When the monarchy of England was restored and King Charles II became king, the playhouses were reoppened. And for the first time, women would be permitted to be on stage, performing. The most popular comedic actress of the age, Nell Gwyn, would become a success, but her most famous role would be as the King's mistress.

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Over her lifetime, Dame Barbara Cartland would write over 700 books that would sell more than 750 MILLION copies worldwide. Though her books were primarily aimed and read by women, Cartland's messages were strickingly regressive, with an ephasis on purity that seems strange to modern readers of romance novels. As her step-granddaughter Diana Spencer would one day discover, some fairy tales don't align with reality.

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When Pope Stephen was putting his predecessor on trial, there were signs that what he was doing wasn't quite right. For one, in the middle of the trial, an earthquake shook Rome. For another, his opponent was a dead body.

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Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Rémy was a French countess with a dubious claim to nobility and one brilliant idea: she was going to steal a diamond necklace from Louis XVI. After weaseling her way into court, Jeanne impersonates Marie Antoinette in a series of letters, starts a tabloid scandal, and inadvertently lights the fuse of the French Revolution.

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On the Very Special Episodes podcast, we tell one incredible story each week. Follow us down a different rabbit hole every Wednesday.

Hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, Jason English
Research, Writing, and Interviews for today’s episode provided by Wonder Media Network
Produced by Josh Fisher
Story Editor is Marisa Brown
Editing and Sound Design by Emily Marinoff
Mixing and Mastering by Baheed Frazier
Voice Actors: Coco-Margeaux Rodale and Tom Antonellis
Original Music by Elise McCoy
Show Logo by Lucy Quintanilla
Executive Producer is Jason English

Special thanks to Jenny Kaplan, Emily Rudder, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, and Lauren Williams.

Thanks for listening! You don't owe us any favors. But if you enjoy the show and want to do us one anyway, could you head over to your favorite podcast platform(s) and leave us a rating? 

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From wife and sister of a Pharaoh, to regent to eventually Pharaoh in her own right, Hatshepsut is one of the most compelling figures of the ancient world, a woman who sought to preserve her legacy in real time by carving her accomplishments in stone.

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George Villiers was in his early twenties when he caught the eye of King James the VI and I. Almost immediately, George became an intimate "favorite," catapulted into a new title and world of courtly power. Whether the relationship between the two men was sexual is still a question historians debate, but the thing that can't be denied is that their relationship would have deadly consequences. Dana is joined by author Benjamin Woolley, whose book The King's Assassin inspired the new television series Mary & George.

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CW: murder, gore.

Sister Virgina (born Marianna) had made a terrible choice in secret lovers. When a young secular boarder at the convent where she was a nun threatened to expose her illicit relationship with a neighboring nobleman, the man killed the young boarder. Together they tried to cover up the crime, but there would be no way for Marianna to run from her sins forever.

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For plenty of young women in the early modern era, if their families couldn't afford their dowries, they simply shipped them off to a nunnery. That was the case for Marianna, a young girl who rose in the ranks of her monastery as an exemplary nun... until she crossed paths with the rakish nobleman who lived in the estate next door.

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Why did the Roman Empire do away with kings? Simone de Beauvior would write that, through women, "certain historical events have been set off, but the women have been pretexts rather than agents. The suicide of Lucretia has had value only as symbol." CW: Sexual assault, suicide

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History is fascinated by the possible escape of Anastasia Romanov, the Grand Duchess killed alongside her family in the Russian Revolution. But there was a Grand Duchess that DID escape - Anastasia's aunt, Olga Alexandrovna, who would hold onto hope that her favorite niece escaped as well.

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