Painting of a European marketplace

Europe

Pope John XVII

Has there ever been a married Pope?

Confronting a dark past.

A despatch rider during WW1, as featured in new Sam Mendes film '1917'

First World War

The real trench runners of WW1

Peronne, March 1917

Operation Alberich: the story of Germany’s retreat in 1917.

Edvard Munch's painting 'Love and Pain'

The Vampyre stirs: 200 years of vampire entertainment.

French prime minister Georges Clemenceau (left), US president Woodrow Wilson (centre) and British PM David Lloyd George at the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in June 1919. The treaty's provisions have been blamed for causing the Second World War. (Image by Topfoto)

First World War

Did the Versailles peace treaty trigger another world war?

From Allies to enemies.

The filthy Middle Ages?.

Setting a trap: East German soldiers construct the Berlin Wall, 13 August 1961. The barrier was an attempt to stop the flood of Germans fleeing from east to west – yet, as scores of audacious escape bids attest, it didn't entirely succeed. (Photo by Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)

Escape from East Berlin: an audacious bid to tunnel under the Berlin Wall.

Jumping beans, throwing shoes and weather forecasting: medieval ways to look ahead to the New Year.

Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini give a fascist salute

A dictator’s death: how Stalin, Hitler, Mao and other self-styled strongmen met their ends.

Politics, Roman style.

Stretcher bearers at Passchendaele

The forgotten triumphs of Passchendaele.

Eleanor of Aquitaine: myth and reality.

A portrait of Louis XIV in 1701.

From musketeers to Macron: 10 remarkable facts about the Sun King, Louis XIV

The Cunard liner Lusitania

How did Britain react to the sinking of the Lusitania?.

Queen Elizabeth I

"All unperfect and incorrect”: Tracy Borman on the discovery of an Elizabethan gem.

Ragnar Lothbrok. (Illustration by Georgie Gozem for BBC History Magazine)

Ragnar Lothbrok: the legend of the immortal Viking and his sons

Edwardian hat pin head found on the Thames shore. (Photo by Bloomsbury)

Secrets of the river.

A statue of Leif Eriksson, Erik the Red's son, who sailed to North America, c1000 AD. (Image by RF/Getty Images)

Russia, North America and the Middle East: where did the Vikings visit to trade and raid?.

A medieval new England: the Anglo-Saxons’ eastern odyssey.

Einstein on the run

Einstein on the run: when the brilliant scientist fled to England.

A c1880 Christmas card shows a frog committing murder

Carrots, goblins and killer frogs: an unexpected history of Christmas.

Oskar Schindler, who prevented hundreds of Jews from being murdered in the Holocaust

History heroSimon Reeve chooses Oskar Schindler (1908–74).

Few war leaders have been more profoundly steeped in history than Winston Churchill, who drew inspiration from his ancestor – and one of Britain's most celebrated generals – the Duke of Marlborough (left). (Images by Getty Images/Bridgeman

Sending history into battle: the lessons that war leaders have tried to learn from the past.

A portrait of Isabella I of Castile. (Photo by PHAS/UIG via Getty Images)

Isabella I of Castile: Europe’s greatest queen?

Viking ships arriving in Britain, c1130. (Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty

From the raid on Lindisfarne to Harald Hardrada's defeat: 8 Viking dates you need to know

Charles I's great weakness was that he made a strict distinction between his role as king, in which he could not compromise, and his personal role, which was entirely pleasant and courteous, says Sean Lang. (Photo by Imagno/Getty Images)

8 of the nicest kings in history

Sir Anthony Blunt, British art historian and Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures

Who was Sir Anthony Blunt and the Cambridge Five? Plus 4 others who spied for the Soviets

Is the world still living in the shadow of the crusades?