Scotland

England has long been divided by an invisible line somewhere north of Watford and south of the Mersey. But do northerners really have more in common with Scots and Welsh people than their fellow E…

Something wicked this way comes. Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook take a deep dive into the real history of Scotland’s most notorious king. Was he really the murderous man of Shakespeare’s writing? P…

Does the Loch Ness Monster exist? When was the first mention of it recorded in history? And who are the people who have claimed to have seen it? Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss how a few 'sig…

Dynastic turmoil, inconvenient treaties with Scotland, tales of knights, longbows and the golden age of chivalry. In a time of chaos across Europe, England, a minor power of the time, takes on the mig…

"Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown…” Henry IV has been portrayed as both a shadowy, obscure figure, and a strong king who was loved by his people. Prior to ascending the throne, Henry, the s…

The year is 1403, and the Usurper King, Henry IV, faces a seemingly insurmountable challenge to his rule. He has been brought the news that his old friend, Harry “Hotspur” Percy, has betrayed him, and…

Where was Mary Queen of Scots - Elizabeth I’s most famous rival - born, and who were her parents? What was the nature of the turbulent politically and religiously divided world she was born into? How…

What was life like in the glittering French court, for the young and newly married Mary Queen of Scots? What momentous destiny was her formidable mother, Mary of Guise, planning for her? How did Mary…

Following the death of her husband, the King of France, was the glamorous Mary welcomed back to Scotland, her kingdom since infancy, with open arms or deep suspicion? Did she handle the precarious sit…

Why did Mary Queen of Scots’ second marriage to the volatile Lord Darnley threaten to send Scotland into civil war? In what way did she essentially declare war upon her powerful cousin, Elizabeth I? W…

Following the murder of her husband, Lord Darnley, how did Mary Queen of Scots - thought to have conspired for his death - navigate the most precarious situation of her young life so far? Would she ma…