Not Just the Tudors

Not Just the Tudors

Professor 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. Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

Episodes

April 2, 2025 51 mins

You may think you know about the daring exploits of Columbus, the ruthless ambition of Cortés, but beyond the accepted histories lies a world of indigenous voices—stories of fierce resistance, cunning survival, and unexpected alliances. 

What really happened when cultures collided? Who fought back and who forged new paths?

Across April Professor Suzannah Lipscomb tells the untold stories and challenge the myths of the conquests ...

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The execution of six martyrs—three Catholics and three Protestants—on the same day, was unprecedented in Henry VIII's England. What led to this transformative event?


Professor Suzannah Lipscomb explores the fascinating and tumultuous period of the 1530s and 1540s under Henry VIII, examining the religious, political, and personal motivations behind the seeming contradictions of Henry VIII's reformation efforts.

Henry VIII's break ...

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March 26, 2025 40 mins

Aphra Behn was a true original. Not only was she the first woman to earn a living by writing, she was also a spy, a political propagandist and a revolutionary. Publicly she was all brash sexuality and outspoken politics, but what is known about the woman beneath? Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Dr. Janet Todd to discuss how Behn navigated the complexities of 17th-century society and crafted her public persona while chal...

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March 23, 2025 44 mins

Professor Suzannah Lipscomb steps into the electrifying world of Elizabethan theatre to unravel the dark allure of Christopher Marlowe's Dr. Faustus, a work that would forever change English drama. Together with Professor Emma Smith, she decodes the Renaissance masterpiece that dared to humanize the devil and challenge religious orthodoxy. How did Dr. Faustus become a cultural phenomenon that still echoes through history via Mary ...

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March 19, 2025 42 mins

Henry VIII's desire to divorce Catherine of Aragon changed England; it could be justified by a biblical law that prohibited a man from marrying his brother's widow, yet another passage seemed to suggest otherwise. In a surprising move, Henry called upon Italian rabbis to interpret these ancient laws.

Professor Suzannah Lipscomb delves into the turbulent world of the Tudors, where the lines between faith and politics blurred. She's j...

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March 17, 2025 53 mins

**This podcast contains graphic descriptions of murders and the punishments of those convicted**


Gruesome murders carried out by women captivated the public imagination in Early Modern Britain. Pamphlets, ballads, and woodcuts spread the stories of traitorous wives, cunning poisoners, child killers, and alleged witches. Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by historian and former police officer Dr. Blessin Adams on a journey th...

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March 12, 2025 44 mins

Exactly 400 years ago, the Dutch West India Company built Fort Amsterdam on the southern tip of Manhattan island, a beacon of power and resilience against threats from Europeans and Indigenous Americans. But how did things change when England invaded in 1664?


Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Russell Shorto, author of Taking Manhattan, to uncover the untold stories of New York City's emergence as a hub of capitalism and p...

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March 9, 2025 44 mins

In 1711, a wave of terror gripped the Islandmagee peninsula in County Antrim. First there was the haunting and supernatural murder of a local clergyman's wife. Then 18-year-old Mary Dunbar suffered violent convulsions, levitation and vomiting of pins, feathers, and buttons, sparking accusations against eight local women. After Mary’s sudden death, the trial took an unprecedented turn when one William Sellar was put on trial.


Pro...

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Passion, scandal, and power collided in the tumultuous relationship between Elizabeth I and Robert Dudley. Rumours of secret trysts between them set the court ablaze, but their love was doomed from the start.


Professor Suzannah Lipscomb and Dr. Joanne Paul unravel the complex tapestry of Dudley's life, Elizabeth's devotion and the decades of political intrigue and personal heartbreak. Then, Dr. Tracey Wedge explores how Dudley'...

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March 2, 2025 36 mins

The brief life of William Shakespeare's son Hamnet is now quite well known, thanks to Maggie O'Farrell's novel, but Hamnet also had a twin sister Judith, who outlived her brother by many decades. Now it's time for Judith to take centre stage in the highly anticipated novel The Owl Was a Baker's Daughter by Professor Grace Tiffany. 


Judith lived through a time of chaos and conflict when cavaliers clashed with roundheads and ...

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February 26, 2025 49 mins

What happens when a small island faces the might of the Ottoman Empire?


In 1565, Malta was the setting for a brutal clash between the forces of the Ottoman Empire and the defiant Knights of the Order of St.John, warrior monks led by the iron-willed Jean de Valette. This extraordinary siege pitted faith against empire, innovation against desperation, and a handful of defenders against an unstoppable superpower.


Professor Suzan...

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February 23, 2025 35 mins

Professor Suzannah Lipscomb delves into the world of Stuart-era recipe books, in which medicine, cookery and women's roles combine in fascinating ways. She discovers how these volumes were far more than just cookbooks, offering a window into how women collected and shared knowledge, and how female identity was shaped within the domestic sphere.


Suzannah's guest Dr. Kimberley Connor introduces the intriguing 1675 recipe book...

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February 19, 2025 40 mins

Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake 425 years ago this month. His crime? Radical thinking which clashed with the ideas of the Roman Catholic church. But his extraordinarily colourful life, ideas and tragic fate continue to resonate in our modern understanding of the universe and the ongoing tension between scientific inquiry and religious authority.


Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by best-selling author S.J. Parris -...

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February 16, 2025 53 mins

The German Peasants' War - which happened exactly 500 years ago - saw peasants across Germany, Switzerland and Austria rise up against oppressive lords in a bid for freedom and social reform.  This was a pivotal and cataclysmic moment in European history, as transformative as the French Revolution and as deadly as World War I. 


Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Professor Lyndal Roper, author of Summer of Fi...

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February 12, 2025 33 mins

The opulent halls of 17th and 18th-century Versailles were not just filled with dazzlingly dressed courtiers and royal intrigue. They also positively buzzed with scientific discovery and innovation, making the French royal court a crossroads of science and power. 


Professor Suzannah Lipscomb visits a fascinating exhibition at London's Science Museum which peels back the gilded layers of the famous palace to reveal its lesse...

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February 9, 2025 56 mins

How did a lowly orange seller become the most famous actress of her time and mistress of King Charles II?


In 1660, King Charles II ruled that female stage roles must be played by women, leading to the rise of the 'Covent Garden Goddesses'. As a result, Nell Gwyn - born 375 years ago this month - went from being a humble orange seller to a celebrated actress and Charles II's most enduring and famous mistress.


Professor Suzanna...

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February 5, 2025 36 mins

The famous saying "I think, therefore I am" was the cornerstone of the philosophy of Rene Descartes, who died 375 years ago this month at the age of 53. His groundbreaking ideas shaped Western thought and continue to influence our understanding of existence, knowledge and the nature of reality. Descartes' ground-breaking approach involved questioning all beliefs to determine those which are absolutely certain. Professor Suzannah ...

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February 2, 2025 46 mins

Professor Suzannah Lipscomb delves into the dramatic story of the first European encounters with the indigenous people of Australia. She's joined by Professor Alistair Paterson who sheds light on the reported events of February 1606 when the Dutch unexpectedly stumbled upon the shores of Cape York Peninsula. Together, they'll examine the far-reaching consequences of this first contact and its impact on centuries of Australian histo...

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January 29, 2025 36 mins

For our final foray into the shadowy Renaissance world of the Borgia Dynasty, we explore the enigma that was Lucrezia Borgia, whose life navigating a perilous patriarchal landscape was enmeshed in scandals and power struggles. 


Professor Suzannah Lipscomb and Distinguished Professor Diane Ghirardo dissect the myths and reveal the truths surrounding Lucrezia Borgia, from her role as a political pawn to the allegations of her...

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January 26, 2025 46 mins

Professor Suzannah Lipscomb discusses the impact of the Little Ice Age, a period of significant cooling from the 15th to early 19th centuries that caused widespread famine, drought, and socio-economic upheaval across the Northern Hemisphere. She's joined by Professors Madeline Bassnett and Laurie Johnson who share insights from their joint research project on how England adapted to severe weather conditions. Discover fascinating hi...

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