Episodes

  • Controversy – Oliver Cromwell in Ireland (1649-1650)

    Controversy – Oliver Cromwell in Ireland (1649-1650)
    Nov 22 2024
    In just 40 weeks Oliver Cromwell ruthlessly subdued Ireland in a bloody and ruthless campaign which still casts a shadow over the remembrance of one of the most famous – or infamous – figures in British history. This campaign continues to be bitterly argued over by historians and politicians today. When he arrived on 15th ... Read more
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    40 mins
  • Living through civil war sieges in Newark – the civilian experience

    Living through civil war sieges in Newark – the civilian experience
    Nov 15 2024
    In the seventeenth century the market town of Newark sat at the lowest bridging point across the River Trent astride the Great North Road which linked London with the north and Scotland. Unsurprisingly, control of this town became a strategic objective for both sides during First Civil War. Besieged not once but three times, by ... Read more
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    31 mins
  • Witch-hunting in revolutionary England

    Witch-hunting in revolutionary England
    Nov 8 2024
    While witch-hunting and witch trials here in England never reached the levels reported in Europe, they were at their highest against the background of the turmoil of the 1640s. This was the time of the notorious Witch-finder General, Matthew Hopkins (1620-1647) and his associates, including John Stearne (1610-1670). These men operated in East Anglia, an ... Read more
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    41 mins
  • The Civil War Memorials Project – Battlefields Trust

    The Civil War Memorials Project – Battlefields Trust
    Nov 1 2024
    Memorials of conflicts that have occurred since the nineteenth century are commonplace around the country. Most cities, towns and villages contain some form of physical structure dedicated to the memory of former inhabitants who gave their lives in service, especially those who fought during the First and Second World Wars. But did those who lived ... Read more
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    27 mins
  • The last days of the Republic – The return of the King – Part 2

    The last days of the Republic – The return of the King – Part 2
    Oct 25 2024
    This is the second programme in our two-part series asking why England’s only experiment with Republicanism spectacularly disintegrated within a few months of the death of Oliver Cromwell, the first Lord Protector? You will hear from author and historian, Dr Henry Reece, Emeritus Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford, that the return of Charles II was ... Read more
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    37 mins
  • The last days of the Republic – The fall of Richard Cromwell – Part 1

    The last days of the Republic – The fall of Richard Cromwell – Part 1
    Oct 18 2024
    This programme is the first of a two-part series telling the story of the turbulence and upheaval that followed the death of Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell on 3rd September 1658 and which ended in the return of the monarch, Charles II, to London on 8th May 1660. In this episode we learn about the fall ... Read more
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    36 mins
  • The importance of radicalism in the 1640s

    The importance of radicalism in the 1640s
    Oct 16 2024
    Over the last decade, extensive research conducted by academic historians in universities in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland has significantly expanded our knowledge of the origins, conducts and consequences of the British and Irish Civil Wars. As a result, attitudes and perceptions of this critically important period of history are continuously evolving. This presents a ... Read more
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    43 mins
  • New understandings of Charles I kingship

    New understandings of Charles I kingship
    Oct 16 2024
    Over the last decade, extensive research conducted by academic historians in universities in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland has significantly expanded our knowledge of the origins, conducts and consequences of the British and Irish Civil Wars. As a result, attitudes and perceptions of this critically important period of history are continuously evolving. This presents a ... Read more
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    47 mins