Illustrated Medieval scene from the Romance of Lancelot

Medieval

Unravelling the Bayeux Tapestry HistoryExtra podcast series title card

Unravelling the Bayeux TapestryEpisode 3: What story does the Tapestry tell?

Newark Castle flanked by the river Trent. To say that King John's death here in 1216 was little-lamented is something of an understatement. "With John's foul deeds all England is stinking, as does hell, to which he is now sinking," wrote the chronicler Matthew Paris. (Getty Images)

King John and the French invasion

Da Vinci's sketch 'The Vitruvian Man'. Da Vinci's talents ranged from anatomy to military engineering, and many of his innovations were not explored further for several centuries. (Photo by: Photo12/UIG via Getty Images)

Your guide to Leonardo da Vinci: his life, inventions and milestones in his career

The Byzantine empire: everything you wanted to know

Excerpt from the Textus Roffensis showing Christ and a dragon

The Textus Roffensis: a medieval manuscript to rival Magna Carta

Aesop's fables: The Fox and The Crow. Illustration after 1485 edition printed in Naples by German printers for Francesco del Tuppo. (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images

A 'superfluity of nuns' plus 9 more collective nouns that originate from the Middle Ages

Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick and known as the Kingmaker, meets his end at the battle of Barnet in 1471

Q&AWhy was Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, known as the Kingmaker?

Battle of Barnet: This lively, if inaccurate, 15th- century illustration of the shows a coronet- wearing Edward skewering Warwick with his lance

The battle of Barnet, 1471: the Wars of the Roses clash that killed the Kingmaker

Unravelling the Bayeux Tapestry HistoryExtra podcast series title card

Unravelling the Bayeux TapestryEpisode 2: How was the Tapestry created?

The Battle Of Towton, fought on 29 March 1461, was brutal clash in the driving snow fought during the Wars of the Roses

The battle of Towton: did the biggest, bloodiest battle ever fought on English soil take place during the Wars of the Roses?

Unravelling the Bayeux Tapestry HistoryExtra podcast series title card

Unravelling the Bayeux TapestryEpisode 1: When, Where & Why

The Clifford’s Tower massacre & medieval anti-Semitism

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

Richard III: your guide to the last Yorkist king of England

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

Crusader queens: the formidable female rulers of Jerusalem

Exclusive podcastGame of Thrones’ medieval roots

Why treason was so unforgivable in the Middle Ages

Formidable dynasties of the Italian Renaissance

Henry the Young King is crowned in 1170. (Wikimedia Commons)

The real King Arthur and his Lancelot? Henry the Young King's remarkable friendship with William Marshal

A painting of Henry IV, housed in the National Portrait Gallery, London. English earls, Scottish kings, French dukes and a Welsh prince all tried to unseat Henry, yet this most resilient of medieval monarchs prevailed over them all. (Photo by Getty Images)

Henry IV: the usurper king

Dr Jenna Dittmar, who has been studying medieval skeletons, reveals what her findings can tell us about injuries and violence in the era. (Image by Getty Images)

Fatal accidents and violent injuries in the Middle Ages

A c1520–40 portrait of Henry VI

The miraculous afterlife of Henry VI

Norman cavalry on the charge in the Bayeux Tapestry. (Image by Bettmann/Getty Images)

Why the Nazis fell in love with the Bayeux Tapestry

Harold Godwinson is proclaimed king of England in the Bayeux Tapestry. It may have been commissioned by a Norman but this magnificent artwork repeatedly acknowledges the English leader’s piety and courage. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

Why is Harold Godwinson a hero of the Bayeux Tapestry?

Medieval forgeries

The Dark Ages: a ‘black hole’ in Britain’s history

Max AdamsThe First Kingdom: Britain in the Age of Arthur

This image from the Nibelungenlied manuscript shows Pilgrim welcoming Kriemhild, a fictional character described as his neice in the text (Photo by Alamy)

The forged texts of the Middle Ages: why Europe's holy men turned to counterfeiting

Edward I’s letters

Illustration of the Black Death from the Chroicles of Gilles Li Muisis (1272-1352), Abbaye Saint-Martin de Tournai (Photo by Alamy)

The Black Death: everything you wanted to know