This episode contains discussions of incest and sexual assault.Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by historical novelist Elizabeth Fremantle to explore the harrowing story of Beatrice Cenci, a y...
What happens when a Queen refuses to name her heir? How does she hold her kingdom together when every courtier is secretly preparing for her death? What really unfolded in Elizabeth I’s glittering ...
Was Christopher Marlowe a rebel, a genius, or a heretic ahead of his time? From his plays that shocked Elizabethan England to his brutal murder, Marlowe's short, dazzling life was defined by rivalr...
In the early modern period, belief in fairies was quite commonplace. But put all thoughts of Tinkerbell aside! Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Professor Diane Purkiss to find out...
Why are diamonds black, and how does a triangle show power in Tudor portraits? From Henry VII’s shrewd statecraft to the glittering reign of Elizabeth I, the Tudors projected their power not just t...
The unsolved mystery of what happened to the Princes in the Tower - Edward V and Richard, Duke of York - is possibly English history’s greatest cold case. Were they murdered by their paternal uncle...
In 1647 Christmas vanished by the decree of the Puritans who ruled Britain. But not everyone complied. Families lit candles behind closed doors, whispered carols, and held secret services. And prot...
In this special episode, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb fields questions about the Tudors and their time that have all been suggested by you. From the hundreds of ideas for episodes and queries r...
450 years ago, Venice found itself facing a plague outbreak that would kill more than 50,000 people - a third of its population. But to manage the epidemic, the city developed pioneering measures. ...
What if the most powerful woman in Anne Boleyn’s story never spoke on the record? Elizabeth Boleyn steps out of the shadows in this revelatory Tudor deep-dive. Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joine...
**Contains descriptions of war atrocities, including rape and infanticide**In 1544, Henry VIII led the largest army ever raised by an English monarch to capture the French port of Boulogne. It was ...
Throughout history, the words of poets have often ignited change or unsettled those in power. In England particularly, poetry has both celebrated and criticised the country's greatest triumphs...
**Contains story of a young male suicide**Out of the devastation of the English Civil Wars, a radical new religious movement was born. The early Quakers, led by fiery and charismatic preachers, bel...
Step into the turbulent heart of the Wars of the Roses and meet one of history’s most formidable survivors: Lady Margaret Beaufort.A child bride, a teenage mother, and ultimately the mastermind beh...
Free speech is today more contested than ever before. In many places, differing views about politics, sex, and religion are suppressed and punished. In the West, debates rage over its limits and me...
What happened to the lost colony of Roanoke?In the 1580s Sir Walter Raleigh set about establishing a permanent English colony on Roanoke Island, off the coast of North Carolina. But within a few ye...
**Contains accounts of murder and sexual violence**After an explosion rocked Edinburgh in February 1567, Lord Darnley - husband to Mary, Queen of Scots - was found strangled, alongside a servant. W...
Henry VIII’s commanding gaze, Thomas More’s intellect, Anne of Cleves’ cautious poise; Hans Holbein’s portraits didn’t just depict the Tudors, they defined them. His astonishing realism gave us not...
St Paul’s Cathedral still dominates the London skyline, defiant, majestic, timeless. Yet, its story begins in the ashes of the Great Fire of London out of which would rise Sir Christopher Wren’s ma...
On 5 November 1605, Guy Fawkes became infamous not for what he achieved, but for what he failed to do: kill King James VI & I and bring down the British parliament. But what if the Gunpowder Pl...
