On 17 August 1579, a ship sailed up the Thames and dropped anchor in Greenwich. Moments later a duke emerged, dressed in the finest clothes that money could buy, and conversing with his entourage in F

How an upstart noble family emerged from the Wars of the Roses to rule England

Emily Briffett: Why does the 14th century, which is often dubbed ‘calamitous’, have such a bad reputation? Helen Carr: Some pretty bad things happened during the 14th century – including the greatest

No one has ever fallen for the Basque County quite like Archduchess Maria Christina. An exquisite pianist and polyglot, she left the Austro-Hungarian aristocracy to marry King Alfonso of Spain in 1879

Sceptred Isle: A New History of the Fourteenth ...

Isabella d’Este, Marchioness of Mantua, bargained, cajoled and went behind her family’s back to get what she desired. Meet 16th-century Italy’s most formidable collector