Suzannah Lipscomb talks about everything from the Aztecs to witches, Velázquez to Shakespeare, Mughal India to the Mayflower. Not, in other words, just the Tudors, but most definitely also the Tudors.
Each episode Suzannah is joined by historians and experts to reveal incredible stories about one of the most fascinating periods in history.
For the Tudors and Elizabethans, a beard denoted masculinity while beardlessness indicated boyhood or effeminacy. How a man wore his beard - or not - said a lot about his power and position in society.
In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to theatre historia...
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 her as lewd and promiscuous, but there was an altogether more complex young woman behind the rumo...
Though she is relatively unknown outside of Mexico, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz - poet, playwright and nun - is an icon and national hero in her homeland. She even features on the 200 peso banknote.
In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr. Amy Fuller Morgan ...
A controversial figure during his lifetime, Martin Luther set in motion a revolution that split Christianity in the West and left an indelible mark on the world today.
In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to renowned Luther biographer Lyndal Roper to explore...
The relationship between Elizabeth I and Catherine de' Medici - the two most powerful Queens of their time - is one of the most intriguing and captivating stories of the 16th century.
In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr. Estelle Paranque about her new...
In this edition of Not Just The Tudors, Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr. Hannah Dawson, editor of The Penguin Book of Feminist Writing who draws on poems, novels and memoirs to show that even in Tudor times, and earlier, there was not only insight that sexism existed, but women were articulating th...
In the 16th and 17th centuries and beyond, certain sexual acts were made capital crimes in England, France and other countries. The offence of "sodomy" embraced a wide range of acts including rape, child abuse and bestiality.
In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Suzannah Lipscomb talks to D...
The Story of the Death of Anne Boleyn is a long narrative poem written by the secretary to the French ambassador in London within two weeks of the Queen's execution. It was intended as a diplomatic dispatch, relating the astonishing news - in verse - of her demise, along with that of five alleged...
Dr Tarnya Cooper is the Curatorial and Collections Director at the National Trust. For her recent book, 125 Treasures from the Collections of the National Trust, she and 60 curators showcased the most extraordinary objects that can be found in National Trust properties around the country.
In thi...
When tobacco arrived in Britain in the 1560s, it was hailed as a "holy herb", a miracle cure to improve health and a catalyst for wit and creativity. The coming of coffee - "black as hell, strong as death, sweet as love" - in the mid-17th century, led to the establishment of coffee houses where d...
Playwright and musician John Heywood was a devout Catholic humanist and biting satirist - married to Sir Thomas More's niece - who managed to survive life as a courtier through the Catholic and Protestant regimes of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I.
In this edition of Not Just the T...
On 7 June 1520, Henry VIII of England and François I of France met at the Field of Cloth of Gold. For three weeks on English soil in Northern France, the two Kings - and the 12,000 who accompanied them - feasted, jousted, and made merry. This party without parallel was a peace summit between the ...
In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Suzannah Lipscomb delves into the fascinating life and career of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (1500–1558), who ruled Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, and much of Italy and Central and South America.
Suzannah is joined by Professor Geoffrey Parker, one of ...
Louis XIV of France reigned 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 series of mistresses, a number of them "official", with whom he had numerous illegitimate childr...
Mary, Queen of Scots, returned to the news headlines when the rosary she carried to her execution in 1587, was recently stolen from Arundel Castle. It's the latest chapter in the enduring story of this highly romanticised figure.
Mary reigned over Scotland for just over 24 years between Decemb...
After a century of Civil War, changes in the way Japan was ruled from 1600 onwards meant that Europeans and Christianity made few inroads into Japanese society. Shogun Tokugawa organised Japan into a strict class system and its unique and brilliant culture flourished in isolation. Suzannah Lipsco...
The German executioner Meister Frantz Schmidt kept a fascinating journal of all the executions, torture and punishments he administered between 1573 and 1618. In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Joel Harrington to talk about Schmidt - who showed himself to be an...
In the first of two special podcasts to mark the 485th anniversary of Anne Boleyn's death, Suzanah Lipscomb explores the different perceptions of Anne and her re-creation through many afterlives. Suzannah is joined by authors Claire Ridgway and Natalie Grueninger, historian Dr. Stephanie Russo an...
Secret inscriptions have been discovered in the prayer book Anne Boleyn took to her death by Kate McCaffrey. She talks to Suzannah in this special to mark the 485th anniversary of Anne Boleyn's death, on 19 May 1536. Also, Suzannah looks at a wonderful assortment of new research on Anne. She goes...
Accounts of numerous 17th century 'she-intelligencers' have lain undiscovered in archives for centuries. And these remarkable women were much more than honey-traps set for the powerful. In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Nadine Akkerman, author of Invisible Age...
In 1589, Anne Dowriche, the wife of a Puritan minister from Devon, wrote a long and gory poem about the bloody, ongoing conflict between Catholics and Huguenots in France. Dowriche's The French Historie was one of the few sixteenth century books written entirely by a woman. She was also almost al...
The lute, with its double strings and beautiful decorative detail is a familiar feature of Renaissance paintings. In the sixteenth century, lute music was highly prized in the courts of Europe and lutenists earned handsome sums. In this episode, Suzannah talks to, and hears the playing of, leadin...
Ordered by Henry VIII and carried out by Thomas Cromwell, the dissolution of the monasteries was the greatest land re-distribution in England since the Norman Conquest. Between 1536 and 1540, 800 religious houses were dissolved leading to nothing less than the wholesale destruction of monasticism...
In the late 16th century, a group of London merchants petitioned Queen Elizabeth I to allow them to build English trade in Asia. She granted a charter in 1600 to support the English East India Company for 15 years, which King James I later turned into rights and perpetuity. In this edition of No...
