Not Just the Tudors

<p>Not all suspicions of witchcraft led to a formal accusation, and not all such accusations led to trials and execution. During the entire early modern period, the large, Lutheran duchy of Württemberg in southwestern Germany - where there were some 600 accusations - only 350 went to trial, 197 of which ended with burning at the stake. So what does this tell us about how people understood themselves and each other, the psychology and emotions of those accused, and how they tried to defend themselves? </p><br><p>In this edition of<em> Not Just the Tudors</em>, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr. Laura Kounine, who has been studying how the community, church, and agents of the law sought to identify witches, and the ways in which ordinary men and women fought for their lives in an attempt to avoid execution.</p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>King Henry VIII was deeply religious and started out as a staunch supporter of the Pope and the Roman Catholic church. But everything changed when Henry's need to produce a male successor led to his wanting to divorce Catherine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn. </p><br><p>In this first of an occasional series of Explainer podcasts, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb offers everything you ever wanted to know about one of the most famous and far-reaching episodes in British history.</p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>Between February 1534 and June 1535, the German city of Münster was seized and ruled over by a radical group of Protestant Christians called Anabaptists who believed the Biblical Apocalypse was imminent. Their leader styled himself as a new King Solomon. He took 16 wives and - allegedly - personally executed those who opposed him. </p><br><p>In this edition of <em>Not Just the Tudors</em>, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr. Kat Hill about this extraordinary attempt to create the "New Jerusalem" and its inevitably disastrous outcome.</p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>What was the 16th century ideal of beauty for women? Fat or thin? Blonde or brunette? Pale or tanned? How did women keep clean? Did they remove their body hair?</p><br><p>In this edition of <em>Not Just the Tudors</em>, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb gets the lowdown from Jill Burke - Professor of Renaissance Visual and Material Cultures at the University of Edinburgh - on all the tips to become an authentic Renaissance Woman.</p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>Queen Mary I has had a bad press over the centuries, her five-years on the throne overshadowed by her half-sister Elizabeth's 45-year reign. While Elizabeth I is often hailed as "Gloriana" - and one of the greatest ever Britons - "Bloody Mary" more often finds her way onto charts of the most evil women in history. Both childless, Mary is reviled as "barren" while Elizabeth is lauded as the "Virgin Queen".</p><br><p>In this edition of <em>Not Just the Tudors</em>, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Professor Anna Whitelock who puts the case for a more balanced assessment of Mary I as a Queen who pioneered what female rule could look like.</p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>In the cut-throat world of Renaissance Florence, Alessandro - the illegitimate son of a Duke and a mixed-race servant - attempts to reassert the Medicis’ faltering grip on the city state. But after just six years in power, Alessandro is murdered by his cousin while anticipating an adulterous liaison.</p><br><p>In this edition of <em>Not Just the Tudors</em>, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Professor Catherine Fletcher, author of <em>The Black Prince of Florence</em>, about one man's spectacular rise to power against the odds, and his violent demise.</p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>Five hundred years ago in 1521, the title 'Defender of the Faith' was bestowed by Pope Leo X upon King Henry VIII for his defence of the Catholic Church against the threat of Martin Luther. Why did he then break away from Rome and create religious divisions for centuries to come? A new online exhibition - drawn from the colletion of the Society of Antiquaries in London - offers a new perspective on the power Henry wielded, his personality and passions.</p><br><p>In this edition of <em>Not Just the Tudors</em>, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out more about this fascinating resource from its curator Dr. John Cooper. View the objects while listening to the podcast here: <a href="https://stories.sal.org.uk/henryviii/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://stories.sal.org.uk/henryviii/</a></p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>Between 1570 and 1630, there was intense persecution and thousands of executions of suspected witches in Lorraine, a small duchy on the borders of France and the Holy Roman Empire. In some cases, suspicious citizens waited decades to report their neighbours as witches. But why did they take so long to use the law to eliminate the supposedly dangerous figures who lived amongst them?</p><br><p>Robin Briggs - Emeritus Fellow at All Souls College Oxford - has delved into perhaps the richest surviving archive of witchcraft trials to be found in Europe. In this edition of <em>Not Just the Tudors</em>, he talks to Professor Suzannah Lipscomb about his conclusion that witchcraft was actually perceived as having strong therapeutic possibilities: once a person was identified as the cause of a sickness, they could be induced to take it off again. </p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>For the Tudors and Elizabethans, a beard denoted masculinity while beardlessness indicated boyhood or effeminacy. How a man wore his beard - or not - said a lot about his power and position in society. </p><br><p>In this edition of <em>Not Just the Tudors</em>, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to theatre historian Dr. Eleanor Rycroft about her hirsute pursuits, analysing the depiction of beards in portraits and on stage, what their various colours, shapes and sizes meant, and what they tell us about gender attitudes in early modern England.</p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>Though she is relatively unknown outside of Mexico, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz - poet, playwright and nun - is an icon and national hero in her homeland. She even features on the 200 peso banknote. </p><br><p>In this edition of <em>Not Just the Tudors</em>, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr. Amy Fuller Morgan about the real Sor Juana - misrepresented and mythologised as a subversive upstart, even a martyr - who in fact had a privileged life and the support of the Church and court, and who carefully cultivated her own image and saintly reputation.</p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>Catherine Howard was Queen Consort - and fifth wife - to Henry VIII for just 16 months before he had her executed for treason for committing adultery. Since Victorian times, historians have labelled her as lewd and promiscuous, but there was an altogether more complex young woman behind the rumours.</p><br><p>In this edition of <em>Not Just the Tudors</em>, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Gareth Russell, author of <em>Young and Damned and Fair</em>, a riveting account of Catherine's tragic marriage to an unstable King, and the tragedy of her life in a dangerous hothouse where the odds were stacked against her. </p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>A controversial figure during his lifetime, Martin Luther set in motion a revolution that split Christianity in the West and left an indelible mark on the world today. </p><br><p>In this edition of <em>Not Just the Tudors</em>, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to renowned Luther biographer Lyndal Roper to explore the man behind the carefully crafted image - misogynistic, anti-Semitic, occasionally self-doubting, religiously devout yet with a crude, scatological sense of humour.</p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>The relationship between Elizabeth I and Catherine de' Medici - the two most powerful Queens of their time - is one of the most intriguing and captivating stories of the 16th century. </p><br><p>In this edition of <em>Not Just the Tudors</em>, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr. Estelle Paranque about her new book <em>Blood, Fire and Gold</em>, which explores how these two formidable women wielded and negotiated power, and were united only in their dislike of Mary, Queen of Scots.</p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>In this edition of <em>Not Just The Tudors</em>, Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Hannah Dawson, editor of <em>The Penguin Book of Feminist Writing</em> who draws upon poems, novels and memoirs to show that even in Tudor times, and earlier, there was not only insight that sexism existed, but women were articulating their struggle against patriarchal oppression.</p><p><br></p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>In the 16th and 17th centuries and beyond, certain sexual acts were made capital crimes in England, France and other countries. The offence of "sodomy" embraced a wide range of acts including rape, child abuse and bestiality.  </p><br><p>In this edition of <em>Not Just the Tudors</em>, Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr. Tom Hamilton who has deeply researched the subject, shedding light on what the authorities and ordinary people at the time thought about sex. (This podcast contains some explicit language and descriptions.)</p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p><em>The Story of the Death of Anne Boleyn</em> is a long narrative poem written by the secretary to the French ambassador in London within two weeks of the Queen's execution. It was intended as a diplomatic dispatch, relating the astonishing news - in verse - of her demise, along with that of five alleged lovers. </p><br><p>In this edition of <em>Not Just the Tudors</em>, Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Professor JoAnn DellaNeva, who has been researching a previously unstudied manuscript of the poem. Her translation sheds new light on a work which straddles the domains of literature and history, of chronicle and fiction.</p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>Dr Tarnya Cooper is the Curatorial and Collections Director at the National Trust. For her recent book, <em>125 Treasures from the Collections of the National Trust</em>, she and 60 curators brought together the most extraordinary objects that can be found in National Trust properties around the country.</p><br><p>In this edition of <em>Not Just the Tudors, </em>Tarnya joins Suzannah Lipscomb with her pick of her 12 favourite items, from Cardinal Wolsey’s purse to a "spangled bed."</p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>When tobacco arrived in Britain in the 1560s, it was hailed as a "holy herb", a miracle cure to improve health and a catalyst for wit and creativity. The coming of coffee - "black as hell, strong as death, sweet as love" - in the mid-17th century, led to the establishment of coffee houses where debates flourished and innovations were born that helped to shape the modern world.</p><br><p>In this edition of <em>Not Just the Tudors</em>, Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr. Matthew Green - author of <em>London: A Travel Guide Through Time</em> - about how nicotine and caffeine changed the British way of life.</p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>Playwright and musician John Heywood was a devout Catholic humanist and biting satirist - married to Sir Thomas Moore's niece - who managed to survive life as a courtier through the Catholic and Protestant regimes of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I.</p><br><p>In this edition of <em>Not Just the Tudors</em>, Suzannah Lipscomb finds out more about this fascinating figure with Professor Greg Walker, author of the first full scholarly biography of John Heywood, whose life was a case study of the role of comedy in a period of religious and political extremism.</p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>On 7 June 1520, Henry VIII of England and François I of France met at the Field of Cloth of Gold. For three weeks on English soil in Northern France, the two Kings - and the 12,000 who accompanied them - feasted, jousted, and made merry. This party without parallel was a peace summit between the two countries, arranged by Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. </p><br><p>A new exhibition at Hampton Court, called <em>Gold and Glory</em>, explores this seminal event through paintings, objects, and manuscripts. In this edition of <em>Not Just the Tudors</em>, Suzannah Lipscomb takes a tour around the exhibition with one of its curators, Dr. Alden Gregory.</p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Professor Geoffrey Parker to explore the extraordinary life and career of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (1500–1558), who ruled Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, and much of Italy and Central and South America,</p><br><p>Prof. Parker has examined countless surviving written sources, interrogating every dimension of Charles’s long reign, to produce an epic, detailed and vivid life of a complex man and his rule over the world's first transatlantic empire.</p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

Louis XIV ruled France for more than 72 years, the longest recorded reign of any monarch of any sovereign country in history. Despite the devotion of his wife Maria Theresa of Spain, Louis took a series of mistresses, a number of them "official", with whom he had numerous illegitimate children. Yet, for the last three decades of his life, after Maria Theresa's death, he settled down more loyally with the Marquise de Maintenon. In this edition of <em>Not Just the Tudors</em>, Suzannah Lipscomb finds out more about the powerful and fascinating women behind the throne of the Sun King, with Dr Linda Kiernan Knowles. <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>Mary, Queen of Scots, returned to the news headlines when the rosary she carried to her execution in 1587, was recently stolen from Arundel Castle. It's the latest chapter in the enduring story of this highly romanticised figure.  </p><br><p>Mary reigned over Scotland for just over 24 years between December 1542 until her forced abdication. Considered the legitimate sovereign of England by many Catholics, Mary was seen as a threat to Queen Elizabeth I. In this episode of <em>Not Just the Tudors</em>, Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Professor Kate Williams about Mary's tragic life, her disastrous marriages and the plots against Elizabeth that resulted in her execution.</p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

After a century of Civil War, changes in the way Japan was ruled from 1600 onwards meant that Europeans and Christianity made few inroads into Japanese society. Shogun Tokugawa organised Japan into a strict class system and its unique and brilliant culture flourished in isolation. In this episode of <em>Not Just the Tudors</em>, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb navigates the fascinating, floating world of Japan in the 17th century with Professor Timon Screech. <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>In 1589, Anne Dowriche, the wife of a Puritan minister from Devon, wrote a long and gory poem about the bloody, ongoing conflict between Catholics and Huguenots in France. Dowriche's <em>The French Historie</em> was one of the few sixteenth century books written entirely by a woman. She was also almost alone as a woman in publicly commenting on contemporary political events and speaking up against tyranny.</p><br><p>In this episode of <em>Not Just the Tudors</em>, Suzannah Lipscomb talks to historian Dr. Joanne Paul about Dowriche, who was also one of the first English writers to draw on Machiavelli, and whose works possibly inspired both Marlowe and Shakespeare.  </p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

The German executioner Meister Frantz Schmidt kept a fascinating journal of all the executions, torture and punishments he administered between 1573 and 1618. In this episode of <em>Not Just the Tudors</em>, Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Joel Harrington to talk about Schmidt - who showed himself to be an executioner with a conscience - and further explore public capital punishment in the 16th century, described by historians as the "spectacle of suffering." Contains graphic descriptions of punishments. <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>Ordered by King Henry VIII and carried out by Thomas Cromwell, the dissolution of the monasteries was the greatest land re-distribution in England since the Norman Conquest, and the largest windfall of cash to the crown in history. Between 1536 and 1540, 800 religious houses were dissolved leading to nothing less than the wholesale destruction of monasticism.</p><br><p>In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Suzannah Lipscomb talks to writer and historian Mathew Lyons about the dissolution and its far-reaching consequences - on pregnant women, the poor and the libraries of England. </p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>The lute, with its double strings and beautiful decorative detail is a familiar feature of Renaissance paintings. In the sixteenth century, lute music was highly prized in the courts of Europe and lutenists earned handsome sums.</p><br><p>In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Suzannah Lipscomb talks to leading lutenist and musicologist Dr. Lynda Sayce, to explore and hear the lute, how it evolved in different countries, and its cultural importance.</p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

In the late 16th century, a group of London merchants petitioned Queen Elizabeth I to allow them to build English trade in Asia. She granted a charter in 1600 to support the English East India Company for 15 years, which King James I later turned into rights and perpetuity. In this edition of <em>Not Just the Tudors</em>, Suzannah Lipscomb talks to historian Dr David Veevers from Queen Mary University of London about his exciting research into the origins of the English - later British - East India Company, which casts a new light on the story of the British in India, especially how the later dominance of the Empire was by no means guaranteed in its earliest days. <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>Anne Boleyn has been trending on Twitter after it was announced that secret inscriptions were found hidden in the <em>Book of Hours</em> that she took to her execution. They were discovered by Kate McCaffrey who talks to Suzannah in this special to mark the 485th anniversary of Anne Boleyn's death, on 19 May 1536.</p><br><p>Also in this episode, Suzannah goes to Anne's childhood home of Hever Castle in Kent to meet Dr.Owen Emmerson and delves deep into Anne’s family background with Dr. Lauren MacKay.</p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>In the first of two special podcasts to mark the 485th anniversary of Anne Boleyn's death, Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by a panel of experts to discuss the enduring fascination with Anne's life and demise.</p><br><p>Exploring the different perceptions of Anne and her re-creation through her many afterlives are authors Claire Ridgway and Natalie Grueninger, historian Dr. Stephanie Russo and art historian Roland Hui.</p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

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 <em>Not Just the Tudors</em>, Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Nadine Akkerman, author of <em>Invisible Agents: Women and Espionage in Seventeenth-Century Britain</em> to talk about her fascinating quest to unearth the plots and conspiracies involving women spies that have been forgotten by history. <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

The Tudors loved a good banquet, to show off their wealth and social status. Guests were plied with the most superb food, made from the most expensive ingredients and displayed in the most outrageous way. Professor Suzannah Lipscomb meets Brigitte Webster to find out more about what the Tudors served at their banquets, how these feasts influenced the habits of the time, and how the availability of sugar - which was thought of as a medicine - transformed their lives (and their dental health!) <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

What we know about the Aztecs of Mexico often comes from the accounts of their Spanish conquerors. But the Aztec culture was far more sophisticated than the European invaders chose to portray. In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr Caroline Dodds Pennock about the real reasons behind Aztec ritual sacrifice and cannibalism, and their com beliefs about the afterlife, childbirth, gender roles and sexual norms. <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

John Lyly's name may not be so familiar. He was a playwright and poet writing at the same time as Shakespeare and, in his day, was more famous than the Bard himself. Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr Andy Kesson about Lyly's radical and, frankly, queer works: his plays in which Queen Elizabeth was compared - at court! - to the lesbian poet Sappho, and in which the marriage of two girls dressed as boys is approved by Venus, goddess of love. Why has Lyly been forgotten? And why might he just be the alternative Shakespeare for our times? <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

In the heart of Shakespeare's London, there was a palace that had become a prison: Bridewell. Professor Duncan Salkeld has explored the records of this notorious destination for the poor and the indigent, vagrants, prostitutes, and the idle. In this episodes of Not Just the Tudors, he shares with Professor Suzannah Lipscomb his fascinating findings about the wayward and the unruly . These include 'Black Luce', a brothel madam probably of African heritage, who has been suggested as a candidate for the 'dark lady' of Shakespeare's sonnets. <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

Venetian ambassador Sebastian Giustinian described Henry VIII as the 'best dressed sovereign in the world'. The King spent the equivalent of £2 million a year on clothes. In this episode with Professor Maria Hayward, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb gets to grips with the sumptuous garments, the fabrics (and exaggerated codpieces) that made up the Tudor king's wonderous wardrobe. <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Laura Cumming - author and art critic for The Observer - about Velázquez, arguably the greatest genius of Spanish painting. They particularly discuss one of the world's most remarkable paintings - Las Meninas ('The Ladies in Waiting'), how the artist rose through the stifling, gilded court of Philip IV, and the way in which Velázquez dignified everyone he painted - from the King himself through to some of the most vulnerable members of his court. <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

The witch-hunts of sixteenth and seventeenth century Europe are well-known. But did you know that some 300 people were convicted of being werewolves? In this revelatory podcast with Dr. Jan Machielsen, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb travels back to 1603 to find out more about the moving case of Jean Grenier, a self-confessed teenage werewolf from the Basque region of France. Who was he? And what were the tragic circumstances that led to his conviction? <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>