Illustration of a couple

Sex and love

c1954: A photo-fiction serial telling the story of a young couple on honeymoon in the South of France. The parts are played by actors Mark Hashfield and Simone Lovell. (Photo by Kurt Hutton/Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A brief history of honeymoons (and how the post-wedding holiday got its name)

The history of seduction

Athenian red-figure cup showing a seated man with a naked boy in the inside tondo, 470 BC

What was pederasty in ancient Greece?

Top, left to right: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour. Bottom, left to right: Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, Katherine Parr.

Henry VIII’s six wives: your guide to the Tudor king's queen consorts

The real Harlots: Hallie Rubenhold on Covent Garden's courtesans

Half-sisters and daughters of Henry VIII: Mary Tudor (left) and Elizabeth I, who both reigned as queen of England. (Photos by Getty Images)

Did Elizabeth I and her half-sister, Mary Tudor, have a good relationship? Historian Tracy Borman explains

Holbein's portrait of Henry VIII

QuizHenry VIII's wives

Portrait of Catherine Howard

11 facts about Catherine Howard

Left: Prince Charles and Princess Diana on their wedding day, 29 July 1981. Right: Prince William and Catherine Middleton on their wedding day, 29 April 2011. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

The 8 most famous royal weddings in British history

The Duke and Duchess of Windsor, formerly King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson, during their first visit to England after the Duke's abdication, September 1939. (Photo by Getty Images)

Edward VIII, Wallis Simpson and the Abdication crisis

Thomas Becket murder

7 controversial saints in history

Amy Robsart and the Earl of Leicester

Amy Robsart: a Tudor tragedy

Portrait of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester (1532–88) an English nobleman. Dated 16th century. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

Robert Dudley: Queen Elizabeth I's great love

Newgrange Passage Tombs, Boyne Valley, County Meath, Ireland. (Photo by Hoberman Collection/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

BlogMedieval(ish) matters #9: Do early medieval Irish texts shed light on prehistoric incest?

Two lovers rest after a hunt, Codex Manesse

Saturday lecture: Medieval love and marriage

Queen Victoria of Great Britain with her husband, Prince Albert, and their nine children. (Photo by Rischgitz/Getty Images)

Queen Victoria’s children

Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson. When Edward became king in January 1936, he was the darling of the nation. Yet when he abdicated in December 1936, few believed he was making the wrong decision. (Photo by Getty Images)

Love before duty: the story of Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson

Charles II and his parties

Was Charles II too randy to rule?

A couple get amorous in this 14th-century illustration

Call the medieval sex doctor: how 7 problems might have been treated in the Middle Ages

Why do brides wear white dresses? Plus the history behind 3 more wedding traditions

A monk and his mistress

Monks behaving badly

A medieval couple being married by a clergyman

Love and marriage in medieval England

Sally Dixon-SmithMedieval love and marriage

Linda Porter

Linda Porter“You’ve got to be impressed by how these women played the system”

The renowned poet Lord Byron has gone down in history for being “mad, bad and dangerous to know”. But his ancestors were hardly paragons of virtue. (Image by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Adultery, elopement and incest: the scandalous sex lives of the 18th-century Byrons

The scandalous Byrons

c1895: Queen Victoria with her family. Standing left to right: Princess Helena Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein; Prince Henry of Battenberg; Count Arthur Mensdorff-Pouilly; Beatrice, Princess Henry of Battenberg; George, Duke of York. Seated left to right: Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg; Queen Victoria; Victoria Mary, Duchess of York holding Prince Edward of York; Prince Arthur of Connaught; and Prince Alexander of Battenberg. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Who were Queen Victoria's children? Everything you need to know about her sons and daughters

Christ appearing to Mary Magdalene

Mary Magdalene: why do people want to believe she was a sinner and prostitute?

Postcard of a group of men wearing identical clothing boarding a boat for a stag party, c1914. (Photo via Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images).

Stag nights and hen dos: a brief history of bachelor and bachelorette parties

How has dating changed over time? A brief history of courtship