Monarchs

The second season of "The Spanish Princess" presents a highly dramatized version of the Battle of Flodden. In actuality, the queen (seen here in a c. 1520 portrait) never rode directly into battle.

When Catherine of Aragon Led England's Armies to Victory Over Scotland

In 1513, Henry VIII's first queen—acting as regent in her husband's absence—secured a major triumph at the Battle of Flodden

Sarah Forbes Bonetta, as seen in 1856 (left) and 1862 (right). Hannah Uzor's new portrait is based on the 1862 photograph.

The Little-Known Story of Queen Victoria's Black Goddaughter

A newly commissioned portrait of Sarah Forbes Bonetta is now on view at the monarch's seaside house, Osbourne

The Golden Coach, as seen during Budget Day celebrations in 2011

Why Is the Dutch Royal Family's Golden Carriage So Controversial?

Critics say the coach, which is set to go on view at a museum next June, features racist, colonialist imagery

Archaeologists first spotted the sturgeon's bony plates near a barrel in the Gribshunden shipwreck.

Well-Preserved Atlantic Sturgeon Found in 15th-Century Danish Shipwreck

The fish's remains were stored in a barrel in the royal vessel's pantry

The Große Stammbuch contains 100 illustrations dated to between 1596 and 1647. This two-page spread depicts flowers, insects and shells.

Why 'Friendship Books' Were the 17th-Century Version of Facebook

Dozens of 17th-century dignitaries signed a 227-page manuscript recently acquired by a German library

L-shaped foundations of the medieval Great Sacristy, as seen from the roof of Westminster Abbey

Lost Medieval Sacristy, Burial Grounds Unearthed at Westminster Abbey

Demolished in the 1740s, the 13th-century structure once housed the church's altar linens, chalices and other sacred items

George IV commissioned architect John Nash to design Buckingham Palace's picture gallery as a home for his art collection.

Buckingham Palace's Art Collection to Be Exhibited in Public Gallery for First Time

The 65 works set to go on view include masterpieces by Rembrandt, Vermeer and Titian

Oxburgh Hall, a moated Tudor manor house in Norfolk, England, is currently undergoing a major renovation project to fix its roof.

Thousands of Rare Artifacts Discovered Beneath Tudor Manor's Attic Floorboards

Among the finds are manuscripts possibly used to perform illegal Catholic masses, silk fragments and handwritten music

Composite portraits of Augustus (left) and Maximinus Thrax (right)

Peer Into the Past With Photorealistic Portraits of Roman Emperors

Artist Daniel Voshart used machine learning and editing software to create likenesses of 54 ancient leaders

A Dutch art dealer realized the vase's significance after appraising an elderly European woman's collection.

Rare Chinese Vase Found in Pet-Filled Home Sells for $9 Million

The 18th-century artifact was made in a style specific to the Qianlong dynasty

The main circular earthwork at Navan Fort in Northern Ireland measures roughly 130 feet in diameter. But archaeologists surveying the site have found signs of even larger structures that may have been temples.

Evidence of Enormous Temples Found at Northern Ireland's Navan Fort

Non-invasive survey reveals traces of Iron Age religious structures, early medieval royal residences

This month's selections include Clean, Memory Drive and Uncrowned Queen.

An Uncrowned Tudor Queen, the Science of Skin and Other New Books to Read

These five July releases may have been lost in the news cycle

At its peak, the saint's Canterbury Cathedral shrine drew upward of 100,000 visitors each year.

Researchers Digitally Reconstruct Thomas Becket's Razed Canterbury Cathedral Shrine

The model, centered around the medieval saint's golden casket, is now available to view online

As protesters citing Louis IX’s history as a crusader call for the statue’s removal, counter-protesters ardently protect it.

In St. Louis, History and Nostalgia Battle It Out

The city's Catholic community faces off against protesters over a statue honoring the city's namesake

More than 500 people guillotined during the French Revolution may have been buried in the walls of this 19th-century chapel.

Remains Discovered in Parisian Chapel May Belong to Guillotined Aristocrats

New research suggests the bodies of nearly 500 nobles beheaded during the Reign of Terror are buried in Chapelle Expiatoire

Researchers recently identified the unnamed sitter in this portrait as Mary Boleyn, older sister of Anne Boleyn.

After Hundreds of Years, Unknown Woman in Tudor Portrait Identified as Mary Boleyn

New evidence suggests the painting depicts Anne Boleyn's older sister, the one-time mistress of Henry VIII

The prayer book is written in Latin and French and features 40 miniature illustrations.

A Prayer Book Owned by Mary, Queen of Scots, Is Up for Sale

The ill-fated monarch inscribed the gift from her great-aunt with an affectionate inscription

Elle Fanning portrays the eponymous empress in Hulu's "The Great."

The True Story of Catherine the Great

Hulu's "The Great" offers an irreverent, ahistorical take on the Russian empress' life. This is the real history behind the period comedy

Wallis Simpson and Prince Edward outside of Government House in Nassau, the Bahamas, circa 1942

Prince Edward and Wallis Simpson's Sprawling Bahamas Estate Is Up for Sale

After abdicating the British throne, Edward was appointed governor of the Bahamas, where he temporarily lived in a lavish home in Nassau

That Mary consigned some 280 Protestants to the flames is both indisputable and indefensible. But as historians have increasingly argued, this number is just one element of a much larger story that warrants contextualization.

The Myth of 'Bloody Mary'

History remembers the English queen as a murderous monster, but the real story of Mary I is far more nuanced

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