Illustrated Medieval scene from the Romance of Lancelot

Medieval

The Crown of Thorns allegedly worn by Christ during the Passion. It was one of the prized possessions in Notre-Dame Cathedral until April 2019 – when it was rescued by the inferno that gutted the building. (Photo by: Godong/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Father, son and holy goat? The dark side of medieval relics.

A detail from the Bayeux tapestry depicting the conquest of England by the Normans. (Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty images)

9 medieval battles more significant than Agincourt.

Agincourt was one of the major battles of the Hundred Years' War.

Agincourt: what really happened.

Timothée Chalamet as Prince Hal

“It’s hard to square Prince Hal’s pacifism with what we know about Henry V”: a historian’s review of The King

A portrait of Henry V of England. The Treaty if Troyes, signed in 1420, saw Henry named Charles's regent; by marrying the latter's daughter, Katherine, Henry secured his position as heir to the throne. (Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

A wayward prince? King Henry V's misspent youth.

Portrait of Henry V

Q&AWhy is Henry V's portrait in profile?.

Portrait of King Henry V. (Photo by Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

Henry V: 5 facts you might not know about the king's softer side.

The footprint of Old Sarum cathedral

ExploreOld Sarum: the regal and the rotten.

King John out hunting

8 things you (probably) didn’t know about medieval elections.

A depiction of a 13th-century parliament, sitting under Edward I. The Good Parliament of 1376, during the reign of Edward III, sowed the seeds for discontent that was to come.

The Good Parliament of 1376: Crown v Commons.

A scene from the Bayeux Tapestry depicting the Norman invasion of 1066. The tapestry was most likely embroidered by women in Norman England in a workshop setting using four embroidery stitches – stem stitch; split stitch; chain stitch; and laid work, sometimes called ‘Bayeux Stitch’, says Dr Alexandra Lester-Makin. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The making of the Bayeux Tapestry: who made it, how long did it take, and how has it survived?

Being invited to become a 'guest' of the Tower of London in medieval England meant, more often than not, that you would soon be food for the crows. (Image by Getty Images/RM Creative)

10 historical haunted sites across Britain.

A scene from the Bayeux Tapestry depicting the death of King Harold II during the battle of Hastings in 1066. (Photo by Getty Images)

Where did the battle of Hastings actually take place? 8 facts about the 1066 battle

War criminal? William the Conqueror shown on horseback in the Bayeux Tapestry. The king's Harrying of the North was a military success but a human catastrophe – one that even appalled chroniclers traditionally sympathetic to the Norman regime. (Photo by Bridgeman)

Was William the Conqueror a war criminal? The brutal story of the Harrying of the North

Cardinal John Henry Newman

How to become a saint.

The murder of Thomas Becket

Q&A: What happened to the assassins who killed Thomas Becket?

In 1992, Betty Boothroyd was voted in as Speaker of the House of Commons, with cross-party support by 372 votes to 238, asking the House “to elect me for what I am, not for what I was born”. (Photo by Tom Stoddart/Getty Images)

A brief history of the Speakers of the House of Commons.

A painting by Italian painter Defendente Ferrari (c1480-1540) showing a Saint performing a miracle.

Medieval saints and sinners: tales of saintly miracles in the Middle Ages.

Baked loves of bread

Q&AWhy are there 13 items in a Baker's Dozen?

Jan Žižka, the general whose peasant army defied the Holy Roman Empire in the 1420s.

Christ’s communists: the radical religious sect that challenged the Holy Roman Empire.

The battle of Agincourt, 1415

True-to-scale battle numbers and 15th-century life: look inside the revamped Agincourt museum

Dan Jones by Steve Sayers and Helen Castor

The Crusades, with Dan Jones.

Crusaders defeat the Turks at Dorylaeum in 1097, as shown in a 14th-century illumination

Crusaders: did they fight for God or gold?

ExploreA masterpiece of Gothic grandeur: the Church of St Mary, Warwick.

The Popes Palace, or Palais des Papes, in Avignon, France.

Q&AWhy did the papacy move to Avignon in the 14th century?

Robin Hood statue outside Nottingham Castle (Photo by Getty)

The many faces of Robin Hood.

Men play kemari ball game

Q&AWho played the sport of kemari?

The engine houses of Botallack mine in Cornwall

A visit to Botallack Mine, Cornwall.

A woman on a medieval ducking stool

Q&AQ&A: Were ducking stools ever used as punishment for crimes other than witchcraft during the Middle Ages?

Ladies-in-waiting

General History

Q&AWhat did a lady-in-waiting actually do?