European History

Workers converting a 15th-century granary (large brown building pictured) into a parking garage in Erfurt, Germany, uncovered graves from a medieval Jewish cemetery.

How Construction of a Parking Lot Uncovered New Insights About Medieval Jews

A new DNA study suggests Ashkenazi Jews living in 14th-century Germany were surprisingly genetically diverse

One of the historic train cars discovered in Poland in 2015

You Could Soon Ride in Historic Carriages From the Orient Express

French travel company Accor is restoring 17 vintage train cars dating back to the 1920s and '30s

Inside the wedding ring's band is an inscription in French that translates to "I hold your faith, hold mine.”

Metal Detectorist Finds Medieval Wedding Ring in Near-Perfect Condition

Discovered five inches underground, the rare 14th-century artifact could sell for $47,000

All of the jewelry archaeologists unearthed from a Viking Age site north of Stockholm

Archaeologists Unearth Trove of Viking Age Jewelry in Sweden

The 1,000-year-old neck rings, finger rings, pearls and coins were in near-pristine condition

Prince Charles and Princess Diana in South Korea in November 1992, shortly before they officially separated

Why 1992 Was Such a 'Horrible Year' for Elizabeth II and the Royal Family

The fifth season of "The Crown" explores the dissolution of Charles and Diana's marriage, a catastrophic fire and other Windsor tragedies

Twentieth-century porcelain dolls made by German company Armand Marseille

How Porcelain Dolls Became the Ultimate Victorian Status Symbol

Class-obsessed consumers found the cold, hard and highly breakable figurines irresistible

Magic was just another tool in a medieval animal healer's toolbox.

The Veterinary Magic of the Middle Ages

Medieval healers treated animals' ailments with a mix of faith, tradition and science

Chapel of the Souls in Porto, Portugal

To Get to Know Portugal, Explore Its Azulejo Tilework

Since the 13th century, artists have been reinventing the art form that covers churches, palaces and train stations

The Misses Porter (as they were sometimes called) arguably created the modern historical novel, weaving fascinating, romantic tales out of facts and events culled from history books.

The Forgotten Sisters Who Pioneered the Historical Novel

Jane and Anna Maria Porter ruled Britain's literary scene—until male imitators wrote them out of the story

An underwater view of the V-1302 John Mahn, which has rested at the bottom of the North Sea since February 1942

A World War II Shipwreck Is Leaking Toxic Chemicals Into the North Sea

Researchers discovered nickel, copper, arsenic, explosives and chemicals found in fossil fuels at the site

A stained-glass window depicting Empress Matilda's voyage from England to Normandy

The Medieval Power Struggle That Inspired HBO's 'House of the Dragon'

The "Game of Thrones" spinoff takes its cue from the Anarchy, a civil war that saw Empress Matilda and Stephen of Blois vying for the English crown

Ruins found under an old deparment store may be from the friary of St. Saviours, which was founded by a Dominican order of monks in about 1256, but its exact location had always been a mystery.

Human Remains May Have Revealed the Site of a Medieval Friary

Archaeologists uncovered nearly 300 skeletons and other artifacts from beneath an old Welsh department store

Girl With a Flute was previously believed to be a Vermeer original.

Who Is Behind This Vermeer Painting? Probably Not Vermeer

The National Gallery of Art now believes that "Girl With a Flute" was painted by one of his associates

From Henry VII’s usurpation of the throne in 1485 to the death of Elizabeth in 1603, Tudor monarchs relied on paintings, sculptures, tapestries and other art forms to legitimize their nascent dynasty.

Why Art Was Such a Powerful Tool for England's Tudor Monarchs

An exhibition at the Met features 100-plus paintings, sculptures, decorative works and objects that testify to the splendor of 16th-century English court

Researchers have created facial reconstructions of three medieval Scottish people who were buried at the historic Whithorn site.

Stunning Facial Reconstructions Resurrect a Trio of Medieval Scots

The renderings show what a bishop, a cleric and a young woman with a remarkably symmetrical face may have looked like in life

Goods from a grave site at Issendorf cemetery in Lower-Saxony, Germany. 

DNA From Skeletons Reveals Large Migration to Early Medieval England

A new study could close a long-standing debate about movement of people post-Roman rule

“The first people to look at the Rosetta Stone thought it would take two weeks to decipher,” says Edward Dolnick, author of The Writing of the Gods: The Race to Decode the Rosetta Stone. “It ended up taking 20 years.”

Two Hundred Years Ago, the Rosetta Stone Unlocked the Secrets of Ancient Egypt

French scholar Jean-François Champollion announced his decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs on September 27, 1822

Donkeys are important pack animals that helped shape human civilizations.

Scientists Uncover the Story of Donkey Domestication

Humans tamed the equines about 7,000 years ago in East Africa, new research suggests

Paula, Sam and Sol Messinger aboard the M.S. St. Louis in May 1939. The U.S. denied the ship entry, forcing its 937 passengers to return to Europe. More than a quarter of these refugees were later killed in the Holocaust.

Why Was America So Reluctant to Take Action on the Holocaust?

A new Ken Burns documentary examines the U.S.' complex, often shameful response to the rise of Nazism and the plight of Jewish refugees

The Woman King tells the story of the Agojie, an elite, all-woman army in the West African kingdom of Dahomey.

The Real Warriors Behind 'The Woman King'

A new film stars Viola Davis as the leader of the Agojie, the all-woman army of the African kingdom of Dahomey

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