Not Just the Tudors

For at least 700 years, presumed criminals were publicly executed in London. Such occasions were often gruesome, gory and very popular. A new exhibition at the Museum of London Docklands explores this grisly history - who the recipients of capital punishment were, the places where they met their end and how they died, and the crimes that were punishable by death. In this episode of Not Just t...

In 1627 Zhu Youjian, the Chongzhen Emperor, became the 17th - and what would turn out to be the last - Emperor of China’s Ming Dynasty. It had ruled a vast realm stretching 6.5 million square kilometres for 250 years. In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Professor Timothy Brook to discover more about Zhu Youjian’s remarkable life and startling death, and exp...

Already in 2022 we have celebrated England’s Lionesses winning the Women’s European Championships, and this month you may well be waiting with bated breath to see how England’s men fare in the World Cup. Such anticipation, celebration — and sometimes commiseration — are nothing new in football. In fact, the beautiful game goes back centuries. But what else is there to know about early modern footb...

During the early part of the sixteenth century England should have been ruled by King Arthur Tudor with his wife Catherine of Aragon as Queen. Had the first-born son of Henry VII lived into adulthood, his younger brother would never have become King Henry VIII and married - and divorced - Arthur’s widow, and the subsequent history of England would have been very different.  In this edition of...

On 30 January 1649, King Charles I was executed for treason. Within weeks the monarchy had been abolished and the House of Lords discarded. The people were now the sovereign force in the land. What this meant, and where it would lead, no one knew. In her new book, The Restless Republic: Britain Without a Crown , Anna Keay brings to life a fascinating cast of characters who lived through the turbul...

For many, the word Inca conjures up images of an ancient civilisation in South America, swiftly conquered by the Spanish in their quest for gold and Christian converts. In this episode of  Not Just the Tudors , Professor Suzannah Lipscomb sets out to find out the truth about the Incas with Professor R. Alan Covey. His research has revealed Inca society as wealthy, complex and cosmopolitan, an...

What was life really like in Tudor England? This was a society where monarchy was under strain, the church was in crisis, where contending with war, rebellion, plague and poverty was a fact of daily life. Yet it was also an age rich in ideas and ideals, where women asserted their agency and found a literary voice.  In this episode of Not Just the Tudors , Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to...

Queen Mary I was the daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. She reigned - as England’s first Queen Regnant - between 1553-1558. Unlike her sister and successor Elizabeth I, Mary’s posthumous reputation has largely focussed on religious persecution. But what does the written evidence from her own lifetime say about the manner in which she ruled? In today’s edition of Not Just the Tudo...

It's a little known fact that the Tudor monarchs and their councillors used - and feared - magic and the occult. At this time of great religious change and great religious faith, belief in magic was practically orthodox and certainly widespread. In today’s edition for Hallowe'en, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb delves into Tudor sorcery with Dr. Francis Young who believes it should come as no surprise...

In 1611, the daughter of a Persian nobleman and widow of a subversive official, became the 20th and favourite wife of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir. Unique and outstanding for the age in which she lived, Nur Jahan rose to become an astute politician, issuing imperial orders and appearing on coins. But she was also a talented dress designer and innovative architect whose work inspired her stepson's T...

The so-called “Prayer Book Rebellion” of 1549 saw the people of Devon and Cornwall rising up against the young King Edward VI, determined to halt the religious reforms of the Tudor period. The rebellion led to a siege of Exeter, savage battles with Crown forces, and the deaths of 4,000 local men and women.  In this episode of Not Just the Tudors , Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr. Mark...

Historians would be completely lost without the colourful, crucial insights of Eustace Chapuys, the Spanish Ambassador to Henry VIII's court from 1529 to 1545. Chapuys’ dispatches were filled with personal and insightful observations of the key players around the King.  In this edition of Not Just the Tudors , Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr Lauren Mackay, author of Inside the Tudor C...

Few cases of same-sex acts between women are known in early modern Europe. Yet in the Southern Netherlands, some 25 women were charged with “female sodomy” between c. 1400 and 1550 - and they received the same punishment as their male counterparts.  In this episode of Not Just the Tudors , Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Professor Jonas Roelens. He argues that this exceptional repre...

Historians face an enormous challenge finding documents that tell the stories of women in times past. In this episode of  Not Just the Tudors , Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Professor James Daybell. His extensive research into women’s letters reveal much about their education, literacy, political aspirations and sense of self in the Early Modern period. The Senior Producer was Elena Gu...

The Sultanate of Patani - now part of modern day Thailand - enjoyed a golden age during the reign of four successive queens, which commenced in 1584. Under their rule, the kingdom's economic and military strength greatly increased to the point that it was able to fight off four major Siamese invasions. In this episode of  Not Just the Tudors , Professor Suzannah Lipscomb discovers more about...

The raising of the Mary Rose 40 years ago - along with some 19,000 objects which sank with her - has become a great boon to Tudor historians, offering an unrivalled glimpse of life at that time. Additionally sixteenth century attempts to depict the tragedy and efforts to retrieve the ship at the time allow us access into aspects of Tudor life that we would have no other way of knowing.  In th...

Forty years ago on 11 October 1982, after 437 years under water, Henry VIII’s warship, the Mary Rose, was raised from the seabed of the Solent. But how was such a remarkable feat achieved? How did they go about conserving a Tudor warship and the many objects which were on board? And what has been learned about the people who went down with her? In the second part of Not Just the Tudors ’ mini...

Dame Hilary Mantel died on 22 September 2022 at the age of 70. Her acclaimed Wolf Hall trilogy - which brought the life of Thomas Cromwell so vividly to life - has sold more than five million copies worldwide. She won the Booker Prize twice - for Wolf Hall and its sequel, Bring Up the Bodies . In this edition of Not Just the Tudors , Professor Suzannah Lipscomb and History Hit's Dan Snow pay...

Exactly forty years ago, in a groundbreaking and spectacular piece of marine conservation that captured the imagination of the world, the Mary Rose was raised from the seabed. The warship, commissioned by Henry VIII in 1511, sank on 19 July 1545 during an encounter between French and English fleets in the Solent, between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight. Perhaps up to 500 men were on board, o...

The Royal African Company was set up in 1660 - by the ruling Stuart family and City of London merchants - to exploit gold fields up the Gambia River. But it soon developed into a brutal and sustained slave trader, shipping more enslaved Africans to the Americas than any other company. In today’s Not Just the Tudors , Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Professor William Pettigrew, whose research...

We tend to associate the word ‘dynasty’ with men. But in sixteenth century England, women played a no less important role in these influential families. Among the most powerful were the Howards, which produced two Queens - Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard - as well as numerous women who made their own significant contribution to Tudor life.   In this episode of Not Just the Tudors , Professor...

Exactly 500 years ago, a small band of sailors completed the first ever circumnavigation of the globe, launched by Ferdinand Magellan.  From the armada of five ships and some 270 men that set out, only one ship and 18 men returned. Magellan was not among them, and if he had been, he would hardly have received a hero’s welcome. In this episode of Not Just the Tudors , Professor Suzannah Lipsco...

Hardly anything has been written about the musicians who carried out many important tasks in England’s maritime ventures during the Elizabethan age. That is until now. Pioneering research has revealed that performers played a vital role, including using music to build relationships with the inhabitants of new found lands. In this episode of Not Just the Tudors , Professor Suzannah Lipscomb ta...

*WARNING: This episode contains very strong language - including the F and C words - and derogatory terms for sex workers. So if you're likely to feel offended by these, please feel free to listen to another episode of Not Just the Tudors!*` From the Ancient World to today, there have always been two kinds of swearing: testifying to the truth with your hand on the Bible or telling an annoying pers...

This week marks 600 years since the death of King Henry V, perhaps best known for his military successes during the Hundred Years War against France and in particular his victory at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. But because this is Not Just the Tudors , Professor Suzannah Lipscomb has decided to assess Henry V’s rise to power as it was depicted through the pen of William Shakespeare nearly two...