Photo of Mabel Capper and Patricia Woodlock advertising a meeting, Manchester, Lancashire, July 1908

Women's history

A portrait of Elizabeth Stuart, painted during the reign of Charles I

Elizabeth Stuart: the treasonous portrait that touted Charles I's sister for the throne

Vienna Plague Hospital, 1679. (Getty Images)

What were women's lives like during the 17th-century plague?

Women who served in WW2

Nellie Bly

Around the world in 72 days: how journalist Nellie Bly became the real Phileas Fogg

Claire Foy as the Duchess of Argyll in A Very British Scandal (left); Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll (right)

The Argyll divorce: the society scandal that rocked 1960s Britain

This print from 1807 shows John Bull sat between the rival singers Elizabeth Billington (left) and Angelica Catalani, who sing lines adapted from The Beggar’s Opera.

Sex, lies and arias: the prima donnas of Georgian London

HistoryExtra Masterclass: Tudor Royal Women with Tracy Borman

Tudor Royal Women with Tracy BormanThe Private Life of Elizabeth I

HistoryExtra Masterclass: Tudor Royal Women with Tracy Borman

Tudor Royal Women with Tracy BormanRivals to the Throne

HistoryExtra Masterclass: Tudor Royal Women with Tracy Borman

Tudor Royal Women with Tracy BormanWomen at Court

HistoryExtra Masterclass: Tudor Royal Women with Tracy Borman

Tudor Royal Women with Tracy BormanQueens Regnant

HistoryExtra Masterclass: Tudor Royal Women with Tracy Borman

Tudor Royal Women with Tracy BormanQueens Consort

The Stuart princess who could have deposed Charles I

A 13th-century fresco showing Isabella of Angouleme, Eleanor of Aquitaine and two squires

Eleanor of Aquitaine: the worst royal mother-in-law?

England’s last witches

Chaucer reading his work to the court of Richard II

Katherine Swynford: the scandalous duchess and ancestress of royal dynasties

A portrait of Russian empress Catherine the Great

Hypocrite, reactionary, usurper, sex maniac: is Catherine the Great's reputation justified?

Sex work: a brief history

Pragmatist or heartless? A portrait of the young Elizabeth Woodville (1437-1492). The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)

The power behind the throne: women in the Wars of the Roses

Salem: Investigating the Witch Trials HistoryExtra podcast series title card

Salem witch trialsEpisode 9: conclusion

Salem: Investigating the Witch Trials HistoryExtra podcast series title card

Salem witch trialsEpisode 8: Willful, weak-minded women?

Salem: Investigating the Witch Trials HistoryExtra podcast series title card

Salem witch trialsEpisode 7: Quarrelsome neighbours & family tensions

Salem: Investigating the Witch Trials HistoryExtra podcast series title card

Salem witch trialsEpisode 6: Chaos in the courtroom

Salem: Investigating the Witch Trials HistoryExtra podcast series title card

Salem witch trialsEpisode 5: Satanic sabbaths and supernatural sins

A mother receives her newborn baby in a c1490 text written for Henry VII. Childbirth in the Middle Ages exposed both mother and child to great peril but, writes Elma Brenner, midwives had the expertise to intervene when complications arose. (Photo by Bridgeman)

The medieval childbirth guide: 6 tips for pregnant mothers in the Middle Ages

8 historical reasons behind Anne Boleyn’s appearance in Princess Diana film Spencer

Giving birth in the 17th century

A scene from the Salem witch trials, depicted in a 19th-century lithograph. How two girls’ accusations of witchcraft escalated into one of the darkest episodes in early American history has long puzzled historians. (Image by Alamy)

When the devil stalked Salem: the story of the Salem witch trials

Salem: Investigating the Witch Trials HistoryExtra podcast series title card

Salem witch trialsEpisode 4: The pervasive power of puritanism

Salem: Investigating the Witch Trials HistoryExtra podcast series title card

Salem witch trialsEpisode 3: A ‘new Jerusalem’ on the edge of a wilderness

Salem: Investigating the Witch Trials HistoryExtra podcast series title card

Salem witch trialsEpisode 2: How events spiralled out of control