Not Just the Tudors

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 Ch...

29 Des 202251min

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 discov...

22 Des 202257min

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...

19 Des 202259min

In English cities of the 17th century, there was plenty to offend the eyes, ears, nose, taste buds, and skin of inhabitants. Residents were scarred by smallpox, refuse rotted in the streets, pigs and ...

15 Des 202250min

England was the only European country that completely banned translating the Bible. The dissident Lollards had produced one after the death of their hero, the radical 14th-century theologian John Wycl...

12 Des 202242min

Mary, Queen of Scots wore red at her execution as a symbol of Catholic martyrdom. It was the climax of a life throughout which Mary used textiles to advance her political agenda, affirm her royal line...

8 Des 202245min

Making babies was a mysterious process for people in early modern England. Their ideas about conception, pregnancy and childbirth tell us much about their attitudes towards gender and power at that ti...

5 Des 202245min

Christiaan Huygens was the greatest scientist working in the vital period between Galileo and Newton, as the scientific revolution gathered pace. He discovered Saturn’s ring, invented the accurate pen...

1 Des 202237min