Mary I: What if She'd Lived?

This episode contains discussions of sexual assault, violence and child abuse. Listener discretion is advised. How did the mob lynching of a notorious astrologer and occultist in June 1628 act as a grim prelude to the demise of King Charles I? Why did John Lambe - accused of witc ...  Show more

A king with unyielding faith. A nation on the brink. A crown lost to revolution.King James II is often dismissed as the unfortunate monarch swept aside by William and Mary. But behind the Glorious Revolution lies a story of ambition, devotion, and downfall more dramatic than lege ...  Show more

This is the story of the incredible rise and fall of Mary, Queen of Scots. She was queen of Scotland, she was queen of France, and she could have been queen of England. She led armies, lived as a fugitive, became embroiled in love affairs and spent nearly two decades in jail.< ...

Mary, Queen of Scots, returned to the news headlines when the rosary she carried to her execution in 1587, was recently stolen from Arundel Castle. It's the latest chapter in the enduring story of this highly romanticised figure.

Mary reigned over Scotland for just o ...

What does it take to get the reputation as one of the least popular queens in history?

Should we remember Henrietta Maria as the wife of the King executed by his subjects, the Catholic influencer and a serial adulterer? Or as a prankster, a patron of the arts and a m ...

What happens at a Roman emperor's dinner party? Why would you be lucky to get out alive? And how are emperors even chosen?

Joining Kate today is the one, the only Mary Beard, to take us back to Ancient Rome and help separate the facts from the myths.

Mary's ...