Shakespeare wrote that Richard III plotted the deaths of his young nephews in the Tower of London, a theory touted by the Tudors but never confirmed. In the 17th century, the bones of two young children were found in the Tower and were reburied in Westminster Abbey as the princes, Edward V and Richard Duke of York.

The announcement of the new Pope in Rome has led some journalists to ponder if Latin really is a dead language. The Guardian's Style Blog jumps into the discussion.

In December 2012, metal detector enthusiast Morten Skovsby got lucky near the village of Hårby, Denmark.  His detector hit on a thumb-sized silver figurine depicting a Valkyrie, the only known 3D Viking representation of the battle maiden. (photos)

Historians continue to debate over the authenticity of a mummifed head found in the attic of a tax collector. Some believe it is the remains of "good King Henri" (Henry IV of France, murdered in 1610), while others believe the claim is "rubbish."

The residents of he Channel Island of Alderney, led by librarian Kate Russell, have recently completed a major project: the final panels of the Bayeux tapestry. (photo)

A team of archaeologists and academics in Leicester, England have digitally recreated the Blue Boar Inn where Richard III spent the night before the battle of Bosworth, where he met his fate. The inn was demolished in the 19th century and is currently the site of a Travelodge. (video)

Portraits of two Elizabethan courtiers, it seems, were painted over Catholic religious paintings.

A new genetic study published in Current Biology reveals that European Gypsies originated in northwest India and migrated to the Balkan area of Europe in the 6th century. The study was led by David Comas of Spain's Institute of Evolutionary Biology,

1,300 years ago, a "spectacular Anglo-Saxon feasting hall" was abandoned in Kent, England. Recently a team of archaeologists from the University of Reading marked the end of their excavations of the site with a candlelight ceremony surrounding the building which knew so many "epic parties."

X-rays and infra-red photography used during conservation work on a portrait by Hans Holbein the Younger have identified the subject as Hans, a merchant working in London's steelyards, rather than the goldsmith Hans of Antwerp, the identity given to the man for over 400 years.

Conventional wisdom states that most of the Scottish population stems from Scots, Celtic, Viking and Irish ancestry, but a new DNA study shows something quite interesting. Many Scots carry genetics originating in West African, Arabian, south-east Asian and Siberia.

A team of volunteers from Operation Nightingale, a project to give soldiers recovering from injuries in Afghanistan a chance to gains new skills and interests, has unearthed an "astonishing" haul of artifacts on the Salisbury Plain.

Four people, including the former caretaker at Santiago de Compostela cathedral, have been arrested for the 2011 theft of the Codex Calixtinus Of Pope Calixtus II, a 12th-century collection of sermons and liturgical passages.

Furness Abbey, one of the most powerful and richest Cistercian abbeys" in England, was the home of well-fed, well-heeled monks and abbots. Now it is the site of several rare archaeological finds including a silver-gilt crozier and a jewelled ring in remarkable condition. (photo)

In a recent ArtBlog posted by The Guardian, Jonathan Jones ponders Botticelli's enduring masterpiece, The Birth of Venus, painted in 1484, and tries to discover if it is the ancient religion that makes it so compelling.

Archaeologists have long known about the Roman and Viking heritage of York, England, but little of its Saxon past, but new excavations of York Minster may shed some light on the unknown era.

The Vikings returned to Scotland recently for Up Helly Aa, the celebration of Nordic influence in Scotland's Shetland Islands. The Guardian newspaper offers a slideshow of photos from the event.

Recent Nordic archaeological discoveries in Great Britain have sparked a new interest in all things Viking. In an article for the Guardian, arts and media correspondent Vanessa Thorpe looks at new trends, based on old tales that are driving current British culture.

Builders of a new office block in the Southwark district of London will not see their dreams realized until they have determined what to do with the remains of a Roman bath house, complete with cold plunge bath and hypocaust heating system. (photo)

The Guardian website offers an interactive history of the British house in its "British architecture guides" section. The site includes homes from the Saxon era to contemporary, with options to zoom in for more detail and description.

A team of archaeologists has discovered the remains of a Roman amphitheatre, on par with the Colosseum in Rome, near Vienna, Austria. The site, they believe, was also a training school for gladiators.

Damaged by years of exposure to the weather, four of the most seriously deteriorated Hampton Court roundels have been restored and will be shown to the public.

The British Museum acts as a backdrop for a new manga publication by Hoshino Yukinobu. Professor Munakata's British Museum Adventure stars "a portly ethnographer-cum-archaeologist who solves crimes and explains civilisations."

A lack of "great heaps of dead rats in all the waterfront sites" has led The Black Death in London author Barney Sloane to conclude that the rodents were not the cause of plague in 14th century England. "The evidence just isn't there to support it," he said.

Re-enacting can be a lot of fun, but it can also be lucrative if you happen to live near the Colosseum or other prominent Roman tourist attractions. Unfortunately, not all of the costumed characters are upstanding in their dealings.

Sports enthusiasts flocked to London to cheer for the latest specticle of athletic prowess recently when the Museum of London hosted a face off between Londinium and Camulodunum - their gladiators, that is. The competition took place at the city's Guildhall, site of the Roman amphitheatre. (photo)

Long before grills and gold caps, Vikings used tooth decoration as a way to intimidate their enemies. Evidence can be seen in the intricate horizontal patterns filed into the teeth of Viking warriors found buried in Dorset.

European academics are concerned about the amount of violent brain traumas in the popular Asterix comics series, most dealt out by Asterix and Obelix themselves.

In 2012, England will celebrate hosting the Olympic Games, but the year will also include a huge celebration of the works of William Shakespeare. Vanessa Thorpe of the Guardian offers a rundown of cultural events involving Shakespeare.

On a recent tour of English Heritage sites, Charlotte Higgins of the Guardian visited the newly revamped Roman Baths Museum in Bath, England. She blogged her impressions.