The Elizabeth and Jacobean age was a time of social mores and the way England was ruled - and the great medieval household withered away. To leave something smaller, more symmetrical - and of extraordinary beauty. And then there's also Little Moreton Hall, a gentry interpretation of the Great Rebuilding.

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Somewhere in the 16th and 17th centuries, ordinary people started building differently - private buildings, public buildings. They used brick, glass, decoration and portraiture; and it wasn't just the aristocracy; Yeomen, merchants, towns, husbandmen. The historian W G Hoskins gave it a name - the Great Rebuilding

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Well this is exciting! The English Revolution. A title which is controversial, and a historiography which is bigger than the eponymous crocodile. We talk about as many theories as we can - and there's a poll and Prize draw, sponsored by Halls Hammered Coins

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Playwrights and the Sirenicals of Jacobean England, the experience of going to see the plays and the Crystal Mirror of renaissance drama.

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The University Wits was a term invented by Saintsbury for a group of 6 Elizabethan playwrights. They were not consciously a coherent group but part of a vibrant society of playwrights, actors and writers who made English theatre shine.

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The first of three celebratory episodes about English Renaissance Theatre! Talking about dramatic tradition and the new playhouses that begin to appear in London - and the horrified reaction of the establishment.

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While The Buck and Baby Charles warmed themselves on the unfamiliar fires of popularity in their search for war, James was fading. At Theobalds in March 1625 his reign finally came to an end, and Buckingham took to his bed with grief.

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The identity of Mr Wiat's mysterious traveler is revealed, and London goes potty. Buckingham is confirmed as the Prince's favourite as well as the king's - and there's trouble in story for Lionel Cranfield

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In March 1623 Simon Digby noticed two suspicious looking blokes with dodgy beards hanging around outside his uncle's house in Madrid. He rushed over to find out what they were doing. Find out who they were.

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In 1621 James tried to tread a narrow path to peace in Europe - through the instrument of a Marriage between the England and Spanish royal families. To have a chance, parliament needed to play its role. 

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