Period

Charles II and his parties

Was Charles II too randy to rule?

An engraving depicting a scene of chaos at Bethlem Royal Hospital

Bethlem Royal Hospital: why did the infamous Bedlam asylum have such a fearsome reputation?

The ruins of Barnard Castle

Barnard Castle: a journey through time

Premium

The US cutter Spencer attacks U-boat U-175

The Battle of the Atlantic: why Britain almost lost to Hitler’s U-boats . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A scene from the Smithfield Decretals depicting a rabbit beheading a man. Rabbits seem to have a strange place in medieval imagery – and are depicted as having strangely violent tendencies.

Blog Medieval(ish) matters #5: chivalry, medieval killer rabbits and prisoners of war in the 15th century

King Edward II

In profile: King Edward II

Medieval prisoners

What was it like to be a Prisoner of War during the Hundred Years’ War?

Premium

King John II made prisoner at the Battle of Poitiers by the English during the Hundred Years War, 1356. Illustration

Medieval prisoners of war . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Medieval punishments, Toulouse, 14th century. (Photo by Photo12/UIG via Getty Images)

How bloody was medieval life?

Ramshackle homes in a Newcastle slum, c1880

From riches to rags: David Olusoga reveals how Britain’s grand houses descended into Victorian slums

The British home has changed substantially in the past 300 years (Illustration by Ed Crooks)

The evolution of the British home: from the Georgian era to the present day

Charles Cundall’s painting ‘The Withdrawal From Dunkirk, June 1940’

Second World War

9 things you (probably) didn’t know about Dunkirk

King John hunting on horseback

Was King John really that bad? Yes!

Premium

David Olusoga in the Bristol house featuring in series 3 of A House Through Time (Photo by BBC–Twenty Twenty Productions–Mark Bourdillon)

David Olusoga on A House Through Time . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Premium

First Crusade, Siege of Antioch, c1097,14th-century illustration (Photo by Getty Images)

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