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Monarchs

Researchers conducting excavations near Bath Abbey have uncovered the remains of an apse dated to between the late eighth and late tenth centuries.

Cool Finds

Newly Unearthed Anglo-Saxon Monastery May Have Hosted England’s First Coronation

In the millennia since Edgar the Peaceful’s 973 coronation, the content of the royal ceremony has remained largely the same

The tangled history of Scottish independence features such figures as William Wallace, Bonnie Prince Charlie, and Mary, Queen of Scots.

A Not-So-Brief History of Scottish Independence

This primer covers Scottish sovereignty from the Roman era to the Jacobite revolts, the 2014 referendum and Brexit

Marcus Gheeraerts II, Portrait of a Woman in Red, 1620

The Evolution of Pregnancy Portraits, From Tudor England to Beyoncé

A new show at the Foundling Museum in London highlights artists’ depictions of pregnant women over the past 500 years

Featuring Richard III, Elizabeth I, Queen Victoria, George III and more

Ten Things We’ve Learned About Britain’s Monarchs in the Past Ten Years

From Richard III to Mary, Queen of Scots, and George III, these were the royal revelations detailed during the 2010s

Researchers analyzed 75,688 convict tattoos cataloged in the Digital Panopticon database.

The Victorian Tattooing Craze Started With Convicts and Spread to the Royal Family

A new series of data visualizations offers insights on the practice’s historical significance

A portrait (by Juan Carreño de Miranda) of Charles II, the last of the Spanish Habsburg kings, and his father, Philip IV (painted by Diego Velázquez, of whom the king was a patron). Both men had prominent jaws, which a new study concludes is most likely the result of the family's inbreeding.

The Distinctive ‘Habsburg Jaw’ Was Likely the Result of the Royal Family’s Inbreeding

New research finds correlation between how inbred rulers of a notoriously intermarrying dynasty were and the prominence of their jutting jaw

Elizabeth's penmanship deteriorated over time, with the speed and sloppiness of her writing rising in direct correlation with the crown's increasing demands.

Cool Finds

Elizabeth I’s ‘Idiosyncratic’ Handwriting Identifies Her as the Scribe Behind a Long Overlooked Translation

The Tudor queen wrote in an “extremely distinctive, disjointed hand,” says scholar John-Mark Philo

The ruins of the Grey family's ancestral seat, Bradgate House

Is This the Childhood Home of Lady Jane Grey, England’s Nine-Day Queen?

Stone structures unearthed below the brick ruins of Bradgate House may date to the Tudor period

Hans Holbein's portrait of Anne of Cleves convinced Henry VIII of his bride-to-be's charms

Historian’s New Novel Raises Controversial Theory: Henry VIII Divorced Anne of Cleves Because She’d Already Given Birth

Alison Weir acknowledges the claim, which pulls on previously unexplored evidence, is “inconclusive and speculative” but says it might make readers think

Antique dealer Ian Coulson purchased the bed, then advertised as a Victorian era frame, for £2,200 in 2010.

Cool Finds

Henry VII’s Marriage Bed May Have Spent 15 Years in a British Hotel’s Honeymoon Suite

Some experts say the ornately carved oak bed was commissioned for the wedding of the first Tudor king and his queen, Elizabeth of York

As biographer Antonia Fraser explains, Mary’s story is one of “murder, sex, pathos, religion and unsuitable lovers"

Based on a True Story

The True Story of Mary, Queen of Scots, and Elizabeth I

Josie Rourke’s film sees Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie transform from allies into rivals, but in actuality, the queens’ relationship was far more complex

Bruce is alternately painted as a patriot whose perseverance secured his nation’s independence and a more shadowy figure with dangerous ambitions

Based on a True Story

The True Story of Robert the Bruce, Scotland’s ‘Outlaw King’

Chris Pine stars as the Netflix film’s eponymous hero, who secures his country’s independence but leaves behind a tangled legacy

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