Illustration of a couple

Sex and love

A monk and his mistress

Monks behaving badly

A medieval couple being married by a clergyman

Love and marriage in medieval England

Sally Dixon-SmithMedieval love and marriage. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Linda Porter

Linda Porter“You’ve got to be impressed by how these women played the system”. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The renowned poet Lord Byron has gone down in history for being “mad, bad and dangerous to know”. But his ancestors were hardly paragons of virtue. (Image by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Adultery, elopement and incest: the scandalous sex lives of the 18th-century Byrons

The scandalous Byrons. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

c1895: Queen Victoria with her family. Standing left to right: Princess Helena Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein; Prince Henry of Battenberg; Count Arthur Mensdorff-Pouilly; Beatrice, Princess Henry of Battenberg; George, Duke of York. Seated left to right: Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg; Queen Victoria; Victoria Mary, Duchess of York holding Prince Edward of York; Prince Arthur of Connaught; and Prince Alexander of Battenberg. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Who were Queen Victoria's children? Everything you need to know about her sons and daughters

Christ appearing to Mary Magdalene

Mary Magdalene: why do people want to believe she was a sinner and prostitute?

Postcard of a group of men wearing identical clothing boarding a boat for a stag party, c1914. (Photo via Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images).

Stag nights and hen dos: a brief history of bachelor and bachelorette parties

How has dating changed over time? A brief history of courtship

Illustration of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn on their wedding day

The royal weddings of Henry VIII: Alison Weir on what came before divorced, beheaded, died...

Pompeii wall painting depicting an erotic satyr and nymph

In bed with the Romans: a brief history of sex in Ancient Rome

17th September 1936: The British minister of health, Sir Kingsley Wood, watches nurses weighing newborn twins during a visit to Southmead Hospital in Bristol to see the work local authorities were doing for the maintenance and improvement of health and housing conditions. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

Mum hacks: 5 tips for new mothers from history

German women carrying children believed to be part of the Lebensborn programme

Second World War

The woman who gave birth for Hitler

c1960s photo showing a man places an engagement ring on a woman's finger.

A brief history of proposing marriage

A postcard showing for women hunting for a man with guns and dogs.

Why do women propose in a leap year?

An Art Deco mechanical valentine (moving the cape causes the arms to move up and down) from the 1930s. (Photo by Alan Mays)

'Vinegar Valentines': 9 surprisingly dark Valentine's Day cards from the past

Queen Victoria refused to wear her crimson velvet robes of state for her wedding to Albert. Instead, she opted for a dress of pure white and “simple magnificence”. (Photo by Rischgitz/Getty Images)

“Nothing could have gone off better”: the wedding of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert

'The Young Victoria' follows the early relationship of Victoria and her beloved Prince Albert. The monarch was played by Emily Blunt in the 2009 film. (Images by Bettmann/Getty Images/Alamy)

Leading ladies in love: 6 historical movies to watch this Valentine’s Day

Bottle of 'love potion'

General ancient history

Spanish fly, holy bread and mashed worms: history's weirdest aphrodisiacs and love potions

Pope Francis celebrates a priesthood ordination and mass in St Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. (Photo by Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP via Getty Images)

General History

Sex and the (Vatican) City: a brief history of clerical celibacy

Scandalous Tudor marriages: 7 women who braved royal wrath by marrying for love

Pope John XVII

Has there ever been a married Pope?

American socialite Wallis Simpson

The vilification of Wallis Simpson: how Edward VIII's mistress was savaged by society

Mandy Rice-Davies (left) and Christine Keeler

Notes on a scandal: revisiting the Profumo Affair. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Princess Margaret and her husband, Lord Snowdon, in San Francisco during a visit to America, November 1965. (Photo by Harry Benson/Express/Getty Images)

“Cheap men and expensive bottles”: Princess Margaret’s love affairs

The trial of Lady Chatterley’s Lover: how the 'obscene' book caused a moral storm

Literary women through the ages: Jane Austen, Virginia Woolf and Charlotte Brontë all enjoyed female friendships which enriched their writing, say Emily Midorikawa and Emma Claire Sweeney. (Getty Images)

From Austen & Brontë to Woolf: literature’s forgotten female friendships

Out of the closets and into the streets: the legacy of the Stonewall Riots

A portrait of the romantic novelist Jane Austen. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

The real reason Jane Austen never married