Photo of the Sutton Hoo Anglo Saxon helmet

Early medieval

Æthelstan: the king who made England.

This scene comes from the Bayeux Tapestry, the nearly 70-metre-long embroidered narrative that chronicles the events leading to the Norman Conquest of England in 1066.

The Bayeux Tapestry is beautiful, but what was its purpose? New research might have the answer

This composite image brings together Edmond Halley, the comet that bears his name, and the Bayeux Tapestry’s famous depiction of its 1066 appearance. Halley’s calculations in the 18th century revealed the comet’s regular return, transforming a phenomenon once read as an omen of catastrophe — as it was before the Norman Conquest — into a predictable event governed by celestial mechanics.

Has history’s most famous comet been misnamed for centuries? “The answer is clear,” say historians

A depiction of an ensign and drummer recalls the German Peasants’ War of 1525, when rural rebels rose against feudal oppression.

In 1525, an army of revolting peasants seemed unstoppable – but a brutal end was on the horizon

This illustration depicts Viking ships arriving in Britain. Though produced centuries after the earliest raids, it reflects how the impact of Norse invasions remained vivid in medieval memory and manuscript culture.

Forget the longships: this is the overlooked story of how the Vikings dominated eastern Europe

A painting depicting Rurik and his brothers arriving in Staraya Ladoga, a scene based on the legend of the Varangian invitation, in which Norse leaders were asked to bring order to the Slavic lands. Rurik’s arrival marked the legendary founding of the first ruling dynasty of Rus’, a key moment in the early history of Eastern Europe.

Why does Putin think Ukraine should be Russian? It’s all to do with the Vikings

This 1877 painting by Oscar Wergeland depicts Norwegian settlers arriving in Iceland in 872. Fleeing the unification of Norway under Harald Fairhair, these early migrants laid the foundations of a unique Norse society on the island’s volcanic shores.

Could you survive on the Vikings’ furthest frontier? Here’s the dark reality of Norse life on the edge

Edward the Confessor: life of the week.

Juliet Stevenson as Emma of Normandy in BBC drama King and Conqueror (Photo via BBC)

Emma of Normandy: not just a two-time queen consort of England

Europe's last pagans.

This illustration from the Arnamagnæan Collection in Denmark depicts Eric the Red, the Norse explorer who founded the first Norse settlement in Greenland around AD 985.

A thousand years ago, the Vikings had a shock encounter with Native Americans that ended in disaster

The Merovingians: everything you wanted to know.

Illustration of Eadwig being dragged by Dunstan

A threesome with his wife and mother-in-law: the scandalous story of why one Anglo-Saxon king skipped his coronation

Battle at Fontenoy, AD 841

Carolingians in crisis: the medieval civil war that shaped Europe.

“The reverberations lasted for generations” | Matthew Gabriele and David M Perry on the civil war of Charlemagne's grandsons.

An illustration of Vikings sailing on a longship across the Atlantic

General History

Who owns Greenland? Why the island's history is more complicated than you think

The Venerable Bede: life of the week.

Charles Edwards as Celebrimbor in Rings of Power

How ancient history influenced Tolkien: did a forgotten legend inspire Rings of Power's Celebrimbor?

Video podcastBeowulf: everything you wanted to know.

Late-medieval England course: week four quiz.

Welsh mythology: everything you wanted to know.

An illustration of King Arthur's coronation, from the 13th-century Flores Historiarum

Was King Arthur real? Discover the legend of the 'once and future king'

King Arthur and his knights return to Camelot (Photo by: Christophel Fine Art/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Q&AWhere was Camelot?

Astonishing Æthelstan: Michael Wood on the 10th-century king.

Dark Age bullies & forgotten kingdoms: busting early medieval myths.

Sæberht of Essex, who oversaw the building of London’s original church of St Paul’s (Photo by The Picture Art Collection / Alamy Stock Photo)

How to survive the Dark Ages in Britain: 6 crucial tips.

This statue of Alfred the Great stands in Winchester, the former 'capital' of his kingdom (Photo by TonyBaggett via Getty Images)

What if...Alfred the Great lost to the Vikings at the battle of Edington?.

St Columba. This Irish patron saint's influence on the Christian church was, and still is, felt much further afield

Medieval miracle worker: how St Columba transformed Christianity in Britain.

Early Medieval Britain: everything you wanted to know.

A 12th-century Celtic round tower at Clonmacnoise, County Offaly

“The power of the Irish over the Britons is great”: Fergal Keane on Britain's Irish roots.