Spain

From left to right: Queen Isabella of Castile; French regent Anne de Beaujeu; and Catherine of Aragon. (Photos by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/DeAgostini/Imagno/Getty Images)

Game of Queens: when women ruled Renaissance Europe

Brothers in arms Louis IX on his way to the Seventh Crusade, 1248. The French king kept his three brothers onside – preventing any potential family infighting – by providing them with huge lordships. (Photo by Leemage/Corbis via Getty Images)

How to run a medieval dynasty: survival secrets of ruling royal families

John of Gaunt shown in a c16th-century portrait

John of Gaunt: The man who would be king

Rebecca Simon responds to your questions on the ‘golden age’ of piracy, when bands of buccaneers menaced the high seas, preying on merchant vessels.

The golden age of piracy: everything you wanted to know

Mutiny at sea: the forgotten story of murder and brutality aboard HMS Wager

Portrait of John of Gaunt

John of Gaunt: father of England’s medieval monarchy and self-styled Spanish king

Black and white photo of a group of women marching while holding a sign saying 'International Women's Day'

A brief history of International Women’s Day: what is it and why do we celebrate it?

Nelson's passion for Emma – with whom he had a six-year affair – is writ large in his letters

Nelson in his own words

Giles Tremlett discusses how more than 35,000 volunteers from across the globe fought against fascism in the Spanish Civil War. (Image by Getty Images)

The International Brigades: fighting fascism in Spain

Podcast Helen Berry WL

The orphan hero who fought at Trafalgar

Elena Woodacre on the HistoryExtra podcast

Tudor queens on screen

A portrait of Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII's first wife. Henry and Catherine's marriage was a happy one, until their failure to produce a male heir began to cast a long shadow. (Photo by The Print Collector/Getty Images)

Catherine of Aragon: Henry’s greatest queen

A painting of 1616 depicts the Moriscos boarding ships to sail from the port of Valencia

The 17th-century expulsion of the Moriscos from Spain: what happened?

Actor Stephanie Levi-John as Lina in 'The Spanish Princess'

Catalina: the real history of The Spanish Princess favourite

In 802 Charlemagne took delivery of an elephant, sent to him by Harun al-Rashid, the caliph in Baghdad. Here, a manuscript illumination from a late 12th century English Latin bestiary. (Image by Alamy)

8 turning points in medieval European history