The VMC survey -- XLIII. The spatially resolved star formation history
  across the Large Magellanic Cloud
  We derive the spatially-resolved star formation history (SFH) for a $96$
deg$^2$ area across the main body of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), using
the near-infrared photometry from the VISTA survey of the Magellanic Clouds
(VMC). The data and analyses are characterised by a great degree of homogeneity
and a low sensitivity to the interstellar extinction. 756 subregions of size
$0.125$ deg$^2$ -- corresponding to projected sizes of about
$296\times322\,\mathrm{pc}^{2}$ in the LMC -- are analysed. The resulting SFH
maps, with typical resolution of $0.2$--$0.3$ dex in logarithm of age, reveal
main features in the LMC disc at different ages: the patchy star formation at
recent ages, the concentration of star formation on three spiral arms and on
the Bar up to ages of $\sim\!1.6$ Gyr, and the wider and smoother distribution
of older populations. The period of most intense star formation occurred
roughly between 4 and 0.5 Gyr ago, at rates of
$\sim\!0.3\,\mathrm{M}_{\odot}\mathrm{yr}^{-1}$. We compare young and old star
formation rates with the observed numbers of RR Lyrae and Cepheids. We also
derive a mean extinction and mean distance for every subregion, and the plane
that best describes the spatial distribution of the mean distances. Our results
cover an area about 50 per cent larger than the classical SFH maps derived from
optical data by Harris & Zaritsky (2009). Main differences with respect to
those maps are lower star formation rates at young ages, and a main peak of
star formation being identified at ages slightly younger than $1$ Gyr.
