Europe

A depiction of the Norman army, from the Bayeux Tapestry

Everything you wanted to know about the 1066 Norman invasion and the battle of Hastings – but were afraid to ask

Engraving of emperor Commodus's death

Cheese, angry gods and shoddy surgeons: the unlikely deaths of Roman emperors

The Dance of Death

The Black Death and social change

Miniature from an Apocalypse of Cambrai depicting the opening of the sixth seal: an earthquake occurs and the sun becomes black. Municipal library, Cambrai, France. (Photo by Leemage/Corbis via Getty Images)

General ancient history

Written in the stars: 7 celestial events that may have changed history

Illustratuon of Elizabeth I in a cage

What if... The Spanish Armada had landed?

Self portrait by Artemisia Gentileschi as a lute player (Photo by Getty Images)

The genius of Artemisia

Children in Auschwitz

Second World War

The Windermere Children: the remarkable stories of 300 child survivors of the Holocaust

Tomb of Richard the Lionheart

How did Richard the Lionheart die? And where is he buried?

Viking women.(Illustration by Laura Grace Haines)

Viking women

An oil portrait of Charlemagne (c747–814), King of the Franks, by 15th/16th-century artist Albrecht Durer. (Photo by Archive Photos/Getty Images)

The legacy of Charlemagne: how the king of the Franks continues to cast a shadow over Europe

The British Museum in London

Virtual museum tours: how to explore the wonders of history from your home

The Resurrection of Jesus

Easter eggs, Jesus Christ and the Easter bunny: the history and origins of Easter

Steve McQueen stars in the 1963 film that turned the 'Great Escape' into a symbol of Allied pluck and ingenuity. (Image by Alamy)

Second World War

The not-so Great Escape

Frances Griffiths poses with the fairies

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

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