BBC History Magazine

The online archive of articles from BBC History Magazine

Jean-Jacques-François Le Barbier’s painting portrays the Declaration of the Rights of Man

Georgian

How progressive was the French Revolution?

Robespierre is guillotined on 28 July 1794. Had he died two years earlier, his name would now be associated with liberty and equality, argues Marisa Linton. (Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

General Modern

Robespierre: man of terror

A late 18th-century painting depicting the execution of Marie Antoinette in 1793. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

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The smile revolution against the Reign of Terror. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Camille and Lucile Desmoulins

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How the architects of the 'Terror' after the French Revolution ended up among its victims. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The vanquishers of the Bastille before the Hôtel de Ville, 14 July 1789. Found in the Collection of Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

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What triggered the French Revolution?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The decapitation machine now known as the guillotine was not a French invention and wasn't invented by Joseph Guillotin. (Image by Getty Images)

Georgian

Q&ADid the French invent the guillotine?

A colourised portrait of Anton Chekhov, from 1901

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History heroWilliam Boyd chooses Anton Chekhov (1860–1904). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A bust of Marcus Aurelius and a detail on Marcus Aurelius’s column in Rome

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Marcus Aurelius: Rome’s reluctant killer. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

James VI and I.

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Was James VI and I murdered?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An illustration of Elizabeth of York and Henry VII.

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Did the Tudors invent the Wars of the Roses?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A portrait of William Barnes. The accomplished linguist wanted to adopt a form of English purged of foreign imports

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National English: the language that would save England. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Second Battle of Copenhagen (or the Bombardment of Copenhagen) in 1807, the spire of the Church of Our Lady on fire, watercolour by Christofer Willem Eckersberg (1783-1853). Napoleonic Wars, Denmark, 19th century. (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images)

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Britain’s illegal war: the story of the battle of Copenhagen. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Post pandemic: how the years after the Black Death briefly became a ‘golden age’ for medieval women. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Oliver Cromwell at the battle of Marston Moor. (Photo by The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)

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The battle of Marston Moor: what happened?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Emma Dabiri"Harriet Jacobs’ writing transports readers to the world of Southern slavery". This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A contemporary illustration of the Storming of the Bastille, 14 July 1789 – an event that helped create the idea of 'revolution' as we know it today. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

Georgian

Fighting for freedom: the storming of the Bastille and the French Revolution

American billionaire Howard Hughes (shown here in a car in 1947) went from a visionary filmmaker to a germ-obsessed recluse, dying in 1976. (Photo by Getty Images)

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“His flesh had rotted, and his bed was full of worms”: 5 of history's most eccentric hermits. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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)

Renaissance

Game of Queens: when women ruled Renaissance Europe

A portrait of Henry VII, the first Tudor king of England, by Michiel Sittow. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

Medieval

Medieval monarchy timeline: from the Norman Conquest to the Tudors

Period

Q&AWhat are the origins of the word ‘shoddy’?

Eleanor of Aquitaine depicted in a 12th-century prayer book

Medieval

The real Eleanor of Aquitaine: 5 myths about the medieval queen

Richard I on a Chertsey tile

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Does Richard I deserve his reputation as a martial genius?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Fred Perry in action in the Wimbledon final in 1936. (Photo by Getty Images)

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Fred Perry: the icon and the outcast. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A drag queen applies lipstick in this 1959 photograph

Victorian

Q&AWho was the first person to call themselves a ‘drag queen’?

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)

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How to run a medieval dynasty: survival secrets of ruling royal families. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Edward I. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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Reassessing Edward I: battle-hungry aggressor or dutiful conqueror?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Matilda (circa 1031-1083) was Queen Consort of William the Conqueror. (Photo by The Print Collector/Getty Images)

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Norman women: the power behind the thrones. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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"Make love not midnight snacks": a social history of slimming clubs. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Boat diplomacy: Froissart's 'Chronicles' show Richard II acceding to many of the rebels' demands at Mile End, 14 June 1381. The speed with which the rebels flooded London wrong-footed the king's advisors. (Photo by Alamy)

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Revealed: the true identity of the rebels of the Peasants' Revolt. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A c1850 satirical illustration of King John signing Magna Charta. (Photo by the Print Collector/Getty Images)

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Is 15 June 1215 the true date of Magna Carta? Two historians debate. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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