Entirely Unofficial Rest is History Catalogue and Interrogator

Early Modern & Renaissance

134 Episodes 25 Series 133 Figures 78 Events 337 Books 260 Authors

Covering roughly the 15th through 18th centuries, this collection examines religious, political, imperial, and cultural transformations of the Renaissance and early modern world. Series include American Crusades (Christianity’s influence on American foreign policy and warfare from the colonial era onward), Amsterdam (the city’s rise from a fishing village to a financial hub), Aztec Epic (Hernán Cortés’s expedition and the fall of the Aztecs), Charles I: Trial and Execution (causes and consequences of regicide), and Christopher Columbus (origins and Atlantic voyages). Episodes address public debate and coffee-house culture, Magna Carta, Elizabeth I’s early reign, Ireland and Cromwell, and oddities such as Hwang Jini. Figures and events discussed include Ignatius of Loyola, Anne Boleyn, Mehmed II, William III, Sack of Antwerp, Sack of Texcoco, encomienda, Great Trier witch trials, and works like The Embarrassment of Riches and Stations of the Sun.

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Episodes Series Figures Events Books Authors

Episodes by year

Showing 12 of 134

2021

12 episodes

Medieval Science

In this episode Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook host historian Seb Falk to discuss medieval science and to challenge …

The Six Wives of Henry VIII

Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook examine Henry VIII and his six wives, weaving biographical sketches with political an…

Game of Thrones

In this episode Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook examine Game of Thrones as a cultural phenomenon and a lens on popula…

Cromwell and the Protectorate

This episode of The Rest Is History, hosted by Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook, examines Oliver Cromwell and the deca…

Magna Carta

Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss Magna Carta with guest Ted Vallance, Professor of History at Roehampton and a…

Australia Before Cook

Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook host David Hunt to survey Australian history from its deep prehistory to early Europe…

Stonehenge, Ancient Ritual and the Origins of Paganism

Paganism · Part 2

Hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook interview Professor Ronald Hutton (University of Bristol) about paganism across…

Ghosts

Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook host Roger Clark, author of Ghosts, a Natural History, 500 Years of Searching for Pro…

The Gunpowder Plot

This episode is a Guy Fawkes / Bonfire Night special. Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook narrate the background, plannin…

England v Italy

England Games at the European Cup (November 2021)

Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook examine England's long, tangled relationship with Italy, moving from Roman encounters…

Macbeth

Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook examine the real history behind Shakespeare's Macbeth, contrasting the effective 11th…

Culture Wars

Hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss the long historical roots and character of "culture wars," debating whe…

Page 11 of 12 (page size 12)

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Series in this era

25 series

Aztec epic

8 episodes Aired: 2023-11-06

Great World Cup Saga

8 episodes Aired: 2022-11-28 – 2022-12-17

Mary, Queen of Scots

7 episodes Aired: 2025-07-20 – 2025-07-30

Life and times of Martin Luther

6 episodes Aired: 2024-03-06 – 2024-03-25

The Fall of the Incas

6 episodes Aired: 2026-02-16

Medici

5 episodes Aired: 2025-06-08 – 2025-06-17

Christopher Columbus

4 episodes Aired: 2023-02-20

Elizabeth I (November 2025)

4 episodes Aired: 2025-11-10

12 (or 13) Days of Christmas

3 episodes Aired: 2021-12-25

Amsterdam

2 episodes Aired: 2023-07-17

Historical figures

133 tagged

Elizabeth I of England

29 episodes

Henry VIII of England

26 episodes

Charles I of England

21 episodes

Charles II of England (Charles Stuart)

19 episodes

Oliver Cromwell

19 episodes

Hernán Cortés

17 episodes

Mary, Queen of Scots

17 episodes

James VI and I of Scotland and England

16 episodes

Mary I of England

16 episodes

Edward VI of England

14 episodes

Historical events

78 tagged

English Civil War (1642–1651)

22 episodes

Execution of Charles I (1649, England)

16 episodes

Restoration of the Stuart monarchy (1660)

14 episodes

Protestant Reformation (16th century)

13 episodes

English Reformation (16th century England)

11 episodes

Glorious Revolution

11 episodes

Defeat of the Spanish Armada (1588)

9 episodes

Christopher Columbus's first voyage / European landfall (1492)

8 episodes

Conquest of Granada (1492)

8 episodes

Counter-Reformation / Thirty Years' War (1618–1648)

8 episodes

Books

337 tagged

Dominion

Author: Tom Holland

10 episodes

Diary of a Nobody / Diary of Samuel Pepys consolidation (Pepys kept as separate canonical)

Author: Samuel Pepys

4 episodes

Adventure in Time, the Fall of the Aztecs

Author: Dominic Sandbrook

3 episodes

God's Englishman

Author: Christopher Hill

3 episodes

Heart of Darkness

Author: Joseph Conrad

3 episodes

Paradise Lost

Author: John Milton

3 episodes

Rivers of Gold

Author: Hugh Thomas

3 episodes

The Canterbury Tales

Author: Geoffrey Chaucer

3 episodes

95 Theses (Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences)

Author: Martin Luther

2 episodes

Acts of the Apostle s

Author: Traditional Attribution or Various

2 episodes

Authors

260 tagged

Tom Holland

14 episodes

Dominic Sandbrook

9 episodes

Hugh Thomas

6 episodes

Traditional Attribution or Various

6 episodes

Geoffrey Chaucer

4 episodes

John Hemming

4 episodes

Samuel Pepys

4 episodes

William Shakespeare

4 episodes

Christopher Hill

3 episodes

John Guy

3 episodes