Illustrated Medieval scene from the Romance of Lancelot

Medieval

A c15th-century vellum shows the Squire from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. For Adam Nicolson, the essence of the gentry was “government-through-networking”. (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images)

Stories of the gentry. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Tower of London. More than 30 inmates successfully broke out of the royal fortress between the 12th and 18th centuries. (Photo by Tetra Images/Getty Images)

How to escape from the Tower of London. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A portrait of King Edward III. By using his offspring as pawns in a series of alliances, the king hoped to wield power over a confederation of dependent states bound together by feudal and family ties. (Photo by VCG Wilson/Corbis via Getty Images)

King Edward III: the family man. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Beaumaris Castle, Anglesey

A scene from the Chronique de St Denis depicting the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Louis VII of France, 1137. (Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

An A to Z of the Plantagenets. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Whitby Abbey, North Yorkshire

Queen Matilda. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Magna Carta

Roche Abbey, Yorkshire

Knights Templar: not guilty

Anne of Cleves House, East Sussex

Caerphilly Castle, Glamorgan

Clare Priory, Suffolk

1492: The Year Our World Began

Wars of the Roses

Pieces from the Lewis Chessmen, some of the earliest chessmen to survive.

In pictures: what are the Lewis Chessmen?

Conwy Castle, Conwy

Britain under Roman rule and the truth about the crusades. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A Saracen attack on Crusaders, from the French manuscript 'Chroniques de Saint Denis', c1200. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Traders and crusaders. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

In 1830 a keeper at the Tower of London menagerie accidentally removed the barrier between a lion and two tigers. The animals were eventually prised apart, by which point the lion had been fatally wounded. (Photo by Guildhall Library & Art Gallery/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

Life with the lions: the Tower of London menagerie. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

St Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury

Ye Olde Travel Guide: Samarkand 1404. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

5 of the worst smells in medieval London

Ye olde travel guide: Acre AD 1272. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The fine rolls of King Henry III. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Illustration of couple with bubonic plague

Where the Black Death happened: 9 places connected to the plague. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Arbroath Abbey

Finger painting. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

John Leland: The man who saved medieval knowledge. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The plague, Sir Walter Ralegh and Jerusalem. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.