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In this episode of A History of Italy, we explore the extraordinary life of Isabella d’Este, one of the most influential women of the Italian Renaissance and arguably the closest thing the 15th and 16th centuries had to a modern celebrity influencer.Born into the powerful House o ...  Show more

When the president of the brand new Republic of Italy, Luigi Einaudi decides in 1946 he wants to exercise his right to select 5 illustrious Italians to be senators for life, one of his choices falls on world famous conductor Arturo Toscanini. The candidates, however, must have a ...  Show more

“Once more unto the breach, dear friends. Once more, we'll close the wall up with our English dead […] And upon this charge, cry God for Harry, England and St. George!” Such was Henry V’s call to arms at the siege of Harfleur, as written by Shakespeare. The son of the Usurper Kin ...  Show more

The episode covers 664 to 670 and the major characters are… King Oswiu, ruler of Northumbria, son of AEthelfrith, and all around terrifying fellow King Alhfrith of Deira, Oswiu’s son and one of his probable rivals Wilfrid, abbott of Ripon, guy who argued for Rome at Whitby, and a ...  Show more

Professor Suzannah Lipscomb kicks off four special episodes about the Tudor Dynasty with a look at its founding father King Henry VII. Seen as an exile and outsider with barely a claim to the throne, there was little to suggest that the obscure Henry would las ...

The Frankish king, Charlemagne the Great, is one of the titanic figures of European history, simultaneously renowned and shadowy. His rise to supreme power is a staggering story of warring religious empires, betrayal, battle, blindings and brutal conquest. How, then, did this one ...  Show more