Weird and wonderful

Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector

General Early Modern

Royalists, beards and cowardice: are these the strangest taxes in history?

Catherine de Valois is seen here marrying Henry V, who was 14 years her senior, as part of the 1420 Treaty of Troyes. Following Henry's death she wed Welshman Owain ap Maredudd ap Tudur, who is variously referred to as the queen’s steward, page or cupbearer. (Mary Evans Picture Library/Alamy)

Scandalous Tudor marriages: 7 women who braved royal wrath by marrying for love

Edvard Munch's painting 'Love and Pain'

The Vampyre stirs: 200 years of vampire entertainment

A poster for Terence Fisher's 1958 horror 'Dracula'

From Dracula to The Historian: 5 gothic novels that reflected the anxieties of their age

Fresco by Memmo di Filippuccio, Palazzo Comunale, San Gimignano/Tuscany (Photo by Alamy)

The filthy Middle Ages?

Elizabeth I preferred thoughtful new year gifts suited to her own tastes such as cloth, personal jewellery and trinkets. (Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

Sobriety, royal presents and Victorian-era musings on failure: an unexpected history of New Year

Tom Smith's Surprise Cosaques, Christmas Crackers 1878. (Image by Getty)

The history of Christmas crackers

Cynocephali – Dog-headed men (Photo by Getty)

Basilisks, manticores and more: medieval fantastic beasts (and where to find them)

Rotten boroughs cartoon

9 general election curiosities through history

Tourists at Stonehenge

General prehistory

Stonehenge: a prehistoric tourist trap

British mystery writer Agatha Christie, c1926. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The mysterious disappearance of Agatha Christie

Viking sailors make the long voyage across the Atlantic between Europe and America, in order to bring back timber, circa 1350. The Vikings are thought to have discovered America in around 1000 AD, but never attempted full colonization of the new land, due to the hostile natives. Painting by NC Wyeth. (Image by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Vikings didn’t wear horned helmets, plus 7 more Viking myths busted

Roman toilet

Tales of the toilet: a historical A–Z

Despite popular belief, Gladiatorial fighting was not the most popular entertainment in Ancient Rome. (Photo by Alamy)

10 things you (probably) didn’t know about the Romans

Halloween postcard

10 things you didn’t know about the history (and mystery) of Halloween