The Last Supper

Religion

Saint Augustine in His Study. (

Why is taking your own life considered a sin?How a Christian Saint defined suicide. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Secrets of medieval churches. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Medieval relic hunters: the quest for Notre-Dame's crown of thorns. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Holy sites of multiple religions stud Jerusalem’s skyline, including the Dome of the Rock (Photo by KiyechkaSo/Shutterstock)

“I don’t underestimate how difficult it is to satisfy everybody” | Simon Sebag Montefiore on writing the history of Jerusalem. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Christine de Pizan, pictured speaking to a trio of inspirational women in an illustration in her Book of the City of Ladies, written around the turn of the 15th century (Photo by Album/Alamy Stock Photo)

Medieval influencers: 4 women who brought change to the Middle Ages. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Leper Crusaders: how disease-stricken knights forged an army in the Holy Land. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A procession of cardinals file into the Vatican

General History

Conclaves explained: what happens when a pope dies?

William Dalrymple (Photo by David Hartley/Shutterstock)

“Like ancient Greece, India is one of the seedbeds of civilisation” | William Dalrymple on putting India back at the centre of global history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Venerable Bede: life of the week. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Telling the story of modern Jerusalem. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Satan & the sabbath: witchhunting in the Basque Country. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Statue of Zeus, king of the Greek gods

King of the gods and sex pest: the legend of Zeus and his thunderbolts

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

A Chinese tank nears the city of Lang Son in Vietnam, 1979 and (right) Chinese and Vietnamese ministers meet for talks, 1991. Rana Mitter highlights the role of diplomacy in bringing war between Vietnam and China to an end.

Historians debate: how do intractable conflicts come to an end?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Norse god of war and All-father, Odin, next to Germanic princess Brunhild

General History

Fierce and furious: who are the most powerful gods of war throughout world history?

Helios driving a chariot

General History

Sun gods and goddesses16 solar deities from world history

A crusader army led by French king Louis IX clashes with Ayyubid forces at Mansurah in 1250. Two centuries of warfare across the Middle East “drew a torrent of often dangerous young men into the region”, writes Steve Tibble. (Photo by Getty Images)

Crusader criminals: why medieval knights went rogue in the Holy Land. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Priest's Hole, formerly a medieval sewer, beneath the kitchen in Baddesley Clinton, Warwickshire.

A perilous game of hide and seekThe history of priest holes and hunters

Norse god Wotan surrounded by fire.

General History

Fire gods and goddesses: 14 fire deities from world history

A mob setting fire to Newgate Prison and freeing prisoners.

The Gordon RiotsHow an anti-Catholic petition escalated into the most destructive riots in London’s history

Plots and Rebellions, with Professor Tracy Borman. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Will the real Jesus please stand up?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Lothar II vs Theutberga: a marriage scandal that shook the ninth century. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An image depicting St Valentine

Saint ValentineWho was the patron saint of love and lovers?

Video podcastMedieval popes: everything you wanted to know. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Mosaic of Neptune, Roman god of the sea carrying his trident and riding in a chariot pulled by horses with dolphin tails

General History

Water gods and sea goddesses: 17 water deities from world history

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

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

The taking of Jerusalem by the Crusader

The First Crusade: your ultimate guide

A women with a shocked face next to a calendar with the date of Friday the 13th

Q&AWhy is Friday 13th unlucky?