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Our composite image shows Henry II framed by an Arabic arch. Henry claimed he "would sooner accept the errors of Nur-al-Din" than suffer Thomas Becket remaining as archbishop. (Image by Bridgeman/Getty Images)

King Henry II: the Muslim monarch of medieval England?

Ramsay MacDonald, the first British Labour prime minister, pictured after the general election of 1931

A brief history of the Labour Party

Britons watch Queen Elizabeth II’s Christmas message in 1958. (© Topfoto)

A brief history of the Christmas Speech

The Tudors, everything you wanted to know.

Postcard of a group of men wearing identical clothing boarding a boat for a stag party, c1914. (Photo via Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images).

Stag nights and hen dos: a brief history of bachelor and bachelorette parties

Illustration of Boudica, victorious over the Romans

What if…Boudica had defeated the Romans?.

A portrait of Florence Nightingale

Nursing by numbers: how Florence Nightingale campaigned for better conditions.

Frances Griffiths poses with the fairies

Fairies, rabbit births and an 'ancient' tiara: what are the greatest historical hoaxes?

Portrait of Queen Anne

Queen Anne's reputation: why isn't she more fondly remembered?.

Two scenes from the Chronique de St Denis, late 14th century. The left-hand scene depicts the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Louis VII of France in 1137. The scene on the right shows Louis departing by ship to go on the Second Crusade in 1147. (Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

Eleanor of Aquitaine: the medieval queen who took on Europe’s most powerful men.

A portrait of the young Elizabeth I. (Photo by Art Collection 2/Alamy Stock Photo)

Elizabeth I's personality: the unfathomable queen

A woman in riding gear breaks out in a grin in the c1860s. "The 'WE are not amused' slogan has tarnished the Victorians for long enough," writes Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones. (Image by Mary Evans Picture Library)

Smiling Victorians: why it's a myth that our ancestors didn't smile for pictures.

The effects of the disease known as the Black Death

Black Death quarantine: how did we try to contain the most deadly disease in history?

The Normans: everything you wanted to know.

Illustration of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn on their wedding day

The royal weddings of Henry VIII: Alison Weir on what came before divorced, beheaded, died...

A portrait of Charles I. (Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

Has history been unfair to Charles I?.

Henry VIII

Q&AWhat was the Sweating Sickness? And how did Henry VIII ‘self-isolate’?

Children play as air raid wardens during the Blitz in London

Q&AHow did WW2 affect schools in London?.

PT Barnum and General Tom Thumb

The greatest show on earth? The myths of the Victorian freak show

Henry V. (© Lebrecht Music and Arts Photo Library / Alamy)

10 things you (probably) didn’t know about Henry V and the battle of Agincourt

Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Bennet

Jane Austen’s tips for “health and happiness”.

Scotland's cry for liberty: the Declaration of Arbroath.

The truth about Viking berserkers

Royal women podcast episodes

Misbehaviour at Miss World: what happened at the 1970 beauty pageant?

The congregation in Westminster Cathedral, London, during National Prayer Day, 7 September 1941. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Praying for Britain: the history of national days of prayer.

Illustration of Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19). (Photo by Alamy)

Coronavirus: what might we learn from pandemics in the past?.

Illustration of Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19). (Photo by Alamy)

Coronavirus: a historical perspective.

'The Poor Actress's Christmas Dinner', a painting by pre-Raphaelite artist Robert Braithwaite Martineau, says much about the way Victorians had begun to understand the problem of loneliness. (Photo by Bridgeman Art Library)

The invention of loneliness: why being 'unhappy alone' is a surprisingly modern idea.

A woman is carried away on a stretcher following a German bombing raid on London, c1940. (Photo by Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The dangers of the Blitz spirit.