Diane de Poitiers is famous in French history for the scandalous age gap she had with King Henry II of France, the man with whom she shared an intimate relationship for most of the king's life. But her relationship with him was far more influential than many people realized, and she redefined power on her own terms... while she had it.

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Wherever Sioux singer D.Z. Ironwing performed in New York, the same woman was waiting afterward to say she loved his voice. Seven years later, his phone rang in a freezing South Dakota trailer. It was her — the first of countless calls that began an unlikely bond with one of America’s richest families.

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When Puyi was a child, he became Emperor of China. But when China became a republic, he and his court remained in the Forbidden Kingdom, a tiny world of ritual with no power, Dana is joined by historian Paul French to discuss his new book.

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Double, double, toil and trouble... Almost everyone has heard of Macbeth, in the context of Shakespeare's famous play. But Macbeth was also a real king, and Shakespeare wrote about him for a very specific reason.

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When the childless King Henry III's brother died, the heir to the throne became a cousin from the Bourbon dynasty. There was only one problem: he wasn't Catholic. 

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How does a queen show her power through her clothing? In her book DRESSING THE QUEEN, historian Kate Strasdin traces two hundred years of the most important garments that a royal can wear.

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When she was still a child, Margaret Tudor, sister of the future King Henry VIII, was married to the King of Scotland. But it wouldn't be until her husband's death that Margaret would face the greatest challenges of her life during her regency.

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During Henry VIII's reign, his dynasty was looking shaky: he had only one son, and if Henry died before his heir came of age, the country would be in danger of a civil war. Worse, there were still heirs to the York family in England, possibly plotting against him...

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In 1077, the King of Germany and future Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV walked barefoot in the snow and waited three days outside of Canossa Castle. He had been excommunicated by the Pope and was hoping to appeal to the Pope's sense of forgiveness. But the Pope was only at Canossa Castle himself because he was being hosted by Matilda of Tuscany, a fascinating figure at the heart of one of the most famous religious episodes in history.

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In the reign of Henry VIII, religion in England became a minefield of confusing and shifting doctrine. Anne Askew, the daughter of a well-connected courtier, preached her interpretation of the Bible. Her punishment was more a matter of politics than of doctrine. 

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In the new film Uprising, a ploughman played by Andrew Garfield joins in the 1381 Peasants' Revolt against Richard II of England. Historian Dan Jones served as the medieval consultant on the film, and joins us to discuss the movie, and his upcoming book, CASTLES.

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