Feature

Mythical tales of giants are rooted in geological realities.

The late-medieval papal chapel was a powerful jewel in the papal tiara.

Faced with extreme pressures, the ruler of England suffered a complete breakdown. But beware modern diagnoses of medieval mental health.

How can we work out the true value of money in the past? It depends how you do the sums.

We remember the Dutch Golden Age for its paintings – which may be why so few realise that it was Europe’s publishing powerhouse. 

The classical world created a variety of means of mobility for the disabled – both mythical and real.

In Victorian Britain, attitudes towards race, gender, disability and Empire were all to be found in the popular ‘freak shows’.

At the centre of a war-shattered Europe, Vienna was divided between the victorious Allied powers. Restoring civil society proved a major challenge. 

From the pit to Pythagoras, the self-made man rose to the top of the mathematical world and divided it in two.