Pax Britannica: A History of the British Empire

For generations, Habsburg Spain had been a stalwart ally of England, their royal families connected by marriage and kinship, to counter-balance the Auld Alliance of France and Scotland. This had been the state of things for decades, and upon Elizabeth's accession there was no reason to think that this would change. Calais had just fallen to the French, and English armies had been rampaging through Scotland just years before, and a French regent ruled in place of her young child.

And yet, by the time of Elizabeth's death, Scotland was a close ally whose king would soon inherit the crown of England and Ireland, and Spanish Armadas had narrowly missed invading English shores. What caused this dramatic reversal?

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In this episode I made particular use of the following publications:

- Doran, S. (2000). Elizabeth I and Foreign Policy, 1558-1603

- Croft, P. (2005). ‘“The State of the World is Marvellously Changed”: England, Spain and Europe 1558-1604’. Doran S. & Richardson G. (eds) Tudor England and its Neighbours

Find a full bibliography on the website.

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Through a range of cultural, economic, and political changes, the old trading relationships that English merchants had enjoyed for centuries fully broke down during Elizabeth's reign. In their place, new opportunities for wealth emerged; new countries to trade with, new products to buy and sell, and a thinly-guarded colonial empire full to the brim with slave markets and gold mines. Opportunities aplenty for those with the naval expertise to seize them.

Check out the podcast website: https://www.paxbritannica.info

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodBritannica/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BritannicaPax

For this episode, I found the following publications particularly useful:

- Clay C. G. A., 1940-. (1984). Economic expansion and social change : England 1500-1700

- Benjamin Thomas, 1952-. (2009). The Atlantic world : European, Africans, Indians and their shared history, 1400-1900

- John C. Appleby, 'War, Politics, and Colonization, 1558-1625', in The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume I: The Origins of Empire

For a full bibliography, see the website.

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In this episode, we hear about the successive attempts by the Tudor monarchs to enforce their authority over their Irish vassals, a complex mix of ethnicities and religions that resisted any policy Dublin or London tried. They eventually 'settled' on outright displacement of the native Irish and the plantation of English settlers, but even that would not be enough to make Tudor rule unquestioned.

Check out the podcast website: https://www.paxbritannica.info

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodBritannica/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BritannicaPax

For this episode, I found the following publications particularly useful:

- Steven G. Ellis, Ireland in the Age of the Tudors 1447-1603: English Expansion and the End of Gaelic Rule

- Jane H. Ohlmeyer, ''Civilizinge of those Rude Partes': Colonization within Britain and Ireland, 1580s-1640s', in The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume I: The Origins of Empire

- Nicholas Canny, Making Ireland British, 1580-1650

For a full bibliography, see the website.

Go listen to 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast here: https://80dayspodcast.com/

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In the first episode of Pax Britannica, we meet the Tudor dynasty; the kings and queens who ruled England, Wales, and Ireland from the end of the 15th century until the start of the 17th. In this first of our foundation episodes we cover the basic timeline of the Tudor era, from Henry VII until Elizabeth I. I also explain the aim of this podcast, what we will cover, and why it matters!

Check out the podcast website: https://www.paxbritannica.info

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodBritannica/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BritannicaPax

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