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A Maria Spilsbury painting of a group sat at a drawing room table
Georgian

Romance and reality in Jane Austen’s world

Queen Victoria of Great Britain with her husband, Prince Albert, and their nine children. (Photo by Rischgitz/Getty Images)
Victorian

Queen Victoria’s children

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Katherine Parr (also Catherine), the sixth and last wife of King Henry VIII, c1543. Engraving after a portrait by Hans Holbein the Younger. Katherine was no middle-aged frump but a clever, devout and passionate wife, says Derek Wilson. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Tudor

Katherine Parr: the truth about the wife who ‘survived’

A portrait of the romantic novelist Jane Austen. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)
Georgian

The real reason Jane Austen never married

Prince Arthur and Catherine of Aragon
Tudor

Arthur, Catherine and Henry: a story of early Tudor triumph and tragedy

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Tudor

Henry VIII’s mistresses: who else did the Tudor king sleep with?

Queen Victoria with her children and grandchildren
Victorian

The marriages of Queen Victoria’s grandchildren

A portrait of the English poet Geoffrey Chaucer (c1340-1400), who modern literary scholars credit for turning Valentine into the patron of love. Chaucer was a major influencer in his day – after him, everyone began calling their beloved “Valentine” and writing love poems on 14 February, says Lisa Bitel. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Roman

A brief history of Valentine’s Day – from the patron saint of epilepsy to Chaucer’s love tales

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General Modern

A brief history of Valentine’s Day cards

A medieval couple being married by a clergyman. Central miniature, folio 102v. Book IV by Henricus von Assia (13th century). Chapter Archive of Tarazona, Spain. (Photo by PHAS/UIG via Getty Images)
Medieval

Love and marriage in medieval England

An illustration of motors and cycles in Kensington High Street, opposite Holland House, London, from the Illustrated London News, 1903. (Photo by The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)
General Modern

Lonely hearts and holiday flings: a brief history of dating

The former Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson, for whom Edward gave up the throne in 1936, sparking a crisis that rocked the British monarchy. The couple are pictured here in 1939. (Photo by Keystone-France\Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
General Modern

The 7 most romantic moments in history

Queen Victoria refused to wear her crimson velvet robes of state for her wedding to Albert. Instead, she opted for a dress of pure white and “simple magnificence”. (Photo by Rischgitz/Getty Images)
Victorian

“Nothing could have gone off better”: the wedding of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert

A portrait of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert with five of their nine children, by Frederick Winterhalter. (Photo by © Historical Picture Archive/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)
Victorian

Victoria and Albert: a marriage of misery?