The Day the Rebels Walked Into the Tower of London | Peasants' Revolt Part 3
In two weeks in June 1381, English peasants drove a Chief Justice out of Essex, took Rochester Castle, walked into Canterbury Cathedral, camped outside London, burned the richest palace in the country...
23 Sep 20min
Where Did All the Women Go? The Tax That Started the Peasants' Revolt | Part 2
In 1377, England counted about 1,355,000 adults for a new poll tax. In 1381 it counted again and found about 896,000. There was no great plague, no famine and no invasion. So where did a third of the ...
22 Sep 24min
How Rain, Dead Cows and the Black Death Started the Peasants' Revolt
In June 1381, rebels broke into John of Gaunt's Savoy Palace, the wealthiest house in England. They smashed the gold plate, crushed the jewels with hammers and threw the silver in the Thames. Accordin...
21 Sep 25min
What the Tudors Did When They Couldn't Control Anything
Every year in Tudor England, the weather warmed up and people wondered if this would be a plague year. On top of plague there was the sweating sickness, which could kill you between dinner and supper,...
18 Sep 28min
The Monks Henry VIII Left Behind, Told in 200 Sonnets
What happens to your whole world when the king decides your faith is wrong? Richard Smith's new book, Beyond Where Words Can Go, follows two young Benedictine monks, a lord's youngest son and a foundl...
16 Sep 46min
They Tried to Demolish Hampton Court. Then the Queen Died.
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14 Sep 11min
Where Were You on 9/11? Walsingham in Paris, 1572
Twenty-five years ago today, I was at my desk in Soho, emailing my friends about Thanksgiving plans, when one of them told me to open Yahoo because something big was happening in New York. For the ann...
11 Sep 11min
Henry VIII Lost at Cards to Anne Boleyn. It's in His Own Accounts.
In 1540, a printer in Venice published a beautiful, enormous book that let you tell your fortune with a deck of cards. The same year Henry VIII married Anne of Cleves, annulled it, and married Catheri...
11 Sep 35min
