Tudor

Sir John Seymour: Protector of the Realm

William Seymour introduces Sir John Seymour; an uncle of the King, and a favourite of the late Henry VIII, Somerset had an amiable character not strong enough for perilous mid-Tudor times.

Tudor Antiquaries

Joseph M. Levine introduces the modern historians' forerunners; the men who invented the techniques and defined the problems of studying the past.

Nonsuch Palace

Martin Biddle visits Nonsuch, a magnificent combination of French Renaissance decoration, with English late Gothic design, built by Henry VIII in a spirit of rivalry with Francis I of France.

Thomas Cromwell

The ‘moving spirit’ of the English Reformation was a skilful and far-sighted statesman, writes Geoffrey Elton

King Henry's Niece

Lady Margaret Douglas, a favourite of Henry VIII, negotiated the shady politics and shifting alliances of the courts of four Tudor monarchs. Leanda de Lisle tells the story of the ‘progenitor of princes’, whose grandson, James VI of Scotland, became the first Stuart king of England.