How did a teenage rebel become Scotland’s king, and rule a realm riven by feuds and shifting loyalties? James IV balanced chivalry, diplomacy, and danger, yet led his country to catastrophe.

Professor Suzannah Lipscomb and Prof. Michael Brown explore how James transformed himself into the most remarkable Renaissance monarch.

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Henry VIII's Sister, Margaret Queen of Scots

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How to Kill a Scottish Witch

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Presented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Max Wintle, audio editor is Amy Haddow and the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.

Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcast

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week, plus early access ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

**Warning: Contains graphic description of the mutilation of corpses**

In April 1617, Concino Concini, Marshal of France, was shot dead as he entered the Louvre. But his murder was only the beginning of a terrifying chain of events.

How did the assassination of this hated royal favourite unleash mob violence, propaganda and a new political order? And what fate awaited the woman blamed for bending France to a foreigner’s will?

Professor Suzannah Lipscomb and Dr Una McIlvenna explore scandal, misogyny and print culture in a moment when violence remade the French monarchy.

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True Crime: Murder in Renaissance Rome

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Rise of the Medici

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Presented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Max Wintle, audio editor is Amy Haddow and the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.

Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcast

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What did it mean to be English when merchants, sailors, captives, diplomats, and migrants were constantly crossing borders?

Pirates, a Kentish man becoming a Samurai and a king on the warpath; Professor Suzannah Lipscomb and Professor Nandini Das trace tales of reinvention, danger and belonging in this exciting, hugely changing world.

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England’s First Ambassador to India: Thomas Roe

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Giordano Bruno: Mystic, Heretic, Spy

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Presented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Max Wintle, audio editor is Amy Haddow and the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.

Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcast

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week, plus early access, ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How did Sir Christopher Hatton became one of Elizabeth I’s favourites? How true were the rumours that they were lovers?

After catching the Queen's eye in 1561, Hatton was quickly promoted to the Privy Council, making a significant impact on Elizabeth's complex religious policy. Yet he has often been overshadowed by her other favourites like Dudley, Cecil and Walsingham.

In the final episode of our series on Royal Favourites, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out more about Hatton’s rise from minor gentry to Elizabeth I's closest aide from Dr. Neil Younger.

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Young Elizabeth I

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Plots against Elizabeth I

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Presented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. Edited and produced by Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.

Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcast

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week, plus ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if the medieval world did not end with a bang, but with a messy argument over who gets to define history itself? Professor Suzannah Lipscomb spars with Gone Medieval's host Matt Lewis over Gutenberg, the Reformation, witchcraft, plague, the Renaissance, and the Wars of the Roses to ask where medieval ends and early modern begins. The result is a lively, surprising fight over power, change, and the making of the modern world.

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Mother of All Tudors: Margaret Beaufort

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Henry VII

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Presented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Max Wintle, audio editor is Amy Haddow and the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.

Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcast

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How did Sarah Churchill become the most powerful woman in Queen Anne’s court? What happens when a royal friendship turns into a political battlefield? How did one absent set of jewels signal the beginning of the end?

Professor Suzannah Lipscomb continues her series on royal favourites with the extraordinary story of Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough — the intimate friend, political operator and fierce chronicler whose influence shaped Queen Anne’s reign and who refused to go quietly.

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Queen Anne: The Last Stuart Monarch

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Sister Queens: Mary II and Anne

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Presented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Max Wintle, audio editor is Amy Haddow and the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.

Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcast

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How did Louis XIV use his day-to-day life, especially his marriage, to help create the mythology of the Sun King as semi-divine, radiant and unrivalled?

In 17th-century France, monarchy was performed, witnessed, and widely circulated. Using portraits, medals, sculptures and official pamphlets, Louis XIV meticulously constructed his own image, appearing as Apollo, Jupiter, Hercules, Neptune, a Roman emperor, and even as the sun itself. Professor Suzannah Lipscomb and Dr. Abby Zanger explore the Sun King's carefully staged world.

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Marie Antoinette

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Montaigne: Philosopher of the French Renaissance

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Presented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Max Wintle, audio editor is Amy Haddow and the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.

Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcast

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How did a relatively humble gentleman become the most powerful man in Stuart England?

Few figures embodied the glamour and instability of the Jacobean court more completely than George Villiers, who rose to become one of the most influential men in England. To some he was charismatic, brilliant, and irresistible; to others, he was reckless, arrogant, and dangerously powerful.

In the second episode of our series on Royal Favourites, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb explores the extraordinary rise and dramatic fall of George Villiers with his biographer Lucy Hughes-Hallett.

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Private Life of King James VI & I

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What if Guy Fawkes had succeeded?

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Presented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Max Wintle, audio editor is Amy Haddow and the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.

Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcast

Want to find out even more about what it takes to become a royal favourite? Sign up to History Hit and climb under the sheets and into the arms of the first Stuart King of England, James I and VI of Scotland. Dr Kate Lister is walking in George’s footsteps and investigating how you catch the king's eye, fight your way to the top...and stay there! Sign up for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week, at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.