Podcast Episodes
Back to Search143. Isabella of Castile: The Spanish Inquisition, the Conquest of Granada, and Columbus
Season 8 Episode 11
For centuries Spain had been an outlier in Europe due to its religious diversity; Christians, Jews, and Muslims all existed reasonably peacefully acr…
2 years ago
142. Isabella of Castile: Uniting Spain
Season 8 Episode 10
To some she is Europe’s first great queen, to others she is one of history’s great villains, but there is no doubt that Isabella of Castile holds one…
2 years ago
141. Nur Jahan: The Most Powerful Mughal Woman
Season 8 Episode 9
With Jahangir sliding into more of an opium and alcohol fuelled slumber with each passing day, Nur Jahan took the reins of the Mughal Empire. In this…
2 years ago
140. Nur Jahan: The Light of the World
Season 8 Episode 8
Nur Jahan was born on a roadside as her well-to-do parents fled from Safavid Persia for the tolerant court of the Mughal emperor. Her first marriage …
2 years ago
139. Mrs Genghis Khan
Season 8 Episode 7
Börte came from a powerful nomadic tribe and in many ways her marriage to Genghis Khan set him up to become the great conqueror we know. They married…
2 years ago
138. The Graceful Reed: Ruling the Islamic Empire
Season 8 Episode 6
Sold as a slave to the great Abbasid Caliph, al-Khayzuran quickly rose to the very top of the pyramid. Through marriage and motherhood, she became wi…
2 years ago
137. Empress Theodora: Making Heaven on Earth
Season 8 Episode 5
The Empress Theodora is often unfairly remembered for the salacious stories that have been told about her when she was forced to work in a brothel. S…
2 years ago
136. Empress Theodora: From the Brothel to the Throne
Season 8 Episode 4
Placed by her mother into a brothel when she was just a child, Theodora was born into the most brutal of worlds. It was a Constantinople riven with d…
2 years ago
135. Helena: Queen of the World and Finder of the One True Cross
Season 8 Episode 3
Born in poverty at a time when the Roman Empire was in danger of cracking up and disintegrating, Helena was set for a life of obscurity as a stable h…
2 years, 1 month ago
134. Cleopatra: The Would-Be Empress of Rome
Season 8 Episode 2
With Julius Caesar dead, Cleopatra turned to another of Rome’s dominant figures. She became entwined with Mark Antony, the ruler of the eastern half …
2 years, 1 month ago