Women's history

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert

Love before Prince Albert: Queen Victoria’s suitors

1949: Clementine with husband Winston Churchill at Epsom racecourse for the Derby. (Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Second World War

6 surprising facts about Clementine Churchill

Portrait of a young woman believed to be Henry VIII's fifth wife, Catherine Howard. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

Did Catherine Howard commit adultery?

An ancient Roman relief shows a midwife delivering a baby. Many midwives had other occupations, and undertook the task as a contribution to their community. (Wellcome Images)

Call the (Roman) midwife

Queen Victoria with her children and grandchildren. Kaiser Wilhelm II is pictured left in the front row. (Photo by Bettmann via Getty Images)

Friends, family and rivals: Queen Victoria and the European empires

A rocky relationship: Eleanor of Woodstock with her husband, Reginald II of Guelders. (Photo by Alamy)

The medieval rebel princesses

Comedian Rhona Cameron and political activist Peter Tatchell help to hold a banner at an LGBT Pride event in London, 1998. (Photo by Steve Eason/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The historians’ view: is the world finally waking up to transgender issues?

English countrywoman (right) with a lady of the court. From ‘Civitates Orbis Terrarum’, 1572. (Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

Tudor women: what was life like?

Woodcut of a woman who may be stoking a furnace or baking bread, printed in the 15th century. (SSPL/Getty Images)

What was life like for a medieval housewife?

Marble bust of Agrippina the Younger

Agrippina the Younger: the first true empress of Ancient Rome

Olivia Colman as Queen Anne in 'The Favourite'. (Photo by Twentieth Century Fox/Entertainment Pictures)

The Favourite: the real history behind the new Queen Anne film

Premium

Catherine Hanley tells the story of Empress Matilda, whose battle for the English throne became known as ‘the anarchy’. (Photo by Jeni Nott for BBC History Magazine)

Empress Matilda: Medieval warrior queen . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Premium

Catherine Hanley talks to Ellie Cawthorne about Matilda, the legitimate daughter of Henry I. (Photographed for BBC History Magazine by Jeni Nott).

Catherine Hanley on Matilda: “Honestly, if I were her, I’d have wanted to put my fist through a wall” . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Queen Victoria with her daughter Princess Beatrice at Balmoral Castle. Dogs seem to have been Victoria's favourite animal, writes Richard Sugg. (De Agostini Picture Library)

Queen Victoria’s pets and animals

The Italian-French poet and campaigner for women's rights, Christine de Pizan (1364–c1430). (Photo by Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

Not so silent: the unquiet women of history