Illustrated Medieval scene from the Romance of Lancelot

Medieval

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

Historical recipeCustard Tart. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

3 curious medieval ghost stories. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Historical recipeFake fish – a medieval apple pie for Lent. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Windows on to history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Windows: an illuminating history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Alfred the Great (849–899). (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Who was King Alfred the Great?

QuizWeird and wonderful history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

How did pasta come to Europe and when did it first become established in Italy?

Medieval ghost stories. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Jodie Comer plays Marguerite de Carrouges in the upcoming film 'The Last Duel',

“A spotlight on historic societal misogyny and disbelief of women”: what The Last Duel gets right and wrong

A depiction of folk figure Dick Whittington

Dick Whittington, the Loch Ness Monster and a talking mongoose: 8 mythical figures of British history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An illustration from The Travels of Marco Polo, showing a teenage Marco on the deck of a ship sailing away from Venice

Why are Marco Polo's travels so famous?

Trial by combat: the real history behind The Last Duel. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A 14th-century illustration shows two bishops watching men fight to the death in a trial by combat.

Medieval trial by combat: the real history behind The Last Duel

A medieval miniature depicts a monk and a woman in a bed.

Sex in the Middle Ages: have attitudes really changed?

The fabled ‘Vegetable Lamb of Tartary’ was a plant said to grow sheep as its fruit.

Q&AWhat was the Vegetable Lamb of Tartary?

At home with the Mongols. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Plagues of our past. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Illustration of a man without a head, but with his face on his chest. This is one of many creatures Sir John Mandeville claimed to have met on his travels

A knight's (tall) tale: why medieval traveller Sir John Mandeville was more popular than Marco Polo. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Bal des Ardents (the 'Ball of the Burning Men'), from 'The Chronicler of European Chivalry' by GG Coulton (London, 1930). The 1393 tragedy claimed the lives of four people. (Photo by The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)

Q&AWhat was the ‘Ball of the Burning Men’?

Jodie Comer plays Marguerite de Carrouges in the upcoming film 'The Last Duel',

The medieval women who spoke out against sexual violence

A portrait of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York

Like father, like son: Richard Plantagenet and Richard III

Dev Patel stars as Sir Gawain in The Green Knight an adaptation of the Arthurian romance Sir Gawain and The Green Knight

“An intoxicating triumph true to the grandeur of the poem”: a historian’s review of The Green Knight

John of Gaunt: prince without a throne. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The burgundy cover of a British passport

Q&AWhen were passports as we know them today first introduced?

John of Gaunt shown in a c16th-century portrait

John of Gaunt: The man who would be king. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Matthew Stevens tackles listener questions on the history of the Welsh regions during the Middle Ages

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

Historian Dennis Duncan guides us through singular stories from the history of the book index

A surprising history of the index. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Tostig Godwinson, brother of King Harold II of England, and King Harald Hardrada of Norway receive the submission of the city of York

Hastings, Stamford Bridge and Gate Fulford: three battles that lost England