

Pax Britannica: A History of the British Empire
Samuel Hume
Pax Britannica is a narrative history podcast covering the empire upon which the sun never set. Shortlisted for the 2023 Independent Podcast Awards, Pax Britannica follows the events which created an empire that dominated the globe. Hosted by Dr Samuel Hume, a historian of British Imperial history, Pax Britannica aims to explain the rise and eventual fall of the largest empire in history. After all, how peaceful was the 'British Peace'?
Episodes
Mentioned books

Dec 8, 2019 • 25min
01.33 - Constitutional Crisis
Parliament is back, and they are not happy. The Petition of Right isn't worth the paper its written on, and King Charles had flagrantly disregarded the spirit of it. He was displaying worrying tendencies - promoting Arminians and crypto-Catholics, and violating the fundamental rights of his subjects to raise money. The death of the Duke of Buckingham, rather than marking a sea change in unpopular government policy, instead cements it.Check out the podcast website: https://www.paxbritannica.infoFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodBritannica/Twitter: https://twitter.com/BritannicaPaxIn this episode I made particular use of the following publications:
The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume I: The Origins of Empire.
David Smith, The Stuart Parliaments, 1603-1689
Kishlasnky, M, A Monarchy Transformed: 1603-1714
The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Historical Collections of Private Passages of State: Volume 1, 1618-29.
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Nov 17, 2019 • 24min
Bonus - The Industrial Revolutions
Dave Broker from the Industrial Revolutions podcast presents this guest episode on the engine, pun intended, of Britain's imperial might.Listen to the show here: https://industrialrevolutionspod.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nov 10, 2019 • 32min
01.32 - The Martyr Assassin
John Felton, the man who rammed a dagger into the heart of the second most powerful individual in the British Isles, claimed he did so out of patriotism and piety. That's probably the truth, but it wasn't the whole truth. Felton had serious personal grievances with the Duke of Buckingham, and had spent months trying to get his justice.We also look at the early years of the future Archbishop of Canterbury, William Laud, and his brushes with the Puritans and with Arminianism. He will play a central role in future Caroline religious policy and the outbreak of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.Check out the podcast website: https://www.paxbritannica.infoFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodBritannica/Twitter: https://twitter.com/BritannicaPaxIn this episode I made particular use of the following publications:
The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume I: The Origins of Empire.
David Smith, The Stuart Parliaments, 1603-1689
Kishlasnky, M, A Monarchy Transformed: 1603-1714
The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
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Nov 3, 2019 • 40min
01.31 - The Duke of Hazard
Charles, yet again, calls a parliament in search of taxation, but the Commons are willing to negotiate. In return for an acknowledgement that Charles had acted illegally, they will grant him subsidies. The ever-present thorn that is the Duke of Buckingham hasn't gone away, and the king still protects him from political attack. But impeachment isn't the only way to remove an evil counsellor...Check out the podcast website: https://www.paxbritannica.infoFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodBritannica/Twitter: https://twitter.com/BritannicaPaxIn this episode I made particular use of the following publications:
The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume I: The Origins of Empire.
David Smith, The Stuart Parliaments, 1603-1689
Kishlasnky, M, A Monarchy Transformed: 1603-1714
The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
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Oct 27, 2019 • 25min
01.30 - The Siege of Saint-Martin
With Buckingham protected from impeachment, but at the cost of taxation, Charles finds another way to raise the money needed to prosecute a war. Buckingham, eager to prove himself, leads a new expedition in person; to try and save the Huguenots that his ships had attacked. The Siege of Saint-Martin was the lynchpin, not only of Buckingham's recovered reputation, but of Charles' money troubles, Stuart foreign policy, and the course of the Thirty Years War.No prizes for guessing how it will go.Check out the podcast website: https://www.paxbritannica.infoFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodBritannica/Twitter: https://twitter.com/BritannicaPaxIn this episode I made particular use of the following publications:
The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume I: The Origins of Empire.
David Smith, The Stuart Parliaments, 1603-1689
Kishlasnky, M, A Monarchy Transformed: 1603-1714
The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
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Oct 20, 2019 • 56min
Bonus - The English Revolution with Mike Duncan
At Sound Education I met up with Mike Duncan, creator of The History of Rome and Revolutions, and the author of the New York Times best selling Storm Before the Storm. We chatted about the state of podcasting, the differences between writing for the spoken and written word, the impact that the British Civil Wars had on future revolutions, and the most annoying revolutionary monarchs, among many other things.If you haven't yet listened to Revolutions, find it here: https://www.revolutionspodcast.com/Check out Sound Education: soundeducation.fmCheck out the podcast website: https://www.paxbritannica.infoFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodBritannica/Twitter: https://twitter.com/BritannicaPax Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oct 17, 2019 • 22min
Bonus - Sound Education Experience
This is just a short catch up episode to share what I experienced at Sound Education 2019. I met so many great podcasters, many that I've listened to for years and many more that are now in my queue.www.SoundEducation.fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oct 14, 2019 • 50min
Bonus - The Origins of Halloween
As I'm away at Sound Education, this is a reupload of an old History of Witchcraft episode on the origins and development of Halloween.Today we cover the development of Halloween - its development from a Celtic harvest festival, which may or may not have involved the ritual slaughter of infant children, and its merger with the Christian holy days of All Saints and All Souls, emerging from the melting pot of American society as something new and old, traditional and commercial.Many thanks to Joe from the 80 Days - An Exploration Podcast for lending his voice to today's intro quote. Find his fantastic show on Facebook, Twitter, and 80dayspodcast.com Today's show primarily relies on the following works:Rogers, Nicholas, Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night, 2002Santino, Jack (ed.) Halloween and Other Festivals of Death and Life, 1994 For a full bibliography, please see the website: Check out the podcast website: https://www.paxbritannica.infoFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodBritannica/Twitter: https://twitter.com/BritannicaPaxThe Recorded History Podcast Network: https://recordedhistory.net/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sep 29, 2019 • 33min
01.29 - Impeachment!
After the disastrous Cadiz expedition, Charles calls another parliament. The small amount of taxation granted the previous year had been spent before it was even collected, and with the failure of Wimbledon the Stuart forces were in dire need of reinforcement and resupply. The only way was taxation, but parliament wanted something in return. They wanted the Duke of Buckingham's head on a platter.Check out Sound Education: soundeducation.fmCheck out the podcast website: https://www.paxbritannica.infoFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodBritannica/Twitter: https://twitter.com/BritannicaPaxIn this episode I made particular use of the following publications:- The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume I: The Origins of Empire.- David Smith, The Stuart Parliaments, 1603-1689- Kishlasnky, M, A Monarchy Transformed: 1603-1714- Historical Collections of Private Passages of State: Volume 1, 1618-29. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sep 22, 2019 • 32min
01.28 - The Useless Parliament
Charles, fresh from his wedding, summons his first parliament. The previous year the House of Commons had been eager for war with Spain, and happy to pay for it. Surely they would be now? What grievances could they possibly have after just a few months of his reign?In other news, the Anglo-Dutch expedition to Spain gets monumentally hammered.Check out the podcast website: https://www.paxbritannica.infoFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodBritannica/Twitter: https://twitter.com/BritannicaPaxIn this episode I made particular use of the following publications:- The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume I: The Origins of Empire.- David Smith, The Stuart Parliaments, 1603-1689- Kishlasnky, M, A Monarchy Transformed: 1603-1714 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices