Historical people

A woman in a grey cloak holds a swaddled infant to her shoulder

Edith the Fair: the life of Harold Godwinson’s first wife

Luther Ford as Tostig Godwinson in BBC drama King and Conqueror

How Tostig Godwinson’s brotherly betrayal hastened the fall of the Anglo-Saxons

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

This posthumous portrait of William I, known as the Conqueror, was painted c.1590–1610 and is held by the National Portrait Gallery, London. Though created centuries after his death, it reflects early modern interest in the legacy of England’s first Norman monarch. (Photo by Getty Images)

Meet the real William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy who reshaped England

Illustrations of Harold Godwinson and William the Conqueror

How well did Harold Godwinson and William the Conqueror know each other prior to the battle of Hastings?

On a green background, there is a sketch of a human pyramid of people in togas, all balancing fruit on their heads, arms and feet

Be neighbourly like a Pompeian. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A sketch shows two topless men wearing pale shorts fighting each other in a boxing ring

From a lion-taming lightweight to the Muscular Maids: 5 Victorian boxing sensations you need to know about. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A woman dressed in a ruffled dress and spotted robe holds a young child in a white, lacy dress and cap

Maria of Modena: The queen who started a revolution. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Hug a tree like a pagan from the margins of Europe. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A multicoloured photo collage, including an Indian soldier in WW1 military uniform, a woman dressed in dark jacket, cap and tie

"There's little understanding of the shared history of Britain and the subcontinent" | South Asian Heritage Month. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

To the left, there is a black and white image of Queen Victoria. She is dressed in dark clothing and has her hair partially pulled back by a black fastening. Facing her, on the right is an image of John Brown, a bearded man wearing military uniform and a hat. Over them, there is a pink treatment with a rip in it

How I uncovered Victoria's secret love: Historian Fern Riddell explains all. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Paint your own pot, like an ancient Etruscan. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

From fatal foliage to the perils of ploughing: the Tudor calendar of death. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

J Robert Oppenheimer (left), and Cillian Murphy

Is Oppenheimer a true story? Meet the real Robert Oppenheimer, ‘father of the atomic bomb’

Two green hearts are sideways, facing each other. In each there is an image: one has a painting of Elizabeth I and the other has a painting of the Duke of Anjou

The Virgin Queen? Elizabeth I's forbidden love. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Reshaping narratives, repatriation and Richard III : 25 lessons we've learnt from history in the last 25 years. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A woman faces the camera, smiling and resting her head in one hand. She has the other hand resting on her crossed legs. She is wearing a floral jumpsuit

“Africans have been starved of historical figures from their own lands that they can look up to”: Paula Akpan on female African leaders. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

When was the worst time to be alive? You'll be surprised at what our expert has to say. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Engraved portrait of British poet and politician John Milton

John Milton: the Paradise Lost author who challenged the status quo

Aethelred II, known as Aethelred the Unready

Aethelred: why was the Anglo-Saxon king called ‘the Unready’?

Ruth Ellis and her friend Desmond Cussen

The true story of Ruth Ellis and the hanging that rocked a nation

Portrait of Saladin

Saladin: a hero of Islam and scourge of the crusaders

Paddy Mayne (left), a founding member of the SAS during WW2, and Jack O'Connell (right) who portrays Mayne in BBC drama SAS Rogue Heroes.

The real Paddy Mayne of SAS Rogue Heroes

A portrait of William 'Buffalo Bill' Cody standing in front of his saddle, holding a rifle behind his back.

13 famous cowboys and gunslingers from the history of the American Wild West

An engraving of John Milton in 1670. By that time he’d been blind for nearly two decades – but continued to express strong views on religion and the monarchy in his writing (Photo by Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty Images)

Long road to paradise: the life of John Milton and how he created his masterpiece, Paradise Lost. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Christine de Pizan, pictured speaking to a trio of inspirational women in an illustration in her Book of the City of Ladies, written around the turn of the 15th century (Photo by Album/Alamy Stock Photo)

Medieval influencers: 4 women who brought change to the Middle Ages. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Fess Parker, an American actor, as Davy Crockett

The man in the coonskin cap: your guide to Davy Crockett

The surgeon Robert Liston prepares to cut open a patient in the first half of the 19th century. Known as the “fastest knife in the west end”, Liston could remove a leg in less than 30 seconds. For most patients, however, the agony was more prolonged. (Wellcome Library, London)

"An enlightened turn": how medicine (and the vaccination) developed in Victorian Britain. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A mural in Bristol of activist Roy Hackett, one of the primary organisers of the 1963 Bristol Bus Boycott (Photo by Steve Taylor ARPS/Alamy Stock Photo)

Hakim Adi | “Racism in Britain has a long history – but so does anti-racism”. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An 1872 illustration from the weekly newspaper Days’ Doings shows a shoplifter being apprehended (Photo by Look and Learn/Rosenberg Collection/Bridgeman Images)

Lady swindlers: 6 women who turned to lives of crime and became queens of the underworld. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.