Painting of a European marketplace

Europe

Unexpected Irish tales. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An illustration of a group of supposed witches

A very brief history of witches by Suzannah Lipscomb

Professor Jan Bill on the HistoryExtra podcast.

At sea with the Vikings. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A 14th-century depiction of bakers at work. (Image by Getty Images)

Social mobility in the Middle Ages: could medieval people improve their station?

Adventure and opportunity: female transatlantic travellers. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A near-contemporary depiction of the 14th-century English monk, mathematician and astronomer Richard of Wallingford. Monks were among the leading scientific practitioners during the medieval period. (Photo by Bridgeman)

The genius of medieval science: from medicine to mechanical clocks. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Tudor queens on screen. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Image depicting Roman general Germanicus oversing the burial of the bones of Romans killed in the battle of Teutoburg Forest

What was the Roman Empire's greatest defeat? It might be Teutoburg Forest in AD 9

An empty knight's armor sitting on a chest.

Q&AHow did knights in armour go to the toilet?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Knights of the Round Table are that the heart of many Arthurian legends

Who were the Knights of the Round Table in Arthurian legend, and where does the Holy Grail fit in?

Your guide to the Roman empire: when it was formed, why it split and how it failed, plus its most colourful emperors

The Varangian Guard as depicted in the illuminated 12th-century manuscript known as the Madrid Skylitzes. These Viking warriors became the Byzantine emperors' personal bodyguard

What was the Varangian Guard? A brief history of the Viking warriors of the Byzantine empire

A portrait of Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII's first wife. Henry and Catherine's marriage was a happy one, until their failure to produce a male heir began to cast a long shadow. (Photo by The Print Collector/Getty Images)

Catherine of Aragon: Henry's greatest queen

The French Revolution: Everything you need to know. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Edward the Confessor seated at a banquet

Edward the Confessor: England’s holy hardman. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A painting of 1616 depicts the Moriscos boarding ships to sail from the port of Valencia

The 17th-century expulsion of the Moriscos from Spain: what happened?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Your guide to Mary Boleyn, sister of Anne Boleyn

ever before,” says Margaret MacMillan. (Photo by Popperfoto/Getty Images)

"We’ve come to think that peace is normal, but that's not the reality": Margaret MacMillan on humanity's compulsion to go to war. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Medieval daily life: everything you wanted to know. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Actor Stephanie Levi-John as Lina in 'The Spanish Princess'

Catalina: the real history of The Spanish Princess favourite

The battle of Dover, 24 August 1217, (image c1880). (Photo by Print Collector/Getty Images)

Eustace the Monk: one of medieval Europe's unholiest holy men. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

In 802 Charlemagne took delivery of an elephant, sent to him by Harun al-Rashid, the caliph in Baghdad. Here, a manuscript illumination from a late 12th century English Latin bestiary. (Image by Alamy)

8 turning points in medieval European history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The storming of Beziers

Medieval turning points. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Painting of Pope Callixtus II, the first Borgia pope, though it would be his nephew Rodrigo (later Pope Alexander VI) who would earn great infamy

Your guide to...the Borgias

Arnhem: the Battle for the Bridges, 1944. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

If you’re interested in learning about history at home, there are plenty of short courses available online on a variety of topics. (Photo by Getty Images)

How to become a history student at home. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Covid-19 saw the UK’s universities, such as the University of Glasgow (above), cancel in-person teaching. The logistics of teaching and studying during the pandemic are proving complex. (Photo by Dreamstime)

How Covid-19 is forcing universities to change

Vivid experiences: a self-portrait of Artemisia Gentileschi, the Italian Baroque artist whose brilliant renderings of biblical and classical scenes earned her commissions from some of the most powerful figures in 17th century Europe. (Photo by Araldo de Luca/Corbis via Getty Images)

Artemisia Gentileschi: how pain powered the great 17th-century artist. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The African who transformed Anglo-Saxon England. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A Fool Rebuked by God, 14th-century psalter. (Photo by Heritage Arts/Heritage Images via Getty Images)

Medieval marginalia: exploring 'doodles' from the Middle Ages. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.