Animals

A spider on its web, woodcut, 1547. (Image courtesy of Wellcome Collection)

A sign of the devil or a miracle cure? How people felt about spiders in the Middle Ages

A scene from the Smithfield Decretals depicting a rabbit beheading a man. Rabbits seem to have a strange place in medieval imagery – and are depicted as having strangely violent tendencies.

Blog Medieval(ish) matters #5: chivalry, medieval killer rabbits and prisoners of war in the 15th century

Medieval prisoners

What was it like to be a Prisoner of War during the Hundred Years’ War?

HistoryExtra’s top 15 most listened to podcast episodes

An illumination depicts medieval women embroidering

Medieval misconceptions: 12 myths about life in the Middle Ages – busted

Frances Griffiths poses with the fairies

Fairies, rabbit births and an ‘ancient’ tiara: what are the greatest historical hoaxes?

The 18th-century rabbit breeding hoax (Photo by Getty Images)

The woman who gave birth to rabbits

Cynocephali – Dog-headed men (Photo by Getty)

Basilisks, manticores and more: medieval fantastic beasts (and where to find them)

Simon the cat

10 top cats in history

A photo which was believed to be of the Loch Ness Monster

The quest for the Loch Ness Monster

Bottles of snake oil

Q&A Did salesmen really sell snake oil?

A lithographic Victorian trade card promoting the Forepaugh circus' new white elephant, Buffalo, New York, circa 1880. (Photo by Transcendental Graphics/Getty Images)

Q&A Why do we say ‘white elephant’?

The ‘Surgeon’s Photo’, taken in 1934, which claimed to depict the Loch Ness Monster. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

5 facts about the Loch Ness Monster

Illustration by Glen McBeth.

Q&A When did the leopards on the royal arms of England become the lions depicted today?

Vintage postcard showing Princess Margaret and Princess Elizabeth with Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and a pet corgi. (Photo by the History Press)

8 of the best dogs in history