Who Painted Anne Dudley? A Tudor Mystery
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 th...
20 Mars 202335min
Menstruation in Early Modern England
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 Moder...
16 Mars 202335min
Anne Boleyn’s Final Year
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 Bol...
13 Mars 20231h 2min
The Myth of 'Western Civilisation'
'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 -...
9 Mars 202347min
Katherine of Aragon: England's First Renaissance Queen
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 ...
6 Mars 202334min
Jews & the Inquisition in Italy
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...
2 Mars 202336min
The Death of Amy Dudley
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...
27 Feb 202340min
The Blood Countess: Elizabeth Bathory
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 sensationalise...
23 Feb 202330min
