Author Dana Schwartz explores the stories of some of history’s most fascinating royals: the tyrants and the tragic, the murderers and the murdered, and everyone in between. Because when you’re wearing a crown, mistakes often mean blood.
286 episodes transcribedAfter the Battle of Bosworth Field, Henry Tudor became King Henry VII. But what happened to the king he replaced, King Richard III? Well, we weren't q...
Before he was King Charles II, Charles was a prince in exile. His relationship with a young woman named Lucy Walter and their subsequent child would h...
Isabella of Parma had a fairy tale wedding to Joseph, the son of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria. But he wasn't the great love of her life: his siste...
For centuries, historians have debated the legacy of Pope Pius XII. Did he prudently avoid angering fascists, or did he stand by silently while atroci...
During the reign of Empress Kogyoku in 7th century Japan, two clans — the Soga clan and the Nakatomi clan — were rivals for power. But the Nakatomi cl...
The mystery of the fate of the two princes who dissapeared into the Tower of London during the Wars of the Roses has captivated historians, and the pu...
In recent years, Queen Charlotte has recieved new attention for being the only primary character on Bridgerton with a real historical counterpart. But...
When King Charles VI of France suffered from severe mental illness, a council ruled in his place. And on that council was his brother, Louis of Orlean...
*Note: this episode contains sexual situations.* Lady Seymour Fleming's husband was suing her lover into destitution. She would rather destroy herself...
For much of the history we're discussed on this podcast, marriages were the best way to advance one's social position. In the Gilded Age, a special su...
Isabella of France was a pre-teen when she came to England to marry King Edward II. Though the two had plenty in common, a series of betrayals would u...
Joanna of Naples is one of the most infamous figures of the 14th century, a woman who ruled in her own right who faced treachery and betrayal by her o...
In the summer of 1346, English soldiers landed at Normandy and mounted a campaign that would become one of the most famous in the Hundred Years War. H...
Dido Elizabeth Belle is one of the most unusual women in the Georgian era: a woman who inherited wealth, who was raised as a lady by her powerful aunt...
The plot was set: 36 barrels of gunpowder ready to blow beneath the House of Parliament on November 5, 1605. But the conspirators would be betrayed, a...
After the reign of Elizabeth I, Catholics in England were hoping their next monarch would be more leniant with them. But when James I turned out to co...
What is the "Holy Roman Empire" and why does it seem to be in... Germany? The answer goes back to the King of the Franks, and a very vulnerable Pope....
Grace O'Malley, or Gráinne Mhaol, has become an Irish folk hero, a woman who led a crew of men and galley ships and stood up to the English occupiers...
Over the centuries, the fabled Koh-I-noor diamond has been a symbol of conquest and power. Now, it sits in the Tower of London. But how it got there i...
Bonus special episode! Dana Schwartz guests on Significant Others, a narrated, nonfiction podcast about folks just beyond the spotlight of history, ho...
