Not Just the Tudors

During a time of increasing religious and political conflict, Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s paintings portrayed work and pleasure, rituals and festivals of peasant life, and biblical scenes - all in startling detail. Inspired by humanist principles, Bruegel’s art questioned how well we know ourselves, often representing our ignorance and insignificance, the futility of ambition and the absurdity of pride.In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Professor Elizabeth Honig, author of Pieter Bruegel and the Idea of Human Nature, to explore further how Bruegel’s art and ideas enable people to ponder what it means to be human. This episode was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg.For more Not Just The Tudors content, subscribe to our Tudor Tuesday newsletter here.If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download, go to Android or Apple store 

In the 17th Century, people experienced major social and economic problems that intertwined with religious disagreements and political debates. The turbulence led to civil war, the execution of King Charles I and a failed experiment with Republicanism. But what led Britain into this world turned upside down? And was the society that was delivered a better one than the one before?In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr. Jonathan Healey - author of The Blazing World: A New History of Revolutionary England - about what we can learn from the lives of ordinary people about the fears and worries that drove them to radical action.This episode was edited by Stuart Beckwith and produced by Elena Guthrie and Rob Weinberg.For more Not Just The Tudors content, subscribe to our Tudor Tuesday newsletter here.If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download, go to Android or Apple store

For centuries, the name of an accomplished and popular portrait painter in the court of Elizabeth I has remained unknown. The renowned art historian Sir Roy Strong dubbed this artist the ‘Master of the Countess of Warwick’ but his identity has remained a mystery - until now. A fascinating new exhibition presents his works side-by-side - and it proposes a name for this mysterious artist.In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb visits the exhibition at Compton Verney in Warwickshire to meet curator Amy Orrock and to find out more about the work - and probable life - of a great, forgotten painter.This episode was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg.For more Not Just The Tudors content, subscribe to our Tudor Tuesday newsletter here.If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download, go to Android or Apple store