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 king ...Show more
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 Sac ...Show more
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 ...Show more
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 murde ...Show more
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 succes ...Show more