MedievalCourses.com's brand new online history course, Heroes and Villains (MC02), has just gone live on the website today.

Enjoy this exciting new course from historian and author Toni Mount where we reconsider the good, the bad and the ugly characters from British history, and decide for yourself whether history got it right or wrong. Are the reputations of these men and women justly deserved or should they be viewed in a new light?

Each of the ten units, carefully and lovingly narrated by Claire Ridgway, looks at the often misunderstood reputation of a significant historic character, from the early English Queen Boudicca to the "pirate" Sir Francis Drake. These intriguing characters, responsible for major changes in Britain's history, had to deal with events of international importance from the Roman invasion to the Spanish Armada. How would you have managed if the decisions they made were down to you - were they heroes or villains? You get to decide!

Heroes and Villains is an online course of downloadable or streaming audio lectures which can be done in your own time and you have lifetime access to the course once you have signed up and paid. There is no set start or end date, you can do it at your own pace. It can be done from the comfort of your own home, wherever you are in the world.

Eleven fascinating historical personalities are covered in this ten unit course:

• Who were the real Queens Cartimandua and Boudicca?
• Could Harold have beaten the Normans in 1066?
• Was Hereward the Wake a resistance leader or trouble-maker?
• Was King Stephen a hero in a bad situation or a villainous usurper?
• Was Robin Hood a ballad-maker's invention or was he a real man? And, if so, did he heroically steal from the rich to give to the poor?
• Was John of Gaunt "an over-mighty subject" who tried to throw his weight around and was desperate to wear a king's crown?
• Did the Earl of Warwick choose the right side in the Wars of the Roses?
• Should Mary I really go down in history as “Bloody Mary” or was there more to her reign than that?
• What about the icon that is Henry VIII – Renaissance Prince or tyrannical monster?
• And was Sir Francis Drake a swashbuckling hero or is there a dark side to this man?

Through examining the historical evidence, historian Toni Mount examines the lives, achievements and failures of these famous historical characters, considering the points for and against them being "heroes". They're all fascinating people!

This is a ten unit course and it costs $49.99. Click here to view all the details and to sign up.