Early comic panel illustration

England

Bishops tumble, with “popish” paraphernalia falling from their pockets, in a woodcut from a 1641 Puritan pamphlet titled 'A Decade of Grievances' (Photo by Bridgeman Images)

How people power fuelled England's century of chaos.

Replicas of necklaces belonging to Anne of Cleves, Henry VIII's fourth wife (Photo by Angela-Treasures For A Queen - Etsy)

Queens of bling: the importance of jewellery to Henry VIII's six wives.

A woman teaches a child to read in a 15th century depiction. The medieval period saw women challenge the male stranglehold on intellectual life, says Ian Mortimer (Photo by Marcello Fedeli / Electa / Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)

What does medieval mean? Why the Middle Ages was actually an age of transformation.

A woodcut from Frances Rose-Troup’s book about the Prayer Book Rebellion, in which some 4,000 people from Devon and Cornwall died (Photo by Collection PJ / Alamy Stock Photo)

The Prayer Book Rebellion: Mark Stoyle on how the 1549 rising almost changed Tudor history.

Wife of Bath

The Wife of Bath: how Chaucer's character gives a voice to medieval women.

A 1577 portrait of Arbella Stuart, great- great-granddaughter of Henry VII, as a toddler clutching a doll

What were the games and pastimes enjoyed by Tudor children?.

Which British monarch had the most successful coronation?

Which British monarch had the most successful coronation?.

Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

The real story of Bridgerton’s Queen Charlotte: from glittering courts to tragic decline

Low angle view of the Westminster Abbey

Why are British monarchs traditionally crowned in Westminster Abbey?.

What great paintings sayThe Ambassadors by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1533.

Stained glass in Exeter Cathedral depicting King Æthelstan. (Dreamstime)

The astonishing Æthelstan.

Ewan Horrocks as Aelfweard and Adrian Schiller as Aethelhelm in The Last Kingdom season 5

Ælfweard and Æthelstan: were they rivals for the throne of Wessex?

Picture of Throrolf slaying Earl Hring

The battle of Brunanburh: the forgotten fight that changed British history

Bamburgh Castle is an imposing coastal fortress in North-East England

General History

Bamburgh Castle: The Real Bebbanburg of The Last Kingdom

Penrhyn Castle, Gwynedd, Wales. (Photo by Getty Images)

Tales of romanceThe historical love stories behind 5 British castles.

Two women share a tender moment, c1902

Q&AHas it ever been a crime to be lesbian in England?.

Christmas merriment in an old English manor in the 1500s

How to host a medieval Christmas.

The characters Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim, from Charles Dickens's work 'A Christmas Carol'

Did Charles Dickens invent Christmas as we know it today?

The Great Smog of London: what caused the 1952 crisis?

Sæberht of Essex, who oversaw the building of London’s original church of St Paul’s (Photo by The Picture Art Collection / Alamy Stock Photo)

How to survive the Dark Ages in Britain: 6 crucial tips.

Photo of the display cabinet where the World Cup was stolen

What a pickle: how England lost, found and won the World Cup in a single year

This statue of Alfred the Great stands in Winchester, the former 'capital' of his kingdom (Photo by TonyBaggett via Getty Images)

What if...Alfred the Great lost to the Vikings at the battle of Edington?.

King Henry V (left) in a late-16th- or early 17th-century portrait by an unknown artist; and his son Henry VI (right) in a c1500s portrait (Photos by Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

Why Henry VI’s reign was such a disaster

The queen – dressed in dark clothing – stands up from a table to deliver a speech

Annus HorribilisWhat happened in the Queen’s horrible year?

Prime minister and king in black and white photo

Q&APrior to 2022, has there ever been a new monarch and prime minister in Britain in the same week?.

Harry Lloyd (Richard III) and Sally Hawkins (Philippa Langley) in The Lost King

The Lost KingThe difficult art of turning a true story into a movie

Photo of the Jarrow March

The Jarrow marchThe lasting legacy of the 1936 protest

The skeleton exhumed from beneath a Leicester car park in 2012. The remains contained features matching Tudor descriptions of Richard III, and injuries to the skull and body inflicted at the battle of Bosworth in 1485

Rediscovering Richard IIIThe story of how a lost king was found.

A missionary preaches to the Native Americans of Massachusetts, c1650. By now, colonists were imposing their values on the indigenous population, encouraging them to dress like the English – and worship the English God. (Photo by Ian Tyas/Keystone/Getty Images)

Britain's nuclear fearsHow has the UK prepared for Armageddon?.

Image of Empress Matilda

What if…Empress Matilda had defeated King Stephen?.