How Catherine of Aragon Learnt to be Queen

Tobacco, sugar, rum, cotton, rubber, tea, coffee, spices, industry, borders, slavery, war - all things spread across the globe thanks to the British Empire. At its height in 1922, it was the largest empire the world had ever seen, covering around a quarter of Earth's land surface ...  Show more

Appointed by the Romans as king of Judaea, King Herod's reign was defined by great architectural projects and canny diplomacy. But he could also be cruel and paranoid, with scandal and family intrigue marring his rule. King Herod even appears as an unlikely and unlikeable charact ...  Show more

In preparation for International Women's Day this Wednesday, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb takes a look at a Queen whose reputation has largely been shaped by her husband's midlife crisis. History does not see much further than Katherine of Aragon's so-called failure to provide ...

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life, times and influence of Eleanor of Aquitaine (c1122-1204) who was one of the most powerful women in Twelfth Century Europe, possibly in the entire Middle Ages. She inherited land from the Loire down to the Pyrenees, about a third of modern ...  Show more

In a programme first broadcast in 2017, Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the history of Mary, Queen of Scots, who had potential to be one of the most powerful rulers in Europe, yet she was also one of the most vulnerable. In France, when she was the teenage bride to their future k ...  Show more

Queen Elizabeth I is easily one of England's most celebrated monarchs. The so-called "virgin queen" has been credited with leading England through a golden age. However, she is also the subject of countless historical myths and conspiracy theories. This week we unpack the scandal ...  Show more