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, leading lutenist and musicologist Dr. Lynda Sayce.
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...
At a Tudor banquet, the hosts had the opportunity to show off their wealth and social status by serving their guests the most superb food, made from the most expensive ingredients and displayed in the most outrageous way. Suzannah is joined by Brigitte Webster to discover more about what the Tudo...
