Religion

The last Russian royal family, Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra and their five children, were shot and bayonetted to death by their Bolshevik guards in the early hours of 17 July 1918. (Photo by Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)

The legacy of the Romanovs: how is the last Russian royal family remembered in Russia?

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)

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

The Knights Templar depicted on an antique map of Jerusalem. (Alamy)

The rise and fall of the Knights Templar

Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, last Shah of Iran, pictured in 1967 with his third wife, Farah Diba, and their son Reza. His attempted reforms during his final years in power alienated many of his nation's people. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

The Iranian Revolution: why 1979’s uprising still shapes the Middle East

Royal at arms: In a 14th-century manuscript, Henry III (left) is shown fighting his nobles during the Second Baron's War (1264–67). This was both a revolutionary war and, from the perceptive of Henry's foes, a religious conflict. (Image by Bridgeman)

The barons’ crusade: why rebel lords waged holy war against Henry III

A Tudor rose on a wooden ceiling beam.

Monarchy and faith in Tudor England

One of the earliest and most famous examples of extremism comes from ancient Rome. Starting in 264 BC and continuing for more than a century, Rome engaged in a series of wars with neighbouring Carthage. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A brief history of extremism – from ancient Rome to al Qaeda

A 16th-century woodcut by Albrecht Dürer entitled 'The true and false apostles of Christ'. As the Reformation recast Europe's spiritual landscape, many believers fretted that their religion no longer felt true to them. (Photo by Alamy)

The fury that fuelled the rise of atheism

The future King George VI (1895-1952) as a baby, 1895. The name 'George' appears in the list of the top 10 boys' names both today and a century ago. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

What’s in a name? A brief history of baby name trends from the Anglo-Saxons to today

Portrait of theologian and Bible translator John Wycliffe (c1330–84). (Photo by Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

The murderous history of Bible translations

The Warsaw Ghetto, Poland, where hundreds of thousands of Jews were forced to live before they were sent to concentration camps as part of Adolf Hitler’s ‘final solution’. (Bettmann/Getty Images)

Second World War

The Jews who fought back: the story of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

Notre Dame of Paris at first light (Photo by Captblack76-Dreamstime.com)

Notre-Dame

On the latest History Extra podcast, Christopher Somerville discusses his experiences of visiting some of Britain’s historic cathedrals, including Wells Cathedral, pictured. (Photo by Roger Utting | Dreamstime.com)

Exploring Britain’s cathedrals

Clifford's Tower stands on the site where around 150 Jews took their own lives rather than renounce their faith, in 1190. (Photo by Dreamstime)

The persecution of Jews in medieval England