Not Just the Tudors

The Three Musketeers paints a picture of King Louis XIII of France as a rather weak monarch controlled by his powerful chief minister Cardinal Richelieu. Louis’ reign is generally thought of as being the beginning of the “age of absolutism” when ministers like Richelieu were in the ascendancy and the power of the court and courtiers declined. But was this really the case?

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr. Marc Jaffré, who believes it’s time to revise the conventional view of this significant period in French history.

This episode was edited by Thomas Ntinas and produced by Rob Weinberg.

For more Not Just The Tudors content, subscribe to our Tudor Tuesday newsletter here >

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Many of us are seeing in a new year, but of course there are, even today, several different ways of marking dates and years in various parts of the world. The most popular calendar, though, is the Gregorian, introduced in October 1852 by Pope Gregory XIII.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Dr. Christina Faraday to find out how and why the Gregorian calendar was introduced, the impact it had on people’s lives, and the serious debate and, in some countries, centuries long resistance to its use.

This episode was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg. 

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This week we're sharing again a fascinating podcast first released at this time last Christmas.

For the Tudors, Christmas Day was not traditionally the date when gifts were given. The Twelve Days of Christmas begin on 25 December and end at Epiphany, 6 January - also known as Twelfth Night. In Tudor times, all 12 were feast days, but 1 January was the day when presents were unwrapped.

In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb delves into how Christmas and New Year were marked by the Tudors and Stuarts, and what kind of gifts they gave, with Dr. Felicity Heal, author of The Power of Gifts: Gift Exchange in Early Modern England.

This episode was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg. 

For more Not Just The Tudors content, subscribe to our Tudor Tuesday newsletter here >

If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today!

To download, go to Android > or Apple store >

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Professor Suzannah Lipscomb presents her annual review of the year, recommending the finest history books she has discovered, the best television shows she’s watched, and the biggest historical discoveries that have changed the way we understand - or which shed new light upon - the Tudors, but not just the Tudors. And to round things up, she offers her pick of some of the exciting things to come in 2023.

The researcher was Esther Arnott. This episode was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg. 

For more Not Just The Tudors content, subscribe to our Tudor Tuesday newsletter here >

If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download, go to Android > or Apple store >

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A Tudor Christmas would have probably featured as much singing as we have today, if not more, and surprisingly many of the carols would have been the same: In Dulci Jubilo, The Coventry Carol, Gabriel’s message were among the yuletide hits that would have resounded through Tudor era churches.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out more from Lisa Colton, Professor of Musicology and Head of the Department of Music at the University of Liverpool.

Music credits: 

Pastime with Good Company performed by Jay Britton

Coventry Carol

There Is No Rose of Such Virtue performed by Guildford Cathedral Choir

This Is The Record of John performed by Guildford Cathedral Choir

Marvel Not, Joseph performed by University of Surrey Chamber Choir

This episode was edited by Aidan Lonergan and Joseph Knight, and produced by Elena Guthrie & Rob Weinberg. 

For more Not Just The Tudors content, subscribe to our Tudor Tuesday newsletter here >

If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download, go to Android > or Apple store >

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In English cities of the 17th century, there was plenty to offend the eyes, ears, nose, taste buds, and skin of inhabitants. Residents were scarred by smallpox, refuse rotted in the streets, pigs and dogs roamed free.  

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Emily Cockayne — author of Hubbub: Filth, Noise and Stench in England — about all the unpleasant aspects of city life and how they were navigated, or endured, by citizens.

This episode was edited by Thomas Ntinas and produced by Elena Guthrie. 

For more Not Just The Tudors content, subscribe to our Tudor Tuesday newsletter here >

If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download, go to Android > or Apple store >

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England was the only European country that completely banned translating the Bible. The dissident Lollards had produced one after the death of their hero, the radical 14th-century theologian John Wycliffe, but owning a copy could be a capital offence. When idealistic humanist William Tyndale printed his English New Testament in Germany in 1526, it became the most influential text in the history of the English language.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Professor Alec Ryrie, about how making the Bible accessible to English readers triggered a momentous and permanent shift of religious power away from the Church and university elites.

This episode was edited by Annie Coloe and produced by Elena Guthrie.

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Mary, Queen of Scots wore red at her execution as a symbol of Catholic martyrdom. It was the climax of a life throughout which Mary used textiles to advance her political agenda, affirm her royal lineage and tell her story - from her lavish gowns to the subversive messages she embroidered in captivity for her supporters. 

In this episode to mark the 480th anniversary of Mary’s birth on 8 December 1542, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to artist Clare Hunter - author of Embroidering Her Truth: Mary, Queen of Scots and the Language of Power - to discover more about Mary via the textiles of her life. 

This episode was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg. 

For more Not Just The Tudors content, subscribe to our Tudor Tuesday newsletter here >

If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download, go to Android > or Apple store >

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Making babies was a mysterious process for people in early modern England. Their ideas about conception, pregnancy and childbirth tell us much about their attitudes towards gender and power at that time.

In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, first released in September 2021, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Professor Mary Fissell. She has been delving into a wealth of popular sources - ballads, jokes, witchcraft pamphlets, prayer books and popular medical manuals - to produce the first account of how women's reproductive bodies were understood in the 17th century.

This episode was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg. 

For more Not Just The Tudors content, subscribe to our Tudor Tuesday newsletter here >

If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download, go to Android > or Apple store >

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Christiaan Huygens was the greatest scientist working in the vital period between Galileo and Newton, as the scientific revolution gathered pace. He discovered Saturn’s ring, invented the accurate pendulum clock, and devised a wave theory of light far ahead of its time.

In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to author Hugh Aldersey-Williams to find out more about Huygens and why — more even than Newton — he can be called the father of modern science. 

This episode was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg. 

For more Not Just The Tudors content, subscribe to our Tudor Tuesday newsletter here >

If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download, go to Android > or Apple store >

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.