Weird and wonderful history

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Nick Baker and John Woolf discuss some lesser known aspects of the Edwardian Age. (Image by Getty Images)

Unexpected Edwardians . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Illustration of a man without a head, but with his face on his chest. This is one of many creatures Sir John Mandeville claimed to have met on his travels

A knight’s (tall) tale: why medieval traveller Sir John Mandeville was more popular than Marco Polo

The Bal des Ardents (the 'Ball of the Burning Men'), from 'The Chronicler of European Chivalry' by GG Coulton (London, 1930). The 1393 tragedy claimed the lives of four people. (Photo by The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)

Q&A What was the ‘Ball of the Burning Men’?

The burgundy cover of a British passport

Q&A When were passports as we know them today first introduced?

An ancient Greek vase depicting sexual intercourse

A brief history of sex and sexuality in Ancient Greece

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Ian Keable describes some of the most audacious, bizarre and inventive pranks that fooled Georgian Britain. (Image by Getty Images)

Extraordinary hoaxes of the 18th century . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Q&A Did the Scottish mass-murdering cannibal Sawney Bean actually exist?

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A medieval illustration showing a doctor bleeding a patient

Quiz Can you spot the real historical remedies? . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Will Pooley delves into the strange and surprising history of witchcraft beliefs in France, from the Revolution to the Second World War. (Image by Getty Images)

Bewitched cars & mail-order charms: witchcraft in modern France . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An architectural grotesque of a woman displaying her vulva

How naughty was the past? The hidden depths of the medieval church

Soldiers of the Third Reich surround a huge bonfire during a winter solstice festival in December 1936. The Nazis attempted to use elements of pagan beliefs to promote a Germanic ‘national religiosity’. (Photo by Getty Images)

Witches, werewolves and vampires: the Nazi’s quest for the supernatural

A group of men observe a body lying on a table.

Early-modern cannibal doctors: why mummified corpse was considered medicine

How was it administered and by whom was it carried out? (Image from Getty Images)

Q&A: What was the punishment of being ‘burnt in the hand’?

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Dr Freya Gowrley reveals how Georgian satirists used images of fatness to comment on the anxieties of the age (Image from Getty Images)

Why were the Georgians fixated with fatness? . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Crown Prince Olav on his ice yacht (Getty Images)

From Hollywood to war heroes: 10 Olympians who were more famous outside sport