Not Just the Tudors

With six wives, Henry VIII must have had something going for him, right? Was he handsome? Charming? Intelligent? Just plain powerful? In this episode, the tables are turned on Professor Suzannah Lips…

In the second episode of our special Habsburg dynasty series, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by renowned historian Professor Geoffrey Parker to uncover the extraordinary life of Charles V, Hol…

Could a long-hidden miniature painting unlock the mystery of Shakespeare’s most intimate poetry? Unearthed after 400 years in a private collection, a portrait depicts a strikingly androgynous youth—…

In the first of a special four-part series on the Habsburgs, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb traces the unlikely rise of Europe’s most enduring imperial family. Emerging from a modest Swiss noble house …

On 30 January 1649, the unthinkable happened: for the first time in history, a reigning monarch was tried and condemned by his own people. But how did a kingdom that once believed in the divine righ…

What sparks a nation to turn against its own king? Professor Suzannah Lipscomb dives into the turbulent and transformative decade that witnessed the English Civil Wars — a bloody clash that claimed …

The rich and powerful Guise family was one of the most treacherous and bloodthirsty in sixteenth-century France. They whipped up religious bigotry, overthrowing the king. They ruled Scotland for nea…

The public fascination with true crime is nothing new.  Four centuries ago, the sensational story of the death in the Tower of London of Thomas Overbury, a lawyer in the court of King James I, led to…

**WARNING: This episode contains descriptions of suicide**

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?…

Who stabbed the famed playwright? And who planned it? We're stepping out of the sun and into the shadows on Not Just the Tudors, as Professor Suzannah Lipscomb investigates Tudor True Crime; a selec…

**Contains examples of 'othering', including birth abnormalities, and the terms used to describe them historically**

Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Dr. Surekha Davies to discuss how individu…

Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Professor Jan Clarke to explore the life, legend, and legacy of Jean-Baptiste Poquelin — better known as Molière. From his audacious rejection of bourgeois ex…

What if the tale of one night could change the way we view art forever?

Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Dr. Noah Charney to explore the life and legacy of Giorgio Vasari, the man who redefine…

**Contains historical language which may cause offence**

Between the early 1600s and late 1700s, thousands of British sailors, fishermen, merchants, and coastal villagers were captured and enslaved by…

From the establishment of a formidable double monarchy to the complex dynamics of the Spanish Inquisition, Isabel of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon were quite the Renaissance team.

Professor Suzannah…

**This episode contains sexually explicit language**

In an age when powerful female rulers were few and far between, Isabel of Castile rose against the odds to become one of Europe's most formidable m…

What was the Jacobite cause, and why did it spark some of the most famous and devastating events in British history?

Professor Suzannah Lipscomb and Professor Allan McInnes dive into the Jacobite rebe…

**This episode contains discussions of miscarriage**

When a teenage Catholic princess was sent from Italy to marry James II and reunite England with Rome, public scandal and political intrigue fuelled…

Five generations of remarkable women - from Mary of Burgundy to Isabella Clara Eugenia - made an enduring impact on the Low Countries. By strategically navigating political alliances, personal losses…

The maverick herbalist who fought for medical freedom.

We love a rebel with a cause here on Not Just The Tudors, and Nicholas Culpeper was just that.

He defied the authoritarian College of Physicians i…