Matilda of Flanders: Did you mean...?

In the 13th century, astonishing quantities of spices and silk passed from the Far East to Europe. Exact amounts are not known, but spice popularity in both cuisine and medicine reached its historical peak during the Middle Ages in Europe...

The Battle of Passchendaele (October-November 1917), the final stage of the Third Battle of Ypres, took place in Flanders, Belgium, during the First World War (1914-18). The aim of the Allied commander in this part of the Western Front, Field...

The Battle of Fleurus (26 June 1794) was the climax of the Flanders Campaign of 1792-95 and was one of the most decisive battles in the War of the First Coalition (1792-1797). A French victory, Fleurus ensured French ascendency for the rest...

William the Conqueror (c. 1027-1087), also known as William, Duke of Normandy, led the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 when he defeated and killed his rival Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings. Crowned King William I of England...

Emma of Normandy (died 1052), the wife of King Aethelred the Unready from 1002 to 1016 and then the wife of King Cnut from 1017 to 1035, was a dominant player in English politics for nearly 50 years. Emma is the first English queen depicted...

The Desert Rats was the nickname of the 7th Armoured Division of the British Eighth Army, which first fought in North Africa during the Second World War (1939-45). Fighting in the Western Desert Campaigns and the North Africa Campaign, the...

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss The Anarchy, the civil war that took place in mid-twelfth century England. The war began as a succession dispute between the Empress Matilda, daughter of Henry I of England, and her cousin, Stephen of Blois...

Trade and commerce in the medieval world developed to such an extent that even relatively small communities had access to weekly markets and, perhaps a day's travel away, larger but less frequent fairs, where the full range of consumer goods...

The German Spring Offensive, also called the Ludendorff Offensive after its commander, was the last major German advance of the First World War (1914-18). From March to July 1918, Ludendorff launched five major attacks on the Western Front...

The Battle of Wattignies was a significant battle in the War of the First Coalition, part of the wider French Revolutionary Wars (1792-1802). It was fought on 15-16 October 1793 between a ragtag army of the First French Republic and a professional...