The last Queen of France before the French Revolution, Marie Antoinette is best known today for her extravagant lifestyle and controversial legacy. Initially admired for her grace and charm, as revolutionary fervour gripped her adopted homeland, she became a symbol of royal excess, and a lightning rod for public resentment.
But did she truly deserve her ... Show More
Jul 2024
475. The French Revolution: Marie Antoinette (Part 1)
The French Revolution is one of the great seismic events of global history. A devouring conflagration of bloodshed, violence and utopianism, it changed France and then latterly the whole of Europe forever. Yet, amidst the panoply of colossal, colourful names that defined this cat ... Show More
55m 51s
Oct 2024
Marie Antoinette: The Cake-Loving Queen
<p>Today, we’ll study someone who was both a cause and a victim of the French Revolution: the cake-promoting queen, Marie Antoinette.</p><br><p>In <em>Assassin’s Creed Unity</em>, we glimpse Marie Antoinette living the high-life while the poor people of Paris starve. By walking t ... Show More
44m 21s
Jul 2024
476. The French Revolution: The Diamond Necklace Scandal (Part 2)
In August 1785 a shocking affair came to light which would prove so detrimental to the reputation and standing of the French King Louis XVI, and more especially his already unpopular wife, Queen Marie Antoinette, that it would become a decisive moment in the rising tide of the Fr ... Show More
51m 58s
Mar 2025
Aphra Behn: Revolutionary, Author, Spy
<p>Aphra Behn was a true original. Not only was she the first woman to earn a living by writing, she was also a spy, a political propagandist and a revolutionary. Publicly she was all brash sexuality and outspoken politics, but what is known about the woman beneath? Professor ... Show More
40m 26s
Aug 2024
Catherine de' Medici, Serpent Queen
<p>Queen Consort of France and mother to three successive Kings, Catherine de’ Medici's legacy could have been one of intelligence, fortitude, artistic patronage and religious moderation. But instead, as with so many women in positions of power, Catherine's life and actions have ... Show More
39m 58s
Jul 2024
Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen of Great Britain & Ireland
Queen Charlotte went from minor German country gentry to Queen Consort of Great Britain and Ireland. She and George III had a happy marriage and an astonishing 15 children. Charlotte stayed out of politics as her husband lost the American revolution, and she lost her dear friend, ... Show More
33m 45s