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

Women's history

A 16th-century portrait of Bess of Hardwick. Bess's talent, ambition and eye for a well-connected husband elevated her to dizzying levels of wealth and power in Tudor England. (Photo by Bridgeman Art Library)

Bess of Hardwick: schemer, social climber, scourge of Elizabeth I

A stone statue of a woman's torso with a drop of blood over the abdomen, representing women's bodies and menstruation

General History

A history of menstruation

c1935: Beatrice Shilling sits astride her Norton motorcycle. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

5 women inventors you should know about from history

General History

QuizWomen's history

Picture of a 19th-century bloomer costume

Q&AWhen did women start wearing trousers?

The real Amazons: how the legendary warrior women inspired fighters, feminists and Wonder Woman

A portrait of Flora MacDonald, who found fame as a Jacobite heroine sailing Bonnie Prince Charlie to safety

Who was Flora MacDonald?

L to R: Marie Antoinette of France, Njinga of Ndongo and Matamba, Hurrem (also known as Roxelana)

Queens know best: survival lessons from powerful historical women

An illustration depicting a woman lying in bed who has recently given birth to twins. Other women busy themselves with tasks around her, such as stoking a fire and holding one of the babies.

General History

Q&AWhere does the word ‘gossip’ come from – and what has it got to do with childbirth?

Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians, illustrated sitting on a throne

Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians: the warrior queen who crushed the Vikings

Fredegund and Brunhild: a tale of two queens

Periods, fertility & childbirth: a pre-modern history

Suspected witch Mary Sutton is “swum” in a Bedfordshire millpond in 1612, as shown in a contemporary illustration. (Picture by Getty Images)

Witchfinding: what drove the hunters’ cruel crusade and what methods did they use?

Radical women

Amelia Earhart, Princess Diana, Emmeline Pankhurst, Rosa Parks and Marie Curie. (Photo by Getty Images)

20 inspirational quotes from women through history

English pilot Amy Johnson sat in a plane and wearing a helmet

'Queen of the Air': the remarkable life of pioneering English aviator Amy Johnson

A portrait of Anne Boleyn

The three French queens who inspired Anne Boleyn

A late 16th century portrait of Anne Boleyn (c.1500-1536)

Q&ADid Anne Boleyn have six fingers on one hand?

A portrait of Caroline of Ansbach

Caroline of Ansbach: why George II's remarkable queen was the first iron lady of British politics

Actress Vesta Tilley poses with a bicycle while dressed in male uniform

General History

Drag kings: a brief history of male impersonators

Children's author Beatrix Potter as a young woman, c1892

Why the real Beatrix Potter was more than her children’s tales

A portrait of King Charles I

Jane Whorwood: the royalists' secret weapon

Lettice Knollys

A Tudor love triangle: Elizabeth I, Lettice Knollys and Robert Dudley

An oil on panel portrait of Elizabeth Woodville

Elizabeth Woodville: Edward IV’s controversial queen consort

Three female civil rights pioneers

Portrait of Maria Sibylla Merian, by Jacob Marrel, 1679 (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images via Getty Images)

Maria Sibylla Merian: the artist who challenged the natural world

Emily Soldene, actress, writer and rebel

Emily Soldene: actress, writer, rebel

Portrait showing Mary, Queen of Scots with her hand on her hip

Mary, Queen of Scots: your guide to her life and times

Women of the Rothschild dynasty

Simone Ashley as Kate Sharma in Bridgerton, next to a Regency portrait of Kitty Kirkpatrick.

Inspiring Bridgerton: the real South Asian women in Regency-era England