Middle East

Katherine Pangonis chronicles the formidable line of female rulers that shaped the crusader states of the Holy Land in the 12th century

Rebels, hostages and diplomats: royal women of the crusader states

Alexander the Great on his horse, Bucephalus

Bucephalus: why is Alexander’s the Great’s horse famous?

A medieval illustration of women fighting and toiling alongside men during a siege

Crusader queens: the formidable female rulers of Jerusalem

A fanciful engraving imagines Peter the Hermit presenting Pope Urban II (centre) with a letter from Simeon II

Launching the First Crusade

Illustration of a mummy with mask

How to make an Egyptian mummy in 6 steps

The Trojan Horse – seen in the 2004 film Troy

How much of the legend of Troy is real?

UNSPECIFIED - CIRCA 1754: Bayeux Tapestry 1667: William the Conqueror's Norman cavalry setting out to meet Harold II's English forces, Battle of Hastings, 14 October 1066. Textile Linen (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

From the British Isles to Italy and Spain: how the Normans reshaped Europe

Cleopatra's face on a coin

The face of Cleopatra: was she really so beautiful?

Sculpture dedicated to king Leonidas of the Spartans in Thermopylae, Greece.

Sparta

Limestone relief depicting a a procession of courtiers paying homage to the Ahiram, king of the Phoenician city of Byblos

General ancient history

Your guide to... the Phoenicians

Michael Wood reveals how Hadrian, a little-known “man of Africa”, helped lay the foundations of English culture

The African who transformed Anglo-Saxon England

Illustration by Joey Guidone

The big question: has terrorism ever achieved its aims?

Illustration for BBC History Magazine.

How potatoes conquered the world

Dan Jones. (Photograph by Steve Sayers)

Exclusive podcast Dan Jones on the human stories of the crusades

Selim I

The extraordinary life of Sultan Selim I