Not Just the Tudors

What if becoming queen was the worst thing that could happen to you? What if the crown became your death sentence? Professor Suzannah Lipscomb explores the tragic story of Lady Jane Grey, the brilliant, devout teenager, who was proclaimed queen of England against her will, reigned for less than two weeks, and was executed before her 17th birthday. Drawing on insights from her new two-part History...

She cut off her hair to sail the seas. She divorced her husband by locking him out of his own castle. And when her son was killed by the occupying English, she sailed straight up the Thames to plead for help from Elizabeth I. Or did she? Gráinne Ní Mháille, or Grace O'Malley, the legendary "Pirate Queen" of Ireland, was the head of a seafaring dynasty, while the Tudors tightened their grip, she co...

Why were Shakespeare’s greatest heroines played by teenage boys? How did they learn their craft? On the Elizabethan stage, highly trained young men progressed from minor parts to play some of the Bard's most famous heroines, including Juliet and Cleopatra. Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Professor Roberta Barker to uncover how these cross-dressing apprentices brought some of the Renaissan...

What happens when a fleeing armada meets an unforgiving coast? Shipwreck, slaughter and survival collide as Professor Suzannah Lipscomb and Michael B. Barry uncover the untold Irish chapter of the Spanish Armada. From shattered galleons and mass executions to lost princes and lingering myths on wild Atlantic shores, this is a storm‑lashed saga where the real battle begins after the guns fall silen...

Assassination plots, Venetian stand‑offs and a diplomat in disguise: how did one maverick change the course of history? Professor Suzannah Lipscomb and Professor Carol Chillington Rutter uncovers the spy‑thriller life of Henry Wotton, the “honest man sent to lie abroad” for his country. From foiling an attempt on King James VI’s life to pulling Europe back from the brink of war during a showdown b...

Was Captain William Kidd a ruthless pirate or a pawn in a royal gamble gone wrong? Professor Suzannah Lipscomb and Debbie Kilroy trace his meteoric rise from privateer to pariah, backed by a secret syndicate of powerful men, including the king. Mutiny, murder, and betrayal follow as power and politics turn Kidd’s royal commission into one of history’s most dramatic downfalls. MORE: Women Pirates o...

Who had a stronger claim to the English throne than Henry VII? When Henry Tudor took the crown on the battlefield at Bosworth, his hereditary claim was fragile. Eighteen Plantagenet descendants had a more legitimate right to rule, while pretenders Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck kept the Tudor court under constant threat. Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Gone Medieval host Matt Lewis to...

Was there really a 17th century Italian woman who helped hundreds of wives murder their husbands, or is her story a myth born of fear and gossip? Professor Suzannah Lipscomb investigates the legend of Giulia Tofana, the so-called criminal mastermind behind a secret poison network. With historical novelist Cathryn Kemp, she uncovers the blurred line between truth and terror, reveals how the Pope hu...

Who wanted Elizabeth I dead, and how close did they come to removing her? Who were the conspirators and rebels who plotted to put Mary, Queen of Scots on the throne? Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Professor Jonathan McGovern to unravel the Northern Rebellion, the Ridolfi and Throckmorton conspiracies, the chilling Babington Plot, and the shadowy intrigues of spies, traitors, and foreign...

Warning: This episode contains references to sexual abuse What became of the women whose worlds collapsed when the Spanish arrived in Mesoamerica? Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Mexican author Sofia Robleda to uncover the lives of the women who navigated conquest, faith, and colonial law with resilience and strategy. MORE: The Caribbean, Colonisers & Christianity Listen on Apple Listen o...

Who would rule Britain after the childless Queen Anne died in 1714? Why was a distant German Protestant dynasty chosen over closer claimants to the throne? In the final part of our series on the Restoration monarchs, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Dr. Brent Sirota, to explore what the Hanoverian succession settled and what it left unresolved, defining modern Britain beyond just the crown...

Was Henry Tudor a tyrant obsessed with control, or a visionary who created peace and prosperity? How did a penniless exile with a tenuous claim to the crown found a dynasty that reshaped the nation? How did he fight off pretenders to the throne? Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Dr. Sean Cunningham to explore how Henry VII, from unlikely beginnings, stabilized a kingdom torn apart by decade...

Has history been unfair to Queen Anne, the last Stuart monarch? Was she weak and easily led, or one of Britain’s most determined and underestimated monarchs? In this episode of our Restoration series, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb and Queen Anne's biographer Lady Anne Somerset examine a queen whose reputation has long been shaped by caricature. MORE: Sister Queens: Mary II and Anne Listen on Apple L...

In the mist‑shrouded Highlands, a quiet minister dared to trespass into forbidden realms. Convinced that fairies were not mere fables but a hidden nation with laws and lives of their own, Robert Kirk set out to reveal their secrets, and paid a terrible price. When Kirk died suddenly in 1692, locals whispered he had not died at all, but been taken alive into the Fairy Commonwealth for his betrayal....

What does it take to rule as an equal in a man's world? How did a quiet, devout queen help reshape Britain’s monarchy forever? All this month, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is exploring the Restoration monarchs. In this episode, she focuses on Queen Mary II, England’s first and only joint sovereign, who ruled alongside her husband William of Orange. Far from being a passive partner, Mary was politic...

This episode contains discussions of sexual assault, violence and child abuse. Listener discretion is advised. How did the mob lynching of a notorious astrologer and occultist in June 1628 act as a grim prelude to the demise of King Charles I? Why did John Lambe - accused of witchcraft, sorcery, and moral corruption - become the target for popular anger at a monarchy seen as distant, corrupt, and...

A king with unyielding faith. A nation on the brink. A crown lost to revolution. King James II is often dismissed as the unfortunate monarch swept aside by William and Mary. But behind the Glorious Revolution lies a story of ambition, devotion, and downfall more dramatic than legend would suggest. Professor Suzannah Lipscomb joins Dr. Breeze Barrington to uncover the man behind the myth. Was James...

Was Henry VIII's fifth wife a promiscuous teenager and then heartless adulteress and schemer? Celebrated, scrutinised, and endlessly talked about at court, Katherine Howard’s reign was dazzlingly brief; within two years of marrying the king, she was accused of adultery and treason and executed. Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Gareth Russell and Dr Nicola Clark to get to know the real youn...

From clinging to a tree while evading capture, his face blackened with soot, to triumphantly sailing home to reclaim his crown — the story of Charles II is one of survival, spectacle, and transformation.  Professor Suzannah Lipscomb guides us through the Restoration, tracing life in England from the shadow of civil war to the glittering courts of Restoration London, and discovers how intrigue...

After the execution of King Charles I, England became a Republic for the only time in its history. Yet why was this revolutionary moment so short-lived? Why did Oliver Cromwell’s Commonwealth collapse? Professor Suzannah Lipscomb explores its rise and demise with a panel of expert historians: Professor Ronald Hutton, Dr. Jonathan Healey and Dr. Miranda Malins. Together they discuss what the Republ...

Was Mary Tudor truly “Bloody Mary”? Has England’s first reigning queen been misunderstood for centuries? Determined to restore Roman Catholicism, her reign became forever associated with the burning of Protestants. But was she really a religious tyrant, or a trailblazer trapped by Europe's violent politics? Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Professor Anna Whitelock to put the record straigh...

What impact did the Tudors have on Ireland, not just in the councils of kings and earls, but in the rhythms of ordinary life? What were the consequences for ordinary citizens when English power was asserted through martial law, low-level coercion and the constant threat of punishment? Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Dr David Edwards to discuss how communities were reshaped from the ground...

Why was a Portuguese-born Jewish doctor, who rose to become Elizabeth I’s chief physician, brutally executed for treason in a scandal that shocked England? Was Dr. Rodrigo Lopes truly guilty, or simply caught in the crossfire of anti-Semitism, court rivalries, and empire? Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Dr. Samia Errazouki to reexamine Lopes’s fall, tracing a web of diplomacy, espionage,...

Could one of art’s greatest mysteries at last be solved? Who was the luminous girl with a pearl earring in Vermeer's iconic painting? Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Andrew Graham-Dixon who believes he's finally identified her. MORE: Shakespeare's Male Muse: A Mystery Solved? Listen on Apple Listen on Spotify A Tudor Mystery: The Girl Who Could Be Queen Listen on Apple Listen on Spotify P...

The Pilgrimage of Grace sounds calm, but was in reality a major uprising in the north of England against Henry VIII’s religious and political reforms, including the dissolution of monasteries. Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Professor Andy Wood to retell the legend of when tens of thousands of rebels risked their lives to try to restore Catholic practices and influence government policy,...