An introduction to the history of assassins and assassination.

A six part series on "How to:" build a replica naval gun from the Age of Sail. In Part Six we explore how to recreate the tackle, the ropes and pulleys to run out the gun.

The notion of Viking berserkers has captured the popular imagination but who were they?

Dispelling some myths that Medieval people did not bathe.

A brief introduction to crime and punishment in Merry Ol' England.

Dispelling myths that towns and villages in the Medieval period were dirty, smelly places in which to live.

The hidden history behind the meanings of food related words, terms and phrases.

Did Roman soldiers train with double weight swords?

Dispelling some myths surrounding the legendary King Arthur.

Etymology The Roman testudo means “tortoise” not “turtle”, even if Rex Harrison, playing Julius Caesar in the 1963 film “Cleopatra”, uses the latter term. To be fair, he was delivering a line from script written by an American, which may sound a little condescending until one realises that in North America “turtle” is used to denote the whole group of creatures. In fact, the order’s name, Testudines , is based on the Latin word testudo  meaning “tortoise” and was coined by

Challenging some of the common misconceptions about witches.

Was "Albion" the name used for Great Britain by its earliest inhabitants?

Is colour-blind casting on TV and film, particularly documentaries, creating misleading and horrible history?

A brief introduction to the nineteen men, in no particular order of seniority, who formed Henry VIII’s Privy Council in 1540.

A brief guide to ancient underwear as part of our How To: Make Historical Costume.

Dispelling the TV and film myth that gladiators in the Roman arena hailed the emperor with the word "Those who are about to die salute you!"

An exploration of how Greek hoplites may have fought with their spears.

What follows was inspired by the video “ Vegetables don’t exist ” on the “Words Unravelled!” YouTube channel hosted by Rob Watts from “ RobWords ” and Jess Zafarris author of the etymology books “Words from Hell” and “Once Upon a Word”. Meal Times As Tastes Of History is based in the UK our focus on food history and recipes is unashamedly British and Euro-centric. Clearly, however, cuisine and dining in the “Old World” has been heavily influenced by pretty much all areas

A beginners guide to Medieval games.

It can be argued that the face of modern Europe was changed by Kriegsspiel or “war game”.