Kings and peoples

This lecture asks what weapons people owned in Henry VIII's England and whether they knew how to use them, some of its evidence drawn from coroners' inquests into accidents with bows, guns and swords. Exhortations to manly valour egged soldiers on to fight, but as in most wars be ... Show More

This lecture examines war and the economy in Henry VIII's England: heavy taxation and disrupted trade threatened recession. But, arms traders, fortification builders, privateers and those who raided the Scots for their livestock, often with names familiar to followers of North-Ea ... Show More

This lecture explores how military service related to the social power and self-image of lords and gentlemen in Henry VIII's England. While contemporaries complained that they were giving up the knightly ways of their forebears, many still valued their martial honour and found a ... Show More

What war? 

In this lecture, Fr. Michael Ward surveys Lewis’s various approaches to war: the ways he found to cope with it and learn from it, and the virtues and vices that he thought it tended to prompt. 

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the history and philosophy of warfare. The British historian Edward Gibbon wrote: “Every age, however destitute of science or virtue, sufficiently abounds with acts of blood and military renown.” War, it seems, is one of mankind’s most constant com ... Show More

<p><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">A brief description of the soldiers who fought in the English Civil Wars. </span></p> 

Historian Margaret MacMillan asks why both men and women go to war. "We are both fascinated and repulsed by war and those who fight," she says. In this lecture, recorded at York University, she explores looks at the role of the warrior in history and culture and analyses how warr ... Show More

Over 100 years of conflict, two warring nations, five monarchs on either side and countless casualties in a dispute over claims to the throne: in this episode, <a href="https://podfollow.com/gone-medieval/view" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Gone Medieval's</a> Matt Le ... Show More

Description: Could militaries separated by ten centuries compete on a battlefield? In this alternative history experiment two armies that successfully invaded Britain a millennium apart are matched. Which side would you bet on? Show Notes: 1. The Landmark Julius Caesar: The Compl ... Show More

What drove men to volunteer to fight during World War One? What drove them to the edge of sanity when they got there? 

What sparks a nation to turn against its own king? Professor Suzannah Lipscomb dives into the turbulent and transformative decade that witnessed the English Civil Wars — a bloody clash that claimed nearly 185,000 lives and reshaped the very soul of Britain. From the power struggl ... Show More