Not Just the Tudors

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Tudors in Love Jan 01, 2024

Show notes

From Henry VIII declaring himself as the ‘loyal and most assured servant’ of Anne Boleyn to the poems lavished on Elizabeth I by her suitors, the dramas of courtly love have captivated readers and dreamers for centuries.

In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, first released in September 2021, Sarah Gristwood tells Professor Suzannah Lipscomb how the Tudors actually re-enacted the roles of the devoted lovers and capricious mistresses first laid out in the romances of medieval literature - romantic obsessions that shaped the history of Britain.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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The Black Medici Prince of Florence Dec 28, 2023

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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.

In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, first released in August 2021, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Professor Catherine Fletcher, author of The Black Prince of Florence, about one man's spectacular rise to power against the odds, and his violent demise.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Tudor Ghosts and Angels Dec 21, 2023

Show notes

To this day, the presence of angels is synonymous with the Christmas story and the momentous events associated with the Nativity. For the Tudors and Stuarts, widespread belief in angels brought a touch of the miraculous to life, but so too did ghosts, although it was sometimes hard to distinguish them from angels - or demons.

In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, first released on 23 December 2021, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb summons up the spirits of times past with historian Dr Laura Sangha, an expert in the beliefs associated with the supernatural in the early modern period.

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How the Elizabethan World Shaped Shakespeare Dec 18, 2023

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We think of Shakespeare as a man out of time. His stories and characters, his capturing of human nature, and his exquisite use of language, continue to speak to us today - and will endure for the centuries to come. But he was born in a rural market town in the early years of Elizabeth I's reign, and was formed by the social, religious, and political worldview of the period.

In this special episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb reflects on the world that shaped Shakespeare and its concerns that seeped into his timeless plays.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Origins of Pantomime Dec 14, 2023

Show notes

Have you ever wondered how and where our Christmas tradition of pantomime originated?

In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out from Dr. Oliver Crick, who traces pantomime’s origins to Commedia dell’arte - Italian travelling players who adapted their performances to other cultures and senses of humour.

This episode was edited by Joseph Knight and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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How the Reformation Changed Music Dec 11, 2023

Show notes

The Coventry Carol and In Dulci Jubilo are songs that are still sung at this time of the year. Curiously, despite their medieval roots, these tunes remained popular throughout Protestant Elizabethan England, a period when there was a complete overhaul of music in church and what it was expected to do.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr Jonathan Willis to explore the complex effects of the Reformation on music in England.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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The Tudors' Portrait Artist: Holbein Dec 07, 2023

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How we visualise the Tudors largely comes from their portraits painted by Hans Holbein the Younger. Between 1526 and 1543, he captured the elite of the Tudor court and beyond - Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Thomas Cromwell, politicians, courtiers, soldiers and countless others.

Every Holbein portrait seems to have begun with a drawing taken at a live sitting. An exhibition of these drawings in now on at Buckingham Palace and allows us to see Holbein’s process at work.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb tours the exhibition with its curator Dr. Kate Heard and art historian Dr. Elizabeth Goldring.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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3 Ways to Die in Early Modern Europe Dec 04, 2023

Show notes

Life in the 16th and 17th centuries was brutal - the development of warfare technology made conflicts catastrophic for civilians as well as soldiers, there were regular epidemics, and famines both man-made and natural.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb meets Professor Ole Peter Grell, who co-wrote The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Religion, War, Famine and Death in Reformation Europe with Dr. Andrew Cunningham. Today's discussion focuses on just three of the four horsemen: the red horse of war, the black horse of famine, and the pale horse of death and disease.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Montaigne: Philosopher of the French Renaissance Nov 30, 2023

Show notes

Centuries before Proust's Remembrance of Things Past took us on a tour of memory and James Joyce played with stream of consciousness, a 16th century nobleman - Michel de Montaigne - developed a wholly new style of reflective prose that examined his place in the world. His thoughts, questions and worries appear on the page as though they are your own, at once intensely personal to his own life yet somehow universal.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks about the enduring legacy of the essays of Montaigne with Sarah Bakewell, author of How to Live, or a life of Montaigne in one question and twenty attempts at an answer.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Saving Henry VIII's Lost Tapestry Nov 26, 2023

Show notes

For the Tudors, tapestries not only brought warmth and colour to a room, but they were magnificent demonstrations of artistic skill and of moral messages. A campaign is now under way to save a vast golden tapestry – Saint Paul Directing the Burning of the Heathen Books - personally commissioned by Henry VIII around 1535, at the time he broke with Rome. If the campaign is successful, the tapestry will go on display to the public in the Faith Museum, Bishop Auckland in County Durham, in Spring 2024.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Sutherland Forsyth and Claire Barron from the Auckland Project, who are spearheading the campaign to try and save this precious, glorious tapestry for the nation.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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