In Our Time: History

This episode explores the historical significance and content of the Code of Hammurabi, an ancient Babylonian legal text carved on a basalt pillar, with expert academics discussing its impact and legacy.

This BBC podcast episode explores Napoleon Bonaparte's dramatic return from exile and brief rule during the Hundred Days period in 1815.

This episode explores the life and legacy of Catherine of Aragon, focusing on her royal upbringing, marriages to Arthur and Henry VIII, and her steadfastness during Henry's attempts to annul their marriage.

This episode explores the life and political career of Benjamin Disraeli, a prominent 19th-century British prime minister.

This episode examines the life and political philosophy of Marsilius of Padua, a 14th-century thinker who challenged papal authority and advocated for popular sovereignty in his work Defensor Pacis.

This episode explores Demosthenes' Philippics, his powerful speeches warning Athens about the threat of Philip of Macedon in the 4th century BC, featuring expert academic discussion.

This episode explores the short-lived Korean Empire (1897-1910), its declaration of independence amidst foreign pressures, and its impact on regional transformation.

This episode explores the rise, dominance, and eventual decline of the Hanseatic League, a powerful medieval trading network that controlled commerce across the Baltic and North Seas.

This episode explores how Louis XIV established his personal rule as the Sun King, centralizing power at Versailles and projecting himself as the absolute monarch of France.

This episode explores Solon the Lawgiver, an Athenian archon whose 6th-century BC reforms transformed Athens' political, legal, and economic systems, laying foundations for democracy.

This episode explores megaliths, the ancient stone monuments from the Neolithic period in Britain and Ireland, discussing what archaeologists have learned about them and the mysteries that remain.

This episode explores the rise and fall of the Knights Templar, a powerful medieval military and financial order founded to protect pilgrims in the Holy Land after the First Crusade.

This episode discusses the Battle of Valmy in 1792, where French forces defeated Prussian, Austrian, and Royalist armies to save the French Revolution.

This episode examines the 1527 Sack of Rome, exploring its causes, historical significance as a pivotal event marking the end of the Renaissance, and the complex military and religious conflicts between the Holy Roman Emperor's forces and the Catholic Church.

In Our Time: History examines John Maynard Keynes's 1919 book The Economic Consequences of the Peace and its criticism of the Treaty of Versailles.

In Our Time: History examines how Suryavarman II commissioned Angkor Wat in the early 12th century as a Hindu mountain temple associated with Vishnu and royal power.

In Our Time: History examines how the Barbary Corsairs operated from Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli between the Ottoman conquest of North Africa in the early 16th century and the 19th-century European attacks.

In Our Time: History examines how Plutarch's Parallel Lives paired Greek and Roman figures to study character rather than record every battle or event.

This episode explores the Columbian Exchange, the massive biological transfer between the Old and New Worlds after Columbus's 1492 voyage, examining its transformative and devastating impacts on both continents.

This episode explores the expansion and influence of the Venetian Empire across the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions, highlighting its economic power and political stability.

This episode examines the Gracchi brothers' radical reforms in the Roman Republic and their violent deaths at the hands of threatened elites.

This episode discusses the reign of Roman Emperor Tiberius, exploring his role in developing the imperial project after Augustus and the contrasting historical views of his rule as either effective or marked by cruelty and paranoia.

This episode explores Julian the Apostate, the Roman emperor who attempted to restore paganism after Constantine's Christian conversion, examining his complex legacy as both a villain to Christians and a heroic figure in historical narratives like Gibbon's.

This episode explores the theory of the leisure class, examining its economic and social implications.

This BBC podcast episode discusses The Federalist Papers, supported by ads outside the UK and highlighting how business events can create lasting impact.

This episode explores the life and impact of Marguerite de Navarre, a key literary figure of the French Renaissance who used her royal status to advocate for religious reform during the Reformation.

This episode explores the 1858 Great Stink of London, its connection to cholera theories, and how engineer Joseph Bazalgette's sewer system transformed public health and inspired cities worldwide.

This episode explores the life and legacy of Cyrus the Great, founder of the first Persian Empire, examining his historical significance through Greek and biblical sources and discussing the controversial interpretation of the Cyrus Cylinder as an early human rights document.

This episode explores the life and political career of Paul von Hindenburg, focusing on his military fame from World War I, his two terms as German president during the Weimar Republic, and his role as a 'Stop Hitler' candidate.

This episode examines the complex legacy of Empress Dowager Cixi, who dominated the Chinese court for nearly 50 years during a period of Western humiliation and failed modernization of the Qing dynasty.

This episode examines the 1871 Mokrani Revolt in Algeria against French colonial rule, its historical significance as a watershed moment, and its aftermath including French settlement on confiscated lands.

This episode examines the Battle of Clontarf in 1014, where Irish forces led by King Brian Boru defeated the Vikings near Dublin, exploring its disputed details and symbolic importance for Irish unity.

This episode explores the economic theory of mercantilism, its historical context, and its impact on trade and national power.

This episode explores the Irish Rebellion of 1798, a significant historical event in Ireland's struggle against British rule.

This episode examines the 1637 Shimabara Rebellion in Japan, a peasant revolt driven by economic hardship and Christian persecution that led to Japan's isolation for 250 years.

This episode examines the pivotal 1346 Battle of Crécy, where English forces under Edward III defeated the larger French army of Philip VI, marking a key moment in the Hundred Years' War through innovative use of longbowmen.

This episode examines the 1865 Morant Bay Rebellion in Jamaica, where Paul Bogle led a protest against British colonial oppression that turned violent, sparking debates about justice and self-rule in post-slavery Jamaica.

This episode examines the 1701 Act of Settlement that established the Protestant Hanoverian succession to the British throne when Queen Anne had no surviving heirs.

This episode explores the life and ideas of Comenius, a 17th-century Czech educator who advocated for universal education as a solution to Europe's religious and political conflicts.

Orkney sits between Norway, Shetland, Caithness, Scotland, and the Irish Sea, and the Orkneyinga Saga treats that geography as political power.

BBC's In Our Time: History examines the Haymarket Affair through the 4 May 1886 bombing in Haymarket Square, Chicago, during a workers' rally for the eight-hour day.

BBC's In Our Time: History opens on Cnut, the Danish prince who became King of England in 1016 after a kingdom battered by Viking raids and Æthelred II's strained rule.

["A York skeleton with a lion or leopard bite suggests arena animals reached Britain, not just Rome.", "Matthew Nicholls, Kathleen Coleman, and John Pearce trace the Roman arena from Campanian funeral combat to Pompeii, York, and the Colosseum.", "The guests say gladiators were expensive assets, with a jurist pricing a ruined fighter at 1,000 denarii versus 20 for a rental, while Seneca places animals in the morning and gladiators in the afternoon.", "They also question familiar images, including the uncertain thumb gesture, the single-source line \"we who are about to die salute you,\" and the story that Christians were mainly thrown to lions."]

In Our Time: History examines Nefertiti through the limited evidence linking her to Akhenaten, Amarna, and six daughters, one of whom married Tutankhamen.

In Our Time: History examines Chartism, the 1830s campaign for universal male suffrage, secret ballots, and equal constituencies.

This episode explores the life and legacy of Olympe de Gouges, a key figure in the French Revolution who wrote The Declaration of the Rights of Woman and was executed for her political views.

This episode explores the Davidian Revolution, focusing on how David I, raised in the Norman court, transformed Scotland through new governance, boroughs, and monasteries.