Not Just the Tudors

Nov 20 2024 373 ep. 41 mins 5.7k

Not Just the Tudors Podcast artwork

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.

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Practical Magic: Spells, Prayers & Cunning Folk

Nov 20 2024 33 mins

Long before witch trials, magic was the domain of ‘cunning folk’ who were part of the fabric of medieval and early modern life. Their charms, filters and spells - for personal advancement, aiding fertility, predicting the future, even exacting revenge - offered people solutions to their problems. Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out more from Dr. Tabitha Stanmore, w

Leonardo da Vinci with Ken Burns

Nov 17 2024 39 mins

Leonardo da Vinci was a man like no other. A restless visionary and polymath, his paintings are some of the best known of all works of art.To talk about Leonardo, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Ken Burns, the multi-award winning American filmmaker who has transformed the documentary into an art form. His latest film, made with Sarah Burns and David McMahon, explores in wo

Witchfinder General

Nov 13 2024 38 mins

In the aftermath of the Civil War, a remote corner of Essex witnessed the most brutally devastating witch-hunt in English history. A dangerous maverick Matthew Hopkins, 'the Witchfinder General', hunted down vulnerable people across East Anglia, exploiting the anxiety and lawlessness of the times. Between 1645 and 1647, over 300 suspects were interrogated and tortured; a third of t

Invisible Activists of the Reformation

Nov 10 2024 37 mins

The names that spring first to mind in the Reformation of Christianity tend always to be male. But women were central to these extraordinary transformations in religious life in Europe and around the globe.Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out more from Professor Merry Wiesner-Hanks, who has uncovered the stories of hundreds of women. As monarchs and mothers, migrants and martyrs,

The Witch

Nov 06 2024 40 mins

Join Professor Suzannah Lipscomb and Professor Ronald Hutton as they explore the evolving definitions of witches, the global spread of witch beliefs, and their impact during the 16th and 17th century witch trials in Europe.As part of our month-long series on witchcraft, we delve into the role of magic in different cultures, the forms persecution took and how anthropology, folklore,

Fireworks: From the Tudors to Guy Fawkes

Nov 03 2024 29 mins

A pyrotechnic dragon roared flames into the river Thames during the coronation week of Elizabeth of York in 1487. These explosive displays were employed as a sign of might and majesty throughout the reign of Henry VIII, and Elizabeth I was the first English monarch to establish their own fire master. By the time of the Gunpowder Plot, fireworks were used not only to cel

The Brutal Basque Witch Hunt

Oct 30 2024 40 mins

In 1609, some 80 people were executed for witchcraft in France's Basque region. It inspired a final push to eradicate witches by the Spanish Inquisition across the border. One of the judges, Pierre de Lancre, published a sensationalist book which has been the source of every subsequent account. But newly discovered evidence paints a very different picture.Professor Suzannah Lipscom

Africans in 17th Century England

Oct 27 2024 25 mins

In the 1640s, Black communities existed in London and in most of England's port cities, communities from which men would fight and die throughout the English Civil War. There's still little evidence of the lives of these individuals. So what do we know of the Black men who took up arms during the Civil War? On which side did they fight? Were they free or enslaved? And what can this

The Tudor World at Hampton Court

Oct 23 2024 40 mins

The oldest surviving part of Hampton Court Palace is a series of chambers and closets built in the 1520s for Henry VIII's chief advisor and Lord Chancellor, Cardinal Wolsey. They are now the setting for a wonderful exhibition bringing together artworks created during Henry VIII's reign alongside some evocative 16th century objects and brilliant interactive displays.Professor Suzann

The Spanish Armada

Oct 20 2024 42 mins

In July 1588 the Spanish Armada set sail to conquer England. Three weeks later a fierce naval battle foiled the planned invasion. Many myths surround these events. The "genius" of Sir Francis Drake is exalted, while Spain’s efforts are belittled. But what really happened during that fateful encounter?Professor Suzannah Lipscomb gets the fullest possible account from Professor Geo