Painting of Louis VIII and Blanche of Castille

Kings and queens

Portrait of John of Gaunt

John of Gaunt: father of England’s medieval monarchy and self-styled Spanish king

Cleopatra bust. (Photo by Getty Images)

Cleopatra: unpicking myth from reality. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Our illustration shows Thomas Boleyn, whose flair for diplomacy and mastery of languages made him one of Henry VIII's most trusted ambassadors. (Illustration by Sean McSorley)

Thomas Boleyn: why Anne Boleyn's father was more than a grasping courtier

Newark Castle flanked by the river Trent. To say that King John's death here in 1216 was little-lamented is something of an understatement. "With John's foul deeds all England is stinking, as does hell, to which he is now sinking," wrote the chronicler Matthew Paris. (Getty Images)

King John and the French invasion. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Battle of Barnet: This lively, if inaccurate, 15th- century illustration of the shows a coronet- wearing Edward skewering Warwick with his lance

The battle of Barnet, 1471: the Wars of the Roses clash that killed the Kingmaker. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Elizabethans: everything you wanted to know. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Richard III: your guide to the last Yorkist king of England

The 'Alexander Mosaic' showing Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great: all you need to know about the empire builder and military genius

A portrait of Marie Antoinette

Q&ADid Marie Antoinette really say “let them eat cake”?

A medieval illustration of women fighting and toiling alongside men during a siege

Crusader queens: the formidable female rulers of Jerusalem. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Josephine Baker with her adopted children. She called them the ‘Rainbow Tribe’. (Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)

Memorable mothers: history’s most remarkable mums. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Roman emperors: everything you wanted to know. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Henry the Young King is crowned in 1170. (Wikimedia Commons)

The real King Arthur and his Lancelot? Henry the Young King's remarkable friendship with William Marshal. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Prince Arthur and Catherine of Aragon

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

Nefertiti: wife, mother, pharaoh. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Nathen AminHenry VII and the Tudor Pretenders. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

6 articles about…the Victorian era

A painting of Henry IV, housed in the National Portrait Gallery, London. English earls, Scottish kings, French dukes and a Welsh prince all tried to unseat Henry, yet this most resilient of medieval monarchs prevailed over them all. (Photo by Getty Images)

Henry IV: the usurper king

A portrait of King Henry VII of England, the first Tudor monarch

Henry VII: your guide to the first Tudor king

The Tudors: 51 moments that shaped the royal dynasty

Paul Delaroche's impression of Lady Jane Grey's execution

Who was Lady Jane Grey? The tragic story of the 'Nine Days Queen'

Harold Godwinson is proclaimed king of England in the Bayeux Tapestry. It may have been commissioned by a Norman but this magnificent artwork repeatedly acknowledges the English leader’s piety and courage. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

Why is Harold Godwinson a hero of the Bayeux Tapestry?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Mary Tudor with her five stepmothers

Mary Tudor and her five stepmothers: what was their relationship like?

Edward I’s letters. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Why Charles I had to die. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Annie Gray portrait by Ian Farrell

Annie Gray“For Queen Victoria, food was a way of exploring the world”. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Photo of Queen Victoria

Queen Victoria: how and why did she become Empress of India?

Princess Feodora (left), half-sister of Queen Victoria (right)

Princess Feodora: the little-known sister of Queen Victoria

Portrait of Queen Victoria

Queen Victoria quiz: how much do you know about the monarch?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

English cavalry attacking the Sikh at the Battle of Aliwal

Victoria the warrior queen. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.