Religion

Henry IV of Germany asking for the forgiveness of Pope Gregory VII in Canossa in 1077. (Photo by De Agostini/Getty Images)

Canossa: a medieval clash between church and state

Illustration of a mummy with mask

How to make an Egyptian mummy in 6 steps

A composite image of Joseph Stalin (left) and Adolf Hitler

Second World War

Hitler and Stalin’s utopian dreams

Félix Kir in 1947, when he was the mayor of Dijon

Second World War

My history hero Simon Farnaby chooses Félix Kir (1876–1968)

Jessie Childs tells the story of Tudor gentleman Thomas Tresham, whose faith set him at odds with the Virgin Queen. (Image by Getty Images)

Editor’s pick: covert Catholicism in Elizabethan England

What happened when Thomas Becket, was brutally murdered in his cathedral? (Image by Getty Images)

Thomas Becket: from murder to martyrdom

Monument to Prince Vladimir the Great in Moscow

Q&A Who were the Kievan Rus and what do they have to do with the Vikings?

Vahalla is depicted as a round-topped building in this funerary stone from 8th-century Sweden

Valhalla: fighting and feasting in the Viking warrior afterlife

A helmet from a chieftain's grave in 10th-century Norway

Inside the Viking mind: the view of the Vikings’ world from 5 perspectives

Rushton Triangular Lodge was ostensibly a warrener's lodge but the biblical references that adorn its three exterior walls tell a different story. (Photo English Heritage/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

History explorer: Catholic resistance to Elizabeth I

France. Massacre of Vassy. Murder of Huguenot worshipers and citizens in an armed action by troops of Francis, Duke of Guise, in Wassy, France on 1 March 1562. Starting of French Wars of Religion. Engraving. (Photo by: PHAS/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

The Huguenots vs France: who were the Huguenots and what did they believe?

Kenneth Austin explores what impact the Reformation had on Europe’s Jewish communities. (Image by Getty Images)

How did the Reformation impact Jews?

Illustration showing Roman Saturnalia banquet. (Photo by Alamy)

Saturnalia: the origins of the debauched Roman ‘Christmas’

Thomas Cromwell, Tudor statesman and 'alter rex'.

Your guide to Cardinal Wolsey, Tudor statesman and prince of the church

Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin vs God: did the ‘Origin of Species’ cause a clash between church and science?