Illustrated Medieval scene from the Romance of Lancelot

Medieval

The Temple Church, London, a late 12th-century church built for and by the Knights Templar. (Photo by LatitudeStock - David Williams/Getty Images)

History explorer: The Knights Templar. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A woodcut print of the medieval town of Pisa.

History quiz – shambles, soldiers and medieval towns. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The siege of Orleans

Q&ADid castle defenders really pour boiling oil down on attackers?

Illustration by Femke De Jong

The medieval longing for the good old days

Mince pies date back to the Crusaders during the Middle Ages. (Photo by Laura Kate Bradley via Getty Images)

Q&AWhen were mince pies first made?

How could the son of Henry VIII become Edward VI?

Martin Luther King (centre) rides the Montgomery bus with Rev Glenn Smiley of Texas. (Getty Images)

The LibraryWhat was history’s most dramatic year?

What religion was practised by the people of Lithuania before their conversion to Christianity in the 14th century?

Canterbury pilgrims from John of Lydgate’s ‘Story of Thebes’ written c1420. (Photo by Photo 12/UIG via Getty Images)

The LibraryA city break in medieval Europe

Photo of gauntlets

Q&AWhy do we say throw down the gauntlet?

Lady Hall launches the British India Company passenger liner SS Uganda in Clydeside docks with the traditional bottle of champagne, 1952. The first time champagne was used to launch a ship was when Queen Victoria launched HMS Royal Arthur in 1891. (Photo by George Douglas/Getty Images)

Q&AWhy do we smash champagne bottles against new ships?

History quiz – Chaucer, sailors and the Civil War. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Italian poet Francesco Petrarch

Q&AHow and when did the medieval period get its name?

The secrets of 6 of Britain’s most famous castles – with Dan Jones

Q&AQ&A: Why is Portugal known as Britain’s oldest ally?

The Harrying of the North. Gouache on paper, by Patrick Nicolle (1907–95). Private collection. (© Look and Learn/Bridgeman Images)

Occupation, resistance, subjugation: the bloody aftermath of 1066

The 1016 Danish Conquest that led to the battle of Hastings

Q&A: If the battle of Hastings had never taken place, would British history have been any different?

The Norman Conquest. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The search for Henry I: what you need to know

Newcastle upon Tyne, 1877, published in the Illustrated London News. (Photo by SSPL/Getty Images)

The LibraryEngland’s northern soul

Medieval Albigensians: Bath’s reincarnated heretics

Royal palaces of the Hundred Years’ War

Eleanor of Aquitaine.

History quiz – spacewalks, battles and Eleanor of Aquitaine. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The medieval hilltop village of Vézelay in north central France enjoys a spectacular location. (Photo by Andia/UIG via Getty Images)

My favourite place: Vézelay, France

On the trail of the Yorks: 8 places associated with Richard III’s family

Mompesson House, which has sinister connections with a ghost known as the Demon Drummer. (Clare Hargreaves/The National Trust)

9 haunted historic houses

7 unusual historical sites in Britain and Ireland

The most popular historical figures you've (probably) never heard of

Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire. (Photo by Getty Images)

History explorerThe Second Barons’ War. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.