How did an enslaved East African man become Japan’s first foreign samurai, and the only ever samurai of African descent? How did Yasuke catch the attention of Japan’s most powerful warlord Oda Nobunaga, to become the most unlikely of national heroes?
In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to author Craig Shreve who, in his new novel The African Samurai: The incredible story of Yasuke, magnificently reconstructs the story of this fascinating lost historical figure.
This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.
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The African Samurai

Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks about everything from the Aztecs to witches, Velázquez to Shakespeare, Mughal India to the Mayflower. Not, in other words, just the Tudors, but most definitely also the Tudors. Each episode Suzannah is joined by historians and experts to reveal incredible stories about one of the most fascinating periods in history.

History

Society & Culture

Six wives - six lives that we think we know everything about. But beyond their mostly doomed marriages to Henry VIII and, in most cases, tragic ends, here were six women who shaped history in their own unique ways.
In this special six part series, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb brings together the most illuminating interviews about the six wives from the Not Just the Tudors archive.  She also explores some of the latest research and speaks to Dr. Charlotte Bolland - curator of the National Portrait Gallery’s new exhibition Six Lives: The Stories of Henry VIII’s Queens - to paint an even fuller portrait of each of the six wives.   In this second episode, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb focuses on the woman who changed the history of England, Anne Boleyn.  In order to make her his Queen, Henry altered the very faith of the country, banished his closest minister, broke with Christendom, and set aside his faithful, once beloved wife Katherine.  So who was Anne Boleyn?
This episode was edited and mixed by Ella Blaxill and produced by Rob Weinberg.
From 20 June to 8 September 2024, the National Portrait Gallery in London is hosting an exhibition titled Six Lives: The Stories of Henry VIII’s Queens, displaying the images that have shaped our perception of the six wives . Find out more, here >
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Six Wives: Anne Boleyn

The mid-15th to mid-16th centuries in Europe was an era of political, social, and religious unrest, when the Roman Catholic Church was being questioned by those who sought a more direct connection with God. 
In the midst of this turmoil in Germany stood Thomas Müntzer, a preacher, theologian, and reformer.  Müntzer's role in the German Peasants War had him labelled variously as a bloodthirsty revolutionary or a people's hero.  Martin Luther later described Müntzer as a “ravening wolf” and a “false prophet.” 
In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out more about Müntzer’s extraordinary life and times with historian, novelist and translator, Andrew Drummond. 
This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.
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You can take part in our listener survey here

The Preacher Too Radical for Luther

If you think that the female spy is a 20th century phenomenon - be it Mata Hari, Mrs Zigzag or Eve Polastri - think again!  Accounts of numerous 17th century 'she-intelligencers' have lain undiscovered in archives for centuries.  And these remarkable women were much more than the honey-trap accomplices of a Stuart-era George Smiley. 
In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, first released in May 2021, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Professor Nadine Akkerman, author of Invisible Agents: Women and Espionage in Seventeenth-Century Britain to talk about her fascinating quest to unearth the plots and conspiracies involving women spies that have been forgotten by history.
This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.
Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for £1 per month for 3 months with code TUDORS - sign up here.
You can take part in our listener survey here.

Female Spies in the 17th Century

Six wives - six lives that we think we know everything about.  But beyond their mostly doomed marriages to Henry VIII and, in most cases, tragic ends, here were six women who shaped history in their own unique ways.
In this special six part series, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb brings together the most illuminating interviews about the six wives from the Not Just the Tudors archive.  She also explores some of the latest research and speaks to Dr. Charlotte Bolland - curator of the National Portrait Gallery’s new exhibition Six Lives: The Stories of Henry VIII’s Queens - to paint an even fuller portrait of each of the six wives.   First up, Katherine of Aragon, the wife to whom Henry was married for twice as long as all the others put together - a woman much underrated and much maligned.
This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.
From 20 June to 8 September 2024, the National Portrait Gallery in London is hosting an exhibition titled Six Lives: The Stories of Henry VIII’s Queens, displaying the images that have shaped our perception of the six wives . Find out more, here > 
Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for £1 per month for 3 months with code TUDORS - sign up here >
You can take part in our listener survey here >

Six Wives: Katherine of Aragon

Margaret Tudor - daughter of King Henry VII, sister to Henry VIII - was married at 13 to James IV of Scotland, learning the skills of statecraft that would enable her to survive his early death and to construct a powerful position in Scotland. 
In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out more about Margaret from Dr. Linda Porter. Her new book, The Thistle and the Rose: The Extraordinary Life of Margaret Tudor puts the record straight about a misunderstood and underestimated Tudor monarch, whose determination to fight for the rights of her son James V laid the groundwork for a future British state.
This episode was edited by Ella Blaxill and produced by Rob Weinberg.
Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for £1 per month for 3 months with code TUDORS - sign up here: https://www.historyhit.com/subscription/
You can take part in our listener survey here

The African Samurai

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