William Shakespeare: father’s legal skirmishes shed light on bard’s early years

Newly found documents in the National Archives show the playwright’s father John was harassed by Crown informers, which may have influenced his attitude to power and class

Mikuláš Teich obituary

Scholar who focused on the history of science

Peter Sawyer obituary

Influential scholar of the Vikings who challenged the standard view of them as invaders and destroyers

Miriam Griffin obituary

Oxford classical scholar and expert on Seneca who offered new insights into the torrid world of Roman imperial politics

Ian Roy obituary

Other lives: Expert on the English civil war

The cult of Mary Beard

The long read: How a late-blossoming classics don became Britain’s most beloved intellectual

West Country witchcraft and the hanged women of urban Exeter

Why were so many women accused and then put to death in 16th and 17th century Devon?

Hard times: 20th century conflict dominates historical fiction

Research into 650 novels submitted to the Walter Scott prize finds the second world war is the favourite setting for historical novels, while the shifting Victorian and Georgian eras eclipse ‘just a smattering’ of ancient settings

Denis Mack Smith obituary

Eminent historian of modern Italy who was a true populariser of his subject

Hilary Mantel was right – some academics dislike novelists. But why?

Hostility between academics and popular historians has a lengthy history of its own. Yet it doesn’t make sense – nonfiction and fiction nurture each other

Why Lucy Worsley will do whatever it takes to get people involved

The television historian says silly costumes and play acting help get her message across

Spy report that criticised Marlowe for ‘gay Christ’ claim is revealed online

British Library releases ‘Baines note’ in which playwright Christopher Marlowe scandalously suggests Christian communion should be smoked in a pipe

Dictionary of 50,000 surnames and their origins published

Four-year study by linguists and historians of British and Irish records back to 11th century analyses family names

Alex Danchev obituary

Historian and biographer who explored the political and ethical force of art

Lost cities #4: Pompeii was preserved by disaster. Now it risks ruin all over again

The volcanic eruption that destroyed the Roman city also froze it in time – but now, 2,000 years later, it is alive with people who threaten its existence all over again