Death

Grave of a fallen soldier in World War I

First World War

“Their name liveth for evermore”: the difficult task of locating, identifying and honouring the dead of WW1

An engraving of a prison hulk at Deptford, from a c1826 painting. (Photo by: Photo 12/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Floating hell: the brutal history of prison hulks

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Pod Angela Stienne WL

Should mummies be on display? . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Closeup of Henry VIII's face

The slow death of Henry VIII

Photo of Holy Trinity Church

Q&A Where is William Shakespeare buried – and is there a curse on his grave?

Suspected witch Mary Sutton is “swum” in a Bedfordshire millpond in 1612

General Early Modern

Witchfinding: what drove the hunters’ cruel crusade and what methods did they use?

Pod Kathryn Harkup WL

Shakespearean deaths: swordfights, snakebites & poison

A lobbycard for the 1923 film Is Conan Doyle Right? (Photo by LMPC via Getty Images)

The supernatural interests of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Outbreak of dance mania

The medieval dancing plague: what caused people to dance themselves to death?

Froissart illustration of Hugh Despenser the Younger's execution by being hanged, drawn and quartered. Despenser is on a ladder, as a man beside him disembowels him and tosses his entrails into a fire

‘Godly butchery’: the horrifying history of hanging, drawing and quartering

Robert Sackville-West describes attempts to identify the bodies of the dead after the devastating battles of the First World War. (Image by Getty Images)

First World War

Searching for WW1’s fallen soldiers

A depiction of King Æthelred II holding a sword

The St Brice’s Day Massacre: what really happened?

From necromancy and the underworld to getting rid of troublesome spirits, Irving Finkel discusses ghost beliefs in ancient Mesopotamia. (Image by Getty Images)

General ancient history

Ghosts, necromancy & the underworld in ancient Mesopotamia

Anne Boleyn, who was executed by beheading on 19 May 1536 after being found guilty of high treason, was said to have had

The final days of Anne Boleyn: why did she die?

Dr Melanie Giles unravels some of the mysteries around amazingly preserved human remains found in bogs – and reveals what we can learn from them. (Image by Getty Images)

General ancient history

Bog bodies: what can they teach us?