Painting of Louis VIII and Blanche of Castille

Kings and queens

The Green Knight shows his severed – and still talking – head to King Arthur in this illustration of the beginning of the 14th century legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

“A eulogy to the cult of chivalry”: what can Sir Gawain and the Green Knight tell us about Edward III and the Hundred Years’ War?.

The Persian ambassador bows before Louis XIV in the Palace of Versailles

King of the world: how Louis XIV turned France into a global power.

Queen Elizabeth I dancing with Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. Artist unknown. (© Lebrecht Music and Arts Photo Library/Alamy)

Tudor tunes: music at the courts of Henry VIII, Elizabeth I and James VI and I

An illustration of the head of Louis XVI

Guillotined in the French Revolution: the bloody story through 7 severed heads

James VI and I.

Was James VI and I murdered?.

From left to right: Queen Isabella of Castile; French regent Anne de Beaujeu; and Catherine of Aragon. (Photos by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/DeAgostini/Imagno/Getty Images)

Game of Queens: when women ruled Renaissance Europe

Edward II during the coronation ceremony with Queen Isabella in Westminster Abbey.

QuizHow much do you know about medieval kings and queens?

A portrait of Henry VII, the first Tudor king of England, by Michiel Sittow. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

Medieval monarchy timeline: from the Norman Conquest to the Tudors

Eleanor of Woodstock, eldest daughter of Edward II, whom you can read more about in the April 2019 issue of BBC History Magazine. Medieval princesses had more agency than we might think says historian Kelcey Wilson-Lee. (Image by Alamy)

7 things you didn’t know a medieval princess could do

Anne Neville was queen consort of Richard III, the last Yorkist king of England

Anne Neville: wife of Richard III, daughter of Warwick the Kingmaker, and a modern enigma

5 things you (probably) didn’t know about the Plantagenets

Eleanor of Aquitaine depicted in a 12th-century prayer book

The real Eleanor of Aquitaine: 5 myths about the medieval queen

Pregnant woman before giving birth in the 13th century

16 things you (probably) didn't know about the rituals behind royal births, from the medieval era to the present day

Richard I on a Chertsey tile

Does Richard I deserve his reputation as a martial genius?.

How to be a medieval queen: the realities of being a royal woman in the Middle Ages

A 20th-century fresco 'Plucking the Red and White Roses in the Old Temple Gardens' by Henry Payne. It depicts a scene by Shakespeare, showing Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset being challenged by Richard, 3rd Duke of York to choose between the white rose of York and the red rose of Lancaster. (Photo by Artefact / Alamy Stock Photo)

7 things you (probably) didn’t know about the houses of Lancaster and York.

Brothers in arms Louis IX on his way to the Seventh Crusade, 1248. The French king kept his three brothers onside – preventing any potential family infighting – by providing them with huge lordships. (Photo by Leemage/Corbis via Getty Images)

How to run a medieval dynasty: survival secrets of ruling royal families.

Matilda (circa 1031-1083) was Queen Consort of William the Conqueror. (Photo by The Print Collector/Getty Images)

Norman women: the power behind the thrones.

Coronation of King Edward III. (Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

7 medieval kings of England you should know about

Margaret of Anjou married Henry VI of England in 1445

Margaret of Anjou: a brief guide to the 'She-Wolf of France'

Henry V’s greatest victory (and it wasn't at the battle of Agincourt).

Portrait of William III of Orange, found in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

How glorious was the Glorious Revolution?.

A portrait of Jane Seymour, queen of England from 1536 to 1537 as the third wife of Henry VIII. Jane is remembered for being the only wife to provide Henry with a son and male heir (the future Edward VI). Jane died on 24 October 1537, most likely from puerperal, or childbed, fever. (Photo by Popperfoto/Getty Images)

Jane Seymour: the queen Henry VIII loved most?

The Anarchy: everything you wanted to know.

Henry I proclaims Matilda as his heir

Your guide to the Anarchy, the bloody battle between Stephen and Matilda

Elizabeth I

QuizHow much do you know about Tudor Queen Elizabeth I?.

Katharine Parr: secrets of a Tudor survivor.

A bust of Queen Nefertiti of Ancient Egypt. (Photo by Oliver Lang/AFP/Getty Images)

Your guide to Egypt’s sun queen Nefertiti

Tutankhamun death mask

QuizTutankhamun: do you know all the boy king’s secrets?.

Happier days: The tsar and his family pose for a portrait in c1910, years before he was swept from power and murdered. Maria, Olga and Tatiana (left to right) are at the back. Alexandra and Nicholas are seated with Alexey at their feet. Anastasia is far right. (Photo by Getty Images)

The last days of the Romanovs: could George V have saved the family?