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Did Oliver Cromwell Ban Christmas?
Episode 489
In 1647 Christmas vanished by the decree of the Puritans who ruled Britain. But not everyone complied. Families lit candles behind closed doors, whis…
4 months, 2 weeks ago
From Succession to Codpieces: Your Tudor Questions Answered
Episode 488
In this special episode, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb fields questions about the Tudors and their time that have all been suggested by you. From the h…
4 months, 3 weeks ago
Surviving Plague in Venice
Episode 487
450 years ago, Venice found itself facing a plague outbreak that would kill more than 50,000 people - a third of its population. But to manage the ep…
4 months, 3 weeks ago
Elizabeth Boleyn: The Queen's Mother
Episode 486
What if the most powerful woman in Anne Boleyn’s story never spoke on the record? Elizabeth Boleyn steps out of the shadows in this revelatory Tudor…
5 months ago
Henry VIII At War
Episode 485
**Contains descriptions of war atrocities, including rape and infanticide**
In 1544, Henry VIII led the largest army ever raised by an English monarch…
5 months ago
How Poets Spoke Truth to Power
Episode 484
Throughout history, the words of poets have often ignited change or unsettled those in power. In England particularly, poetry has both celebrated and…
5 months, 1 week ago
Dark Side of the Quakers
Episode 483
**Contains story of a young male suicide**
Out of the devastation of the English Civil Wars, a radical new religious movement was born. The early Quak…
5 months, 1 week ago
Mother of All Tudors: Margaret Beaufort
Episode 482
Step into the turbulent heart of the Wars of the Roses and meet one of history’s most formidable survivors: Lady Margaret Beaufort.
A child bride, a t…
5 months, 2 weeks ago
Origins of Free Speech
Episode 481
Free speech is today more contested than ever before. In many places, differing views about politics, sex, and religion are suppressed and punished. …
5 months, 2 weeks ago
Raleigh and the Lost Colony of Roanoke
Episode 480
What happened to the lost colony of Roanoke?
In the 1580s Sir Walter Raleigh set about establishing a permanent English colony on Roanoke Island, off …
5 months, 3 weeks ago