People watching the Royal Wedding

United Kingdom

This print from 1807 shows John Bull sat between the rival singers Elizabeth Billington (left) and Angelica Catalani, who sing lines adapted from The Beggar’s Opera.

Sex, lies and arias: the prima donnas of Georgian London

Vintners in an ale house, 1642. From a broadsheet titled ‘Health to All’, artist unknown. (Photo by Historica Graphica Collection/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

Did Oliver Cromwell ban Christmas? The Puritan assault on Christmas during the 1640s and 1650s

St Columba. This Irish patron saint's influence on the Christian church was, and still is, felt much further afield

Medieval miracle worker: how St Columba transformed Christianity in Britain

HistoryExtra Masterclass: Tudor Royal Women with Tracy Borman

Tudor Royal Women with Tracy BormanThe Private Life of Elizabeth I

HistoryExtra Masterclass: Tudor Royal Women with Tracy Borman

Tudor Royal Women with Tracy BormanRivals to the Throne

HistoryExtra Masterclass: Tudor Royal Women with Tracy Borman

Tudor Royal Women with Tracy BormanWomen at Court

HistoryExtra Masterclass: Tudor Royal Women with Tracy Borman

Tudor Royal Women with Tracy BormanQueens Regnant

Black and white image of island prison, taken from the sky

The battle of Alcatraz, 1946: the most violent escape attempt in the prison’s history

What happened to Britain’s lost Roman legion?

Tom Smith's Surprise Cosaques, Christmas Crackers 1878. (Image by Getty)

The history of Christmas crackers

A 13th-century fresco showing Isabella of Angouleme, Eleanor of Aquitaine and two squires

Eleanor of Aquitaine: the worst royal mother-in-law?

England’s last witches

Hadrian’s Wall: everything you wanted to know

Froissart illustration of Hugh Despenser the Younger's execution by being hanged, drawn and quartered. Despenser is on a ladder, as a man beside him disembowels him and tosses his entrails into a fire

‘Godly butchery’: the horrifying history of hanging, drawing and quartering

Schoolchildren in Liverpool have their Christmas party in an air raid shelter built into a railway arch

What was Christmas like in Britain during WW2?

A woman slops here chamberpot from a window onto pedestrians in the street below in this woodcut

Were medieval cities really filthy?

The Normans had a profound influence on Britain – so why do we not speak French?

Still Life of Game Birds, oil on canvas. Birds such as goose, swan and peacock were often on the late medieval festive menu

The roasts of Christmas past: 5 festive dinners from British history

A woman on a bike cycles in front of a castle

General History

A real castle for Christmas: 5 places to explore and stay this festive season

British author Sathnam Sanghera

Sathnam SangheraBritain's Imperial Legacy: “It was painful to realise how my education had colonised me”

How Shakespeare inspired terrorists

Shakespeare's house in Stratford-Upon-Avon

Q&AWhy was Stratford-upon-Avon a hotbed of Confederate activity?

William Hogarth, seen in a self-portrait with his pug

William HogarthThe satirical artist inspired by the teachings of the Bible

Winston Churchill delivering his famous 'iron curtain' speech at Westminster College

Second World War

8 of Churchill’s greatest speeches

A 14th-century illustration of a farmer leading a pack animal through the ice and snow

The surprisingly modern Middle Ages

Shoppers in Liverpool during the 1960s

Q&AWhy is the shopping day after Thanksgiving called ‘Black Friday’?

Pragmatist or heartless? A portrait of the young Elizabeth Woodville (1437-1492). The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)

The power behind the throne: women in the Wars of the Roses

Woman waving a union jack flag emblazoned with a swastika

In pictures: Interwar fascism

A carving of the Viking gods Odin, Thor and Freyr with a sacrifice above them. It was found on the Swedish island of Gotland (Photo by: PHAS/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Gods, myths and rituals: what we know about Viking religious beliefs

Depiction of a musician and dancing fool in Paris, 14th century

What was life like for a court jester?