Historical people

Empress Matilda

Empress Matilda, daughter of Henry I: a queen in a king’s world

William Cecil, also known as Lord Burghley, with Queen Elizabeth I. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Your guide to William Cecil, chief adviser to Queen Elizabeth I

It was the need for witnesses in divorce courts – ones who wouldn’t mind their names being linked to scandals, no less – that partly gave rise to female detectives. (Photo by Rischgitz/Getty Images)

Women detectives: meet the Victorian female super sleuths

Painting of Masons building a pillar in a church

General Early Modern

Your guide to... the Freemasons

Old Norse sages describe Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir as 'the loveliest of women and nobel in every trait'. But this far-travelled Icelandic woman was eulogised largely not for her beauty and charm but as a strong-willed survivor who married three times and bore a son, Snorri, in Vinland (North America) during on of her intrepid voyages (Illustration by Lynn Hatzius)

The amazing life of a great female Viking explorer

Francisco Franco, who ruled Spain as dictator from 1939 to 1975, raises his arm in salute

Francisco Franco: is it accurate to call the Spanish dictator a fascist?

Edward the Confessor, depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry

Edward the Confessor: 9 fascinating facts

Attila the Hun

General ancient history

Who was Attila the Hun, the barbarian ruler who terrorised the Romans?

An engraving of Margaret Tudor

The forgotten Tudor: Margaret Tudor, sister of Henry VIII

Portrait by Sherril Schell of British poet Rupert Brooke. (Photo by Time Life Pictures/Mansell/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

First World War

WW1 poets 5 famous figures you should know about

10 facts about Wuthering Heights author Emily Brontë

Portrait of the Bronte sisters

The Brontës: the unfortunate and unlikely tale of the world’s “greatest literary sisters”

The arrival of Sir Walter Raleigh in Virginia

What happened to the lost colony of Roanoke Island?

Four Murder, Inc hitmen are questioned by detectives

Murder, Inc: the rise and fall of New York City’s mafia hitmen

Bill Nighy and Olivia Cooke in 'The Limehouse Golem'.

The real history behind Victorian thriller ‘The Limehouse Golem’