Early comic panel illustration

England

A watermill, with fish nets and eel traps visible beneath the waters of the mill leat Luttrell Psalter. England, c 1325-1335. (Photo by Alamy)

Medieval eels and Englishness

Emma Corrin as Princess Diana in season 4 of 'The Crown'. (Photo by Netflix)

The Crown S4 news: Netflix releases first images of Princess Diana and Margaret Thatcher

Welsh-born author Ken Follett, pictured at Hay Festival, Hay on Wye, UK, 2019. (Photo by Alamy)

Ken Follett’s Anglo-Saxon adventure

The African who transformed Anglo-Saxon England

Simon de Montfort and England’s First Revolution

The Mayflower

Enola Holmes (left to right): Henry Cavill as Sherlock Holmes, Millie Bobby Brown as Enola Holmes, Sam Caflin as Mycroft Holmes. (Photo by Robert Viglaski/Legendary)

From Enola Holmes to Fanny Dickens: recognising 5 historical women ‘overshadowed’ by their more famous brothers

The Spanish Princess Part II. (Image by Starz)

The real history behind The Spanish Princess

Portrait of Catherine of Aragon

Your guide to Catherine of Aragon: Henry VIII’s first wife and mother of Mary I

Pilgrim Fathers boarding the Mayflower

5 facts about the Mayflower

How did England react to the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in 1751? (Illustration for BBC History Magazine)

Q&ADid the introduction of the Gregorian calendar spark riots?

Elizabeth I knights Francis Drake on his ship Golden Hind after his round-the-world voyage. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

How did Elizabeth I feel about being queen in a 'man's world'? | Tracy Borman explains

Empress Matilda

Empress Matilda, daughter of Henry I: a queen in a king’s world

William Cecil, also known as Lord Burghley, with Queen Elizabeth I. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Your guide to William Cecil, chief adviser to Queen Elizabeth I

Elizabeth I, shown in a portrait commemorating victory over the Armada

Elizabeth I: a guide to her life and rule, plus 7 facts you might not know

It was the need for witnesses in divorce courts – ones who wouldn’t mind their names being linked to scandals, no less – that partly gave rise to female detectives. (Photo by Rischgitz/Getty Images)

Women detectives: meet the Victorian female super sleuths

c1954: A photo-fiction serial telling the story of a young couple on honeymoon in the South of France. The parts are played by actors Mark Hashfield and Simone Lovell. (Photo by Kurt Hutton/Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A brief history of honeymoons (and how the post-wedding holiday got its name)

Henry Fitzroy

Henry Fitzroy: how Henry VIII’s “bastard son” rocked the Tudor court

WW2 surrender signed, 2 September 1945

Second World War

How and when did WW2 end?

The 1851 Great Exhibition’s west wing

The 1851 Great Exhibition: inside the Victorian spectacle

The Hundred Years’ War: everything you wanted to know

Mary Toft, perpetrator of the 1726 hoax – in which she appeared to give birth to rabbits

The woman who gave birth to rabbits? How Mary Toft's hoax captured Georgian society

Edward the Confessor (Anglo-Saxon king of England from 1042) on his throne, as shown in the Bayeux Tapestry. (Photo by Getty Images)

Edward the Confessor

The Pilgrim fathers arrive at Plymouth, Massachusetts on board the Mayflower. (Photo by Harold M. Lambert/Kean Collection/Archive Photos/Getty Images)

"They decided that God must be leading them to North America": the Puritans journey to the Mayflower

The pilgrim fathers

Your guide to the Pilgrim Fathers, plus 6 interesting facts

Edward the Confessor, depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry

Edward the Confessor: 9 fascinating facts

A watercolour version of a mural showing Henry VIII (front left) with his father, Henry VII, his wife Jane Seymour (front right) and his mother, Elizabeth of York. The mural, which aimed to validate Henry's right to the throne, adorned Whitehall Palace before being destroyed by fire. (Photo by Bridgeman Royal Collection)

Henry VIII: confident young king or insecure son?

14th century miniature showing a child's baptism. (Photo by Getty Images)

Exclusive podcastWhat’s in a medieval name?

Top, left to right: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour. Bottom, left to right: Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, Katherine Parr.

Henry VIII’s six wives: your guide to the Tudor king's queen consorts

The real Harlots: Hallie Rubenhold on Covent Garden's courtesans