Entirely Unofficial Rest is History Catalogue and Interrogator

Early Modern & Renaissance

146 Episodes 26 Series 163 Figures 84 Events 355 Books 271 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.

Timeline Subway

Episodes Series Figures Events Books Authors

Episodes by year

Showing 12 of 146

2024

10 episodes

The Suit, Savile Row, and Smartly Dressed Men

Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook trace the history of the modern suit from medieval and early modern shifts in fashion…

The Habsburgs: Secrets of a Dynasty

Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook interview Archduke Eduard (Edward) Habsburg, Hungary's ambassador to the Holy See, ab…

RIHC: Medieval Martians, Samurai, and Mythical Mysteries

In this Rest Is History weekly bonus episode Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook chat informally about recent and upcomin…

Luther: The Battle Against Satan (Part 3)

Life and times of Martin Luther · Part 3

This episode (episode three of a series on Martin Luther) traces Luther’s escalation from disputant to revolutionary re…

Luther: Showdown with the Emperor (Part 4)

Life and times of Martin Luther

This episode recounts Martin Luther's dramatic summons to the Diet of Worms (April 1521), his confrontation with imperi…

Luther: The Man Who Changed the World (Part 1)

Life and times of Martin Luther · Part 1

This episode is an introductory survey of Martin Luther and the wider Reformation, led by hosts Tom Holland and Dominic…

Luther: The Revolution Begins (Part 2)

Life and times of Martin Luther · Part 2

Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook trace Martin Luther's transformation from a troubled student to an Augustinian monk a…

Luther: A World Torn Apart (Part 5)

Life and times of Martin Luther · Part 5

This episode (part five of the Martin Luther series) examines the ferment of 1524–1525, tracing how Luther’s theologica…

RHIC: Henry VIII, Thatcherism and Roman Counterfactuals

Life and times of Martin Luther

This bonus episode is a wide-ranging Q&A between hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook. They open by discussing their…

The Man in the Iron Mask

Hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook examine the long-running mystery of the Man in the Iron Mask. They review conte…

2023

2 episodes

The Mystery of the Pregnant Pope

Hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook examine the legend of Pope Joan — a purported female pope said to have reigned …

RIHC: History’s Top Lads, Ancient Slavery and Aztec Gold

In this special bonus episode recorded in New Zealand, Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook chat informally from Lake Roto…

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Series in this era

26 series

Aztec epic

8 episodes Aired: 2023-11-06

Great World Cup Saga

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

Elizabeth I vs The Catholics

7 episodes Aired: 2026-07-26 – 2026-07-28

Mary, Queen of Scots

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

The Fall of the Incas

6 episodes Aired: 2026-02-16

Life and times of Martin Luther

5 episodes Aired: 2024-03-25

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

Historical figures

163 tagged

Elizabeth I of England

41 episodes

Henry VIII of England

30 episodes

Mary, Queen of Scots

24 episodes

Philip II of Spain

22 episodes

Charles I of England

21 episodes

Mary I of England

21 episodes

James VI and I of Scotland and England

20 episodes

Oliver Cromwell

20 episodes

Charles II of England (Charles Stuart)

19 episodes

Hernán Cortés

19 episodes

Historical events

84 tagged

English Civil War (1642–1651)

22 episodes

Execution of Charles I (1649, England)

16 episodes

Restoration of the Stuart monarchy (1660)

14 episodes

English Reformation (16th century England)

12 episodes

Protestant Reformation (16th century)

12 episodes

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

9 episodes

Defeat of the Spanish Armada (1588)

9 episodes

Conquest of Granada (1492)

8 episodes

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

8 episodes

Great Fire of London (1666)

8 episodes

Books

355 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

The Watchers

Author: Stephen Alford

3 episodes

Timaeus

Author: Plato

3 episodes

Authors

271 tagged

Tom Holland

14 episodes

Dominic Sandbrook

9 episodes

Hugh Thomas

6 episodes

Traditional Attribution or Various

6 episodes

William Shakespeare

5 episodes

Geoffrey Chaucer

4 episodes

John Hemming

4 episodes

Samuel Pepys

4 episodes

Simon Schama

4 episodes

Christopher Hill

3 episodes