Not Just the Tudors

When it comes to Shakespeare's biography and his inner life, there's a certain lack of evidence. But what if Shakespeare actually signposted us to an event that radically metamorphosed his world? Wha…

What encouraged a young man who had spent most of his formative years being raised by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, to bite the hand that feeds him and become one of the Empire's greatest enemies? Wh…

Most of our knowledge of witchcraft accusations and executions comes from the proceedings of high profile and significant trials. Professor Marion Gibson’s new book traces the history of witchcraft t…

Did women really do nothing to shape England’s culture and traditions through centuries of turmoil, plague, famine and religious reform? In her new non-fiction book, best-selling author Philippa Greg…

In the same way that Shakespeare’s women characters were performed by boys in female costume, African, Middle Eastern, Hispanic and Jewish roles in his plays were taken by white men, deploying a seri…

Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, is often vilified as one of the Tudor century's most unpleasant characters. His was a family marked by treason, beheadings and incarceration - a dynasty whose prid…

Henry VIII's sixth wife Kateryn Parr was a scholar and a writer in her own right. She was one of the first English women to have works published under her own name, creating a new role as both queen …

What did the Tudor age understand about digestion? How did this affect what foods people prepared and ate? Was there such a thing as healthy eating? How did they manage seasonal food changes and seas…

In some portraits of Henry VIII there appears another, striking figure. This is Will Somer, the king’s fool, a celebrated wit who could raise Henry’s spirits and spent many hours alone with him. But …

In an age when literature was dominated by men, Margaret Cavendish wrote passionately about gender, science and philosophy. She published under her own name, and advocated for women in work. Her 1666…

One of Early Modern Europe’s most powerful families, the Hapsburgs shared a physical trait so distinctive that it came to be regarded as a badge of honour - the large, jutting jaw that was a result o…

At 31, Michelangelo was considered the finest artist in Italy, perhaps the world. Long before he died at almost 90, he was widely believed to be the greatest sculptor or painter who had ever lived. F…

The Safawid Dynasty, which ruled Iran from 1501 to 1736, marked the beginning of modern Iranian history. At its height, it controlled all of what is now Iran, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Armenia, eastern Ge…

On the morning of 12 October 1654, in the Dutch city of Delft, a sudden explosion was followed by a thunderclap that could be heard more than 70 miles away. Carel Fabritius - now known across the wor…

Henry VIII was described as the 'best dressed sovereign in the world' by the Venetian ambassador Sebastian Giustinian. The Tudor King spent the equivalent of £2 million a year on clothes.

In this epi…

Contrary to the idea that the early modern stage was male-dominated, girls actually played an active part in religious dramas, civic pageants, Elizabethan country house entertainments, and Stuart cou…

In 1671, an Anglo-Irish officer, the self-styled Colonel Blood attempted to steal the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London. The thwarted crime brought him face-to-face with King Charles II. This inc…

Did King James VI of Scotland plot to assassinate Elizabeth I? Did she name him as her successor? For centuries, dozens of pasted-over passages in the original manuscript of William Camden’s Annals h…

Best known for St. Paul’s Cathedral, Christopher Wren was the greatest architect Britain has ever known. But he was so much more: he applied his mind to astronomy, meteorology and anatomy. How did he…

Books belonging to Henry VIII, Richard III, Mary I and Edward VI are among the treasures in the historic library of the Archbishops of Canterbury, one of the oldest public libraries in England. 

In th…