• 1 hour 1 minute
    James V: Scotland's Ambitious Renaissance King

    Was James V of Scotland a beleaguered child king or a brilliant Renaissance ruler who mastered the performance of power?

    Crowned before his second birthday, James curbed powerful magnates, strengthened royal authority and secured Scotland’s place in Europe, holding together a kingdom threatened by faction, England and religious upheaval.

    Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Dr Amy Blakeway to reassess a monarch who navigated politics, diplomacy and danger, while presiding over a dazzling court that embraced ceremony, humanist learning and spectacle.


    MORE


    Rise & Fall of James IV of Scotland

    Listen on Apple

    Listen on Spotify


    Private Life of King James VI & I

    Listen on Apple

    Listen on Spotify


    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

    History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™



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

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

    20 August 2026, 2:00 am
  • 48 minutes 11 seconds
    True Crime: Mass Murderering Artist Cellini

    How did a murderous, swaggering, wildly unreliable goldsmith become one of the most celebrated artists of the 16th century? Does genius excuse monstrous behaviour?

    Benvenuto Cellini's story is as shocking as it is dazzling, taking him from the bloody streets of Florence to the Sack of Rome, papal prisons, accusations of sodomy, spectacular jailbreaks and timeless artistic masterpieces.

    Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Dr. Noah Charney to explore Cellini's outrageous life.


    MORE

    Vasari: Inventor of Artistic Genius

    Listen on Apple

    Listen on Spotify


    Michelangelo

    Listen on Apple

    Listen on Spotify


    Presented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Max Wintle, 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 early access, ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe

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

    17 August 2026, 2:00 am
  • 40 minutes 35 seconds
    C.S. Lewis & Narnia: Renaissance Origins

    Why does C.S. Lewis's Narnia - with its images of winter, sacrifice, kingship and renewal - continue to resonate with generations of readers? How did Lewis weave Renaissance symbolism and Christian imagination into one of literature’s best-loved fantasy worlds?

    Lewis’s deceptively simple children’s stories were shaped by his scholarship in classics, literature and theology. Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Professor Alister McGrath, to uncover the intellectual and historical influences behind these much-loved books.


    MORE


    The Man who Wrote Robinson Crusoe

    Listen on Apple

    Listen on Spotify


    Jane Austen & the Reformation

    Listen on Apple

    Listen on Spotify


    Presented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Max Wintle, audio editor is Tim Arstall 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.

    13 August 2026, 2:00 am
  • 40 minutes 55 seconds
    The Star Chamber: Murder, Witch & Libel Trials

    What really happened inside England’s most feared court? Was the Star Chamber a sinister instrument of royal tyranny, or a vital route to justice for those ignored by ordinary law?

    From its rise under Henry VII to its abolition in 1641, the Star Chamber heard cases involving murder, witchcraft, libel, corruption, riots, political dissent and scandalous family feuds.

    Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Dr. Daniel Gosling to explore the dramatic history of one of the most controversial institutions in Tudor and Stuart England.


    MORE

    Ireland's Witchcraft Trials

    Listen on Apple

    Listen on Spotify


    Trial of Charles I

    Listen on Apple

    Listen on Spotify


    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 ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe


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

    10 August 2026, 2:00 am
  • 38 minutes 48 seconds
    William Cecil: The Power Behind Elizabeth I

    Who really ruled Elizabethan England?

    For almost four decades, William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, guided Queen Elizabeth I through religious turmoil, assassination plots, the threat of the Spanish Armada, the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the unresolved question of succession.

    Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Jon Culverhouse to explore the life and legacy of the meticulous, fiercely Protestant statesman who became the indispensable power behind the Tudor throne.


    More

    Royal Favourites: Hatton, Elizabeth I's Favourite

    Listen on Apple

    Listen on Spotify


    Elizabeth I's Spymaster, Walsingham

    Listen on Apple

    Listen on Spotify


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

    Theme music from All3Media. Other 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.

    6 August 2026, 2:00 am
  • 52 minutes 52 seconds
    Witnesses to the French Revolution

    What was the French Revolution like for those who lived through it? What can private journals reveal that speeches, pamphlets and official records cannot?

    From the storming of the Bastille to the Terror and the guillotine, ordinary witnesses recorded the personal impact of 1789, political violence, revolutionary identity and everyday life in Paris.

    In this final episode of our mini-series on the French Revolution, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out more from historian Michaela Kalcher.


    More:


    French Revolution: Storming of the Bastille

    Listen on Apple

    Listen on Spotify


    Robespierre & Revolutionary Terror

    Listen on Apple

    Listen on Spotify


    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.

    3 August 2026, 2:00 am
  • 44 minutes 4 seconds
    New Discovery: Who Really Wrote Elizabeth I's Letters?

    Was Elizabeth I really as angry and bad tempered as history has always claimed? How did some of her most secret state letters come to be penned by a Spaniard, while England was at war with Spain?

    Professor Suzannah Lipscomb breaks the news of groundbreaking research that proves Elizabeth's secretaries - especially her 'spymaster' Francis Walsingham - put words into the Queen's mouth to amplify her tough image. Suzannah finds out more from Dr. Clodagh Murphy and Professor Nadine Akkerman.


    MORE


    Spycraft: From the Elizabethans to the Restoration

    Listen on Apple

    Listen on Spotify


    Plots against Elizabeth I

    Listen on Apple

    Listen on Spotify


    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, PLUS early access, ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe

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

    30 July 2026, 2:00 am
  • 1 hour 7 minutes
    Robespierre & Revolutionary Terror

    How did the French Revolution, built on liberty, become ruled by fear? And how did Robespierre - the man who had sent kings, nobles and priests to their deaths - himself end up beneath the blade of the guillotine?

    Professor Suzannah Lipscomb and Professor Marisa Linton explore the rise and fall of the lawyer, revolutionary, and architect of the Reign of Terror,


    MORE:

    Marguerite de Navarre: Mother of Renaissance France

    Listen on Apple

    Listen on Spotify


    True Crime: Medici Murder at the Louvre

    Listen on Apple

    Listen on Spotify


    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.

    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.

    27 July 2026, 2:00 am
  • 52 minutes 57 seconds
    How Protestants Justified Slavery

    Was the Protestant Reformation ever truly global? How did radical theology, empire, slavery and missionary ambition collide across the early modern world?

    The global spread of Christianity was marked by failure, compromise and moral evasion.

    Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Dr. Alec Ryrie to uncover the forgotten history of Protestant missions beyond Europe: from Lapland to Chile, from Barbados to Taiwan.


    MORE

    What did Henry VIII Believe?

    Listen on Apple

    Listen on Spotify


    Dissolution of the Monasteries

    Listen on Apple

    Listen on Spotify


    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.

    23 July 2026, 2:00 am
  • 54 minutes 52 seconds
    French Revolution: Storming of the Bastille

    What drove a hungry city to storm a fortress? How did the fall of the Bastille become the defining symbol of the French Revolution?

    In this second episode of our series, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb and Professor Marisa Linton visit Paris on the verge of revolt. Together they explore the build-up to the storming of the Bastille, one dramatic day which changed the heartbeat of the French Revolution.


    MORE


    Who Lit the French Revolution?

    Listen on Apple

    Listen on Spotify


    Marie Antoinette

    Listen on Apple

    Listen on Spotify


    Presented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Max Wintle, audio editor is Tim Arstall 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.

    20 July 2026, 2:00 am
  • 42 minutes 48 seconds
    True Crime: Murder & the Popish Plot

    Was a London magistrate, found dead in a ditch in 1678, the victim of a Catholic conspiracy, political convenience, or secrets too dangerous to survive? Why did Edmund Berry Godfrey's murder send England into hysteria?

    Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Dr. Andrea McKenzie to reopen the case. Drawing on newly deciphered letters, secret correspondence and neglected archives, they uncover a murky world of espionage, faction, coded messages and lethal knowledge, where truth itself became dangerously unstable.


    MORE

    Charles II: Restoration of the Monarchy

    Listen on Apple

    Listen on Spotify


    True Crime: The Lynching of the "Duke's Devil"

    Listen on Apple

    Listen on Spotify


    Presented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Max Wintle, 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 early access, ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe

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

    16 July 2026, 2:00 am
  • More Episodes? Get the App