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In the early 14th century, the Knights Templar were suppressed, and the 200-year history of this military religious order came to an abrupt end. Or did it? What if some of the Templars escaped persecu...
· 41 min 11 sec
In the latest episode of our monthly series charting the historical background of current news events, regular panellists Hannah Skoda and Rana Mitter are joined by Matt Elton and Dr David Musgrove to...
· 52 min 44 sec
From drowning and agricultural mishaps to getting stabbed during a football match, crushed by a pig, scalded by porridge or suffocated by a fish, there were myriad ways to accidentally die in Tudor En...
· 34 min 51 sec
Drugging, fraud, even murder – women couldn’t really commit such heinous crimes, could they? Written by historian Rosalind Crone, this Long Read explores five audacious female-led felonies from the 18...
· 19 min 32 sec
Beer is one of the world’s most popular alcoholic beverages. From refreshing lagers to amber ales and creamy stouts, there’s a style for virtually every drinker to enjoy. But how did this winning comb...
· 41 min 36 sec
Published 100 years ago in 1925, Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf was one of the most consequential books of the 20th century. It laid out Hitler's political ideology and future aspirations, as well as makin...
· 24 min 55 sec
Over the winter of 1641-2, England stood on the precipice of civil war. Historian and author Jonathan Healey charts how the relationship between the king and parliament disintegrated during those mont...
· 41 min 19 sec
Like many families, the Mitfords emerged from the Second World War bearing scars. Yet as the world entered a new, uncertain era, the sisters' knack for making headlines showed no sign of abating. Rele...
· 31 min 23 sec
First published in Russia in 1903, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion purported to demonstrate evidence of a global Jewish conspiracy. Though it has repeatedly been proven to be a forgery, the text h...
· 32 min 7 sec
Slavery was a grim but omnipresent reality across the Silk Road during the Middle Ages. Speaking to Emily Briffett, Claire Taylor unpacks the complex networks of enslavement that spanned from Ireland...
· 44 min 10 sec
Hans Holbein’s masterwork The Ambassadors is an exquisite portrait of two 16th-century diplomats. But, as well as being artistically impressive, the painting is also crammed with symbols and hidden me...
· 16 min 47 sec
Who was Nettie Honeyball? Why was the First World War a golden age for female factory teams? And why did the English Football Association move heaven and Earth to stamp them out? Speaking to Spencer M...
· 44 min 34 sec
It may be hard to believe for those of you who can remember it, but this month marks the 40th anniversary of the iconic music extravaganza that was LiveAid. David Hepworth co-presented the BBC's cover...
· 32 min 26 sec
You may be familiar with the name of Marco Polo – the 13th-century Venetian merchant who travelled along the Silk Road, journeyed through Asia and spent time at the court of Mongol emperor Kublai Khan...
· 42 min 59 sec
In her most famous speech, delivered on 9 August 1588, Queen Elizabeth I declared that she had the "heart and stomach of a king". Was that just rhetoric? Or could England’s iconic Tudor queen actually...
· 28 min 5 sec
For much of the 20th century, six sisters from Britain’s minor aristocracy had a knack for making headline after scandalous headline. They were Nancy, Pamela, Diana, Unity, Jessica and Deborah Mitford...
· 47 min 28 sec
Malcolm X became one of the most influential leaders in the US civil rights movement – thanks largely, explains this Long Read written by historian Ashley D Farmer, to the women who shaped his life an...
· 22 min 49 sec
When you think of the First World War, what springs to mind? Is it trench warfare? The myth that troops would be home by Christmas? Or perhaps the idea that the whole thing began because of the assass...
· 42 min 12 sec
Did the Roman legions actually wear red? How often was their famous 'tortoise' formation actually used? How did military leaders maintain control of an army spread across such a massive empire? And wh...
· 52 min 39 sec
What was the Romans’ weakest link when it came to warfare? Do we underestimate the military might of other ancient civilisations in favour of Rome? And which battles from the imperial era have been ov...
· 48 min 57 sec