Katherine Howard's Deadly Affairs
Was Henry VIII's fifth wife a promiscuous teenager and then heartless adulteress and schemer? Celebrated, scrutinised, and endlessly talked about at court, Katherine Howard’s reign was dazzlingly brie...
12 Feb 55min
Charles II: Restoration of the Monarchy
From clinging to a tree while evading capture, his face blackened with soot, to triumphantly sailing home to reclaim his crown — the story of Charles II is one of survival, spectacle, and transformati...
9 Feb 56min
Why Cromwell's Republic Failed
After the execution of King Charles I, England became a Republic for the only time in its history. Yet why was this revolutionary moment so short-lived? Why did Oliver Cromwell’s Commonwealth collap...
5 Feb 1h 10min
"Bloody Mary": Debunking the Myths
Was Mary Tudor truly “Bloody Mary”? Has England’s first reigning queen been misunderstood for centuries? Determined to restore Roman Catholicism, her reign became forever associated with the burning o...
2 Feb 52min
Ireland Under the Brutal Tudors
What impact did the Tudors have on Ireland, not just in the councils of kings and earls, but in the rhythms of ordinary life? What were the consequences for ordinary citizens when English power was as...
29 Jan 46min
Elizabeth I's Doctor - & Poisoner?
Why was a Portuguese-born Jewish doctor, who rose to become Elizabeth I’s chief physician, brutally executed for treason in a scandal that shocked England? Was Dr. Rodrigo Lopes truly guilty, or simpl...
26 Jan 48min
Girl With a Pearl Earring: Identity Revealed
Could one of art’s greatest mysteries at last be solved? Who was the luminous girl with a pearl earring in Vermeer's iconic painting? Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Andrew Graham-Dixon who...
22 Jan 39min
Henry VIII's Reckoning: Pilgrimage of Grace
The Pilgrimage of Grace sounds calm, but was in reality a major uprising in the north of England against Henry VIII’s religious and political reforms, including the dissolution of monasteries.Professo...
19 Jan 47min
