by BBC Radio 4
<p>Historical themes, events and key individuals from Akhenaten to Xenophon.</p>
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April 10, 2025
<p>Melvyn Bragg and guests explore the history and reputation of the Persian ruler Cyrus the Great. Cyrus the Second of Persia as he was known then was born in the sixth century BCE in Persis which is now in Iran. He was the founder of the first Persian Empire, the largest empire at that point in history, spanning more than two million square miles. </p><p>His story was told by the Greek historians Herodotus and Xenophon, and in the Hebrew bible he is praised for freeing the Jewish captives in Babylon. </p><p>But the historical facts are intertwined with fiction.</p><p>Cyrus proclaimed himself ‘king of the four corners of the world’ in the famous Cyrus Cylinder, one of the most admired objects in the British Museum. It’s been called by some the first bill of human rights, but that’s a label which has been disputed by most scholars today.</p><p>With</p><p>Mateen Arghandehpour, a researcher for the Invisible East Project at Oxford University,</p><p>Lindsay Allen, Senior Lecturer in Ancient Greek and Near Eastern History at King’s College London,</p><p>And</p><p>Lynette Mitchell, Professor Emerita in Classics and Ancient History at Exeter University.</p><p>Producer: Eliane Glaser</p><p>Reading list:</p><p>Pierre Briant (trans. Peter T. Daniels), From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire (Eisenbrauns, 2002)</p><p>John Curtis and Nigel Tallis (eds.), Forgotten Empire: The World of Ancient Persia (The British Museum Press, 2005)</p><p>Irving Finkel (ed.), The Cyrus Cylinder: The King of Persia’s Proclamation from Ancient Babylon (I.B.Tauris, 2013)</p><p>Lisbeth Fried, ‘Cyrus the Messiah? The Historical Background to Isaiah 45:1’ (Harvard Theological Review 95, 2002) </p><p>M. Kozuh, W.F. Henkelman, C.E. Jones and C. Woods (eds.), Extraction and Control: Studies in Honour of Matthew W. Stolper (Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, 2014), especially the chapter ‘Cyrus the Great, exiles and foreign gods: A comparison of Assyrian and Persian policies in subject nations’ by R. J. van der Spek</p><p>Lynette Mitchell, Cyrus the Great: A Biography of Kingship (Routledge, 2023)</p><p>Michael Roaf, Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East (Facts On File, 1990)</p><p>Vesta Sarkosh Curtis and Sarah Stewart (eds.), Birth of the Persian Empire (I.B.Tauris, 2005), especially the chapter ‘Cyrus the Great and the kingdom of Anshan’ by D.T. Potts</p><p>Matt Waters, King of the World: The Life of Cyrus the Great (Oxford University Press, 2022)</p><p>In Our Time is a BBC Studios Audio production</p>
March 13, 2025
<p>Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536), the youngest child of the newly dominant Spanish rulers Ferdinand and Isabella. When she was 3, her parents contracted her to marry Arthur, Prince of Wales, the heir to the Tudor king Henry VII in order to strengthen Spain's alliances, since Henry's kingdom was a longstanding trade partner and an enemy of Spain's greatest enemy, France. For the next decade Catherine had the best humanist education available, preparing her for her expected life as queen and drawing inspiration from her warrior mother. She arrived in London to be married when she was 15 but within a few months she was widowed, her situation uncertain and left relatively impoverished for someone of her status. Rather than return home, Catherine stayed and married her late husband's brother, Henry VIII. In her view and that of many around her, she was an exemplary queen and, even after Henry VIII had arranged the annulment of their marriage for the chance of a male heir with Anne Boleyn, Catherine continued to consider herself his only queen.</p><p>With </p><p>Lucy Wooding Langford Fellow and Tutor in History at Lincoln College, University of Oxford and Professor of Early Modern History at Oxford </p><p>Maria Hayward Professor of Early Modern History at the University of Southampton</p><p>And </p><p>Gonzalo Velasco Berenguer Lecturer in Global Medieval and Early Modern History at the University of Bristol</p><p>Producer: Simon Tillotson In Our Time is a BBC Studios Audio Production</p><p>Reading list:</p><p>Michelle Beer, Queenship at the Renaissance Courts of Britain: Catherine of Aragon and Margaret Tudor, 1503-1533 (Royal Historical Society, 2018)</p><p>G. R. Bernard, The King's Reformation: Henry VIII and the Remaking of the English Church (Yale University Press, 2007)</p><p>José Luis Colomer and Amalia Descalzo (eds.), Spanish Fashion at the Courts of Early Modern Europe (Centro de Estudios Europa Hispanica, 2014), especially vol 2, 'Spanish Princess or Queen of England? The Image, Identity and Influence of Catherine of Aragon at the Courts of Henry VII and Henry VIII' by Maria Hayward</p><p>Theresa Earenfight, Catherine of Aragon: Infanta of Spain, Queen of England (Penn State University Press, 2022)</p><p>John Edwards, Ferdinand and Isabella: Profiles In Power (Routledge, 2004)</p><p>Garrett Mattingley, Catherine of Aragon (first published 1941; Random House, 2000)</p><p>J. J. Scarisbrick, Henry VIII (first published 1968; Yale University Press, 1997)</p><p>David Starkey, Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII (Vintage, 2004)</p><p>Giles Tremlett, Catherine of Aragon: Henry's Spanish Queen (Faber & Faber, 2011)</p><p>Juan Luis Vives (trans. Charles Fantazzi), The Education of a Christian Woman: A Sixteenth-Century Manual (University of Chicago Press, 2000)</p><p>Patrick Williams, Catherine of Aragon: The Tragic Story of Henry VIII's First Unfortunate Wife (Amberley Publishing, 2013)</p><p>Lucy Wooding, Henry VIII (Routledge, 2009)</p>
February 13, 2025
<p>Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of the most consequential battles of recent centuries. On 20th September 1792 at Valmy, 120 miles to the east of Paris, the army of the French Revolution faced Prussians, Austrians and French royalists heading for Paris to free Louis XVI and restore his power and end the Revolution. The professional soldiers in the French army were joined by citizens singing the Marseillaise and their refusal to give ground prompted their opponents to retreat when they might have stayed and won. The French success was transformative. The next day, back in Paris, the National Convention abolished the monarchy and declared the new Republic. Goethe, who was at Valmy, was to write that from that day forth began a new era in the history of the world.</p><p>With </p><p>Michael Rowe Reader in European History at King’s College London</p><p>Heidi Mehrkens Lecturer in Modern European History at the University of Aberdeen</p><p>And</p><p>Colin Jones Professor Emeritus of History at Queen Mary, University of London</p><p>Producer: Simon Tillotson</p><p>Reading list</p><p>T. C. W. Blanning, The French Revolutionary Wars, 1787-1802 (Hodder Education, 1996)</p><p>Elizabeth Cross, ‘The Myth of the Foreign Enemy? The Brunswick Manifesto and the Radicalization of the French Revolution’ (French History 25/2, 2011)</p><p>Charles J. Esdaile, The Wars of the French Revolution, 1792-1801 (Routledge, 2018)</p><p>John A. Lynn, ‘Valmy’ (MHQ: Quarterly Journal of Military History, Fall 1992)</p><p>Munro Price, The Fall of the French Monarchy: Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette and the baron de Breteuil (Macmillan, 2002)</p><p>Simon Schama, Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution (Penguin Books, 1989)</p><p>Samuel F. Scott, From Yorktown to Valmy: The Transformation of the French Army in an Age of Revolution (University Press of Colorado, 1998)</p><p>Marie-Cécile Thoral, From Valmy to Waterloo: France at War, 1792–1815 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011)</p><p>In Our Time is a BBC Studios Audio Production</p>
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