Not Just the Tudors

In the last year of Henry VIII's life, his sixth wife Queen Kateryn Parr was accused of heresy and it looked as if her life could be on the line. This dramatic moment is the focus of a novel by Elizabeth Fremantle. Originally called Queen's Gambit, it has now been turned into the film Firebrand, starring Alicia Vikander as Kateryn Parr and Jude Law as Henry VIII. 

Professor Suzannah Lipscomb discusses the book and the film - and the woman that inspired them both - with Elizabeth Fremantle and also with actor Norman Bowman, who plays Henry VIII's right hand man Sir William Herbert in Firebrand.

Presented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Alice Smith, audio editor Ella Blaxill and the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcast

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A feature of outbreaks of plague between the 14th and 18th centuries was the publication of books and pamphlets, known as ‘plague tracts’, that spread information and misinformation about the causes of plague, offered new remedies, and identified scapegoats. The audience for such publications lingered long after the threat of plague itself seemed to fade. 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to medical historian Dr. Lori Jones about the promulgation of beliefs surrounding disease and the diseased.

Presented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Alice Smith and the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcast.

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original TV documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign up HERE for 50% off your first 3 months using code ‘TUDORS’

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Queen Elizabeth I’s travels round England - known as ‘progresses’ - were never a quick day-trip or city break. They involved scores of attendants, hundreds of carts of luggage, and lasted around 50 days each. Exactly 450 years ago, she went on one of the greatest progresses of her reign to the West Country. Among the places she stayed was Longleat House in Wiltshire, today best known as a safari park. It’s currently hosting a special exhibition to mark the anniversary of the royal visit. 

In this episode, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out more from Longleat's archivist Emma Challinor and curator Dr. James Ford. 

Presented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Alice Smith and the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcast

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original TV documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign up HERE for 50% off your first 3 months using code ‘TUDORS’ https://historyhit.com/subscription

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In the autumn of 1621, hundreds of starlings were seen fighting in the sky above Cork. The following May, the city was ravaged by fire.  The pleated folds of skin around the neck of a baby born in 1566 were interpreted as divine judgment on starched ruffs. And when not a single wren was seen in Cambridge in the 1620s, people expected a foreign invasion.

In this episode, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Professor Alexandra Walsham, to explore the many signs, wonders, omens and portents she has discovered in the archives, which offer fascinating insights into the collective consciousness of the Elizabethan and early Stuart periods. 

Presented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Alice Smith, audio editor Ella Blaxill and the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcast

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original TV documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign up HERE for 50% off your first 3 months using code ‘TUDORS’ https://historyhit.com/subscription

You can take part in our listener survey here > https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/6FFT7MK

Queen Consort of France and mother to three successive Kings, Catherine de’ Medici's legacy could have been one of intelligence, fortitude, artistic patronage and religious moderation. But instead, as with so many women in positions of power, Catherine's life and actions have been almost entirely vilified. Deemed a witch and a callous spendthrift, she is perhaps best remembered as a dangerous instigator of extreme violence, because of her contested part in the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre of 1572.

In this fourth and final episode of our mini-series exploring the lives and legacy of the House of Medici, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Mary Hollingsworth, whose new book Catherine de’ Medici: The Life and Times of the Serpent Queen, tries to get to the heart of one of history's most remarkable women.

Presented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Alice Smith, audio editor Ella Blaxill and the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcast

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original TV documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign up HERE for 50% off your first 3 months using code ‘TUDORS’ https://historyhit.com/subscription

You can take part in our listener survey here > https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/6FFT7MK

In July 1596, Fynes Moryson - a Lincolnshire gentleman and travel writer - was struck down with grief when his younger brother died as they crossed the desert on their return from Jerusalem. Moryson described his journeys and devastating experiences two decades later in an account titled Itinerary, at once a personal memoir and a huge manual of travel advice.  

In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, first released in September 2021, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr. Eva Johanna Holmberg, whose study of Moryson sheds light on the lives and emotions of people in the early modern period.

Presented by Professor Susannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Alice Smith and the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcast

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original TV documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign up HERE for 50% off your first 3 months using code ‘TUDORS’ https://historyhit.com/subscription

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Fueled by ambition and the desire to extend their influence, the House of Medici saw the papacy not only as a religious post but a political one. Four of the Medici dynasty rose to become Pope in the 16th century.

In our third episode on the House of Medici, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Professor Catherine Fletcher to talk in particular about Pope Leo X and Pope Clement VII, the Medici who led the church during its most fractious period: the time of the Reformation. 

Presented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Alice Smith, audio editor Ella Blaxill and the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcast

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We have long been taught that modern global history began when the 'Old World' encountered the 'New', when Christopher Columbus 'discovered' America in 1492. But, in a groundbreaking book, Dr. Caroline Dodds Pennock conclusively shows that for tens of thousands of Aztecs, Maya, Totonacs, Inuit and others - enslaved people, diplomats, explorers, servants, traders - the reverse was true: they discovered Europe. 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, first released in January 2023, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr. Dodds Pennock about a story of abduction, loss, cultural appropriation, and as indigenous peoples saw it, of apocalypse. 

Presented by Professor Susannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Alice Smith and the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcast

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original TV documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign up HERE for 50% off your first 3 months using code ‘TUDORS’ https://historyhit.com/subscription

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All this month, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is taking a deep dive into the complex and controversial House of Medici, which left an indelible mark on Western civilisation.

In this second episode, Suzannah talks to Dr. Alexander Lee about Lorenzo de’ Medici, the consummate Renaissance man. But Machiavelli portrayed him as a cunning and ambitious ruler, purely self serving in pursuit of personal power. So what should we make of Lorenzo, whose life and achievements left such an indelible mark on Florence and the cultural landscape of Italy that it earned him the title Il Magnifico?

Not Just the Tudors is presented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Alice Smith, the audio editor is Ella Blaxill and the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcast

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original TV documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign up HERE for 50% off your first 3 months using code ‘TUDORS’

You can take part in our listener survey here >

Around the same time as the Mayflower was landing at Cape Cod, on the other side of the world tourism was thriving in China, giving rise to a fascinating genre of travel writing.

In this episode, first released in February 2022, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb explores the wonderfully rich prose and travel diaries of the period with Professor James Hargett. His research and translations reveal extraordinary insights into the society and culture of the late Ming Dynasty.

Presented by Professor Susannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Alice Smith and the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcast

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original TV documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign up HERE for 50% off your first 3 months using code ‘TUDORS’ https://historyhit.com/subscription

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The House of Medici ruthlessly wielded control of Florence for nearly 300 years. Through financial and political machinations, they transformed the city into a cultural powerhouse and the epicentre of the Renaissance, spawning popes and royalty along the way. 

Across four special episodes, Not Just the Tudors takes a deep dive into this complex and controversial dynasty that left an indelible mark on Western civilisation.

In this first episode, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Tim Parks, author of Medici Money, about the dramatic, frequently bloody story of how the Medici rose to power through their banking activities.

Presented by Professor Susannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Alice Smith, audio editor Ella Blaxill and the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcast

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original TV documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign up HERE for 50% off your first 3 months using code ‘TUDORS’ https://historyhit.com/subscription

You can take part in our listener survey here > https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/6FFT7MK

Just over 500 years ago, a small band of sailors completed the first ever circumnavigation of the globe, launched by Ferdinand Magellan. From the armada of five ships and some 270 men that set out, only one ship and 18 men returned. Magellan was not among them, and if he had been, he would hardly have received a hero’s welcome.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, first released in September 2022, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Magellan’s award-winning biographer Laurence Bergreen to consider Magellan the man and how his voyage changed the world’s ideas about cosmology and geography.

Presented by Professor Susannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Alice Smith, audio editor Ella Blaxill and the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcast

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original TV documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign up HERE for 50% off your first 3 months using code ‘TUDORS’ https://historyhit.com/subscription

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Henry VII was descended from some of the greatest Welsh princes. When word spread that he had a chance of taking the English throne, Welsh prophecies - which foretold that one day, one of their own would become king of the islands and would be crowned in London - looked to be coming true.

Professor Suzannah Lipscomb introduces a special crossover edition with Not Just the Tudors' sister podcast Gone Medieval in which Matt Lewis is joined by historian Nathen Amin, author of Son of Prophecy: The Rise of Henry Tudor, to share the surprising story of the medieval ancestors of the Tudor monarchs.

This episode was edited by Max Carrey. The producers are Joseph Knight and Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Not Just the Tudors and Gone Medieval are History Hit podcasts.

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In early 18th century Venice, the Ospedale della Pietà took in abandoned baby girls through a tiny gap in the wall.  In addition to ensuring the girls’ survival, the orphanage employed one of the world’s greatest ever composers - Antonio Vivaldi - to train the girls in music.  One of his pupils, Anna Maria della Pietà, became his star protegé and went on to a phenomenal career as a violinist and the maestro’s biggest rival.

Anna Maria’s largely forgotten life is compellingly recovered and reimagined in this summer’s most eagerly anticipated historical novel, The Instrumentalist by Harriet Constable. She joins Professor Suzannah Lipscomb to talk about how she discovered and brought Anna-Maria's heart-rending story to life.

Presented by Professor Susannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Alice Smith and the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

"Et in Terra Pax" from Vivaldi's Gloria in D used with the kind permission of the Girl Choir of South Florida. Watch here >

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The tempestuous and passionate Barbara Villiers captured the hearts of many in Stuart-era Britain, including King Charles II. But she had a dark side, humiliating her husband for decades, plotting the ruin of her enemies, and gambling away vast sums of money.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Andrea Zuvich who reveals the true story of Barbara and her insatiable appetite for life, love, riches, amusement, and power. 

Presented by Professor Susannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Alice Smith, the audio editor is Ella Blaxill and the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcast

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original TV documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign up HERE for 50% off your first 3 months using code ‘TUDORS’ https://historyhit.com/subscription

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At the end of the 17th century, a small clan - the Akan - in West Africa began growing into what would later become the powerful Ashanti Empire.  The state grew rapidly in both wealth and land until it spanned most of modern day Ghana, the Ivory Coast, and Togo. 

Luke Pepera joins Professor Suzannah Lipscomb to discuss this incredible Empire, which fiercely resisted British colonialism and fought violent wars to protect and expand its territory.

Luke Pepera's documentary Africa: Written Out of History is available now on History Hit TV.

Presented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Alice Smith and the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcast

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original TV documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign up HERE for 50% off your first 3 months using code ‘TUDORS’.

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The 16th and 17th centuries were a crucial time for spycraft, full of political intrigue and diplomatic subterfuge. Walsingham was known as a 'Spy Master', but there were many, all vying for attention from the Crown.

But how did they and their spies operate? Professor Suzannah Lipscomb welcomes Pete Langman and Professor Nadine Akkerman to delve into the practices of espionage and reveal how the line between spy and criminal was easily blurred depending on who was in favour, and who was betrayed.

Presented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Alice Smith, audio editors are Tean Stewart-Murray and Ella Blaxill. The producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcast

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original TV documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign up HERE for 50% off your first 3 months using code ‘TUDORS’ https://historyhit.com/subscription

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On 28 January 1547, King Henry VIII died at the age of 55. Just hours before his passing, his last will and testament had been read, stamped, and sealed. Historians have disagreed ever since about its authenticity and validity, and the circumstances of its creation, making Henry's will one of English history's most contested documents.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, first released in January 2022, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb offers her own illuminating interpretation of the aftermath of Henry VIII's death, the mystery of his will and how misplaced trust can undermine the best-laid plans of a powerful monarch.

Presented by Professor Susannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Alice Smith, audio editor Ella Blaxill and the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcast

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original TV documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign up HERE for 50% off your first 3 months using code ‘TUDORS’ https://historyhit.com/subscription

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In November 1588, a 21-year-old Japanese man called Christopher met Queen Elizabeth I. On the way, he had already become the first recorded Japanese person in North America. His story has been almost totally forgotten until now.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out more about Christopher from Professor Thomas Lockley, author of A Gentleman from Japan which recovers Christopher’s remarkable story. 

Presented by Professor Susannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Alice Smith, audio editor Ella Blaxill and the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcast

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original TV documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign up HERE for 50% off your first 3 months using code ‘TUDORS’ https://historyhit.com/subscription

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Despite Catherine of Braganza's crucial place in British history, she has always been overshadowed by stories of Charles II’s many mistresses and forgotten as his boring, powerless wife. This could not be further from the truth.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr. Sophie Shorland about her new book The Lost Queen, which not only tells the full story of Catherine de Braganza and her difficult relationship with her husband, but also reveals how she changed the country in many ways both large and small.

Presented by Professor Susannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Alice Smith, audio editor Ella Blaxill and the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcast

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original TV documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign up HERE for 50% off your first 3 months using code ‘TUDORS’ https://historyhit.com/subscription

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Robert Cecil, statesman and spymaster, stood at the heart of the Tudor and then Stuart state, a vital figure in managing the succession from Elizabeth I to James I & VI, warding off military and religious threats and steering the decisions of two very different but equally wilful and hard-to-manage monarchs. 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Professor Stephen Alford, author of All His Spies: The Secret World of Robert Cecil, about a man who became supremely skilled in the arts of power, making many rivals and enemies.

This episode was edited by Tean Stuart-Murray and produced by Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcast

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for £1 per month for 3 months with code TUDORS - sign up here: https://www.historyhit.com/subscription/

You can take part in our listener survey here: https://uk.surveymonkey.com/r/6FFT7MK

Six wives - six lives that we think we know everything about. But beyond their mostly doomed marriages to Henry VIII and, in most cases, tragic ends, here were six women who shaped history in their own unique ways.

In a special six part series, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb has been bringing together the most illuminating interviews about the six wives from the Not Just the Tudors archive.  She has also been exploring some of the latest research and speaking to Dr. Charlotte Bolland - curator of the National Portrait Gallery’s current exhibition Six Lives: The Stories of Henry VIII’s Queens - to paint an even fuller portrait of each of the six wives.

In this last episode in the series, Suzannah is also joined by Dr. Susan James, Dr. Micheline White and Dr. Elizabeth Norton to recount the life of Henry VIII's sixth and final consort Kateryn Parr, whom he married in July 1543 and who survived his death. Often written off as a dowdy old widow who nursed him in his last years, Kateryn Parr is the most surprising and one of the most fascinating of all the unfortunate women who were married to the king.

Not Just The Tudors is presented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. This episode was edited, mixed and produced by Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcast

The National Portrait Gallery's exhibition titled Six Lives: The Stories of Henry VIII’s Queens runs until 8 September 2024, displaying the images that have shaped our perception of the six wives.  Find out more, here.

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for £1 per month for 3 months with code TUDORS - sign up here.

You can take part in our listener survey here.

Anne Bonny and Mary Read were pirates who sailed the Caribbean in the early 18th century. For both of them, piracy offered a chance at a freedom otherwise disallowed to women.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb learns more about Bonny and Read from the novelist Francesca de Torres - author of Saltblood, which recreates Mary Read's life - and Dr. Rebecca Simon who wrote the first full-scale biography of the two women. 

This episode was edited by Ella Blaxill and produced by Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcast

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for £1 per month for 3 months with code TUDORS - sign up here: https://www.historyhit.com/subscription/.

You can take part in our listener survey here: https://uk.surveymonkey.com/r/6FFT7MK.

Six wives - six lives that we think we know everything about.  But beyond their mostly doomed marriages to Henry VIII and, in most cases, tragic ends, here were six women who shaped history in their own unique ways.

In a special six part series, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb brings together the most illuminating interviews about the six wives from the Not Just the Tudors archive.  She also explores some of the latest research and speaks to Dr. Charlotte Bolland - curator of the National Portrait Gallery’s current exhibition Six Lives: The Stories of Henry VIII’s Queens - to paint an even fuller portrait of each of the six wives.

In this fifth episode, Suzannah is joined by Gareth Russell, Dr. Nicola Clark and Dr. Charlotte Bolland to recount the life of Katherine Howard, whom Henry VIII married in July 1540 and who died with her head on the block less than two years later.  Of all of Henry’s queens, Katherine Howard has been the one most subject to the judgements of posterity.  But those judgements have been strangely dichotomous - was she victim or vixen?

Not Just The Tudors is presented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. It was edited by Ella Blaxill and produced by Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcast

The National Portrait Gallery in London is hosting an exhibition titled Six Lives: The Stories of Henry VIII’s Queens until 8 September 2024, displaying the images that have shaped our perception of the six wives. Find out more, here.

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for £1 per month for 3 months with code TUDORS - sign up here.

You can take part in our listener survey here.

Toda Mariko, or Mariko-san, one of the main characters from the new TV series Shogun - adapted from James Clavell's epic novel - is based on a real woman, Hosokawa Gracia. Who was she? Was she the zealous Christian martyr depicted in Jesuit missionary accounts, or a wife duty-bound to protect the honour of her family? Or was she the defiant female warrior of Japanese folklore? 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Professor Frederik Cryns, who was the historical advisor for the Shogun series and is writing a new biography of Hosokawa Gracia.

This episode was edited by Ella Blaxill and produced by Rob Weinberg.

Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcast

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for £1 per month for 3 months with code TUDORS - sign up here >.

You can take part in our listener survey here >.

Six wives - six lives that we think we know everything about. But beyond their mostly doomed marriages to Henry VIII and, in most cases, tragic ends, here were six women who shaped history in their own unique ways.

In a special six part series, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb brings together the most illuminating interviews about the six wives from the Not Just the Tudors archive. She also explores some of the latest research and speaks to Dr. Charlotte Bolland - curator of the National Portrait Gallery’s new exhibition Six Lives: The Stories of Henry VIII’s Queens - to paint an even fuller portrait of each of the six wives.

In this fourth episode, Suzannah is joined by Heather Darsie, Dr. Valerie Schutte and Dr Charlotte Bolland to recount the life of Anne of Cleves. Famed since the 17th century as the 'Flanders Mare', whom Henry allegedly rejected on the basis of her ugliness, the real story behind Anne's marriage and its dissolution turns out to be quite different to the fable we've been told.

This episode was edited by Ella Blaxill and produced by Rob Weinberg.

From 20 June to 8 September 2024, the National Portrait Gallery in London is hosting an exhibition titled Six Lives: The Stories of Henry VIII’s Queens, displaying the images that have shaped our perception of the six wives . Find out more, here >

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for £1 per month for 3 months with code TUDORS - sign up here >

You can take part in our listener survey here >

Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcast

Among the male players who performed thousands of new plays in the Elizabethan repertory, the most famous were Richard Burbage and Will Kempe, members of the company known first as the Lord Chamberlain's Men and later the King's Men, the company of William Shakespeare. 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Professor Siobhan Keenan to find out more about these two extraordinary actors for whom Shakespeare created some of his most enduring characters.

This episode was edited by Ella Blaxill and produced by Rob Weinberg.

Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcast

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for £1 per month for 3 months with code TUDORS - sign up here.

You can take part in our listener survey here.

Six wives - six lives that we think we know everything about.  But beyond their mostly doomed marriages to Henry VIII and, in most cases, tragic ends, here were six women who shaped history in their own unique ways.

In a special six part series, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb brings together the most illuminating interviews about the six wives from the Not Just the Tudors archive.  She also explores some of the latest research and speaks to Dr. Charlotte Bolland - curator of the National Portrait Gallery’s new exhibition Six Lives: The Stories of Henry VIII’s Queens - to paint an even fuller portrait of each of the six wives.

In this third episode, Suzannah looks into the life and legacy of Jane Seymour, perhaps the most elusive of Henry VIII’s Queens. In an attempt to understand Jane better, Suzannah is joined by Dr. Elizabeth Norton and Dr. Aidan Norrie.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

From 20 June to 8 September 2024, the National Portrait Gallery in London is hosting an exhibition titled Six Lives: The Stories of Henry VIII’s Queens, displaying the images that have shaped our perception of the six wives . Find out more, here >

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for £1 per month for 3 months with code TUDORS - sign up here >

You can take part in our listener survey here >

This episode solves the 400-year old mystery of a previously unknown portrait of a young woman, dressed to look just like Queen Elizabeth herself.

When Emma Rutherford - the country's leading expert in portrait miniatures - first saw it, she knew that the painting was recognisably by the celebrated Elizabethan court painter Nicholas Hilliard. But who was the mysterious girl depicted?

Together, Emma along with Hilliard’s biographer Dr. Elizabeth Goldring set out on some remarkable historical detective work to find out. What they discovered was a story ripe with political importance, espionage, diplomatic intrigue and the question of Elizabeth I's successor.

You can see the portrait if you go to Professor Suzannah Lipscomb’s Facebook and Instagram accounts or @NotJustTudors on X. 

This episode was edited and mixed by Ella Blaxill and produced by Rob Weinberg.

For more information about our guests, please visit:

Emma Rutherford: www.portraitminiature.com or email [email protected]

Elizabeth Goldring: ttps://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/ren/centrestaff/elizabethgoldring/

Instagram: @elizabeth.goldring 

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for £1 per month for 3 months with code TUDORS - sign up here >

You can take part in our listener survey here >

Six wives - six lives that we think we know everything about. But beyond their mostly doomed marriages to Henry VIII and, in most cases, tragic ends, here were six women who shaped history in their own unique ways.

In this special six part series, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb brings together the most illuminating interviews about the six wives from the Not Just the Tudors archive.  She also explores some of the latest research and speaks to Dr. Charlotte Bolland - curator of the National Portrait Gallery’s new exhibition Six Lives: The Stories of Henry VIII’s Queens - to paint an even fuller portrait of each of the six wives.

In this second episode, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb focuses on the woman who changed the history of England, Anne Boleyn. In order to make her his Queen, Henry altered the very faith of the country, banished his closest minister, broke with Christendom, and set aside his faithful, once beloved wife Katherine. So who was Anne Boleyn?

This episode was edited and mixed by Ella Blaxill and produced by Rob Weinberg.

From 20 June to 8 September 2024, the National Portrait Gallery in London is hosting an exhibition titled Six Lives: The Stories of Henry VIII’s Queens, displaying the images that have shaped our perception of the six wives . Find out more, here >

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The mid-15th to mid-16th centuries in Europe was an era of political, social, and religious unrest, when the Roman Catholic Church was being questioned by those who sought a more direct connection with God. 

In the midst of this turmoil in Germany stood Thomas Müntzer, a preacher, theologian, and reformer. Müntzer's role in the German Peasants War had him labelled variously as a bloodthirsty revolutionary or a people's hero. Martin Luther later described Müntzer as a “ravening wolf” and a “false prophet.” 

In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out more about Müntzer’s extraordinary life and times with historian, novelist and translator, Andrew Drummond. 

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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If you think that the female spy is a 20th century phenomenon - be it Mata Hari, Mrs Zigzag or Eve Polastri - think again!  Accounts of numerous 17th century 'she-intelligencers' have lain undiscovered in archives for centuries.  And these remarkable women were much more than the honey-trap accomplices of a Stuart-era George Smiley. 

In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, first released in May 2021, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Professor Nadine Akkerman, author of Invisible Agents: Women and Espionage in Seventeenth-Century Britain to talk about her fascinating quest to unearth the plots and conspiracies involving women spies that have been forgotten by history.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Six wives - six lives that we think we know everything about.  But beyond their mostly doomed marriages to Henry VIII and, in most cases, tragic ends, here were six women who shaped history in their own unique ways.

In this special six part series, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb brings together the most illuminating interviews about the six wives from the Not Just the Tudors archive.  She also explores some of the latest research and speaks to Dr. Charlotte Bolland - curator of the National Portrait Gallery’s new exhibition Six Lives: The Stories of Henry VIII’s Queens - to paint an even fuller portrait of each of the six wives.

First up, Katherine of Aragon, the wife to whom Henry was married for twice as long as all the others put together - a woman much underrated and much maligned.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

From 20 June to 8 September 2024, the National Portrait Gallery in London is hosting an exhibition titled Six Lives: The Stories of Henry VIII’s Queens, displaying the images that have shaped our perception of the six wives . Find out more, here >

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Margaret Tudor - daughter of King Henry VII, sister to Henry VIII - was married at 13 to James IV of Scotland, learning the skills of statecraft that would enable her to survive his early death and to construct a powerful position in Scotland. 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out more about Margaret from Dr. Linda Porter. Her new book, The Thistle and the Rose: The Extraordinary Life of Margaret Tudor puts the record straight about a misunderstood and underestimated Tudor monarch, whose determination to fight for the rights of her son James V laid the groundwork for a future British state.

This episode was edited by Ella Blaxill and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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The acclaimed TV series Shogun, now screening on Disney+, is based on true events. Its main character John Blackthorne is modelled on William Adams, the English pilot of a Dutch ship that arrived on Japanese shores in 1600 with a handful of survivors.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors - suggested by listener Lucy Canning - Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out more about the real history behind Shogun with Giles Milton, best-selling author of Samurai William: The Adventurer Who Unlocked Japan.

This episode was edited by Ella Blaxill produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Fans of historical fiction and crime novels have been saddened to learn of the recent death of the award-winning, best-selling author C.J. Sansom, just days before the release of Shardlake - the TV series based on his Tudor barrister detective novels.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb pays tribute to a fine author, and a fine fictional creation with the writer and journalist Antonia Senior. 

This episode was edited by Ella Blaxill produced by Rob Weinberg.

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**This episode contains conversation about sexual behaviour**

In early modern Europe, acting upon same-sex desires was forbidden. We only know of many of the cases because of records of criminal trials. But the evidence of the past does not suggest that we can easily find a straightforward match for modern concepts of homosexuality.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Sir Noel Malcolm, whose acclaimed new book Forbidden Desire in Early Modern Europe, demonstrates that the practice of sexuality not only varies across time but, in early modern Europe, it varied across geography. 

This episode was edited by Ella Blaxill and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Sir Walter Raleigh remains one of the most famous men of the Elizabethan era. He was a true Renaissance man - a statesman, soldier, writer, explorer and a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I.  In 1594, Raleigh heard about the legendary golden city of El Dorado and, the following year, explored what is now Guyana and eastern Venezuela in search of it.  In his account of the expedition, Raleigh made exaggerated claims as to what had been discovered, contributing to the enduring El Dorado legend, and his own celebrity. 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, first released in May 2022, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to writer and historian Mathew Lyons about Raleigh, his dream of finding El Dorado, and the epic scale of his failure.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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In 1603, Queen Elizabeth I died and King James VI of Scotland, became King James I of England.  Elizabeth was a hard act to follow for the Scottish newcomer who faced a host of problems in his first years as king: not only the legacy of his predecessor but also unrest in Ireland, serious questions about his legitimacy on the English throne, and even plots to remove him. 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors - recorded in front of a live audience at the Gloucester History Festival - Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Professor Susan Doran, about how, contrary to traditional assumptions, James's accession was by no means a smooth one.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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In the 16th and 17th centuries, sailing was a tool of warfare and empire, of conquest and discovery, of trade and travel. But vessels were often lost or wrecked in heavy storms or on unfamiliar routes, through attack and piracy. Many such shipwrecks are still being found. 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr. David Gibbins, maritime archaeologist and author of A History of the World in 12 Shipwrecks. His work as a diver has taken him across the globe, investigating some of history’s most fascinating wrecks.

This episode was edited by Ella Blaxill produced by Rob Weinberg.

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The traditional view of the birth of modern science places it firmly in the 17th century with such huge names as Bacon, Descartes, Newton, and Galileo.  But a century earlier there were others - whose names are not so well-known to us - who paved the way for later scientific breakthroughs.  Patrons and particular places in northern Europe developed new technology and encouraged collaborations in an environment where intellectual innovation could occur, laying the foundations for subsequent discoveries.

In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Violet Moller, whose new book Inside the Stargazer’s Palace tells the untold story of the extraordinary workshops, observatories and libraries of Early Modern Northern Europe.  

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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In the 16th century, spices drove the world economy, creating riches on an unprecedented scale. Spanish and Portuguese explorers competed to find the elusive source of cloves and nutmeg, and when Portugal reached the spice islands of the Moluccas, it set in motion a fierce competition for control.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Roger Crowley, whose new book Spice: The 16th-Century Contest that Shaped the Modern World chronicles the adventures, shipwrecks, and sieges that formed the first colonial encounters—and remade the world economy for centuries to follow.

This episode was edited by xx and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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What do we know about what Elizabeth I actually looked like? How was her appearance altered through the use of cosmetics? Portraits suggest that makeup was used to lightly accentuate lips and cheeks, alongside a sheer wash of white base on her skin. What products would she have typically used and how were they made? 

In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by author and educator Sally Pointer, to decipher the truth about Elizabeth's image and how her use of makeup has become part of her enduring legacy.

This episode was edited by Ella Blaxill and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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**WARNING: This episode contains themes that some listeners might find distressing and commonly-used historic terminology that does not reflect our own thoughts**

In May 1680, England become obsessed with a pair of conjoined twins. At just two weeks old, Priscilla and Aquila Herring were kidnapped from their home in Somerset to be put on show for money. A fortnight later they were dead, and a legal battle ensued over ownership and income. It is one of the earliest examples of exploitation and the exhibition of physical difference in England, a story of public display without consent, both before and after.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr. Whitney Dirks, whose new book Monstrosity, Bodies, and Knowledge in Early Modern England weaves the case of the Herring sisters through an examination of how physically unusual humans and animals were understood and talked about in early modern England.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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The major new TV series, Mary & George tells the scandalous story of George Villiers, who rose - thanks to his mother Mary’s machinations - from minor gentry to enrapture King James VI & I, Britain’s first Stuart king. For a decade, George Villiers was at James’s side – at court, on state occasions and in bed, right up to James’s death in March 1625.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr. Benjamin Wooley, acclaimed author of The King’s Assassin, a compelling portrait of a royal favourite whose charisma overwhelmed those around him and, ultimately, himself.

This episode was edited by Ella Blaxill and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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In the 16th century, Erasmus of Rotterdam was about as famous as anybody could be, one of the greatest intellectuals of his age. To Martin Luther's mind, though, Erasmus's radical religious vision did not go far enough. To Roman Catholic scholars, Erasmus was heretical. 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Professor William Barker, to find out more about a scholar of great brilliance as well as personal flaws and contradictions. 

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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At the end of the French Wars of Religion, a widow Renée Chevalier instigated the prosecution of a military captain who had committed multiple acts of rape, homicide and theft against the villagers who lived around her.  But how could Chevalier win her case when King Henri IV's Edict of Nantes ordered that the recent troubles should be forgotten as 'things that had never been'?

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr. Tom Hamilton, whose new book is a dramatic account of the impact of the troubles on daily life for women, peasants, and foot soldiers, who are marginalized in most historical studies.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

**WARNING: This podcast contains references to rape, violence and homicide**

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A controversial figure during his lifetime, Martin Luther set in motion a revolution that split Christianity in the West and left an indelible mark on the world today. 

In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, first released in July 2021, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to renowned Luther biographer Professor Lyndal Roper to explore the man behind the carefully crafted image - misogynistic, anti-Semitic, occasionally self-doubting, religiously devout yet with a crude, scatological sense of humour.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

**WARNING: This episode contains an example of strong language

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Today surgery is one of the most important sectors in the medical field. But what was surgery like for people in the 16th and 17th centuries, before anaesthetic and sophisticated technology? How were surgeons trained? What tools did they use? And what was the rate of survival? 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb discovers more from historian and retired surgeon Michael Crumplin.

This episode was edited by Ella Blaxill and produced by Rob Weinberg.

**WARNING: Contains some graphic descriptions of surgical procedures**

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Essential to any history of Venice during its glory days is the story of its Jewish population. Venice gave the world the word ghetto. Astonishingly, the ghetto prison turned out to be as remarkable a place as the city of Venice itself, as a literary, cultural and interfaith revival flourished. 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Harry Freedman. His new book Shylock’s Venice tells the story of Venice's Jews, from the founding of the ghetto in 1516, to the capture of Venice by Napoleon in 1798. 

This episode was edited by Ella Blaxill and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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For every Tudor Queen, their ladies-in-waiting were their confidantes, chaperones and intimate witnesses to their lives. These women were high born, even if they performed menial tasks, and many of them were educated. As King Henry VIII changed wives - and the very fabric of the country's structure - these women had to make choices about loyalty that simply didn't exist before.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb welcomes Dr. Nicola Clark, whose new book The Waiting Game, tells the untold story of the women who served the Tudor Queens.

This episode was edited by Ella Blaxill and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Diaries written by gentlewomen in the mid-16th century are hard to find. Yet, they lived through an age of upheaval as old ways were effaced in preference for the new.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb meets award-winning author Francesca Kay. In her new novel The Book of Days, she has imagined herself into the story of a gentlewoman living in the 1540s, writing her book of days, and it is spellbinding.

This episode was edited by Ella Blaxill and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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In the mid-17th century, King Charles I of England was put on trial for treason against the sovereign state. Such a process involved a singular determination by Parliament to find a way, through due legal process, to try the one they saw as a man of blood, to ensure that he paid the price for his faults and failings, but not through extrajudicial summary justice.

To understand how such a thing came about, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb speaks in this episode of Not Just the Tudors to Professor Edward Vallance, who has deeply researched King Charles I's trial. 

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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After the Restoration of the Monarchy, the upper classes took their cues from court life - its entertainments, costumes, food and leisure pursuits. The Stuart-era aristocracy were cultured, political, well educated, immoderate yet religious. So how did devotion and piety coexist with a lifestyle dominated by excess? 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out from Ben Norman, historian and author of Pomp and Piety: Everyday Life of the Aristocracy in Stuart England.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Jane Seymour is a paradox. Of Henry VIII’s six wives, she is the one about whom we know perhaps the least. She was the most lowly of the queens, but she had royal blood. She's often described as plain and mousy and lacking opinions, but when we do see her in the sources, she tends to be doing something that shows agency, while wearing some very flashy clothes indeed. So what can we make of Jane Seymour?

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr. Elizabeth Norton, author of a 2009 book about Jane Seymour and a forthcoming scholarly biography.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

Opening music: The Death of Queen Jane, performed by Karine Polwart, used with kind permission of the artist and Hudson Records.

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In the British Library, there is a manuscript copy of the memoir of Princess Gulbadan, the only surviving female-authored memoir from the Mughal Empire. In it, Gulbadan tells her extraordinary story: from growing up in a multi-cultural society, via life in a walled harem, to an unprecedented women's pilgrimage to Mecca, complete with dramatic shipwreck in the Red Sea.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out more from Professor Ruby Lal, whose latest book, Vagabond Princess: The Great Adventures of Gulbadan, examines this largely forgotten manuscript and the life of the remarkable woman who wrote it.

This episode was edited by Ella Blaxill and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Fairy tales exist everywhere and in every time. Through centuries of oral tradition and the invention of print and later advances in television and film, fairy tales have altered and shaped themselves in reflection of changing cultural norms. 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb goes back to the 16th and 17th centuries and to the first time that fairy tales were written down and compiled. She is joined by Nicholas Jubber, author of The Fairy Tellers: A Journey into the Secret History of Fairy Tales.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

**WARNING: This episode contains some graphic language and descriptions**

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Astronomer Johannes Kepler was an important and admired figure in the scientific revolution of the early 17th century. But when his widowed mother was accused of witchcraft, the scientist remarkably defended her, in a trial that lasted six years.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to author Ulinka Rublack who has pieced together this extraordinary true story.

This episode was edited by Ella Blaxill and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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In Elizabethan and Stuart England, ghosts weren't supposed to exist. Protestant preachers and writers had banished them - but people continued to see them. So how did our early modern forebears reckon with ghosts and their heavily counterpart, angels?

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out from Professor Peter Marshall, author of several books on ghosts, beliefs and the dead in Reformation England.

This episode was edited by Ella Blaxill and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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How did Britain's islands become woven into our collective cultural psyche? Traversing Irish poetry, Renaissance drama and Restoration utopias, author Alice Albinia’s research has boldly upturned established truths about Britain, paying homage to the islands' beauty, independence and their suppressed or forgotten histories - including of women rulers.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Alice Albinia talks more about her book The Britannias: An Island Quest with Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. 

This episode was edited by Tomos Delargy and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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The first surviving mention of condoms dates from the mid-16th century, in the writings of an Italian anatomist better known for the discovery of the fallopian tubes. Born out of a medical need to prevent the spread of syphilis, the condom was originally made from fabric, normally linen, and later from animal guts.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb meets Dr. Kate Stevenson, whose work as a dress historian has taken her on a journey of discovery into the origins of the condom.

**WARNING: This episode contains graphic language and sexual content**

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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In the early modern period, belief in fairies was quite commonplace. But put all thoughts of Tinkerbell aside!  These fairies were altogether more dangerous beings - troublemakers, child-snatchers, seducers and changelings.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Prof. Suzannah Lipscomb finds out more from Prof. Diane Purkiss, author of Troublesome Things: A History of Fairies and Fairy Stories. 

This episode was edited by Ella Blaxill and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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King James VI and I, the first monarch to reign over Scotland, England and Ireland, has a mixed reputation. To many, he is simply the homosexual King, the inveterate witch-roaster, the smelly sovereign who never washed, the colourless man behind the authorised Bible bearing his name, or the drooling fool whose speech could barely be understood. For too long, he has paled in comparison to his more celebrated Tudor and Stuart forebears.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out more from Dr. Steven Veerapen - author of The Wisest Fool: The Lavish Life of James VI and I - whose research has revealed King James as a gregarious, idealistic man obsessed with the idea of family, whose personal and political goals could never match up to reality. 

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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In the early modern period, it was patently clear to everyone that supernatural beings, foremost among them the devil, were at work in the world, intervening in human affairs.  Can we find the origins of beliefs in vampires, zombies and revenants in this age too?  How exactly did such beings manifest themselves?  And how do we make sense of this in an age in which people believed they were living under a providential God? 

Joining Professor Suzannah Lipscomb to kick off a month of special Not Just the Tudor podcasts on supernatural beings in the early modern world is Professor Darren Oldridge, author of The Supernatural in Tudor and Stuart England and The Devil: A Very Short Introduction. 

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Henry VIII was termed "by the Grace of God, King of England, France and Ireland.”  Ireland was England’s oldest colony.  But what bloody events and brutal actions led to the English conquest of Ireland?  How did the relationship between the two countries change over the course of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries?  And how did the Irish respond to such subjugation? 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Professor Jane Ohlmeyer, author of the forthcoming book, Making Empire, Ireland, Imperialism and the Early Modern World.

This episode was edited by Ella Blaxill and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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History books rarely make much reference to the impact of climate and the natural environment on people, and vice versa.  Yet volcanic eruptions and storms, droughts and cyclical pressures have shaped human history, both in raising up civilisations and bringing them to their knees. 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to acclaimed historian Professor Peter Frankopan - who has adopted this revolutionary new way of looking at history - to examine the impact of nature on human life in the 15th to 18th centuries.

This episode was edited by Ella Blaxill and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Reginald Pole has been styled as both the nemesis of Henry VIII and as Mary I's bloody accomplice. Pole was related to the English royal family through the Plantagenets and was himself implicated in a plot against Henry VIII in 1538. So how did he rise to become the last Roman Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury, and then use his position both for and against the Tudor monarchs? 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Dr. Frederick Smith to discuss this complex and charismatic personality.

This episode was edited by Ella Blaxill and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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The public fascination with true crime is nothing new. Four centuries ago, the sensational story of the death in the Tower of London of Thomas Overbury, a lawyer in the court of King James I, led to a scandal that rocked the monarchy to its core. 

In this episode of Not Just The Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out more from Professor Alastair Bellany, about the death of Overbury and why it threatened the Stuart throne.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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In 1621 the Virginia Company of London put out a call for young, handsome and honestly educated women to become wives for the planters in its new colony in Jamestown. Hopeful husbands were supposed to pay for their English brides in best leaf tobacco. But who were the women who made the Atlantic crossing? And what became of them when they arrived? 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb meets author Jennifer Potter to find out more about the lives of these extraordinary women.

***Warning: This podcast includes references to slaughter and hostage taking.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Girolamo Savonarola was a late 15th century Dominican friar who rose to become a preacher, prophet, and politician. He took on the corruption of the Roman Catholic Church and despotic rulers including the powerful Medicis. He was both progressive - helping to lay the foundations of the Reformation and the Enlightenment - but also fundamentalist and deeply unsettling. 

In this episode, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to award-winning author Denise Mina, whose novel Three Fires tells the story of Savonarola and his role in the bonfire of the vanities - the burning of objects considered sinful, such as cosmetics, mirrors, books, and art.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Life in Tudor England was risky. In addition to the outbreaks of plague, the threat of poverty and the dangers of childbirth, there were social risks - of not fitting in, of social death. How was a person supposed to behave? And what were the dangers involved? 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out about the art of surviving by 'blending in', with teacher and writer Toni Mount, author of How to Survive in Tudor England. 

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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For anyone studying the politics of the 1570s-80s, it would be hard to avoid Elizabeth I’s ‘spymaster’ Sir Francis Walsingham, who seemingly rose from nowhere to become one of the most important men of his time. 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out more from Dr. Hannah Coates, who has reappraised Walsingham's political practice, religious outlook and role as a councillor to the Crown. Drawing on new and underused sources, she's created a fresh, nuanced, and detailed assessment of mid-Elizabethan politics.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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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 Richard III? Or were two plotters to take the Tudor throne of King Henry VII - Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck - connected to, or in reality, the Princes who had survived?

Recent findings have raised new questions about the 540-year-old mystery and in this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb explores the evidence and the enduring speculation with author Nathen Amin and History Hit presenter, Matt Lewis.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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From Henry VIII declaring himself as the ‘loyal and most assured servant’ of Anne Boleyn to the poems lavished on Elizabeth I by her suitors, the dramas of courtly love have captivated readers and dreamers for centuries. 

In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, first released in September 2021, Sarah Gristwood tells Professor Suzannah Lipscomb how the Tudors actually re-enacted the roles of the devoted lovers and capricious mistresses first laid out in the romances of medieval literature - romantic obsessions that shaped the history of Britain.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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In the cut-throat world of Renaissance Florence, Alessandro - the illegitimate son of a Duke and a mixed-race servant - attempts to reassert the Medicis’ faltering grip on the city state. But after just six years in power, Alessandro is murdered by his cousin while anticipating an adulterous liaison.

In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, first released in August 2021, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Professor Catherine Fletcher, author of The Black Prince of Florence, about one man's spectacular rise to power against the odds, and his violent demise.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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To this day, the presence of angels is synonymous with the Christmas story and the momentous events associated with the Nativity. For the Tudors and Stuarts, widespread belief in angels brought a touch of the miraculous to life, but so too did ghosts, although it was sometimes hard to distinguish them from angels - or demons.

In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, first released on 23 December 2021, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb summons up the spirits of times past with historian Dr Laura Sangha, an expert in the beliefs associated with the supernatural in the early modern period.

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We think of Shakespeare as a man out of time. His stories and characters, his capturing of human nature, and his exquisite use of language, continue to speak to us today - and will endure for the centuries to come. But he was born in a rural market town in the early years of Elizabeth I's reign, and was formed by the social, religious, and political worldview of the period. 

In this special episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb reflects on the world that shaped Shakespeare and its concerns that seeped into his timeless plays.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Have you ever wondered how and where our Christmas tradition of pantomime originated? 

In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out from Dr. Oliver Crick, who traces pantomime’s origins to Commedia dell’arte - Italian travelling players who adapted their performances to other cultures and senses of humour. 

This episode was edited by Joseph Knight and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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The Coventry Carol and In Dulci Jubilo are songs that are still sung at this time of the year.  Curiously, despite their medieval roots, these tunes remained popular throughout Protestant Elizabethan England, a period when there was a complete overhaul of music in church and what it was expected to do. 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr Jonathan Willis to explore the complex effects of the Reformation on music in England.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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How we visualise the Tudors largely comes from their portraits painted by Hans Holbein the Younger.  Between 1526 and 1543, he captured the elite of the Tudor court and beyond - Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Thomas Cromwell, politicians, courtiers, soldiers and countless others.  

Every Holbein portrait seems to have begun with a drawing taken at a live sitting. An exhibition of these drawings in now on at Buckingham Palace and allows us to see Holbein’s process at work.  

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb tours the exhibition with its curator Dr. Kate Heard and art historian Dr. Elizabeth Goldring. 

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Life in the 16th and 17th centuries was brutal - the development of warfare technology made conflicts catastrophic for civilians as well as soldiers, there were regular epidemics, and famines both man-made and natural. 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb meets Professor Ole Peter Grell, who co-wrote The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Religion, War, Famine and Death in Reformation Europe with Dr. Andrew Cunningham. Today's discussion focuses on just three of the four horsemen: the red horse of war, the black horse of famine, and the pale horse of death and disease.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Centuries before Proust's Remembrance of Things Past took us on a tour of memory and James Joyce played with stream of consciousness, a 16th century nobleman - Michel de Montaigne - developed a wholly new style of reflective prose that examined his place in the world. His thoughts, questions and worries appear on the page as though they are your own, at once intensely personal to his own life yet somehow universal. 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks about the enduring legacy of the essays of Montaigne with Sarah Bakewell, author of How to Live, or a life of Montaigne in one question and twenty attempts at an answer.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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For the Tudors, tapestries not only brought warmth and colour to a room, but they were magnificent demonstrations of artistic skill and of moral messages. A campaign is now under way to save a vast golden tapestry – Saint Paul Directing the Burning of the Heathen Books - personally commissioned by Henry VIII around 1535, at the time he broke with Rome. If the campaign is successful, the tapestry will go on display to the public in the Faith Museum, Bishop Auckland in County Durham, in Spring 2024. 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Sutherland Forsyth and Claire Barron from the Auckland Project, who are spearheading the campaign to try and save this precious, glorious tapestry for the nation. 

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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On 17 November 1558, Queen Mary I died. But how would history have turned out differently if Mary had lived another 30 years? Where would her Roman-Catholicism taken England? Would Mary have patched up relations between England and the rest of Europe? 

In this counterfactual special to end her Tudor Dynasty series, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb asks a panel of experts to speculate on the reign that might have been. Suzannah is joined by Dr. Gonzalo Velasco Berenguer, Prof. Alexander Samson and Prof. Anna Whitelock.

Subscribers to History Hit can also watch this discussion, here: https://access.historyhit.com/what-s-new/videos/mary-i-real-fake-history

This episode was edited by Joseph Knight and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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For centuries, Hampton Court has been a stage for monarchy, revolution, religious fundamentalism, sexual scandals, and military coups. In his new book The Palace: From the Tudors to the Windsors, 500 Years of History at Hampton Court, Gareth Russell moves through the rooms and the decades, each time focusing on a different person who called Hampton Court their home.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Gareth to find out more about the many sovereigns and servants that lived and worked in Hampton Court and the personal tragedy and political importance of this extraordinary place.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Anne Boleyn is usually considered in the context of her marriage to - and demise at the hands of - King Henry VIII. But ultimately, the memory of Anne eventually triumphed, and her death was avenged, through the reign of the daughter she barely knew, Queen Elizabeth I.

Piecing together evidence from original documents and artefacts, historian Tracy Borman - in her new book Anne Boleyn & Elizabeth I: The Mother and Daughter Who Changed History - shares compelling evidence that Anne exerted a profound influence on Elizabeth’s character, beliefs and reign. 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Dr. Borman to discover more about this special relationship.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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The truth about Henry VIII may surprise you. This second episode of Not Just the Tudors' Tudor Dynasty mini-series provides you, in a nutshell, with everything you really need to know about Henry: his upbringing as a second son, his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, his exploits on the battlefield and tilt yard, his dependence on Cardinal Wolsey, his romance with Anne Boleyn, the break with Rome, his foreign policy, his murderous legislation and the downfall of Thomas Cromwell.

Professor Suzannah Lipscomb goes to Lincoln College, Oxford, to get to grips with the iconic and infamous monarch with his biographer, Dr. Lucy Wooding.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb pays a visit to historians Dr. Anthony Delaney and Dr. Maddy Pelling, who are the hosts of History Hit’s new podcast, After Dark. Myths, Misdeeds, and the Paranormal. Twice a week, Anthony and Maddy are taking listeners to the shadiest corners of the past, unpicking history's spookiest, strangest and most sinister stories.

For this episode, they were keen for Suzannah to delve deep with them into the ever fascinating subject of witches and witch trials in early modern Europe.

This episode was edited by Joseph Knight and produced by Annie Coloe and Rob Weinberg.

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Professor Suzannah Lipscomb kicks off four special episodes about the Tudor Dynasty with a look at its founding father King Henry VII. Seen as an exile and outsider with barely a claim to the throne, there was little to suggest that the obscure Henry would last any longer than his predecessor Richard III who Henry defeated at the battle of Bosworth Field. To maintain his grip on power and to convince England that his rule was both rightful and effective, Henry VII embarked upon a ruthless and controlling kingship

In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out more about this unlikely monarch with Henry VII’s biographer Sean Cunningham.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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The Gunpowder Plot is one of the hinge events of British history - an act of terror the roots of which stretch back to the Tudor period and Henry VIII's break with Rome. It's a story of Holy War, divided loyalties and religious hatred. And it has never been more timely. 

In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, first released in September 2021, Suzannah Lipscomb talks gunpowder, treason and plot with award-winning author and historian Jessie Childs.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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In the 1640s, Matthew Hopkins gave himself the grandiose title of Witchfinder General and set himself the task of purging England of witches. But where did his obsession come from and why did he adopt this monstrous role? 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to playwright Joanna Carrick, whose new work The Ungodly at the Avenue Theatre in Ipswich, explores these very questions.

This episode was edited by Joseph Knight and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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The most famous Black African in Tudor England is John Blanke, a musician in the courts of Henry VII and Henry VIII. The discovery of Blanke, originally by Professor Sydney Anglo, was made famous by Dr. Miranda Kaufmann’s 2017 book Black Tudors, The Untold Story.  A year earlier Michael Ohajuru started the John Blanke Project, an art and archive venture inviting historians and artists to respond to this evidence of the first person of African descent in British history for whom we have both an image and a record.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to them both about the evidence for Africans in early modern Britain, whether John Blanke was exceptional, what new things we're learning about him, and why it's important to tell stories like his.

This episode was edited by Joseph Knight and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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We are all familiar with great Tudor palaces and country houses but what were the homes of ordinary people like during that time? How were they built, and how did designs change with the use of new materials and construction methods? What did people do in their various rooms? How did they cook, clean and sleep? And, very importantly, did they keep pets? 

In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out more from Bethan Watts, author of Inside the Tudor Home: Daily Life in the Sixteenth Century.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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There are countless ways to understand and analyse the Tudors but a new book takes a unique look at the dynasty through its statistics. And there’s a lot more to discover than just the famous six wives.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Carol Ann Lloyd, author of The Tudors by Numbers, about the novel approach she has taken to looking at the Tudors.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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When it comes to Shakespeare's biography and his inner life, there's a certain lack of evidence. But what if Shakespeare actually signposted us to an event that radically metamorphosed his world? What if he named his most famous, most acclaimed play Hamlet after his son, Hamnet, who died at the age of 11?

In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to author Maggie O'Farrell who won the Women's Prize for Fiction with her novel exploring this very question. Hamnet is now also a play by the Royal Shakespeare Company, adapted by Lolita Chakrabarti, being staged at the Garrick Theatre in London. Suzannah talks to Maggie O'Farrell about both the novel and the play.

This episode was edited by Joseph Knight and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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What encouraged a young man who had spent most of his formative years being raised by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, to bite the hand that feeds him and become one of the Empire's greatest enemies? Why risk his life spending most of his adult years leading a revolt when he could have enjoyed the pomp and pleasures of being a prince? And when did the revolt he led become the foundations of an entire nation? The man in question is William the Silent, also known as William, Prince of Orange.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr. Nick Ridley to find out more about William the Silent’s rise as a nationalist leader that led to the founding of the Netherlands.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg and edited by Joseph Knight.

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Most of our knowledge of witchcraft accusations and executions comes from the proceedings of high profile and significant trials. Professor Marion Gibson’s new book traces the history of witchcraft through 13 such trials.

In today’s episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb and Professor Gibson explore four trials between the 1480s and the 1620s - from Austria, Scotland, Norway, and Virginia in the United States. This is the period during which people didn't just believe that witches existed, they came to believe that witches made a pact with the devil which put them entirely at odds with right thinking Christians. 

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Did women really do nothing to shape England’s culture and traditions through centuries of turmoil, plague, famine and religious reform? In her new non-fiction book, best-selling author Philippa Gregory questions the male version of history by recounting the stories of normal women: those who left records and those who were ‘hidden from history.’ By spotlighting their presence, she puts women where they belong – centre stage.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Philippa Gregory about women’s integral role in social and cultural change in the early modern era.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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In the same way that Shakespeare’s women characters were performed by boys in female costume, African, Middle Eastern, Hispanic and Jewish roles in his plays were taken by white men, deploying a series of racial symbols, stereotypes and, to modern ears, troubling racial language. But how did Shakespeare's original audiences view race and racial difference? And how has this understanding changed? 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Professor Farah Karim-Cooper, whose new book The Great White Bard raises important questions about Shakespeare's depiction of both race and racism. 

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, is often vilified as one of the Tudor century's most unpleasant characters. His was a family marked by treason, beheadings and incarceration - a dynasty whose pride and ambition secured only their downfall. But can this uncle to two wives of Henry VIII be rescued at all from infamy?

To unpick this complex man, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Robert Hutchinson, author of House of Treason: The Rise and Fall of a Tudor Dynasty.

This episode was edited by Joseph Knight and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Henry VIII's sixth wife Kateryn Parr was a scholar and a writer in her own right. She was one of the first English women to have works published under her own name, creating a new role as both queen and author, translating politically sensitive texts in collaboration with Henry and Thomas Cranmer.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Prof. Suzannah Lipscomb meets Dr. Micheline White. Her discoveries also shed new light on Kateryn Parr’s influence on the future Queen Elizabeth I, the English Reformation and its ongoing legacy.

This episode was edited by Joseph Knight and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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What did the Tudor age understand about digestion? How did this affect what foods people prepared and ate? Was there such a thing as healthy eating? How did they manage seasonal food changes and seasons of scarcity? And what role did food play in establishing class, belonging and status?

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Brigitte Webster, a culinary historian and journalist. Her new book, Eating with the Tudors: Food and Recipes is full of extraordinary insights that give us an idea about how the Tudors really lived.

This episode was edited by Joseph Knight and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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In some portraits of Henry VIII there appears another, striking figure. This is Will Somer, the king’s fool, a celebrated wit who could raise Henry’s spirits and spent many hours alone with him. But was Somer an “artificial fool” - a comedian who spoke truth to power - or a “natural fool,” someone with intellectual disabilities?

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Swedish historian Peter K. Andersson, whose new biography of Somer - Fool: In Search of Henry VIII’s Closest Man - reveals a little-known world where comedy could be something cruel and unpleasant.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

Discover the past on History Hit with ad-free original podcasts and documentaries released weekly presented by world renowned historians including Dan Snow, Suzannah Lipscomb, Lucy Worsley, Matt Lewis, Tristan Hughes and more. Get 50% off your first 3 months with code TUDORS. Download the app on your smart TV or in the app store or sign up here >

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In an age when literature was dominated by men, Margaret Cavendish wrote passionately about gender, science and philosophy. She published under her own name, and advocated for women in work. Her 1666 novel The Blazing World was one of the earliest works of science fiction.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Francesca Peacock, author of Pure Wit: The Revolutionary Life of Margaret Cavendish, which recounts Cavendish’s fascinating, pioneering, yet often complex and controversial life.

This episode was edited by Joseph Knight and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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One of Early Modern Europe’s most powerful families, the Hapsburgs shared a physical trait so distinctive that it came to be regarded as a badge of honour - the large, jutting jaw that was a result of family inbreeding. But that was only part of their physiological challenges.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks genetics, inbreeding and the sad fate of the Hapsburgs with Dr. Adam Rutherford, author of A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived: The Stories in Our Genes.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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At 31, Michelangelo was considered the finest artist in Italy, perhaps the world. Long before he died at almost 90, he was widely believed to be the greatest sculptor or painter who had ever lived. Few of his works - including the Sistine Chapel Ceiling, David and The Last Judgment - were small or easy to accomplish. Like a hero of classical mythology, Michelangelo was subject to constant trials and labours. 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Martin Gayford, author of Michelangelo: His Epic Life, about the life and work of Michelangelo and how he transformed forever our notion of what an artist could be.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

Discover the past on History Hit with ad-free original podcasts and documentaries released weekly presented by world renowned historians including Dan Snow, Suzannah Lipscomb, Lucy Worsley, Matt Lewis, Tristan Hughes and more. Get 50% off your first 3 months with code TUDORS. Download the app on your smart TV or in the app store or sign up here >

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The Safawid Dynasty, which ruled Iran from 1501 to 1736, marked the beginning of modern Iranian history. At its height, it controlled all of what is now Iran, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Armenia, eastern Georgia, parts of the North Caucasus including Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, and Afghanistan, as well as parts of Turkey, Syria, Pakistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The period was extensively documented by scholars, western travellers, in literary works and commercial and political records. There are surviving buildings, monuments, coins, pottery, carpets, paintings, metalwork, and illustrations.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb meets Professor Andrew Newman to find out more about this fascinating history.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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On the morning of 12 October 1654, in the Dutch city of Delft, a sudden explosion was followed by a thunderclap that could be heard more than 70 miles away. Carel Fabritius - now known across the world for his exquisite painting ’The Goldfinch’ - had been at work in his studio. He, along with many others, would not survive the day.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to The Observer’s art critic Laura Cumming whose new book, Thunderclap: A memoir of art and life & sudden death, reveals her passion for the art of the Dutch Golden Age and her determination to lift up the reputation of Fabritius. 

This episode was edited by Joseph Knight and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Henry VIII was described as the 'best dressed sovereign in the world' by the Venetian ambassador Sebastian Giustinian. The Tudor King spent the equivalent of £2 million a year on clothes.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, first released in April 2021, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Professor Maria Hayward to get to grips with the sumptuous garments, the fabrics — and exaggerated codpieces — that made up Henry VIII’s wondrous wardrobe.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Contrary to the idea that the early modern stage was male-dominated, girls actually played an active part in religious dramas, civic pageants, Elizabethan country house entertainments, and Stuart court and household masques. Girls also excelled as singers, translators and authors whose power was evoked in the plays of Shakespeare. 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Deanne Williams, author of Girl Culture in the Middle Ages and Renaissance,

which shows how the active presence and participation of girls shaped Renaissance culture.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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In 1671, an Anglo-Irish officer, the self-styled Colonel Blood attempted to steal the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London. The thwarted crime brought him face-to-face with King Charles II. This incredible story is the subject of a riotous new stage comedy, The Crown Jewels, starring Al Murray and Mel Giedroyc.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out more from Al Murray as well as the play’s author Simon Nye and its director Sean Foley.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Did King James VI of Scotland plot to assassinate Elizabeth I? Did she name him as her successor? For centuries, dozens of pasted-over passages in the original manuscript of William Camden’s Annals have been inaccessible. But now, technology has made them visible for the first time, offering new insights into the political machinations of Elizabeth’s court.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out more from researcher Helena Rutkowska and Calum Cockburn from the British Library. 

This episode was edited by Joseph Knight and produced by Rob Weinberg.

Discover the past on History Hit with ad-free original podcasts and documentaries released weekly presented by world renowned historians including Dan Snow, Suzannah Lipscomb, Lucy Worsley, Matt Lewis, Tristan Hughes and more. Get 50% off your first 3 months with code TUDORS. Download the app on your smart TV or in the app store or sign up here >

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Best known for St. Paul’s Cathedral, Christopher Wren was the greatest architect Britain has ever known. But he was so much more: he applied his mind to astronomy, meteorology and anatomy. How did he achieve so much while running the nation's biggest architectural office with all its petty jealousies and political challenges? 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out more about this extraordinary figure from Professor Adrian Tinniswood, author of His Invention So Fertile: A Life of Christopher Wren.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

Discover the past on History Hit with ad-free original podcasts and documentaries released weekly presented by world renowned historians including Dan Snow, Suzannah Lipscomb, Lucy Worsley, Matt Lewis, Tristan Hughes and more. Get 50% off your first 3 months with code TUDORS. Download the app on your smart TV or in the app store or sign up here >

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Books belonging to Henry VIII, Richard III, Mary I and Edward VI are among the treasures in the historic library of the Archbishops of Canterbury, one of the oldest public libraries in England. 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb takes a tour of just a few items from Lambeth Palace Library’s priceless collection with the librarian archivist Giles Mandelbrote.

There are pictures of all of the items featured in this podcast on Suzannah’s social media accounts - @sixteenthCgirl - on Facebook, Twitter, Threads, and Instagram. 

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Seymour, Dudley and Parr are all well-known Tudor names. But often, behind the more famous men in those families, there were women who had a much greater influence than has previously been acknowledged.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by historian and researcher Sylvia Barbara Soberton to discover more about three such women - Ann Seymour, Jane Dudley and Elizabeth Parr - who galvanized their husbands, shaped power relations, and helped orchestrate events that we usually assume were driven by men. 

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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How did an enslaved East African man become Japan’s first foreign samurai, and the only ever samurai of African descent? How did Yasuke catch the attention of Japan’s most powerful warlord Oda Nobunaga, to become the most unlikely of national heroes?

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to author Craig Shreve who, in his new novel The African Samurai: The incredible story of Yasuke, magnificently reconstructs the story of this fascinating lost historical figure.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

Discover the past on History Hit with ad-free original podcasts and documentaries released weekly presented by world renowned historians including Dan Snow, Suzannah Lipscomb, Lucy Worsley, Matt Lewis, Tristan Hughes and more. Get 50% off your first 3 months with code TUDORS. Download the app on your smart TV or in the app store or sign up here >

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Artemisia Gentileschi was the most celebrated female painter of the 17th century, as famous in her lifetime as Reubens or Van Dyke. But the events of her life were as savage as the events depicted in her paintings.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Elizabeth Freemantle, whose new novel Disobedient imagines Gentileschi’s life and the pivotal events that may have fuelled the energy and fury of her paintings.

This episode was edited by Joseph Knight and produced by Rob Weinberg.

Discover the past on History Hit with ad-free original podcasts and documentaries released weekly presented by world renowned historians including Dan Snow, Suzannah Lipscomb, Lucy Worsley, Matt Lewis, Tristan Hughes and more. Get 50% off your first 3 months with code TUDORS. Download the app on your smart TV or in the app store or sign up here >

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How meaningful can a gift - especially of a book - be? In the fickle world of the Tudor court, the strategic gifting of books was a common practice, bound up in relationships of power, politics and protest. A new exhibition exploring this subject at the Bodleian Library, Oxford, includes a stunning book made by a young Elizabeth I which she gave to Katherine Parr as a New Year’s gift in 1544. 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb visits the exhibition to find out more from curator Dr Nicholas Perkins and historian Dr. Felicity Heal.

This episode was edited by Joseph Knight and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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In the sixteenth century, religious beliefs underwent a dramatic change. As differences between the late medieval Roman Catholic Church and the nature of Luther's Protestantism spread across Western Europe, where you stood on points of theology could literally mean life or death. For example, what did you have to do to attain salvation? And what happened in the most holy moment of a church service, the Mass? 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb explores the complex and fascinating ideas that people believed with Professor Alec Ryrie.

This episode was edited by Joseph Knight and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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The name Ivan the Terrible is synonymous with brutality and ruthlessness. While Western scholars insist that the first crowned Tsar of all Russia did create a policy of mass repression and execution, others claim Ivan’s name has been tarnished by Western travellers and writers. How then should his complex and fascinating personality be understood?  

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb examines the evidence with Dr. Charles Halperin, one of the world's foremost historians of Ivan the Terrible.

This episode was edited by Joseph Knight and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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From the mid-15th century to the mid-16th century, there were 10 Queens Consort of England, from Margaret of Anjou to Katherine Parr. For each of these Queens, jewellery was a way she could signify her status and her legitimacy, display familial and cultural ties, and chart life events - from courtship and marriage, through motherhood, to death. 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr. Nicola Tallis, whose book All the Queen's Jewels 1445-1548: Power, Majesty and Display examines the personal and political connections of Queens through the lens of their jewellery.

This episode was edited by Joseph Knight and produced by Rob Weinberg and Elena Guthrie.

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As Queen Elizabeth I lays dying, King James VI of Scotland is waiting to accede to the throne of England. But who will thrive and who will fall under the new King? Will it be the scholar Francis Bacon, whose brilliant mind is the envy of the court? Or his hated rival Edward Cook, the greatest lawyer of his generation?

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors — recorded at the Hay Festival of Literature & Arts —

Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Jesse Norman MP about his new novel The Winding Stair, an epic tale of jealousy and intrigue in Elizabethan and Jacobean England, which, in its lowest moments, holds a darkened mirror to our own contemporary politics.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

Discover the past on History Hit with ad-free original podcasts and documentaries released weekly presented by world renowned historians including Dan Snow, Suzannah Lipscomb, Lucy Worsley, Matt Lewis, Tristan Hughes and more. Get 50% off your first 3 months with code TUDORS. Download the app on your smart TV or in the app store or sign up here >

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In the summer of 1579, Francis Drake had to land in a ‘fair and good bay’ on the western coast of the New World when his ship - The Golden Hind - needed repairs. A sign was put up, naming it Nova Albion (‘New England’) for Queen Elizabeth I. But the question of exactly where Drake landed has continued to vex historians to this day.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Melissa Darby, whose meticulous and painstaking work has uncovered all manner of evidence to finally resolve the controversy.

This episode was edited by Joseph Knight and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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What do you get when you bring together five top historians to debate depictions of Thomas More on film and TV? History with the gloves off - our third special episode of Not Just the Tudors Lates! This time, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb takes as her starting point the life of the scholar who wrote Utopia, the Lord Chancellor who became a Roman Catholic martyr and saint.

Suzannah is joined again by Dr Joanne Paul, Jessie Childs, Alex von Tunzelmann and Professor Sarah Churchwell to compare the various film versions of Thomas More’s story, where they have got it right - and often wildly wrong.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

Discover the past on History Hit with ad-free original podcasts and documentaries released weekly presented by world renowned historians including Dan Snow, Suzannah Lipscomb, Lucy Worsley, Matt Lewis, Tristan Hughes and more. Get 50% off your first 3 months with code TUDORS. Download the app on your smart TV or in the app store or sign up here >

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The most admired and influential composer during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I, William Byrd died exactly 400 years ago on 4 July 1623. Byrd’s music ranks among the most unique and inspired works of the late Renaissance. Remarkably, Byrd was a practicing Catholic in Anglican England who persistently faced threats of religious persecution.

In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out more to Byrd’s award-winning biographer Dr. Kerry McCarthy. 

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

The following musical extracts are used with the kind permission of the performers:

Clarifica Me https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXqpCaVnYfQ&t=29s

Performed by Léon Berben

Domines quis habitat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1zrywqZfyQ

Performed by the Byrd Ensemble

Similles Illes Fiant (In Exitu Israel) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jM8N8JlgnJA

Ad Dominum Cum Tribulare https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6KHWQ5OzWQ

Performed by The Cardinall's Musick directed by Andrew Carwood

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When we think of Shakespeare, we mostly think of language. But what about gesture and other forms of nonverbal communication - from thumb-biting in Romeo and Juliet to Pistol giving “the fig of Spain” in Henry V? Do gestures say something specific about the gendering of guilt and shame?

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, rounding up her series for the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s First Folio, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb takes a look at this fascinating topic with theatre scholar Dr. Miranda Faye Thomas.

This episode was edited by Joseph Knight and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Today we think of fairies on the stage and in stories as often cute, ultra-feminine and unthreatening. But in Early Modern literature, fairies were supernatural often gender-fluid beings - just think of Ariel in The Tempest.

In this special episode of Not Just the Tudors for Pride Month, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out more from Dr. Ezra Horbury, lecturer in Renaissance literature at the University of York.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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In this third special episode of Not Just the Tudors celebrating the 400th anniversary of the publication of Shakespeare’s First Folio, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb investigates the nature of theatre-going in Elizabethan London with Dr. Eoin Price. How were theatres built? What was the experience for the audience? Who went to plays and how did they choose what plays to see, in which theatre? Did they even care if Shakespeare’s name was on the programme?

This episode was edited by Joseph Knight and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Every spring and summer of her 44 year reign, Queen Elizabeth I insisted that her court go "on progress" — royal visits to towns and aristocratic homes. These trips provided the only direct contact most people had with their monarch.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb meets Dr. Mary Hill Cole, whose research examines the effects of these visits on the Queen's household and government, the individual and civic hosts, and the impact of her authority. 

This episode was edited by Joseph Knight and produced by Rob Weinberg.

Discover the past on History Hit with ad-free original podcasts and documentaries released weekly presented by world renowned historians including Dan Snow, Suzannah Lipscomb, Lucy Worsley, Matt Lewis, Tristan Hughes and more. Get 50% off your first 3 months with code TUDORS. Download the app on your smart TV or in the app store or sign up here: http://access.historyhit.com/checkout?code=tudors&plan=monthly 

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Experts at Hever Castle - the childhood home of Anne Boleyn - have made an extraordinary discovery. They’ve established that an ornate 1527 prayer book — kept in a Cambridge library for more than 350 years — belonged to Henry VIII’s Chief Minister Thomas Cromwell and appears in Holbein’s portrait of him. Identical books were also owned by Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn.

In today’s episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb goes to Hever Castle to find out more.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Shakespeare’s First Folio — the first book to contain 36 of his plays, 18 of which had not been in print before — was published in 1623.

In the second of her special series marking its 400th anniversary, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb delves into the political and social story behind its printing. It's a story of royal families, foreign affairs, industry, commerce and religion. Suzannah’s guest is Dr. Chris Laoutaris, whose most recent work is Shakespeare's Book: The Intertwined Lives Behind the First Folio.

This episode was edited by Joseph Knight and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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In 1567, a sailor named David Ingram sailed from Plymouth with 400 others on a slaving expedition. The ensuing events read like a fantastic adventure story: shipwrecked in a hurricane off Mexico, a battle with - and imprisonment by - the Spanish, escape and a 3000 mile trek to Canada. Ingram was one of only three who survived to tell the tale. And what a tale he told.

For four centuries, it has been thought that Ingram may have made it all up. But in this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out from Professor Dean Snow, the truth about the extraordinary journey of David Ingram.

This episode was edited by Joseph Knight and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Three powerful Renaissance queens all lived together at the French court for many years. They were bound together through blood and marriage, alliance and friendship — bonds that were tested when they were forced to scatter to different kingdoms. 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Leah Redmond Chang — author of Young Queens: The gripping, intertwined story of Catherine de' Medici, Elisabeth de Valois and Mary, Queen of Scots — to find out more about these three women who lived their lives at the mercy of the state.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Four hundred years ago in 1623, the first collected edition of Shakespeare's plays was printed. Known as the First Folio, the book was integral to establishing Shakespeare's posthumous reputation just seven years after his death.

In the first of four special episodes of Not Just the Tudors celebrating this anniversary, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Professor Emma Smith about the story behind Shakespeare’s First Folio, how it collected together and preserved his works as we know them today, and its lasting legacy. 

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Why do we call the Great Fire of London in 1666 “great”? Was it because of the significant challenge it posed to authorities and residents as they sought to bring it under control? Was it because of the extent of its devastation? Or was it because it occurred during an eventful couple of years where plague and war also threatened lives?

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to historian Rebecca Rideal, author of 1666: Plague, War and Hellfire, whose research has drawn on little known sources to set the Great Fire of London in the broader context of the political, social and economic events of the time. 

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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King Henry VII and his Tudor heirs knew very little about Ireland, over which they ruled in name at least. During the 118 years of Tudor rule, not one of its monarchs ever set foot in the Emerald Isle. Yet the history of the Tudor monarchy cannot fully be told without understanding its relations with Ireland. 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb discovers more with Professor Christopher McGinn.

This episode was edited by Joseph Knight and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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In the 16th Century, rude jokes and scatological humour were just as much a feature of life as they are today. Between 1529 and 1539, a Swiss linen trader called Johannes Rütiner included many jokes and humorous anecdotes in his personal notebooks. They offer an amazing insight into both the jokes that were told and the context in which they were passed on. 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out more from Dr. Carla Roth.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

**WARNING: This episode contains examples of 16th century humour which some listeners may find offensive or shocking**

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History has painted Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn in two very different hues: one wife, one mistress; one Spanish, one French; one committed Catholic, one radical reformer. But a new exhibition at Hever Castle examines one curious moment of confluence, right in the midst of the crucial year of 1527. It's a moment that suggests that Katherine and Anne had more in common than we normally imagine.

In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb goes to Hever Castle to find out more, with curators Dr. Owen Emmerson and Kate McCaffrey.

This episode was edited by Joseph Knight and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Following the Second Granada War (1568-70), thousands of Moriscos in Spain were exiled, imprisoned or enslaved. Moriscos were former Muslims who had been compelled to convert to Roman Catholicism. But in 1572, Spanish King Philip II made the enslavement of Morisco children illegal. Yet they were still separated from their parents and put to work in Christian households. 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb delves into this fascinating episode with Dr. Stephanie Kavanaugh, to find out why the enslavement of children was banned, how the slave owners reacted, and what became of them.

This episode was edited by Joseph Knight and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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In March 1582, a number of women from the small Essex village of St Osyth, were hanged for the crime of witchcraft. Several others, including one man, died in prison, in what was a shocking and highly localised witch-hunt. 

In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Professor Marion Gibson, who offers revelatory new insights into the personal histories of those who were denied the chance to speak for themselves.

This episode was edited by Joseph Knight and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Louis XIV ruled France for more than 72 years, the longest recorded reign of any monarch of any sovereign country in history. Despite the devotion of his wife Maria Theresa of Spain, Louis took a series of mistresses, a number of them "official", with whom he had numerous illegitimate children. Yet, for the last three decades of his life, after Maria Theresa's death, he settled down more loyally with the Marquise de Maintenon. 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, first released in June 2021, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out more about the powerful and fascinating women behind the throne of the Sun King, with Dr Linda Kiernan Knowles.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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What could be more topical this week than looking back at the coronations of the first two Kings Charles. Charles I’s reign is best remembered for the events of the English Civil War, a conflict over the balance of power between parliament and royal supremacy which resulted in his execution and the establishment of Oliver Cromwell’s short-lived Commonwealth. After the restoration of the monarchy, Charles II was crowned in a momentous celebration, designed to reassure the nation of its stability and security.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out more from Dr Clare Jackson, author of Devil-Land: England Under Siege, 1588-1688.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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On a cold February morning in 1554, Lady Jane Grey was beheaded for high treason. Named by King Edward VI as his successor, Queen Jane had reigned for just 13 tumultuous days before being imprisoned in the Tower, condemned and executed.

In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, first released in October 2021, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to author and historian Dr. Nicola Tallis who reveals the moving, human story of an intelligent, independent and courageous young woman, forced on to the English throne by the great power players in the Tudor court.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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When Thomas Roe arrived in India in 1616 as James I's first ambassador to the Mughal Empire, the English barely had a toehold in the subcontinent. Roe was representing a kingdom that was beset by financial woes and deeply conflicted about its identity. Meanwhile, the court Roe entered was wealthy and cultured, its dominion one of the greatest and richest empires of the world.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Nandini Das, about Roe's four years in India, a turning point in history, which offers a rich and radical challenge to our understanding of Britain and its early empire.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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In the 16th century, “strangers” was the name used in England for people who were born in territories not controlled by the Tudor monarchy. Thinking about Henry VIII’s armed forces, we might not expect to find “strangers” among them - but there were. 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Professor Catherine Fletcher and Samantha Nelson. Their research into the crew of the Mary Rose - the Tudor warship that sank in the Solent on 19 July 1545 - has revealed some fascinating insights into the origins of the men who served on board.

This episode was edited by Stuart Beckwith and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Hardwick Hall is a triumph of Elizabethan architecture. Built in the late sixteenth century, its halls, corridors and staircases embody the magnificence of the Renaissance period in England. But they also tell the story of the remarkable woman who built it in a patriarchal age - the four-times-married Bess of Hardwick, England’s wealthiest woman after Queen Elizabeth I.

In this episode of Not Just The Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb takes us on a tour of Hardwick Hall. Roaming its tapestry-lined oak corridors, she recounts it’s rich history, uncovers a connection with Mary, Queen of Scots and seeks to rehabilitate Bess’s rapacious reputation.

This episode was edited by Joseph Knight and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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John Donne was a scholar of law, a sea adventurer, an MP, a priest, the Dean of St Paul's Cathedral - and perhaps the greatest love poet in the history of the English language. He converted from Catholicism to Protestantism, was jailed for marrying a high-born girl without her father's consent, struggled to feed a family of ten children and was often ill and in pain. 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb meets Katherine Rundell, author of the acclaimed book Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne, which won the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction 2022. Together they explore the life and work of a man who, despite a life of extreme challenges, expressed in his verse electric joy and love.

This episode was edited by Joseph Knight and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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When Sir Walter Raleigh set out to South America to find the legendary city of El Dorado, he paved the way for a series of adventurers who would struggle against the harsh reality of South America’s wild jungles. Six decades later, when a group of English gentlemen expelled from England chose to establish a new colony in what is now Suriname, they named the settlement in honour of its founder Sir Francis Willoughby.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to author Matthew Parker. His book Willoughbyland: England’s Lost Colony tells the story of how this one-time paradise became a place of terror and cruelty, of sugar and slavery. 

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Catherine Howard was Queen Consort - and fifth wife - to Henry VIII for just 16 months before he had her executed for treason for committing adultery. Since Victorian times, historians have labelled her as lewd and promiscuous, but there was an altogether more complex young woman behind the rumours.

In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, first released in July 2021, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Gareth Russell, author of Young and Damned and Fair, a riveting account of Catherine's tragic marriage to an unstable King, and the tragedy of her life in a dangerous hothouse where the odds were stacked against her. 

This episode was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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What do you get when you bring together five top historians to debate Mary, Queen of Scots on film? History with the gloves off - our second special episode of Not Just the Tudors Lates! This time, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb takes as her starting point the tragic life of the Scottish Queen and her relationship with her rival and cousin Queen Elizabeth I.

Suzannah is joined once again by Dr Joanne Paul, Jessie Childs, Alex von Tunzelmann and Professor Sarah Churchwell to compare the various film versions of Mary’s story, where they have got it right - and often wildly wrong.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

Listen to the first Not Just the Tudors Lates about Elizabeth I on Screen, here.

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In the early 17th century, an aged veteran of Spain's wars against the Ottoman Empire published a book. It was the story of a poor nobleman who deludes himself that he is a knight errant and sets off on hilarious adventures. Don Quixote went on to sell more copies than any other book beside the Bible, making its author Cervantes the single most-read author in human history. 

In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to William Egginton, author of The Man Who Invented Fiction: How Cervantes ushered in the Modern World. Together they explore Cervantes's life and the world he lived in, how his influences converged in his work, and how Don Quixote radically changed the nature of literature and created a new way of viewing the world. 

This episode was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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In one week in London in September, 1665, no fewer than 47 different causes of death were reported, including consumption, fever, dropsy, being frightened, grief, worms, vomiting, and plague. We know this because of a record called a Bill of Mortality, a broad sheet that was printed to list the number of burials in and around the city of London by district and the causes of those deaths.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Professor Vanessa Harding about Bills of Mortality and what they can tell us about life and death in early modern London.

The subject of this podcast was suggested by listener Keith Denny. If you have an idea for an episode, please email [email protected] or via Twitter @NotJustTudors.

This episode was edited by Anisha Deva and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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During a time of increasing religious and political conflict, Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s paintings portrayed work and pleasure, rituals and festivals of peasant life, and biblical scenes - all in startling detail. Inspired by humanist principles, Bruegel’s art questioned how well we know ourselves, often representing our ignorance and insignificance, the futility of ambition and the absurdity of pride.

In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Professor Elizabeth Honig, author of Pieter Bruegel and the Idea of Human Nature, to explore further how Bruegel’s art and ideas enable people to ponder what it means to be human. 

This episode was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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In the 17th Century, people experienced major social and economic problems that intertwined with religious disagreements and political debates. The turbulence led to civil war, the execution of King Charles I and a failed experiment with Republicanism. But what led Britain into this world turned upside down? And was the society that was delivered a better one than the one before?

In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr. Jonathan Healey - author of The Blazing World: A New History of Revolutionary England - about what we can learn from the lives of ordinary people about the fears and worries that drove them to radical action.

This episode was edited by Stuart Beckwith and produced by Elena Guthrie and Rob Weinberg.

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For centuries, the name of an accomplished and popular portrait painter in the court of Elizabeth I has remained unknown. The renowned art historian Sir Roy Strong dubbed this artist the ‘Master of the Countess of Warwick’ but his identity has remained a mystery - until now. A fascinating new exhibition presents his works side-by-side - and it proposes a name for this mysterious artist.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb visits the exhibition at Compton Verney in Warwickshire to meet curator Amy Orrock and to find out more about the work - and probable life - of a great, forgotten painter.

This episode was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Today we know that menstruation is a biological process. There’s a great deal of scientific research that explains the menstrual cycle. But how was menstruation perceived and understood in Early Modern England? Was it talked about by women and men in the same way? How did it influence attitudes towards women? And how did women manage their menstrual cycles physically and mentally?

In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb explores these questions with Dr. Sara Read.

**WARNING: This podcast contains descriptions of, and discussions about, female blood loss**

This episode was edited by Stuart Beckwith and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Anne Boleyn’s reputation is buried beneath centuries of labels: home-wrecker, seductress, opportunist, witch, romantic victim, Protestant martyr, feminist. But a new look at the final year of Anne Boleyn’s life reveals a very human portrait of a brilliant, passionate and complex woman.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Natalie Grueninger, author of The Final Year of Anne Boleyn, about that last year of Anne’s life, its joys and its tragedies. 

This episode was edited by Anisha Deva and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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'Western Civilisation' is often thought of as a continuous thread through the centuries - from classical antiquity to the countries of the modern West - connecting Plato to NATO. 

But in her new book - The West: A New History of an Old Idea - archaeologist and historian Professor Naoìse Mac Sweeney charts the history of 'the West' as an invention used to justify imperialism and racism - a notion that can be disproved by the lives of 14 historical figures.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Professor Mac Sweeney, about four of these fascinating figures - Tullia d’Aragona, Safiye Sultan, Francis Bacon and Nzinga of Ndongo & Matamba - whose remarkable lives correct our telling of Western history.

This episode was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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In preparation for International Women's Day this Wednesday, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb takes a look at a Queen whose reputation has largely been shaped by her husband's midlife crisis. History does not see much further than Katherine of Aragon's so-called failure to provide Henry with a son and heir, and this means something very important about her has been missed - that Katherine was raised to become England’s first Renaissance Queen.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to art historian Dr. Emma Luisa Cahill Marrón about how Katherine and Henry worked together over two decades to create a Renaissance court that attracted Europe’s greatest writers, artists and thinkers.

This episode was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Between 1598 and 1785, the Papal or Roman Inquisition in Modena, Northern Italy, put 393 Jews on trial. Regarded as infidels, Jews were accused of, among other things, blasphemy, employing a Christian servant, owning prohibited books, and having sex with Christians. But the trials belie a somewhat different picture - one in which, in many cases, Jews and Christians co-existed happily together in Modena.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out more from Professor Katherine Aron-Beller, about the real lives of the Jews who stood before the inquisition in Italy.

This episode was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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On 6 September 1560, Amy Robsart Dudley died after falling down a staircase at Cumnor Place in Oxfordshire. But did she fall? Was she pushed? Or did she throw herself down the stairs?  These questions exercised Tudor courtiers and foreign ambassadors at the time. The truth mattered because Amy was the wife of Queen Elizabeth I’s leading courtier and very close friend, Robert Dudley, and his wife’s death could clear the way for Elizabeth to marry Dudley. But in practice, the circumstances of Amy’s death precluded any possibility of a royal marriage. 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr. Joanne Paul - author of the acclaimed book The House of Dudley - to discuss what really happened - was it an accident, suicide or murder?

This episode was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg.

**WARNING: This episode contains descriptions of suicide**

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In the early seventeenth century, a Hungarian aristocrat called Erzsébet Báthory - or Elizabeth Bathory - was accused of murdering more than 600 young women. Her gruesome story has been sensationalised in books, film, and music. But is it true?

In this explainer episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb examines the evidence, Bathory’s alleged modus operandi, and the lives of the poor victims.

**WARNING: This episode contains graphic descriptions of violence and murder**

This episode was edited by Anisha Deva and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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The most important discovery related to Mary Queen of Scots for 100 years was recently made - by a team of amateur cryptologists. 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks with Dr. George Lasry - a computer scientist by day - about how he and his colleagues found by chance more than 50 letters in code in the Bibliothèque nationale de France, deciphered them, and proved that Mary wrote them during six of her 19 years of imprisonment.  What insights do they give us into the personal and political thoughts of one of Europe’s most famous and tragic monarchs?

The full paper on the ciphered letters can be found in the journal Cryptologia, here.

The project was sponsored by DECRYPT Project - a European inter-university project to collect, transcribe, and decipher encoded documents found in archives, here.

This episode was edited by Stuart Beckwith and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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The rich and powerful Guise family was one of the most treacherous and bloodthirsty in sixteenth-century France. They whipped up religious bigotry, overthrowing the king. They ruled Scotland for nearly 20 years through Mary Queen of Scots, plotting to invade England and overthrow Elizabeth I. And they unleashed the bloody Wars of Religion, playing a crucial role in the murder of 4,000 Protestants in the infamous Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Professor Stuart Carroll - author of Martyrs and Murderers: The Guise Family and the Making of Europe - about this cultivated, charismatic and violent dynasty.

This episode was edited by Stuart Beckwith and produced by Rob Weinberg.

**WARNING: This episode contains some graphic descriptions of violence**

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What was it like to grow up in Tudor England? How were children cared for, what did they play with, and which subjects were they taught?

In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Professor Nicholas Orme who, in his new book Tudor Children, provides a rich survey of childhood in the Tudor period from birth and infancy through to the education they received and the work they undertook.

This episode was edited by and produced by Rob Weinberg

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This month on Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb investigates four of history’s most notorious murders and brutal crimes.

In this first episode, she’s joined by Charles Nicholl to dig deeper into the mystery of the 1593 murder of the brilliant and controversial playwright Christopher Marlowe, who was stabbed to death in a house in Deptford. The official account stated it was a violent quarrel over the bill.

But as Charles Nicholl explains, critical evidence about that fatal day points to Marlowe's shadowy political and intelligence dealings.

This episode was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg

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Charles I's Queen Henrietta Maria was perhaps the most reviled consort to have worn the crown of Britain's three kingdoms. To this day, she remains the wife who turned her husband Catholic - causing a civil war - and a cruel and bigoted mother.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb dispels some of the myths about Henrietta Maria with author Leanda de Lisle, whose highly acclaimed book Henrietta Maria: Conspirator, Warrior, Phoenix Queen, reveals an altogether very different person.

This episode was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg

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Marguerite de Navarre (1492-1549) was an influential diplomat and political activist, an outstanding patron of philosophers and artists, an accomplished writer and poet, and sister to King François I of France. She has been described as the “Mother of the Renaissance in France”. 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out more about this remarkable, charismatic, and talented royal woman with Dr Emily Butterworth.

This episode was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg.

The subject of this podcast was suggested by a listener. If there is a subject you would like to hear more about, please email [email protected] or message us on Twitter at @NotJustTudors

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In 1618, almost 100 impoverished children from London - some as young as eight - arrived in Jamestown, Virginia to labour in the growing colony. It was the first example of transporting children to colonies that would continue into the twentieth century. 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out more from Dr. Deborah Albon whose groundbreaking research traces the lives of these children from urban poverty, through incarceration in Bridewell to, if they survived the Atlantic crossing, a life no less miserable in the New World.

**WARNING: This episode contains some graphic descriptions of violence against young people**

This episode was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg

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In the cut-throat world of the Elizabethan court, Sir Christopher Hatton became one of Elizabeth I’s favourites. After catching her eye in 1561, Hatton was quickly promoted to the Privy Council, making a significant impact on Elizabeth’s complex religious policy. Yet Hatton has often been overshadowed by such Tudor heavyweights as Dudley, Cecil and Walsingham.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out more from Dr. Neil Younger about Hatton’s rise from minor gentry to the Queen’s closest aide, and addresses the burning question: were Elizabeth and Hatton lovers?

This episode was edited by Joseph Knight and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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In 1628, a Dutch East India flagship called Batavia set sail from the Netherlands, never to reach her destination. Eight months into the voyage, the ship was wrecked on coral reef off the western coast of Australia. What then befell her surviving crew and passengers was horrifying and tragic. It has been described as “one of the worst horror stories in maritime history.” 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to author Jess Kidd. Her recent novel about Batavia, The Night Ship - based on her extensive research of sources and archives - has been named a Sunday Times’ Best Historical Fiction Book of the Year. 

This episode was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg. 

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In Elizabethan England, swords were everywhere. Hanging on girdles, used in plays and depicted in paintings, they were an important marker of status and martial prowess. Swordplay was a popular martial art and pastime enjoyed by all rungs of Tudor society. But what would these swords have looked like? And how did Elizabethan gentlemen fight with them? 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Jacob H. Deacon, a doctoral student at the University of Leeds. Together they discuss the origins of swordplay and it’s relation to fencing, how it was regulated and performed by the mysterious Masters of Defence and, most importantly, how to distinguish your rapier from your backsword. 

This episode was edited by Joseph Knight and produced by Rob Weinberg 

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When strange signs appeared in the sky over Quebec in 1660, the French settlers started to worry about evil forces in their midst. Then, a teenaged servant called Barbe Hallay started to act as if she were possessed by demons. She accused a local miller of bewitching her and, the following year, he was imprisoned and executed. Priests and nuns tried to drive the demons away - but in the end it was something else that worked.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr. Mairi Cowan, author of The Possession of Barbe Hallay: Diabolical Arts and Daily Life in Early Canada, a fascinating account of a case of demonic possession in early modern North America.

This episode was edited by Anisha Deva and produced by Rob Weinberg.

The subject of this podcast was suggested by listener Mike Old, a descendent of Barbe Hallay. If you have an idea for an episode, please send it via our Twitter feed @NotJustTudors or by email to [email protected].

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In April 1538 - to celebrate the birth of Prince Edward and the 30th anniversary of his reign - King Henry VIII began work on a royal palace in Surrey, designed to be unequalled as a celebration of the power and the grandeur of the Tudor dynasty: Nonsuch Palace.

Henry spared no expense on the estate, spending nine years and £7.4 million in today’s money on its construction. But less than 150 years later, the palace had been demolished by a mistress of King Charles II to pay off her debts.

It wasn’t until the summer of 1959 that Nonsuch Palace was excavated, by a team led by Professor Martin Biddle CBE. He joins Professor Suzannah Lipscomb in this episode of Not Just the Tudors, to talk about what they discovered about one of the great wonders of the Early Modern world.

This episode was edited by Thomas Ntinas and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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We have long been taught that modern global history began when the 'Old World' encountered the 'New', when Christopher Columbus 'discovered' America in 1492. But, in a groundbreaking new book, Dr. Caroline Dodds Pennock conclusively shows that for tens of thousands of Aztecs, Maya, Totonacs, Inuit and others - enslaved people, diplomats, explorers, servants, traders - the reverse was true: they discovered Europe. 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr. Dodds Pennock about a story of abduction, loss, cultural appropriation, and, as indigenous peoples saw it, of apocalypse. 

This episode was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg. 

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The Three Musketeers paints a picture of King Louis XIII of France as a rather weak monarch controlled by his powerful chief minister Cardinal Richelieu. Louis’ reign is generally thought of as being the beginning of the “age of absolutism” when ministers like Richelieu were in the ascendancy and the power of the court and courtiers declined. But was this really the case?

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr. Marc Jaffré, who believes it’s time to revise the conventional view of this significant period in French history.

This episode was edited by Thomas Ntinas and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Many of us are seeing in a new year, but of course there are, even today, several different ways of marking dates and years in various parts of the world. The most popular calendar, though, is the Gregorian, introduced in October 1852 by Pope Gregory XIII.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Dr. Christina Faraday to find out how and why the Gregorian calendar was introduced, the impact it had on people’s lives, and the serious debate and, in some countries, centuries long resistance to its use.

This episode was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg. 

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This week we're sharing again a fascinating podcast first released at this time last Christmas.

For the Tudors, Christmas Day was not traditionally the date when gifts were given. The Twelve Days of Christmas begin on 25 December and end at Epiphany, 6 January - also known as Twelfth Night. In Tudor times, all 12 were feast days, but 1 January was the day when presents were unwrapped.

In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb delves into how Christmas and New Year were marked by the Tudors and Stuarts, and what kind of gifts they gave, with Dr. Felicity Heal, author of The Power of Gifts: Gift Exchange in Early Modern England.

This episode was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg. 

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Professor Suzannah Lipscomb presents her annual review of the year, recommending the finest history books she has discovered, the best television shows she’s watched, and the biggest historical discoveries that have changed the way we understand - or which shed new light upon - the Tudors, but not just the Tudors. And to round things up, she offers her pick of some of the exciting things to come in 2023.

The researcher was Esther Arnott. This episode was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg. 

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If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download, go to Android > or Apple store >

A Tudor Christmas would have probably featured as much singing as we have today, if not more, and surprisingly many of the carols would have been the same: In Dulci Jubilo, The Coventry Carol, Gabriel’s message were among the yuletide hits that would have resounded through Tudor era churches.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out more from Lisa Colton, Professor of Musicology and Head of the Department of Music at the University of Liverpool.

Music credits: 

Pastime with Good Company performed by Jay Britton

Coventry Carol

There Is No Rose of Such Virtue performed by Guildford Cathedral Choir

This Is The Record of John performed by Guildford Cathedral Choir

Marvel Not, Joseph performed by University of Surrey Chamber Choir

This episode was edited by Aidan Lonergan and Joseph Knight, and produced by Elena Guthrie & Rob Weinberg. 

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