The History of England

The Great Armada was do to sail in 1587; but Elizabeth had other ideas. By in May 1588 the Duke of Medina Sidonia led his fleet of 130 ships down the Tagus towards the open sea - and the Enterprise of...

11 Apr 202138min

From a desk in a small suite of rooms in El Escorial Philip II ran a vast colonial empire. With France torn by civil war, war against the Dutch improving, thoughts turned to the Enterprise of England ...

4 Apr 202142min

By the mid 1580's Mary was at her wits' end - feeling betrayed by her son, 18 years of incarceration, beset by a unsympathetic jailer. She would listen to anything to escape - and then came Gilbert Gi...

28 Mars 202144min

In a time of existential and moral threat, the English state developed a network of informants and spies at home and abroad. While Catholics tried to steer a path through the demands for loyalty from ...

7 Mars 202133min

By the 1580s, the confessional lines between Protestant and Catholic were increasingly strongly drawn; repressive legislation increased, and the English College was established to renew the stock of p...

28 Feb 202144min

Elizabeth set her face against further reform, against pressures from within the church and without; in her view, hers was a Godly church. How far did her church resist Puritanism and embed itself in ...

21 Feb 202133min

A host of Elizabeth explorers explored the world in the late Elizabethan reign. Did they achieve anything, or were there efforts a false start? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informa...

7 Feb 202136min

For a couple of years in the mid 1570s Elizabeth nixed proposed exploration projects for fear of Spain. At the same time she was discussing a secret voyage with a select group of Councillors - not wes...

17 Jan 202144min