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Weird and wonderful

A spider on its web, woodcut, 1547. (Image courtesy of Wellcome Collection)
Medieval

A sign of the devil or a miracle cure? How people felt about spiders in the Middle Ages

Harold Godwinson, Earl of Wessex (later Harold II of England), on horseback, holding a hawk. From the Bayeux Tapestry (Photo by Getty Images)
Medieval

Medieval rebellions

How did England react to the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in 1751? (Illustration for BBC History Magazine)
Georgian

Q&A Did the introduction of the Gregorian calendar spark riots?

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Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor playing Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII in the 1963 film, Cleopatra. (Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)
General Modern

7 of the most memorable couples in history

The 1851 Great Exhibition’s west wing
Victorian

The 1851 Great Exhibition: inside the Victorian spectacle

As seen in this early 19th-century depiction of an initiation, Masons have long used secrecy to
Georgian

A history of Freemasonry: from Enlightenment ideals to satanic conspiracy stories

President Donald Trump
General Modern

A brief history of election “rigging” in the United States

14th century miniature showing a child's baptism. (Photo by Getty Images)
Medieval

Exclusive podcast What’s in a medieval name?

Naming of St John the Baptist, c12th century. From a wall painting in the crypt of Canterbury Cathedral. (Photo by The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)
Medieval

Medieval baby names: what were people called in the Middle Ages?

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A medieval king dining
Roman

Pig-chickens, beavers’ tails and turtle soup: 8 fascinating foods through history

What is history's greatest mystery?
Medieval

What has been voted history’s greatest mystery?

Stonehenge
General ancient history

History’s greatest mysteries Stonehenge

A replica of Jesus' tomb. (Photo by Alamy)
General ancient history

History’s greatest mysteries The fate of Jesus's body

A c1590 map of English settlers landing at Roanoke Island. (Photo by Alamy)
Tudor

History’s greatest mysteries The lost colony of Roanoke Island

The arrival of Sir Walter Raleigh in Virginia
Tudor

What happened to the lost colony of Roanoke Island?