Not Just the Tudors

Why do we call the Great Fire of London in 1666 “great”? Was it because of the significant challenge it posed to authorities and residents as they sought to bring it under control? Was it because of …

King Henry VII and his Tudor heirs knew very little about Ireland, over which they ruled in name at least. During the 118 years of Tudor rule, not one of its monarchs ever set foot in the Emerald Isl…

In the 16th Century, rude jokes and scatological humour were just as much a feature of life as they are today. Between 1529 and 1539, a Swiss linen trader called Johannes Rütiner included many jokes …

History has painted Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn in two very different hues: one wife, one mistress; one Spanish, one French; one committed Catholic, one radical reformer. But a new exhibition…

Following the Second Granada War (1568-70), thousands of Moriscos in Spain were exiled, imprisoned or enslaved. Moriscos were former Muslims who had been compelled to convert to Roman Catholicism. Bu…

In March 1582, a number of women from the small Essex village of St Osyth, were hanged for the crime of witchcraft. Several others, including one man, died in prison, in what was a shocking and highl…

Louis XIV ruled France for more than 72 years, the longest recorded reign of any monarch of any sovereign country in history. Despite the devotion of his wife Maria Theresa of Spain, Louis took a ser…

What could be more topical this week than looking back at the coronations of the first two Kings Charles. Charles I’s reign is best remembered for the events of the English Civil War, a conflict over…

On a cold February morning in 1554, Lady Jane Grey was beheaded for high treason. Named by King Edward VI as his successor, Queen Jane had reigned for just 13 tumultuous days before being imprisoned …

When Thomas Roe arrived in India in 1616 as James I's first ambassador to the Mughal Empire, the English barely had a toehold in the subcontinent. Roe was representing a kingdom that was beset by fin…

In the 16th century, “strangers” was the name used in England for people who were born in territories not controlled by the Tudor monarchy. Thinking about Henry VIII’s armed forces, we might not expe…

Hardwick Hall is a triumph of Elizabethan architecture. Built in the late sixteenth century, its halls, corridors and staircases embody the magnificence of the Renaissance period in England. But they…

John Donne was a scholar of law, a sea adventurer, an MP, a priest, the Dean of St Paul's Cathedral - and perhaps the greatest love poet in the history of the English language. He converted from Cath…

When Sir Walter Raleigh set out to South America to find the legendary city of El Dorado, he paved the way for a series of adventurers who would struggle against the harsh reality of South America’s …

Catherine Howard was Queen Consort - and fifth wife - to Henry VIII for just 16 months before he had her executed for treason for committing adultery. Since Victorian times, historians have labelled …

What do you get when you bring together five top historians to debate Mary, Queen of Scots on film? History with the gloves off - our second special episode of Not Just the Tudors Lates! This time, P…

In the early 17th century, an aged veteran of Spain's wars against the Ottoman Empire published a book. It was the story of a poor nobleman who deludes himself that he is a knight errant and sets off…

In one week in London in September, 1665, no fewer than 47 different causes of death were reported, including consumption, fever, dropsy, being frightened, grief, worms, vomiting, and plague. We know…

During a time of increasing religious and political conflict, Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s paintings portrayed work and pleasure, rituals and festivals of peasant life, and biblical scenes - all in sta…

In the 17th Century, people experienced major social and economic problems that intertwined with religious disagreements and political debates. The turbulence led to civil war, the execution of King …