HistoryExtra
type: channel
link: https://www.historyextra.com
description: The official website for BBC History Magazine
date: 2025-08-24T21:18:04.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: Emma of Normandy: not just a two-time queen consort of England
items: The Bayeux Tapestry is finally coming home to Britain – and you can see it next year
items: The first ‘catastrophic’ Dunkirk: why the British Army fled to the sea in a deadly 19th-century retreat
items: Was Gilles de Rais really history’s first recorded serial killer?
items: England’s forgotten medieval hero: how John, Duke of Bedford carried on Henry V's fight
items: “The reverberations lasted for generations” | Matthew Gabriele and David M Perry on the civil war of Charlemagne's grandsons
items: The madcap Paris Olympics: the chaos that nearly derailed the 1900 Games
items: Catherine de Medici: the ‘Serpent Queen’ who became one of France’s most powerful 16th-century rulers
items: Marie Curie: a guide to the scientist's life, achievements and legacy
items: Oradour-sur-Glane massacre: the brutal SS atrocity that still haunts France

Emma of Normandy: not just a two-time queen consort of England
type: item
date: 2025-08-24T20:02:16.000Z
subject: Anglo-Saxon
subject: Early medieval
subject: Period
subject: Viking
subject: Historical people
subject: Trends-Entertainment
subject: Viking Britain
description: Emma of Normandy was queen consort to two of England’s best known pre-Conquest kings, Æthelred the Unready and Cnut the Great. But she was also a savvy political player who came into her own as queen mother, writes Dr Cat Jarman
encoded: Emma of Normandy is best-known as being queen consort to two kings – Æthelred the Unready and Cnut the Great – and the mother of two more, Harthacnut and Edward the Confessor. She was the daughter of Richard I (the Fearless) of Normandy and the Danish-descended Gunnor. She is also a pivotal character in King and Conqueror, the BBC's Norman Conquest drama, which paints Emma as a dominating force over her son King Edward – which leads to a very ahistorical demise – and in Netflix's Vikings: Valhalla, where she is portrayed as a politically-savvy queen wielding quiet power in the English court, often working to subvert the machinations of the ever-grasping Earl Godwin. Who was Emma of Normandy? Emma was one of nine children and most likely born in the AD 980s. A daughter of the Norman dukes, she was the great-granddaughter of the Viking warrior Rollo, the founder of Normandy who hailed from either Norway or Denmark. This made her of Scandinavian ancestry on both sides of the family. She was also the great-aunt of William the Conqueror. In the words of Godfrey, prior of Winchester’s cathedral monastery, writing in the 11th century: “She had kings as sons and kings as husbands; she shone forth in the glory of her progeny of kings; she excelled in virtue even the ranks of her glorious ancestors.” Emma of Normandy's first marriage: Æthelred the Unready In 1002, probably aged in her late teens or early 20s, Emma was sent to England to marry King Æthelred, as his second wife. The marriage was clearly a strategic one, aiming to strengthen an alliance between England and Normandy in light of harrowing attacks on both English and Norman shores by Scandinavian raiders. Æthelred had apparently accused Emma’s brother, Duke Richard II, of harbouring the Vikings and enabling their attacks, and the marriage was designed to ensure his allegiance. Read more | Aethelflaed: who was the warrior queen who crushed the Vikings? Their union was an unusual one, as although several English prin…

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The Bayeux Tapestry is finally coming home to Britain – and you can see it next year
type: item
date: 2025-07-08T16:00:59.000Z
creator: Dr David Musgrove
subject: Medieval
subject: Period
subject: Discover / Apple News
description: With the loan of the Bayeux Tapestry to the UK confirmed, David Musgrove explains the historical significance of the embroidery’s potential arrival on British soil…
encoded: The Bayeux Tapestry – the near 70-metre long, 11th-century embroidery that tells the story of the Norman Conquest – looks set to be finally coming to Britain, loaned from France in exchange for a loan of the Lewis Chessmen and the treasures of Sutton Hoo. The embroidery is expected to be displayed in the British Museum between September 2026 and July 2027, and holds the promise of being one of the biggest historical exhibitions ever staged on these shores, rivalling the blockbuster Tutankhamun show at the British Museum in 1972. Many scholars are in agreement that the Tapestry was originally made in the 11th century, not too long after the Norman Conquest in 1066, in England, and likely by English seamstresses in Canterbury. It has, however, been in Bayeux since at least the 15th century. Today, the artefact is the property of the French state. The news that British and French authorities had agreed that the Tapestry would come to the UK was initially made public in January 2018, and, speaking on 5 May 2025, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told HistoryExtra and BBC History Magazine that civil servants were still working on the loan. "The Bayeux Tapestry is a unique treasure,” said the Prime Minister, “and a symbol of the deep ties between Britain and France." "The conservation and protection of it is obviously crucial, and I know that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport continues to work closely with their counterparts in France on the planned loan." The loan coincides with the temporary closure of the Bayeux Tapestry's permanent home in Normandy, the Bayeux Tapestry Museum, while it undergoes refurbishment. That work includes an exciting plan to add an extension to the current 17th-century seminary building in which the Tapestry has been housed since 1983, and is scheduled to be completed by autumn 2027 – in time for the millennial commemorations of the birth of William the Conqueror. Following the announcement of the loan, the director of the British Museu…

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The first ‘catastrophic’ Dunkirk: why the British Army fled to the sea in a deadly 19th-century retreat
type: item
date: 2025-04-18T14:31:50.000Z
subject: Membership
subject: Period
description: During the harsh winter of 1808, a small force of British soldiers found itself strategically outflanked by a French army commanded by none other than Emperor Napoleon. Under the leadership of Sir John Moore, they embarked on a desperate retreat across the snow-laden and icy landscapes of northern Spain, seeking safety and survival. Matthew Doherty tells their story…
encoded: On Christmas Eve 1808, a British army in Spain was marked for annihilation. For the past week, around 25,000 British soldiers had been skirmishing against elements of the French Grande Armée, and had got the better of their opponents during the series of small engagements. But now their commander, General Sir John Moore, ordered them to run away. It was a tough pill to swallow for the proud British. The grumbling began almost immediately. “Why won’t Moore let us fight them?” was the cry heard by many a British officer from his men. But Moore had the full picture and knew that even his tough little army could never hope to take on the masses of French troops storming towards him. Worse still, the dreaded Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was at their head, eager to destroy the hated British. A relentless pursuit For Napoleon, Spain was a backwater – a minor player in modern European politics. Yet it could not simply be ignored. Sharing a border with France made it an ideal staging post for British military expeditions aimed at bringing down his imperial rule, and so in the winter of 1808, Napoleon attempted to conquer Spain and eject the British army from the continent. Napoleon knew that making a terrible example of Moore’s force would further isolate his Spanish adversaries and bring their uncooperative junta government to heel. What was the Peninsular War? The Peninsular War (1808-1814), a key part of the Napoleonic Wars, saw British, Spanish, and Portuguese forces fight against the invading First French Empire in the Iberian Peninsula, ultimately contributing to Napoleon's downfall. Sir John Moore was a veteran of several hard-fought campaigns in the Caribbean and Ireland. He had a deep love for the British army. Indeed, it is Moore’s humanity that shines through much of his personal correspondence. Historian Arthur Bryant described him as a man who held true to the belief that “the British soldier could be made perfect by evoking all that is finest in man – physical, m…

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Was Gilles de Rais really history’s first recorded serial killer?
type: item
date: 2025-03-07T08:34:29.000Z
creator: Jonny Wilkes
subject: Medieval
subject: Period
description: The Baron of Retz and veteran of the Hundred Years’ War confessed to monstrous crimes of torturing and murdering children. Arrested in 1440, he was found guilty, and executed. So is there reason to believe he was innocent?
encoded: Sometimes referred to as one of history’s first recorded serial killers, Gilles de Rais, the Baron of Retz, was executed in October 1440 for the murders of at least 140 children. Whether he was actually guilty, however, remains a matter of debate. Who was Gilles de Rais? Born in c1404, Rais came into his title while still a child, making him one of the most powerful nobles in Brittany and among the wealthiest in all of France. And if a fortune built from the combined wealth of the House of Laval on his father’s side and House of Croan on his mother’s was not enough, he would also marry an extremely wealthy distant cousin. In his youth, he embarked on a military career and was thrust into fighting the English in the Hundred Years’ War. Building a reputation for himself, he served side-by-side with none other than Joan of Arc, including at her famous lifting of the siege of Orleans in 1429. Later that year, whilst still in his twenties, Rais was appointed Marshal of France by the newly crowned King Charles VII. In the aftermath of Joan of Arc’s execution, Rais stepped away from the army and returned to his estate in Brittany. He reportedly spent huge sums of money on maintaining his household, and as a patron to musicians and writers. His family feared that he was emptying the coffers so much that they sought help from the king, who passed a decree preventing Rais from selling his lands. What were Gilles de Rais’ crimes? It was also around this time that he supposedly committed his horrific crimes. He became fascinated with the occult and befriended a cleric named Prelati, who helped in Rais’ attempts in alchemy and the summoning of demons. More disturbingly, rumours began to swirl about missing children in his lands. Some had even been seen approaching the gates of his castle in order to beg for food or coins, never to be seen again. Upon investigation, Rais was arrested in September 1440, accused of – among other crimes, such as heresy and sodomy – the abduction, to…

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England’s forgotten medieval hero: how John, Duke of Bedford carried on Henry V's fight
type: item
date: 2025-02-20T16:52:50.000Z
creator: Joanna Arman
subject: Medieval
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Hundred Years War
subject: Joan of Arc
subject: Medieval battles
subject: Medieval kings and queens
description: When the Hundred Years’ War was reaching a climax, one man was fighting tenaciously to secure the English claim to the French crown. So why, asks Joanna Arman, is Henry V’s formidable brother, John, Duke of Bedford, not better known?
encoded: As black skies faded to grey, and dawn broke on that fateful day in the early 15th century, an English army gazed across a field in northern France. What their eyes encountered was a vastly superior force: some 15,000 French-led troops glared back – their numbers nearly double those of England’s men-at-arms and archers. The English had faced seemingly insuperable odds before, and emerged victorious. But could they really triumph over this well-armed force bolstered by fearsome international allies? The Hundred Years’ War had been raging for close to a century already, with negotiations between England and France coming and going – but all ultimately failing to decisively end the conflict. The balance of military success had swung one way and then the other in clashes on land and, occasionally, at sea. Read more | Jonathan Sumpton on the Hundred Years’ War: “It was Joan of Arc who persuaded the French that they could win” Many confrontations had ended with English longbowmen proving decisive. But as morning ebbed and the afternoon rolled on, the outcome remained uncertain. Finally, battle commenced – and the English won a great and memorable victory against the odds. Sounds familiar? No, this is not a description of the battle of Agincourt, Henry V’s famous victory of 1415. Instead, it’s the story of the clash fought on 17 August 1424 – nearly nine years after Agincourt, and two after Henry’s death – outside the town of Verneuil-sur-Avre in Normandy. Here, the English army led by Henry’s younger brother John, Duke of Bedford, hammered a combined force of French and Scottish solders plus 2,000 Milanese heavy cavalry, killing perhaps 6,000 enemy troops while suffering minimal losses. Historians refer to the battle of Verneuil as ‘the second Agincourt’ – yet that clash, like John himself, is largely forgotten today. Why has such a heroic victory faded from memory? And what part did John play in that tumultuous period of English and French history? Born to battle We’ll r…

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“The reverberations lasted for generations” | Matthew Gabriele and David M Perry on the civil war of Charlemagne's grandsons
type: item
date: 2025-01-23T12:18:07.000Z
creator: Dr David Musgrove
subject: Early medieval
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Medieval battles
description: David Musgrove talks to Matthew Gabriele and David M Perry about the ninth-century civil war among Charlemagne’s grandsons, which shook the empire to its core and reshaped Europe
encoded: David Musgrove: Let’s begin with the battle of Fontenoy in AD 841. What happened there and why was it so important? Matthew Gabriele: Fontenoy is nowadays just a small village lying a little south-west of the city of Auxerre in central France. Even in the 840s, it wasn’t particularly significant. But it was there that a civil war erupted between the grandsons of Charlemagne, who were fighting about the fate of the Carolingian empire. After the death of their father, Louis the Pious, on 20 June 840, the three surviving brothers gathered at Fontenoy. Lothar, the eldest and the Frankish co-emperor, was trying to stitch the partitioned empire back together; his younger brothers, Louis the German and Charles the Bald, had their own claims. Lothar was joined by his nephew, Pepin II of Aquitaine, the son of another brother, also Pepin, who had died in 838. The three brothers and their nephew basically argued about the form that the empire should take. Should it be coherent and unified under Lothar, or would Charles and Louis be able to function as independent kings in their own domains? This dispute boiled over into a massive, bloody battle fought on 25 June 841. For most medieval battles, we have just a sense of where and when they were fought. For this clash, though, we have very specific details of the day and the time when the battle started, as well as the location. That’s because – as we argue at the start of our new book – it was so horrifying for everybody involved. It shook the empire and its participants to their core, creating reverberations that lasted for generations. What’s the backstory to the dispute? Matthew Gabriele: The Franks rose to power in the fifth and sixth centuries when, after interacting with the Romans for a long time, they were finally able to establish their own realm. The resulting empire was ruled for several centuries by a dynasty called the Merovingians. They were supplanted in 751 in a coup d’état by high nobles who started a new dynasty…

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The madcap Paris Olympics: the chaos that nearly derailed the 1900 Games
type: item
date: 2024-07-25T13:43:07.000Z
subject: 20th Century
subject: Membership
subject: Period
description: As Paris prepares to stage the Summer Olympics, David Goldblatt describes how the 1900 Games – the first held in the French capital – almost defeated the Olympic ideal before it was even out of the starting blocks
encoded: To treat these events as world’s championships would be really an insult to the important events they are supposed to be. They are treated by most of the competitors as A HUGE JOKE.” That was the verdict of Australian sprinter Stanley Rowley on the Paris Olympics of 1900 – and he’d just won four medals. This summer, the world’s finest athletes will converge on the French capital once again for the latest edition of the sporting behemoth that is the Summer Olympics. In many ways, the competition will be returning home: the French capital may not have hosted the first modern Games, but it was unquestionably its birthplace. And, as Rowley’s words reveal all too clearly, that birth was a painful one. Read more | A history of unsporting conduct at the Olympics In 1892, Pierre, Baron De Coubertin – then a little-known French sports administrator – organised a symposium at the city’s Sorbonne University, where he called for the revival of the ancient Greek Olympic Games in modern form. Two years and a lot of hustling later, De Coubertin held a full-blown conference, again in Paris, at which leading figures in the world of gentlemanly amateur sports gathered. It was here that they agreed to create an International Olympic Committee (IOC) and stage the first modern games, to be held in Athens in 1896. Just 241 athletes made it to the Greek capital, competing in only nine sports. But that those Games happened at all after a hiatus of 1,500 years was remarkable. De Coubertin had rather higher hopes for the second edition of the modern Olympics, to take place in 1900, when the host city would be the French capital. De Coubertin had long envisaged that the Paris Games would serve as the triumphant sporting component of the Exposition Universelle – the greatest of the world’s fairs of the belle époque – held that year in the city. What transpired instead was a shambolic melange of spats, misunderstandings, false starts and apathy that almost crushed the Olympic ideal before it ha…

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Catherine de Medici: the ‘Serpent Queen’ who became one of France’s most powerful 16th-century rulers
type: item
date: 2024-07-15T10:25:49.000Z
subject: Period
subject: Renaissance
subject: Tudor
subject: Historical people
subject: Trends-Entertainment
description: Often regarded as brutal and calculating, the powerful Catherine de Medici is much maligned. But how should we regard her actions and power? Estelle Paranque considers the life and legacy of the fascinating royal, from her historical unpopularity to her influence on the history of Europe…
encoded: Catherine de Medici was never meant to be queen. The ‘orphan of Florence’ suffered more losses during her childhood than most people do in a lifetime. Yet fate struck, and the ‘duchessina’ – as she went on to be called by the Florentine people – ended up marrying into the French royal family. Little did she know that, one day, she would become queen of France. We bring you the key facts about the woman who became known as 'the Serpent Queen'… Who was Catherine de Medici? Born: 13 April 1519, Republic of Florence Died: 5 January 1589, France Parents: Lorenzo de Medici, Duke of Urbino, and Madeleine de La Tour d’Auvergne Known for: Being the queen mother of France during the reign of her three sons Husband: Henry II of France Children: 10, including Francis II of France; Charles IX of France; Henry III of France; Margaret of Valois and Francis, Duke of Anjou Legacy: Catherine de Medici’s legacy is controversial. On the one hand, she is remembered for being one of the most powerful French queens of the early modern period. On the other, none of her sons were able to secure the dynasty and, ultimately, she was blamed for many of the atrocities that occurred during their reigns. Catherine de Medici’s family and upbringing Catherine was born in Florence on 13 April 1519 to Lorenzo de Medici, the ruler of the kingdom of Florence, and his wife Madeleine de La Tour d’Auvergne. Within three weeks of her birth, Madeleine died from a violent fever and Catherine was left without a mother. Shortly afterwards, her father, who was also the Duke of Urbino, had to defend the region after it was attacked by Francesco Maria, a former duke of Urbino who had plotted his revenge during a vulnerable time for Lorenzo’s family. Lorenzo sustained injuries in the town’s defence and died of his wounds amid other disease complications in May 1519. Despite relatives who stepped in to look after Catherine after the death of her parents, the little duchess was now alone in the world; nothing could …

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Marie Curie: a guide to the scientist's life, achievements and legacy
type: item
date: 2024-07-02T09:35:01.000Z
subject: Edwardian
subject: First World War
subject: Period
description: Hailed as a 'celebrity scientist' in her lifetime, Marie Curie was the first female to win the Nobel Prize in 1903 – for her pioneering research on radioactivity – and the first person to win a second Nobel Prize
encoded: Who was Marie Curie and what is she famous for? Marie Curie is a Polish-born physicist and chemist who is remembered for being the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize, in 1903 for her research into radioactivity. Curie later went on to win a second Nobel Prize, for chemistry, in 1911. She is still the only person to have won two Nobels in two different sciences. Born in Warsaw, Curie studied physics at university in Paris where she met her future research collaborator and husband, Pierre. Together they identified two new elements: radium and polonium, named after her native Poland. After he died, she raised a small fortune in the US and Europe to fund laboratories and to develop cancer treatments. Despite becoming ill from the radioactive materials she constantly handled, Curie never lost her determination to excel in the scientific career that she loved. Her memory is preserved by the cancer society that bears her name and continues to help terminally ill patients all over the world. Marie Curie's early life and education Marie Curie – or as she was named at birth, Marie Skłodowski – was born on 7 November 1867 in Warsaw, Poland. She was the youngest of five children. Both her parents, Władysław and Bronisława (née Boguska) Skłodowski, were prominent teachers in their local area. Her father taught physics and mathematics – subjects Marie would later pursue. Marie’s family was hit hard by the Polish national uprisings that broke out during the 19th century with the aim of restoring Polish independence. Her father was fired by his Russian supervisors for his pro-Polish beliefs, and the family was forced to take in lodgers in order to survive financially. Growing up in Warsaw in the 19th century, Marie displayed an interest in science from an early age. She excelled at boarding school and graduated with a gold medal from a gymnasium – a European form of grammar school – for girls in 1883. Despite not being allowed to attend the University of Warsaw owing to her …

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Oradour-sur-Glane massacre: the brutal SS atrocity that still haunts France
type: item
date: 2024-06-10T11:07:55.000Z
creator: Robert Pike
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
description: On the morning of 10 June 1944, the residents of Oradour-sur-Glane were going about their lives as normally as was possible in occupied France: cooking, washing, shopping, playing. Little did they know that they were about to become the victims of one of the most infamous massacres of the Second World War
encoded: The clouds had gathered over Oradour-sur-Glane on the morning of 10 June 1944, and rain threatened. At la Grange de Boeil, a hamlet nearby, Denise Bardet rose in the farmhouse she shared with her younger brother Camille and their mother Louise, a widow. It was a Saturday, and Denise’s 24th birthday. She would be spending it teaching at Oradour’s girls’ school but planned to pedal the short journey home for a brief celebratory lunch with her mother. In the centre of the village, another resident named Odette Bouillière was sorting through what had been brought into the local post office. Odette lived in the upstairs flat overlooking Oradour’s own small tram station. Her mother was staying with her for the weekend, as was her 12-year-old nephew, Robert. By mid-morning, the early summer warmth had burnt away the rainclouds. Weekend visitors from the nearby city of Limoges had arrived by tram, and as was the norm, everybody settled down for the customary long lunch. Minds turned to what the afternoon might hold. The people at their tables in the lower part of the village, near the river, were the first to hear a low rumble coming from the direction of Limoges and St-Victurnien. Villagers went into the street to watch as a procession of German vehicles carrying around a hundred men crossed the bridge spanning the river Glane. As they passed, the soldiers surveyed the shops and houses along Oradour’s main street. Shutters closed while shopkeepers and curious onlookers gazed on in a mix of confusion, fear and curiosity at the strange convoy which wound its way uphill, leaving the lower village with its market hall and church behind it. Robert Hébras, who worked in Limoges and was used to seeing Germans every day, reassured his friends that this would be no more than an identity check. Many others, however, had not seen a German soldier since the beginning of the occupation. Nobody in the village knew that a perimeter had already been established which took in all the neare…

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