Noble Blood
Noble Blood
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. New episodes every two weeks, on Tuesdays.
The Last Emperor and Empress at Home in the Forbidden City (with Paul French)
When Puyi was a child, he became Emperor of China. But when China became a republic, he and his court remained in the Forbidden Kingdom, a tiny world of ritual with no power, Dana is joined by historian Paul French to discuss his new book. Support Noble Blood: —ORDER 'THE ARCANE ARTS' — Bonus epis…
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The Scottish Podcast
Double, double, toil and trouble... Almost everyone has heard of Macbeth, in the context of Shakespeare's famous play. But Macbeth was also a real king, and Shakespeare wrote about him for a very specific reason. Support Noble Blood: —ORDER 'THE ARCANE ARTS' — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts…
27:27
Three Henrys Walk into a War...
When the childless King Henry III's brother died, the heir to the throne became a cousin from the Bourbon dynasty. There was only one problem: he wasn't Catholic. Support Noble Blood: —ORDER 'THE ARCANE ARTS' — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon — Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love…
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The Clothes that Make the Queen (with Kate Strasdin)
How does a queen show her power through her clothing? In her book DRESSING THE QUEEN, historian Kate Strasdin traces two hundred years of the most important garments that a royal can wear. Support Noble Blood: —ORDER 'THE ARCANE ARTS' — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon — Order Dana…
27:43
Betrayal and a Tudor in Scotland
When she was still a child, Margaret Tudor, sister of the future King Henry VIII, was married to the King of Scotland. But it wouldn't be until her husband's death that Margaret would face the greatest challenges of her life during her regency. Support Noble Blood: —ORDER 'THE ARCANE ARTS' — Bonus…
32:00
The Last Plantagenets
During Henry VIII's reign, his dynasty was looking shaky: he had only one son, and if Henry died before his heir came of age, the country would be in danger of a civil war. Worse, there were still heirs to the York family in England, possibly plotting against him... Support Noble Blood: —ORDER 'TH…
33:08
The Woman of Canossa Castle
In 1077, the King of Germany and future Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV walked barefoot in the snow and waited three days outside of Canossa Castle. He had been excommunicated by the Pope and was hoping to appeal to the Pope's sense of forgiveness. But the Pope was only at Canossa Castle himself becaus…
30:17
Anne and Religion Askew
In the reign of Henry VIII, religion in England became a minefield of confusing and shifting doctrine. Anne Askew, the daughter of a well-connected courtier, preached her interpretation of the Bible. Her punishment was more a matter of politics than of doctrine. Support Noble Blood: —ORDER 'THE A…
30:16
A Ploughman's 'Uprising' (with Dan Jones)
In the new film Uprising, a ploughman played by Andrew Garfield joins in the 1381 Peasants' Revolt against Richard II of England. Historian Dan Jones served as the medieval consultant on the film, and joins us to discuss the movie, and his upcoming book, CASTLES. Support Noble Blood: —ORDER 'THE A…
29:12
"The Apple is Ripe; Pick It Now Or It Will Rot"
Leopoldina married into the royal family of Portugal, which meant moving to Brazil with her husband. But civil war was bubbling on both sides of the Atlantic, and while her husband was out of town and Leopoldina was serving as Princess Regent, she would be faced with making a fateful decision that …
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