Colonisation of the Chesapeake would be driven by its climate and its most successful crop - tobacco, defining the social structure of the colonists and the society they would form, and the impact they would have on the indigenous peoples.
'By what right?' In this episode we think about how the early English colonisers viewed their Westward Enterprise, and legitimised their activities. And then turn to the region Eric Williams described as 'The Hub of Empire'. The Caribbean.
The 1630's saw an acceleration of English colonisation in the Americas. What cultures and peoples will they meet when they get there? A horribly brief survey of cultures north of the Rio Grande before the English came.
With Parliament banished, there was little restraint on Laud and Charles to implement the reforms they felt were needed to improve the quality of religious observations and the spiritual wealth of all English. Not everyone would approve their efforts.
In 1637 Charles sought an example to squash opposition to Ship Money, and chose a minor country squire. John Hampden refused to back down.
This 2018 film directed by Yorgos Lanthimos is a glorious tragi-comedy about the lives of three women - Queen Anne, Sarah Churchill and Abigail Hill. It travels the full spectrum from barking mad to genuinely moving. It is a blast.
Henry Stuart’s death as eldest so and heir of James I & VI Henry gives us one of those great ‘what if?’ moments in history, like the death of ArthurRead More
Charles had done the right thing of we wanted to avoid parliaments - reducing costs by making peace. But, how was he to raise money to clear that £2m debt? Well, two words came in to play - many, and various.
Released in 1963 The Great Escape has got to be one of the definitive tales of derring-do, the ultimate escapism, in the 'film is fun' genre. What role would you have had if you had been there?
Relationships with the other kingdoms was definitely the royal preserve. But policy options might vary, from favouring the desires of his protestant subjects, to the Spanish faction on the privy Council. But his clout was always hampered by the poor state of the Royal Navy
I remember back in 1981 this film was a sensation; we were all running around on beaches in slo-mo. Has it stood the test of time, though, and is it any more than a bit of fluff?
Charles was determined to run his court completely differently to his father. Controlled, regulated, ordered; an example of a warm, loving and enlightened household that would prove an example of the majesty and stability of his reign.
Edward I’s Jewel house was a thick walled, impregnable fortress to keep the king’s treasure safe. But some of his less salubrious and loyal subjects had an idea that maybeRead More
Jane Campion's Bright Star was released in 2009 and featured on the lives of Fanny Browne and John Keats in the last years of Keat's life. Abbie Cornish and Ben Wishaw do a brilliant job of recreating their lives
Was it an 'Eleven years tyranny' or 'Halcyon Days' that followed 1629? Either way, foreign ambassadors were not hopeful of England's future. But Charles first priority was to reduce the Vipers of parliament to submission.
New wine? Or old wine in new bottles?
Dramatic events in 1628 - a horrible murder, and one of the great set pieces of the English Revolution. Mayhem! Treason! Murder!
Ridley Scott's classic - is it, and were you entertained or did it unleash hell? Has it stood the test of time? And how well does the revenge format work? This and much more - and a discussion of the ubiquitous agricultural yield ratios.
As so often, war demands money, and in England, money meant parliament. So the outcome of 'The Favourites' War', Buckingham's attempt to relieve La Rochelle in 1627, would be critical.
The Lost King follows the remarkable story of Ricardian Phillipa Langley, whose steely determination and persistence led to the discovery of the body of Richard III and paints the academic community as determined to write out of the story.
The battle of Lutter in 1626 convinced Charles of the tearing need to intervene in the Thirty Years War in defence of hos sister Elizabeth's rights and in the cause of Protestantism. But the cupboard was bare - how to raise money? Without calling that pesky parliament!
A few, folks along with Dr Richard Grove and I had a chat one evening at the Queen’s Hotel in Cheltenham, with Norm serving everyone drinks. It was partRead More
The evil British oppressor Captain Russell - twiddly 'tache and all - forces the poor hapless (and stonkingly rich) Raja to impose the traditional tax, Lagaan threefold on the villagers unless they beat the English overlord at their weird game - Cricket (pre IPL days, obs). Find out what happens.
The 1626 parliament was opened by William Laud - not a good sign for the resolutely Calvinist parliament. Despite a remarkably positive response to the call for subsidies - their linkage to resolutions of grievances did not go down well with Charles
The 1967 film noir adaptation of Truman Capote's famous book, In Cold Blood tells of the gruesome story of the murders of the Clutter family. It used a quasi document style, and is not only strikingly filmed, but makes you ask why these people died. It won multiple nominations for
As the 1626 parliament opens, full of hope once more, we take a while to introduce William Laud, and discuss the idea that a theme of the English civil wars is an ideological struggle between lawyers and Arminian clerics
The reconvened parliament in Oxford went poor, and after a month Charles closed it down, and concentrated instead on the Spanish war. Surely, the recapturing the glory of Drake & Hawkins would relight Parliament's fire for war!
For Charles I, April to June 1625 was his like the honeymoon period given to new football managers - enthusiastic full of hope - and depressingly brief. The honeymoon period with his newly arrived wife Henrietta Maria, was similarly brief.
Rob Roy is a 1995 film telling a story of a Highland clan chief Rob Roy McGregor played by Liam Neeson; Jessica :Lange, John Hurt, Tim Roth, Brian Cox are superb. The best film about scotland in 1995 for sure.
In March 1625 Charles came into his inheritance on the death of his father. Was it a poison chalice or the holy grail? What sort of man accepted the chalice and duty and would place his hands on the tillers of the Three Kingdoms?
From the Ulster plantations to the Kinghts Adventurers
Cromwell was a 1970 film starring Richard Harris as the eponymous, and Alec Guiness as Charles I. Massive in scale and ambition, in its attempt to present Oliver as a democratic hero of the people. Does it manage it?
The Elizabeth and Jacobean age was a time of social mores and the way England was ruled - and the great medieval household withered away. To leave something smaller, more symmetrical - and of extraordinary beauty. And then there's also Little Moreton Hall, a gentry interpretation of the Great Rebuilding.
Somewhere in the 16th and 17th centuries, ordinary people started building differently - private buildings, public buildings. They used brick, glass, decoration and portraiture; and it wasn't just the aristocracy; Yeomen, merchants, towns, husbandmen. The historian W G Hoskins gave it a name - the Great Rebuilding
Well this is exciting! The English Revolution. A title which is controversial, and a historiography which is bigger than the eponymous crocodile.
David Perkins of King's School Canterbury joins me to talk about Ladybird, its histories, and the life of Lawrence du Garde Peach, their main author.
Playwrights and the Sirenicals of Jacobean England, the experience of going to see the plays and the Crystal Mirror of renaissance drama.
The University Wits was a term invented by Saintsbury for a group of 6 Elizabethan playwrights. They were not consciously a coherent group but part of a vibrant society of playwrights, actors and writers who made English theatre shine.
The first of three celebratory episodes about English Renaissance Theatre! Talking about dramatic tradition and the new playhouses that begin to appear in London – and the horrifiedRead More
In 1775 American Rebels occupied Montreal, as the first step to plucking the ripe fruit of British North America and adding it to the portfolio of the nascent United States.Read More
While The Buck and Baby Charles warmed themselves on the unfamiliar fires of popularity in their search for war, James was fading. At Theobalds in March 1625 his reign finallyRead More
The identity of Mr Wiat’s mysterious traveler is revealed, and London goes potty. Buckingham is confirmed as the Prince’s favourite as well as the king’s – and there’s troubleRead More
England and Wales have extensive networks of rights of way over private land, and some remaining common land – private land over which the public have rights. Where did theyRead More
In March 1623 Simon Digby noticed two suspicious looking blokes with dodgy beards hanging around outside his uncle’s house in Madrid. He rushed over to find out what they wereRead More
In 1621 James tried to tread a narrow path to peace in Europe – through the instrument of a Marriage between the England and Spanish royal families. To have aRead More
As Buckingham acquires wealth and influence, the English court is rocked by an event in far-off Bohemia that will result in devastation throughout Europe. Also there is news ofRead More
We follow James north to Scotland, a visit with consequences. And on the way south, hear about the culture wars – and the Book of Sports. Then we celebrate, aRead More
James VI & I had enjoyed favourites before – Esme Stuart, Robert Kerr for example. But George Villiers was to prove his favourite And we introduce the finelyRead More
The Jacobean plan for Ulster owed much not only to previous failed Tudor plantation schemes, but to James’s highland experience and his desire to build a unified, secure BritishRead More
The end of the honeymoon, court scandal and the death of a prince
