1666 and All That

In the week that sees a new King Charles crowned in London, Miranda and Paul unearth vivid coronation stories from 17th-century England - including details of the ceremonies for the two previous bearers of that regnal name.

As well as examples of spectacular pageantry - and sometimes excess - they find moments of lasting historical significance. And among the various Stuart monarchs' big days out, they revisit the two investitures of Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector, the second of which adhered surprisingly closely to royal tradition.

Finally, Paul and Miranda give their 17th-century coronation awards in a variety of categories, from best music to most drunken banquet.

'1666 and All That' is presented by Miranda Malins and Paul Lay. The producer is Hugh Costello. Original music by George Taylor. The episode is mixed by Alfie Thompson.

You can visit our website at www.podpage.com/1666-and-all-that/

In the second of two episodes examining the origins of the English - later British - empire, Paul and Miranda are joined by Gabriel Glickman of the University of Cambridge. Gabriel's new book, 'Making the Imperial Nation: Colonisation, Politics and English Identity, 1660-1700' (Yale University Press), explores how 17th-century England lacked an effective colonial apparatus, falling behind Spain and the Netherlands in the race for overseas possessions.

Failures such as Cromwell's Western Design in the Caribbean, and the later loss of Tangier, defined the period, and while aspirations remained high, the Crown's capacity to realise its ambitions was fragile. Gabriel reveals how these setbacks, along with an increasing reliance on slavery, left many in England disillusioned.

'1666 and All That' is presented by Miranda Malins and Paul Lay. The producer is Hugh Costello. Original music by George Taylor. The episode is mixed by Alfie Thompson.

You can visit our website at https://www.podpage.com/1666-and-all-that/

The 17th century saw early English attempts to carve out territories in the New World, Africa and beyond, with lasting - and all too often tragic - legacies. In the first of two episodes examining the origins of empire and the politics of colonisation, Paul and Miranda talk to historian Matthew Parker, author of 'Willoughbyland: England's Lost Colony.'

Matthew tells the remarkable story of Francis, Lord Willoughby, who fled England for Barbados after the Civil Wars. Willoughby went on to acquire a stretch of land in what is now Suriname. The territory that bore his name became, in his absence, a functional and surprisingly egalitarian colony. But that would change when the Restoration ushered in greater competition with rival colonial powers - and the introduction of slavery.

Our next episode will stay on the theme of early colonial ventures, when Dr Gabriel Glickman of the University of Cambridge tells us about imperial projects of the later 17th century and their political and cultural impact back in England.

'1666 and All That' is presented by Miranda Malins and Paul Lay. The producer is Hugh Costello. Original music by George Taylor. The episode is mixed by Alfie Thompson.

You can visit our website at https://www.podpage.com/1666-and-all-that/

Fifty years after the publication of Christopher Hill's celebrated Marxist analysis of the English Civil War, 'The World Turned Upside Down', historian Michael Sturza has written a new book that reprises some of Hill's arguments and sets out to refute revisionist attempts to take revolutionary politics out of the history of this tumultuous period.

Michael joins Paul and Miranda on the podcast to discuss his fascinating book, 'The London Revolution 1640-643: Class Struggles in 17th Century England', which emphasises London's place at the heart of events and argues that popular revolt was a powerful motivating force behind the many dramatic upheavals of the time.

'1666 and All That' is presented by Miranda Malins and Paul Lay. The producer is Hugh Costello. Original music by George Taylor. The episode is mixed by Alfie Thompson.

Don't want to miss the next episode? Remember to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Paolo Sarpi is far from a household name, even among aficionados of 17th-century history. But Paul Lay believes Sarpi deserves greater recognition, and in this episode he explains why to co-host Miranda Malins.

Sarpi was a Venetian statesman, cleric and thinker. When Pope Paul V decided to excommunicate the city state and its entire population in 1606-07, a punishment for their insistence on appointing their own priests, Sarpi fought back. Earning himself a reputation as 'the penman of Venetian defiance', Sarpi called out Rome for its absolutist behaviour and in the process became a hero for rebellious thinkers all over Europe - not least in England, where Sarpi's writings and ideas played a significant part in the build-up to the Civil War.

'1666 and All That' is presented by Paul Lay and Miranda Malins. The producer is Hugh Costello. Original music by George Taylor. The episode is mixed by Alfie Thompson.

Don't want to miss the next episode? Remember to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Oliver Cromwell is one of the giants of English history, a man who believed himself to be called by God to transform the political and moral structures of the nation, and to extend his writ, by whatever means necessary, into Ireland and Scotland. Yet his inner life remains an enigma, obscured by the intensity of his religious fervour and by the brevity of the constitutional revolution he set in motion.

In their second interview with eminent Cromwell scholar John Morrill, Miranda and Paul get a fascinating insight into the workings of Cromwell's mind - showing us a man with a deep respect for the principles that the Civil Wars had been all about, but constantly wrestling with the responsibilities of power.

John Morrill is uniquely well qualifed to act as our guide. As well as finishing an eagerly awaited new biography, he is general editor of a vast new undertaking, 'The Letters, Writings and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell', published in three volumes by OUP. He tells us how the volumes were put together and explains how the collection gives scholars and general readers a whole new perspective on Cromwell's life and times.

'1666 and All That' is presented by Paul Lay and Miranda Malins. The producer is Hugh Costello. Original music by George Taylor. The episode is mixed by Alfie Thompson.

Don't want to miss the next episode? Remember to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

In the latest episode of their podcast about all things 17th century, Paul and Miranda talk to historian Jonathan Healey, author of an ambitious new narrative history of the period. In 'The Blazing World', Healey brings a social historian's eye for telling detail to an age of tumult and revolution in England and beyond. He talks about the challenges of combining an overview of the century's dramatic political upheavals with insights into the social changes that transformed people's everyday lives.

'1666 and All That' is presented by Paul Lay and Miranda Malins. The producer is Hugh Costello. Original music by George Taylor. The episode is mixed by Alfie Thompson.

Don't want to miss the next episode? Remember to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

The revealing and entertaining new podcast about all things 17th century.

Historians have portrayed Oliver Cromwell as a very masculine, martial figure – a man who made his name in Parliament's army during the British Civil Wars of the 1640s and went on to preside over a military-backed republican regime as Lord Protector in the 1650s. But this is a misleading perspective. Cromwell spent his life surrounded by a large and overwhelmingly female family and his closeness to them shaped his character. With the help of distinguished historian John Morrill, Miranda and Paul explore Cromwell's fascinating relationships with the many women in his life and how they influenced his style of leadership.

'1666 and All That' is presented by Paul Lay and Miranda Malins. The producer is Hugh Costello. Original music by George Taylor. The episode is mixed by Alfie Thompson.

Don't want to miss the next episode? Remember to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Paul and Miranda set sail for the 17th century to explore the origins of one of the greatest adventure stories ever written: Daniel Defoe's 'The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe'. Behind the ripping yarn of a castaway's struggle for survival lie some of the great themes of the age: providence, redemption, a thirst for exploration and difficult first encounters between worlds old and new. And we hear how clues to Defoe's unique imagination can be found in his own extraordinary early life in Restoration London.

'1666 and All That' is presented by Paul Lay and Miranda Malins. The producer is Hugh Costello. Original music by George Taylor. The episode is mixed by Alfie Thompson.

Don't want to miss the next episode? Remember to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

The revealing and entertaining new podcast about all things 17th century.

Paul and Miranda talk to historian Jessie Childs about her acclaimed book 'The Siege of Loyalty House', which takes us back to the fierce struggle of the Civil War of the 1640s in all its gore and glory. It's a gripping story told through the lens of the besieged royalist stronghold of Basing House in Hampshire, and the people who lived in and around it. Jessie shows how a siege can become a perfect microcosm in which to experience the very best and worst of humanity - barbarism and civility, hatred and love. And she finds echoes of the siege in current events in Ukraine.

'1666 and All That' is presented by Paul Lay and Miranda Malins. The producer is Hugh Costello. Original music by George Taylor. The episode is mixed by Alfie Thompson.

Don't want to miss the next episode? Remember to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.