Stuart

In the 16th century, Antwerp was a global centre of trade, talked about around the world. Michael Pye considers its rise and bloody fall. (Image from Getty Images)

Antwerp: city of innovation & intrigue

The Persian ambassador bows before Louis XIV in the Palace of Versailles

King of the world: how Louis XIV turned France into a global power

Kissing the Blarney Stone: a women hangs over the precipice with the aid of a friend as she attempts the feat at Blarney Castle in 1935

What is the Blarney Stone, where did it come from and why do people kiss it?

The battle of the Boyne

The battle of the Boyne: what happened at the July 1690 clash and why is it commemorated on ‘the Twelfth’?

A 1628 engraving of the Spanish siege of the Dutch city of Breda

Was James VI and I murdered?

Jacqueline Riding discusses the life and work of the famed artist and satirist William Hogarth, and explores how his many engravings and portraits charted the morals and vices of the 18th century. (Image by Getty Images)

Hogarth: the chronicler of the 18th century

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

The battle of Marston Moor: what happened?

Ritchie Robertson responds to listener questions on the intellectual and philosophical movement that swept Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. (Image by Getty Images)

The Enlightenment: everything you wanted to know

King James VI and I of Scotland and England

Your guide to King James VI and I, the first Stuart monarch of England

Portrait of William III of Orange, found in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

How glorious was the Glorious Revolution?

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

Play Reading

Anne Hathaway, Hamnet and Judith: who were William Shakespeare’s family?

Leo Hollis untangles the bizarre 18th-century court case surrounding Mary Davies: a wealthy heiress married in mysterious circumstances. (Image by Getty Images)

Madness, property and power: the strange case of Mary Davies

A red herring on a plate

Q&A Why do we say ‘red herring’?

The historical drama series Outlander, based on a series of novels by Diana Gabaldon, has become a TV phenomenon. (Image by Outlander/Starz)

Outlander: the real history that inspired the time-slip drama