Schulman | How to survive a plague : the inside story of how citizens and science tamed AIDS by David France | Before AIDS : gay health politics in the 1970s by Katie Batza | The Transgender Studies Reader 2 edited by Susan Stryker and Aren Z. Aizura | I’ll stand by you : selected letters of Sylvia Townsend Warner and Valentine Ackland with narrative by Sylvia Townsend Warner ; edited by Susanna Pinney | Leonardo : the artist and the man by Serge Bramly | Generation on fire : voices of protest from the 1960s : an oral history by Jeff Kisseloff

The Remedy : Queer and Trans Voices on Health and Health Care edited by Zena Sharman

Queer Science: The Use and Abuse of Research into Homosexuality by Simon LeVay

International Day of Education – 24th January 2026

Posted on 7 January 2026 by ljones

24^th January marks International Day of Education, with the theme for 2026 focusing on AI and education. To mark the occasion, our HFL book display highlights some historical research on access to education, and the development and dissemination of knowledge. Among these books are historical studies on segregated education, the impacts of war on learning, and AI technology in the classroom.

Alongside these historical perspectives, these books invite us to consider how today’s debates around artificial intelligence fit into longer histories of educational change and technological innovation. From the printing press to digital learning, new tools and perspectives have continually reshaped education and how we share knowledge. By exploring these books, we can place contemporary discussions about AI in education within a broader historical and social context of equitable access to quality education.