Stuart

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

17th century engraving showing the execution by hanging of four witches. (Photo by Fototeca Gilardi/Getty Images)

Quiz: Would you have been accused of witchcraft?

Young woman gets hair cut in to a bob

A brief history of changing hairstyles

The Great Fire of London, 2-5 September 1666 (Photo by Alamy)

The Great Fire of London: everything you wanted to know

Triumphant Death chases Londoners from their city

How 17th-century London reacted to the Great Plague

A union flag flown on HMS Queen Charlotte at the battle known as the Glorious First of June, 1794

Q&A When was the Union Jack or Union flag created?

Peter Wilson responds to your questions on the brutal conflict that convulsed central Europe in the 17th century. (Image by Getty Images)

The Thirty Years’ War: everything you wanted to know

Nell Gwyn was a mistress of King Charles II

Nell Gywn: the orange girl who became a king’s mistress in Restoration England

Pancake day celebrations

The history of Shrove Tuesday: why do we eat pancakes?

GettyImages-187574416-2-2edce12

A history of Valentine’s Day celebrations – from fertility festivals to the first cards

Margarette Lincoln reveals how a century that saw plague, fire, revolution and civil war transformed England’s capital. (Image by Getty Images)

17th-century London: a city shaped by catastrophe

Marked man: Charles I shown in a detail in Anthony van Dyck's famous portrait. In his final days, the king's attempts to play his enemies against one another backfired spectacularly. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty images)

Why Charles I had to die