The History of England Magazine

The first part of the ceremony of the State Opening of Parliament takes place out of public sight, when the cellars beneath the Palace of Westminster are searched by the Yeomen of the Guard, resplendent in their Tudor-style uniforms…

For over 300 years, the coastlines of the English Channel and south west of England were at the mercy of Barbary pirates. Men, women and children were kidnapped to be sold as slaves…

Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced, Beheaded, Survived; the tale of Henry VIII and his six wives. The rhyme suggests that his final wife, Catherine Parr was the survivor of the notorious womanizer, but is that really true? What of his fourth wife, his ‘belov’d sister’ Anne of Cleeves?….

In Early Modern England, the deathbed was a spiritual drama, a battle for the dying individual’s soul between the forces of God and the demons of Satan. If the individual died well, peacefully, with family and priest, then salvation was assumed to be theirs. A bad death, alone or in agony or without a holy man’s sacrament, was to be avoided at all cost…

Samuel Pepys is best known for his diaries, written between 1660 and 1671, and his eyewitness accounts of major events such as the coronation of Charles II, the Great Fire of London and the Great Plague…

Queen consort to two kings of England, mother of two kings and stepmother to another, why is Emma of Normandy not better known in English history?

Poor young Lady Jane Grey is famous for having the shortest reign in England’s history… just nine days.

Most people have heard of the Danish king of England Canute who according to legend, tried to command the waves. However it was his father Sweyn (Svein) who was the first Viking king of England…