Not Just the Tudors

Facing persecution in Elizabethan England, some Catholics chose exile over conformity. Some even cast their lot with foreign monarchs rather than wait for their own rulers to have a change of heart. These so-called “Spanish Elizabethans,” used the most powerful tools at their disposal — paper, pens, and printing presses — to incite war against England, from the years leading up to the Grand Armada until Philip II of Spain's death in 1598.In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Professor Freddy Cristóbal Domínguez  whose groundbreaking research is making an important contribution to the study of religious exile in early modern Europe.Keep up to date with everything early modern, from Henry VIII to the Sistine Chapel with our Tudor Tuesday newsletter >If you would like to learn more about history, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit >To download, go to Android > or Apple store > Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There are so many myths about Anne Boleyn - among them that she had six fingers, that she was a murderess, even that she was Henry VIII's own daughter. In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, released on 19 May to mark the anniversary of the day of Anne Boleyn's execution in 1536, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb sets out to bust some myths with Natalie Grueninger, founder and editor of the On the Tudor Trail website and author of In the Footsteps of Anne Boleyn.Keep up to date with everything early modern, from Henry VIII to the Sistine Chapel with our Tudor Tuesday newsletter >If you would like to learn more about history, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit >To download, go to Android > or Apple store > Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Civil War was the most traumatic conflict in British history, pitting friends and family members against each other, tearing down the old order.Award-winning historian Jessie Childs plunges the reader into the shock of the struggle through one of its most dramatic episodes: the siege of Basing House. To the parliamentarian Roundheads, the Hampshire mansion was a bastion of royalism, popery and excess. Its owner was both a Catholic and staunch supporter of Charles I. His motto Love Loyalty was etched into the windows. He refused all terms of surrender.As royalist strongholds crumbled, Loyalty House, as it became known, stood firm. Over two years, the men, women and children inside were battered, bombarded, starved and gassed. Their resistance became legendary. Inigo Jones designed the fortifications and the women hurled bricks from the roof. But in October 1645, Oliver Cromwell rolled in the heavy guns and the defenders prepared for a last stand.Drawing on exciting new sources, Childs uncovers the face of the war through a cast of unforgettable characters: the fanatical Puritan preacher who returns from Salem to take on the king; the plant-hunting apothecary who learns to kill as well as heal; the London merchant and colonist who clashes with Basing's aristocratic lord; and Cromwell himself who feels the hand of God on his sword. And we hear too the voices of dozens of ordinary men and women caught in the crossfire.The Siege of Loyalty House is a thrilling tale of war and peace, terror and faith, friendship and betrayal - and of a world turned upside down.Keep up to date with everything early modern, from Henry VIII to the Sistine Chapel with our Tudor Tuesday newsletter >If you would like to learn more about history, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit >To download, go to Android > or Apple store > Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

415 years ago this month, 104 English men and boys landed in North America and established a settlement they called Jamestown in Virginia. Over the course of the 17th Century, a third of a million people left England for the "New World". But in Virginia, it all started from very small beginnings and there was every chance that this venture - like every previous attempt to settle in America would fail. In fact it almost did.  To learn about the first few years of Jamestown - which includes the true story of Matoaka (better known as Pocahontas) and her marriage to the tobacco cultivator John Rolfe - Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr. Misha Ewen, author of the forthcoming book, The Virginia Venture: American Colonization and English Society, 1580-1660. Keep up to date with everything early modern, from Henry VIII to the Sistine Chapel with our Tudor Tuesday newsletter >If you would like to learn more about history, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit >To download, go to Android > or Apple store > Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To mark Mental Health Awareness Week, Not Just the Tudors casts a 21st century eye over "one of the most perplexing, elusive, attractive, and afflicting diseases of the Renaissance" - melancholy - and how it was addressed in "largest, strangest and most unwieldy self-help book ever written": Robert Burton's The Anatomy of Melancholy of 1621. So what did people in the 17th century think were the causes, symptoms and cures for melancholy? In this episode, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr Mary Ann Lund - author of A User's Guide to Melancholy, an accessible guide to Burton's work that reveals the Stuart era's approach to mental health. Keep up to date with everything early modern, from Henry VIII to the Sistine Chapel with our Tudor Tuesday newsletter >If you would like to learn more about history, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit >To download, go to Android > or Apple store > Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There’s not an infinite number of ways that humans can act on sexual desire. Human bodies haven’t changed, but the cultural landscape around sex has. What people believed about it, the morality surrounding it, and the paraphernalia concerning it have all changed a lot. Sex has a history, and History Hit has launched a new podcast to explore it called Betwixt the Sheets.In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr. Kate Lister, host of Betwixt the Sheets, to discuss sex, desire, witches, impotence, condoms and syphilis in the 16th and 17th centuries.This episode contains sexually explicit content.Keep up to date with everything early modern, from Henry VIII to the Sistine Chapel with our Tudor Tuesday newsletterIf you would like to learn more about history, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History HitTo download, go to Android or Apple store Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sir Walter Raleigh remains one of the enduring names from the Elizabethan era. He was a true Renaissance man - a statesman, soldier, writer, explorer and a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I. In 1594, Raleigh heard about the legendary golden city of El Dorado and the following year, explored what is now Guyana and eastern Venezuela in search of it. In his account of the expedition The Discovery of Guiana, Raleigh made exaggerated claims as to what had been discovered, contributing to the enduring El Dorado legend, and his own celebrity. In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to writer and historian Mathew Lyons about Raleigh, his dream of finding El Dorado, and the epic scale of his failure.Keep up to date with everything early modern, from Henry VIII to the Sistine Chapel with our Tudor Tuesday newsletter >If you would like to learn more about history, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit >To download, go to Android > or Apple store > Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Ottoman Sultan Suleyman I - known as "Suleyman the Magnificent" in the West - was the most feared and powerful man of the sixteenth century. His journey to power was built on brutal choices and intimate relationships - with the Greek slave who became his closest friend, the Venetian plutocrat who sold him gems and won him allies and the Russian consort who stole his heart. Within a decade, Suleyman reached the walls of Vienna, while his pirate admiral Barbarossa dominated the Mediterranean. In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to award-winning author Christopher de Bellaigue, about his acclaimed new book The Lion House which recounts the first third of Suleyman's reign, a remarkable rise to power which led to his domination of the Middle East, large swathes of north Africa and the Mediterranean.Keep up to date with everything early modern, from Henry VIII to the Sistine Chapel with our Tudor Tuesday newsletter > If you would like to learn more about history, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit >To download, go to Android > or Apple store > Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Many of the private and public dramas in the life of Henry VIII took place at Hampton Court Palace. Begun in 1514 for Cardinal Wolsey, Hampton Court became one of Henry VIII's favourite residences. Set in 60 acres of magnificent gardens, much of the Tudor building was destroyed during King William III's massive rebuilding and expansion work, as he sought to create a residence to rival the Palace of Versailles.In this explainer episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb takes a walk around Hampton Court to take in the sights and tell the story of this spectacular, historic building.Keep up to date with everything early modern, from Henry VIII to the Sistine Chapel with our Tudor Tuesday newsletter >  If you would like to learn more about history, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit >To download, go to Android > or Apple store > Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1667 - 355 years ago this month - a young London publisher called Samuel Simmons printed a very important book - John Milton's Paradise Lost. Milton had come to the fore in radical politics and, for a time, was considered an enemy of the state. Paradise Lost was published as his dream of a Godly republic became a reality and then crumbled, and as he himself turned blind and experienced the death of his wife and son.In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Professor Thomas Corns about the fascinating history of the writing and publishing of one of the greatest epic poems in the English language.Keep up to date with everything early modern, from Henry VIII to the Sistine Chapel with our Tudor Tuesday newsletter > If you would like to learn more about history, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit > To download, go to Android > or Apple store > Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.