In Rise of Augustus, historians including Tristan Hughes, Dr Hannah Cornwell, Adrian Goldsworthy, and Dr Simon Elliot explore how a frail and inexperienced teenager transformed himself into the most powerful man in the Roman world. Caesar may have destabilised the Republic, but Augustus rebuilt its ruins into an empire that endured for centuries. 

The documentary examines how Octavian survived an era of violence and political collapse through ruthless pragmatism, calculated alliances, and a remarkable understanding of public image. More than a military leader, Augustus was a political architect who understood that perception could be as powerful as armies.

Born into a Republic in decline

Octavian was born in 63 BC during the final years of the Roman Republic. By then, Rome was already dominated by corruption, rivalry, and civil unrest. Powerful generals controlled private armies, while senators fought for influence and wealth.

Growing up fatherless, Octavian learned early that noble birth alone meant little. Calculated ambition and careful political positioning mattered far more. Aged 12, he delivered a public funeral speech for his grandmother Julia, the sister of Julius Caesar. The speech openly connected him to Caesar, already one of Rome’s most influential and controversial figures.

Caesar soon recognised potential in the young aristocrat and gradually drew him into his circle. But closeness to Caesar also meant danger.

Caesar’s war and the rise of an heir

When Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon in 49 BC, he defied the Senate and triggered a civil war that divided Rome. Caesar’s enemies, led by Pompey the Great, fought to preserve the Republic, while Caesar pursued greater authority. The teenage Octavian found himself in a position of immediate, terrifying vulnerability. 

The multi-continental civil war completely reshaped the Mediterranean, and eventually reached Egypt. The sudden, shocking execution of Pompey by local rulers hoping to win Caesar’s favour and the entrance of Cleopatra VII and her alliance with Caesar created a volatile political environment, especially after the birth of Caesarion, Cleopatra’s son. For Octavian, the existence of another possible heir threatened his future before it had properly begun.

Everything changed in 44 BC with Caesar’s assassination. A group of senators believed killing him would restore the Republic, but instead they plunged Rome into chaos.

Dr Hannah Cornwell, Associate Professor in Roman History

Image Credit: History Hit

At just 18 years old, Octavian received astonishing news while studying across the Adriatic: Caesar had named him his adopted son and principal heir. Against his family’s advice, he returned to Rome to claim the inheritance and took the name Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus.

Rome’s political elite underestimated him. The orator Cicero believed Octavian could be used against Mark Antony and later discarded. Instead, the teenager rapidly built support among Caesar’s veterans, raised a private army, and forced his election as consul at only 19.

Soon afterward, Octavian allied himself with Mark Antony and Marcus Lepidus to form the Second Triumvirate, a legally recognised dictatorship that stood above the Senate. To fund their war against Caesar’s assassins, they introduced proscriptions – official death lists that led to mass executions and confiscated property.

The violence shocked Rome. Even Cicero, once convinced he could control Octavian, became one of the victims.

Dr Simon Elliot, historian and author

Image Credit: History Hit

Antony, Cleopatra, and the Battle for Rome

After defeating Brutus and Cassius at the Battle of Philippi, the triumvirs divided the Roman world. Antony took the wealthy eastern provinces, while Octavian controlled Italy and the West.

The alliance quickly deteriorated. Antony became increasingly tied to Cleopatra and Egypt, while Octavian remained in Rome building support. Using propaganda with extraordinary skill, Octavian portrayed Antony as a Roman leader corrupted by a foreign queen.

One of his boldest political moves came when he illegally seized Antony’s private will and read it publicly, fuelling outrage among Romans. Octavian then framed the coming conflict not as another civil war, but as a patriotic struggle against Cleopatra – a strategy that united Rome behind him.

The decisive confrontation came at the naval Battle of Actium in 31 BC. Octavian’s forces defeated Antony and Cleopatra, who later took their own lives in Alexandria. With their deaths, Octavian became the sole ruler of the Roman world.

Adrian Goldsworthy, historian and author

Image Credit: History Hit

The creation of Augustus

Although Octavian now held complete power, he had witnessed his great-uncle murdered for acting like a king, and refused to repeat the mistake.

Instead of openly becoming a monarch, he carefully preserved the illusion that the Republic still existed. He adopted the modest title Princeps, meaning “first citizen,” while quietly controlling the army, government, and finances. He also accepted the honorific name Augustus.

Under Augustus, Rome entered a long period of peace and stability after decades of civil war. Many citizens willingly accepted the loss of political freedom in exchange for order and prosperity under the illusion of a free republic.

The empire Augustus created lasted for centuries and reshaped the western world. His political system became the model for imperial rule long after Rome itself declined.

Rise of Augustus is more than the story of a Roman emperor. It is the story of how modern autocracy was born. Augustus succeeded not simply because he defeated his enemies, but because he mastered the art of ruling without appearing to rule.

Through intelligence, patience, and relentless calculation, the overlooked teenager who inherited Caesar’s name transformed himself into the architect of one of history’s greatest empires.

Watch Rise of Augustus on History Hit to uncover the definitive story of the man who rewrote the rules of power to form the blueprint of the modern empire

In the latest episode of History Hit’s Rebels series, conflict analyst Professor Michael Livingston investigates the enigma of Simon de Montfort. Was he a noble visionary or a power-hungry aristocrat who plunged the realm into a merciless civil war? By exploring towering fortresses like Kenilworth Castle and analysing rare medieval manuscripts, Rebels: Simon de Montfort reveals a complex narrative. It is a story driven by personal charisma and bitter grudges, ultimately exposing the violent, high-stakes origins of England’s political reform.

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The rise of an unlikely favourite

The story of Simon de Montfort is an improbable one. A French noble with a tenuous claim to the Earldom of Leicester, he arrived in England in 1229 as a political nobody. Yet, through sheer “silver-tongued” charm and a pious nature that mirrored the King’s own religious devotion, he became an immediate royal favourite. 

Henry III was so taken with this charismatic newcomer that he allowed Simon to marry his sister, Eleanor, in a secret ceremony. It was a match that scandalised the established English barons, who watched with mounting resentment as this foreign “upstart” was welcomed into the very heart of the royal family.

Prof Livingston talks to Professor David Carpenter at Kenilworth Castle

Image Credit: History Hit

Friction and financial feuds

The “bosom of the royal family”, however, proved to be a nest of thorns. The relationship between the two men eventually soured, fuelled by de Montfort’s growing contempt for Henry’s perceived “simplicity.” While Simon was an intelligent and calculating strategist, he viewed the King as naive and emotional. This personal friction was exacerbated by massive financial grievances; Simon believed the King owed him and Eleanor a staggering sum – equivalent to the revenue of the entire kingdom. By the 1250s, the underlying tension was ready to ignite.

The spark was Henry’s disastrous and “imbecilic” rule. From a failed attempt to place his son on the throne of Sicily to the favouritism shown to his foreign relatives, the King had alienated his nobility. When the barons burst into Westminster in 1258, they forced Henry to agree to the ‘Provisions of Oxford’. This revolutionary document created a council of barons to oversee the King’s decisions, effectively attempting to install the machinery required to ensure a monarch obeyed the law. It was a direct challenge to the status quo, and it set England on a collision course with destiny.

Prof Livingston at Westminster Hall

Image Credit: History Hit

The machinery of war

The documentary vividly recreates the atmosphere of a kingdom sliding into all-out conflict. Professor Livingston explores the material culture of the era, from the heavy maille hauberks worn by 13th-century knights to the lethal daggers that served as the “ultimate killing weapon” in the close-quarters brutality of the Second Barons’ War. We see how Simon used both religious fervour and cold political strategy to bolster his cause, including the dark and mercenary targeting of England’s Jewish population – “effectively sort of economic resources for the king” explains historian Rory MacLellan – to drain the King’s resources and win over indebted nobles.

The birth of representative government

The climax of de Montfort’s rebellion came in 1264 at the Battle of Lewes, where he defeated the royalist forces and took both King Henry and Prince Edward prisoner. For a brief, extraordinary moment, Simon was the de facto ruler of England. During this time, de Montfort summoned the famous Parliament of 1265.

Professor Livingston visits the National Archives and talks to Dr Jessica Nelson, Head of Collections at the National Archives, who shows him the original record of the writs of summons, which had been sent out summoning people to the parliament which took place in January and February 1265.

Dr Jessica Nelson, Head of Collections at the National Archives in Kew, shows Prof Michael Livingston the record of the writs of summons sent out for the parliament of January and February 1265.

Image Credit: History Hit

While the document is framed as an official summons from King Henry III, we know Henry was a captive of Simon de Montfort, making his, in effect, a summons to de Montfort’s own parliament with the King serving as a mere puppet. The list of noble elites invited reveals the extent of this control: at the top sits the Earl of Leicester. “Of course, that’s Simon himself”, notes Dr Nelson, “so he’s top of the guest list for his own parliament.”

While parliaments were common for raising taxes, Simon’s version was revolutionary. For the first time in history, writs were sent out not just to the elites, but to “ordinary” representatives – two knights from each county and two citizens from each town. As Professor Livingston notes, while this was far from modern democracy, it was the embryonic beginning of what we now recognise as the House of Commons.

The escape of the Prince

Yet, holding power proved far more difficult than seizing it. The documentary explores the “cancer at the heart of the regime” – the captive royal family. De Montfort could not bring himself to depose or execute a King as pious as Henry, but his grip began to slip as powerful allies like the Earl of Gloucester deserted him. 

The turning point was the dramatic escape of Prince Edward, who outwitted his guards during a horse race and gathered a royalist army that outnumbered the rebels three to one.

Drawing of a stained glass window of Chartres Cathedral, depicting Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester

Image Credit: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The murder of Evesham

The final act played out in the loop of the River Avon at Evesham. Trapped by the geography of the landscape and bottled up by Edward’s forces, Simon de Montfort faced a choice: flee or fight. He chose the battlefield, famously remarking that a “knight’s place is on the battlefield, the chaplain’s in the church.” The resulting slaughter was so one-sided and vicious that chroniclers refused to call it a battle, labelling it instead “the murder of Evesham.”

In a chilling look at the end of a rebel, the episode examines the gruesome fate of de Montfort. The royalist death squad did not merely want him dead; they stripped him of his dignity and dismembered his body on the field. It was a brutal end for a man who had sought to bind the crown to the will of the people.

Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, in rebellion against Henry III, dies at the Battle of Evesham

Image Credit: James William Edmund Doyle, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

A lasting constitutional legacy

Though Simon fell at Evesham, his ghost continued to haunt the halls of power. Just two years later, the ‘Statute of Marlborough’ echoed many of the reforms he had championed, serving as a permanent reminder that the King’s power was not limitless. 

Professor Livingston concludes that while de Montfort’s revolution brought suffering and ultimately failed in its time, it represented the essential first steps toward the representative democracy we enjoy today. As Livingston notes, to understand the roots of our modern world, one must understand the man who dared to tell a King, “Enough.” 

Watch Rebels: Simon de Montfort on History Hit to witness the birth of a legend and the bloody dawn of Parliament.

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As stability finally takes hold, the sheer pace of reconstruction raises a critical question: how can a city’s ancient and colonial heritage be preserved amidst such accelerated change?

In History Hit’s compelling new documentary, Heritage After Conflict: Libya, Dan Snow visits this resilient Mediterranean port to explore how the conservation of historic sites and cultural heritage serves as a vital engine for social and community recovery. Produced in collaboration with the World Monuments Fund and the British Council, the film offers a unique perspective on the intersection of history and humanitarianism, examining why protecting a society’s past is a non-negotiable step in rebuilding its future.

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Barah Arts: The heart of the community

The journey begins at Barah Arts, an colonial-era Italian building located in the historic centre of Benghazi. Supported by the World Monuments Fund (WMF) and the British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund, the site serves as both a conservation project and a cultural hub.

Founder Hazem Ferjani explains that the name “Barah” means a “wide, welcoming place.” Here, volunteers gather to practice traditional crafts, poetry, music, and photography. For Hazem, the project is essential to maintaining Libyan identity. “If we forget who we are, there is no meaning to life,” he tells Dan. “We are Libyan. We have a heritage… We must deliver it to the new generation so they don’t forget who they are.”

By engaging local youth, Barah Arts demonstrates that cultural preservation isn’t just a luxury, but also a practical tool for community stability and long-term recovery.

Hazem Ferjani, founder of Barah Arts

El Manar Palace: A rebirth from the rubble

In the documentary, Dan examines the restoration of El Manar Palace, a prominent Benghazi landmark. Originally constructed in the 1930s as an administrative centre during the Italian fascist colonial period, the building was later heavily damaged when it became a literal battlefield. During the civil war, room-to-room fighting left the structure hollowed out by fire and riddled with structural cracks.

El Manar Palace, Benghazi

Dan meets with Wali Obiedy of the Benghazi Historic City Management Authority to discuss the decision to restore rather than demolish the site. While it might have been easier to bulldoze the ruins, Wali insists that doing so would be an act of communal amnesia. “This is part of the city’s memory,” he notes. “You cannot erase a huge part of the city’s memory and history.”

Viewers will see the results of this labour including original marble that survived the flames and Italian maker’s marks on restored mosaics. Rather than being hidden to obscure an uncomfortable colonial past, these details are being meticulously restored to provide a transparent account of Benghazi’s complex history.

Italian maker’s mark on restored mosaic within El Manar Palace

The cathedral and the Scably: Heritage for the people

The documentary doesn’t shy away from the scars of war. Dan gains rare access to the ruins of the Benghazi Cathedral. A landmark of the 1930s, the structure survived World War Two only to sustain heavy damage during more recent fighting.

Dan walks amongst the ruins of the Benghazi Cathedral

Image Credit: History Hit

John Darlington of the World Monuments Fund notes that the long-term survival of such sites often depends on finding new ways for them to serve the modern community. This “people-first” practical approach to heritage is also reflected in the restoration of open spaces like the Scably, one of the city’s oldest neighbourhood squares.

By prioritising the cleaning and landscaping of these communal areas, the project emphasises that cultural preservation and heritage isn’t just about grand monuments – it includes functional public spaces where residents of all ages gather and socialise.

John Darlington from the World Monuments Fund and Hazem Ferjani from Barah Arts talk to locals in Benghazi about what they would like to see in public spaces

Image Credit: History Hit

From Berenice to Cyrene: A 2,500-year legacy

The documentary also examines the broader region of Cyrenaica, an area settled by the Greeks over 2,500 years ago as part of the ‘Pentapolis’ – a group of five cities that included Berenice (modern-day Benghazi).

At the epic Temple of Zeus in Cyrene, Dan reflects on the potential for heritage tourism to eventually support and boost Libya’s economy. However, as Mona Habib from the British Council explains, the primary goal remains safeguarding. “When you’re protecting the heritage, you’re protecting the people around it. You’re protecting their memories,” she says.

The documentary highlights the essential role of local NGOs in this effort. Because they live and work among these ancient sites, they possess a level of outreach and trust that international organisations may not easily achieve.

Mona Habib from the British Council at the Temple of Zeus in Cyrene

Image Credit: History Hit

Heritage After Conflict: Libya offers a rare window into the delicate balance between destruction and rebirth, from the scarred remains of the Italian Cathedral to the meticulous restoration of El Manar Palace. 

Yet, as this thought-provoking documentary reveals, this journey from the urban pulse of Benghazi to the ancient heights of Cyrene is about far more than the survival of stone and mortar. By spotlighting the local architects and visionaries dedicated to this recovery, the film demonstrates that heritage conservation is a vital engine for post-war social stabilisation and communal healing. 

Ultimately, it serves as a powerful reminder that while conflict can level a city’s skyline, the cultural identity forged within its walls remains a force that is far more difficult to extinguish.

Watch Heritage After Conflict: Libya now on History Hit and discover how a nation is reclaiming its past to secure its future.

Follow Dan Snow as he uncovers the spectacular Greek and Roman ruins of Cyrene, a true titan of the ancient world, in Ancient Adventures: Libya 

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In the compelling new documentary episode, Fort Laramie: America’s Road West, Don Wildman (host of American History Hit) journeys to the heart of Wyoming to peel back the layers of this iconic site. Far more than just a collection of restored buildings, Fort Laramie serves as a profound memorial to the “glittering misery” of frontier life, and the seismic cultural collision that changed the world of the Native American Plains Indians forever – forging the modern United States.

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The nexus of the Wild West

Between 1834 and 1890, almost every major character of the frontier drama passed through Fort Laramie’s gates: mountain men, fur traders, missionaries, Pony Express riders, soldiers, and Native American leaders.

The site lies at a strategic geographical crossroads – the confluence of the North Platte and Laramie Rivers. As Wildman explores, this location made the fort the essential resting point for those travelling the Oregon, Mormon, and California Trails. It is estimated that as many as a quarter of a million people passed through this outpost in search of a new life.

From fur trade to “glittering misery”

The documentary traces the fort’s humble beginnings in 1834, when a group of French-Canadian beaver hunters and American mountain men established a private trading post. For a decade, the relationship between European Americans and Native Americans was primarily commercial and relatively peaceful.

However, the discovery of gold in California in 1848 changed everything. The ‘trickle’ of migrants became a ‘flood’, with 30,000 fortune seekers passing through in 1849 alone. To protect these travellers, the US military purchased the fort. Wildman walks through ‘Old Bedlam’, the oldest standing building in Wyoming, to illustrate the life of the soldiers stationed there.

Park Ranger Clayton Hansen describes the soldiers’ lives as “glittering misery.” While the army maintained the pomp and circumstance of military drill on the parade grounds, the reality was a cramped, isolated existence in a climate that swung from 100°F summers to -40°F winters.

As Don notes, “Very rare are these kinds of places out here where you can actually see an embodiment of Western expansion in these buildings and walk around and feel what it must have felt like to be part of the Wild West.”

Don Wildman and Park Ranger Clayton Hansen visit ‘Old Bedlam’ at Fort Laramie – the oldest standing building in Wyoming

Image Credit: History Hit

The scar on the landscape

One of the most fascinating insights in the film comes from Dr Jeff Means, a member of the Lakota Sioux Nation and a Professor of History at the University of Wyoming. He explains how the mass migration didn’t just bring people; it physically severed the natural world.

The ‘Oregon Trail’ was not merely a wagon-width path; in some places, it was a half-mile-wide swath of churned mud and dust. Dr Means notes that the buffalo herds – the lifeblood of the Plains Indians – refused to cross this massive scar. This effectively split the great bison population into northern and southern herds, a biological disaster that devastated the nomadic way of life.

The broken Treaties and the ‘Grattan Battle’

The documentary dives deep into the high-stakes diplomacy and tragic misunderstandings that defined the era. Fort Laramie was the site of the great treaties of 1851 and 1868 – agreements intended to ensure ‘undisturbed use’ of land for Native Nations.

However, the film highlights how easily peace could shatter. Wildman recounts the Grattan Massacre (or the Grattan Battle) of 1854, an event sparked by the most trivial of causes: a single lost cow. What began as a dispute over a Mormon immigrant’s livestock ended in the deaths of a US lieutenant, his entire detachment, and the Lakota Chief Conquering Bear. This ‘first domino’ fell into a decades-long war for the plains, fuelled by retribution, broken promises, and the relentless drive of ‘Manifest Destiny.’

Dr Jeff Means, a member of the Lakota Sioux Nation and a Professor of History at the University of Wyoming

The legacy of the Plains

As the 19th century drew to a close, the strategic importance of Fort Laramie waned. The Native Nations were confined to shrinking reservations, and by 1890, the military marched out for the last time. Interestingly, the fort survived not through government preservation, but thanks to homesteaders who moved into the old military buildings, sustaining the site until its official restoration in the 1930s.

Fort Laramie: America’s Road West is an essential watch for anyone looking to understand the true cost of westward expansion. By interviewing descendants of those who lived through these events, Wildman ensures that the story is told from multiple perspectives – not just as a tale of triumph, but as a narrative of profound loss and survival.

Join Don as he walks through ‘Old Bedlam’ and the meticulously reconstructed post-trader stores to see what life was really like on the western frontier; hear from Indigenous historians who provide a vital counter-narrative to traditional frontier myths; and explore the stunning landscape where the Great Plains meet the Rockies, preserved as a ‘time capsule’ of the 1800s.

Fort Laramie stands today as a haunting reminder of a world changed forever. It is a place where diplomacy failed, where cultures collided, and where the road west was paved with both hope and heartbreak.

Watch Fort Laramie: America’s Road West now on History Hit and step into the eye of the frontier storm.

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But what if the cliches are wrong?

In the gripping second episode of Queen Jane: The Extraordinary Life of Lady Jane Grey, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb goes in search of the truth about the young Tudor claimant who held the throne for less than two weeks. Peeling back the romanticised layers of myth, Suzannah reveals a woman of formidable intellect, startling agency, and the kind of “chutzpah” that history has spent centuries trying to erase.

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Power bought at the altar

On 25 May 1553, Durham House in London hosted a triple wedding orchestrated by the Duke of Northumberland. The centrepiece was the union of Lady Jane Grey and Lord Guildford Dudley. This was power bought at the altar – a desperate, strategic binding of England’s Protestant elite as the young King Edward VI lay dying.

Accounts suggest Jane was beaten into submission by her parents to accept the match. Yet, even as she was being used as a pawn, the dying King was busy with a pen, subverting centuries of tradition. Edward’s ‘Device for the Succession’ bypassed his Catholic half-sister, Mary, and placed the crown directly on Jane’s head.

Edward VI’s ‘Device for the Succession’

Image Credit: Inner Temple Legal Library / History Hit

The rise of a rebel queen

The moment of transformation occurred on 9 July 1553. Summoned to Syon House, Jane was met by the senior noblemen of the realm, who, kneeling before the teenager, delivered shattering news: King Edward was dead, and she was now Queen of England.

In Episode Two, Suzannah captures the visceral shock of this moment. Jane did not reach for the crown; instead, she collapsed in a torrent of weeping grief. But as she composed herself in London, a second drama was unfolding in East Anglia. As Professor Lipscomb notes, “the vast majority of the population knew who they thought should be next in line to the throne, and it was not Lady Jane Grey”.

The episode tracks the unexpected rise of Mary Tudor, who transformed almost overnight into a formidable rebel leader. Suzannah visits the Inner Temple Library to examine an extraordinary document dated 9th July 1553 – the very day Jane learned she was Queen. Signed decisively ‘Mary the Queen’ and sent before Jane was even proclaimed Queen in London, the letter is a masterclass in strategic foresight. With blank spaces left for names, it was clearly one of many copies prepared to demand allegiance from the nation’s elite. As Suzannah observes, “What I think is fascinating about this is it shows how quick Mary is to act”. 

Document showing Mary proclaiming ‘Mary the Queen’, with portrait of Queen Mary I of England (by Antonis Mor, 1554) overlaid.

Image Credit: Document: Inner Temple Library. Portrait: by Antonis Mor / Museo del Prado. Both Public Domain

Suzannah is joined by Professor Anna Whitelock at Framlingham Castle to explore how Mary evolved from a political “outlier” into a commander on a war footing. “If you think about the great lengths that Henry VIII had gone to, to avoid this moment – he needed a male heir… what’s really interesting is over these days in July, gender wasn’t an issue” says Anna.

While the Privy Council dismissed Mary as a “country bumpkin,” she was busy playing her trump card: legitimacy. Thousands flocked to her banner, moved by the long shadow of her father, Henry VIII.

Jane the Queen: A show of authority

By now, Jane had spent three days in the Tower of London, deep in preparations for her coronation. Despite her youth, Jane was far from a puppet. Once she stepped into her role, Jane exercised a remarkable degree of independent authority.

In one of the documentary’s most revealing moments, Suzannah explores how Jane confronted the very men who had placed her on the throne. When the Lord High Treasurer suggested a crown be made for her husband, Guildford, Jane’s response was absolute: she vetoed the move, refusing to make him King and offering only the title of Duke. It was an extraordinary act of power for a 16 year-old girl in a patriarchal age.

The Streatham Portrait of Lady Jane Grey, believed to be based on a contemporary woodcut

Image Credit: National Portrait Gallery / Public Domain

As Mary arrived at Framlingham, the Privy Council in London resolved to meet Mary’s rebel forces in the field, dispatching the Duke of Northumberland to East Anglia to crush the uprising. Yet as the crisis intensified, Jane – isolated from direct events but sharp enough to recognise the shifting winds – realised she could no longer trust her own Council. Operating with decisive grit, she ordered a heavy guard be mounted around the Tower and effectively locked the Council in with her. 

Even as power began to slip from her grasp, Jane continued to wield what influence she could. On 18 July, she dispatched urgent letters to powerful landowners, issuing explicit commands to muster all available forces to repress the ‘tumults and rebellions’ threatening her crown.

Ultimately, however, her fate rested on her popularity with a nation she barely knew. As Suzannah observes, “As Queen, Jane played her cards well, but she could not change the hand that she had been dealt.”

Framlingham Castle

Image Credit: History Hit

The mutiny

The tide turned not on a battlefield, but through a series of mutinies and defections. In Episode Two, Suzannah discovers more about the “audacious play” that broke Jane’s reign.

Northumberland’s six royal warships, sent to block Mary’s path, had been forced into port by a storm. In a local tavern, a member of Mary’s household learned of the stranded ships and seized the moment, persuading the disgruntled, unpaid crews to switch their allegiance. It was a massive coup: the very fleet designed to stop Mary from getting artillery had now supplied it.

Discussing the mutiny’s impact on Jane’s claim to the throne, Suzannah meets historian Dr Stephan Edwards, who explains how this indicates how “the average man did not seem to support Jane.” 

The fall

As the Navy deserted and Northumberland’s army melted away, the “Nine Days” came to a crashing end. By 19 July, Jane’s Privy Council faced a stark truth. Reports confirmed that Mary’s support was rapidly growing. The nobles on the Council found even their own tenants were actively refusing their summons. It was now that that most Councillors abandoned the Tower, switching sides to survive.

When Jane’s own father delivered the news that Mary was Queen, Jane’s reaction was not anger, but relief. 

1910 depiction of Mary I entering London triumphantly, 15 days after the Council deposed Jane Grey and proclaimed Mary the new Queen (by John Byam Liston Shaw, 1910)

Image Credit: John Byam Liston Shaw, Palace of Westminster collection / PD-Art / Public Domain

The piety of a rebel

Queen Mary decided to pardon the majority of those who’d attempted to put Jane on the throne, but did not spare John Dudley, the Duke of Northumberland, who was executed on 22 August, 1553. Jane was left in limbo, locked up in the Tower for months.

Following a humiliating trial at the Guildhall in November, where both she and her husband pleaded guilty to high treason, Jane was returned to the Tower of London, this time as a prisoner. Although sentenced to be burned alive or beheaded at the Queen’s pleasure, Jane did not even pale at the news. However, for now, Queen Mary suspended the sentence, still hoping to avoid executing her young cousin.

In January, 1554, Queen Mary’s leniency towards Jane was shattered by the Wyatt’s Rebellion Protestant uprising. Disastrously for Jane, her own father, Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk had joined the rebellion. Put in an impossible position, Queen Mary signed Jane and her husband Guilford’s death warrant.

Even in the face of death, Jane remained a “brilliantly gifted” rebel. From her prison cell, she channelled her intellectual energy into fierce rhetoric, chiding those who abandoned their faith. 

Suzannah and British Library curator Dr Andrea Clark examine the very prayer book Jane carried to the scaffold – a symbol of the Protestant conviction she refused to abandon even when offered a pardon.

After watching her husband’s butchered remains carted past her window, Jane stepped onto Tower Green on 12 February 1554. Her final words were not those of a victim, but of a woman who had mastered her own narrative.

The afterlife of an icon

Finally, Suzannah examines the enduring ‘afterlife’ of Lady Jane Grey. In conversation with Verity Babbs at the National Gallery, she explores how romanticised art – most notably Paul Delaroche’s iconic 1833 masterpiece – has fuelled our obsession with Jane as a passive “damsel in distress”.

Production shot of Verity Babbs and Prof Suzannah Lipscombe discussing Paul Delaroche’s ‘The Execution of Lady Jane Grey’ painting at the National Gallery.

Image Credit: History Hit

By scraping away these layers of myth, the film reveals a far more compelling, brilliant, and self-aware figure. Jane emerges as a formidable intellect who navigated impossible circumstances with startling strength of character.

Step inside the Tower, walk the halls of Syon House, and discover the true strength of England’s most misunderstood monarch.

Watch Queen Jane: The Extraordinary Life of Lady Jane Grey – Episode Two now on History Hit to discover the true face of the ‘Nine Days’ Queen’

Watch Episode One here

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In History Hit’s new documentary, The Ambassadors: Mysteries of a Tudor Masterpiece, Dr Tracy Borman takes us on a high-stakes detective trail. From the private galleries of the National Gallery in London to the sacred floor of Westminster Abbey, Tracy unpicks the secrets of a painting that is far more than a simple portrait; it is a coded message from the eye of a political storm.

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A world turned upside down

To understand the painting, one must understand the year it was created. In 1533, England was a tinderbox. Henry VIII had secretly married Anne Boleyn, annulled his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, and effectively declared war on the religious authority of Rome.

It was into this volatile atmosphere that two French emissaries arrived on a mission for King Francis I of France: Jean de Dinteville, a magnificent 28-year-old nobleman, and Georges de Selve, a soberly dressed churchman – who may have been playing a double game as a spy for Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor.

History Hit’s Annie and Bill filming at the National Gallery

Image Credit: History Hit

The detective trail

Tracy Borman, who recently authored the National Gallery’s guide to the painting, explains that The Ambassadors is a “treasure trove of hidden meanings” that reveal the chaos of the Tudor court.  

“For a long time, there was a lot of debate about who these two men were,” Tracy notes. Why is a tiny, insignificant French village marked on the globe? And why does the floor beneath the men’s feet bear a forensic resemblance to the exact spot where Anne Boleyn was crowned?

Symbols of discord

The shelves between the two men are cluttered with weird and wonderful objects, but look closer and the ‘harmony’ of the scene begins to unravel:

• The broken string: On the lower shelf, a lute sits with a broken string – a stark symbol of religious and political division in Europe.
• The missing flute: A case of flutes is missing one instrument, further emphasising a world out of tune.
• The upside-down globe: A terrestrial globe depicts Europe upside down, focusing on Rome and Nuremberg – the flashpoints of the Reformation.

Production shot of Tracy Borman pointing out the broken string of the instrument

Image Credit: History Hit

The spy game

To understand how these men operated, Tracy visits Hampton Court Palace. In the 16th century, diplomacy was a game of whispers and access. Ambassadors didn’t have ministries; they had the Great Watching Chamber.

This was the ultimate ‘waiting room’ where ambassadors and spies would whisper and gather gossip while waiting for an audience with the King – the perfect place to gauge the temper of the court. As Tracy explores the hierarchy of these spaces with Tudor historian, Dr Alden Gregory, from Historic Royal Palaces, they reveal the ‘tightrope’ these men walked, balancing the impatient ego of Henry VIII against the demands of their own royal masters – the most powerful masters in Europe.

Witnessing the coronation

One of the most thrilling revelations in the documentary is the direct link between the painting and the most controversial event of 1533: the coronation of Anne Boleyn.

Tracy is granted rare permission to walk on the Cosmati Pavement in Westminster Abbey – the exact spot where Anne was crowned. Strikingly, the floor beneath the feet of the two men in Holbein’s painting bears a forensic resemblance to this very pavement.

“The message is that even great monarchs are rendered tiny before God,” Tracy explains. By placing the ambassadors on this sacred pattern, Holbein is signalling that they were there – witnessing the very moment Henry’s new Queen was anointed, an event that would change European history forever.

Tracy Borman gets special permission to walk on the Cosmati Pavement in Westminster Abbey

Image Credit: History Hit

Death and salvation

Of course, no discussion of The Ambassadors is complete without its most famous mystery: the ‘weird distorted shape’ hovering at the men’s feet.

When viewed from a specific angle, the smudge snaps into perspective as a human skull – a chilling memento mori that despite their fine silks and scientific instruments, death is the ultimate equaliser.

When viewed from a specific angle, the distorted shape hovering at the men’s feet in ‘The Ambassadors’ painting snaps into perspective as a human skull

Image Credit: History Hit

But Tracy looks further. Hidden at the very edge of the frame, half-concealed by a green curtain, is a tiny silver crucifix. “It is a symbol of hope and salvation,” she says. “The message is that salvation is there for those who seek it”, even in a world that appears to be on the brink of disaster.

Inside the investigation

Follow Tracy Borman as she explores the National Gallery and Westminster Abbey at close quarters, gaining unprecedented access to the very spaces where Tudor history was written.

Tracy dives deep into Holbein’s creative process with Dr Emma Capron, Curator at the National Gallery, to uncover how the artist balanced raw talent with scientific precision. The documentary explores Holbein’s staggering technical mastery, revealing his close collaboration with the King’s astronomer, Nicholas Kratzer, to render intricate scientific instruments with a level of detail that rivals modern photography.

By unpicking these details, the film seeks to uncover the truth of a masterpiece that seems to foretell the dark future of Henry VIII’s reign and the looming tragedy of Anne Boleyn.

Tracy Borman talks to Dr Emma Capron, Curator of Early Netherlandish and German Painting at the National Gallery about The Ambassadors painting

Image Credit: History Hit

Hans Holbein didn’t just paint two men; he captured a snapshot of a civilisation in the midst of a nervous breakdown. Through Tracy Borman’s expert guidance, we can finally begin to understand what these two wily ambassadors were thinking as they stared out of the canvas 500 years ago.

Watch The Ambassadors: Mysteries of a Tudor Masterpiece now on History Hit and discover the secrets hidden in plain sight.

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Yet, in Britain’s darkest hour, Winston Churchill was secretly commissioning something far more extraordinary – and infinitely more brutal. Buried beneath the rolling hills of the English countryside was a secret network of civilian cells trained not to survive an invasion, but to sabotage it from within.

In History Hit’s new documentary, Churchill’s Secret Army, Dan Snow joins forces with historian Andy Chatterton from the Coleshill Auxiliary Research Team (CART) to unearth the incredible, forgotten story of the Auxiliary Units: a network of ‘Stay Behinds’ – ordinary men prepared to do the unthinkable.

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A guerrilla army in the shadows

Traditional history often focuses on the ‘thin crust’ of Britain’s coastal defences: the pillboxes, anti-tank ‘teeth’, and the heroic volunteers of the Home Guard. But while professional soldiers prepared for a head-on confrontation on the beaches, Churchill was assembling an invisible secondary force.

The Auxiliary Units (nicknamed the “Stay Behinds”) represented a radical rethinking of warfare. These men – often local farmers, gamekeepers, and miners – were chosen for their intimate, “back of the hand” knowledge of the terrain. They were the ones who could move through the woods at night as easily as they did in the day. Their mission was high-stakes sabotage: disappearing as the Germans advanced, only to emerge from the earth at night to blow up bridges, destroy ammo dumps, and assassinate high-ranking officers – crippling the enemy’s momentum to give the regular British Army precious time needed to counter-attack.

Operational bases

The reality of joining the Auxiliary Units was grim. Recruits were trained in the most silent and efficient ways to kill, practicing unarmed combat and learning exactly where to strike with a blade to ensure a silent death.

The secrecy required them to live in ‘Operational Bases’ (OBs) – remarkable underground structures hidden in caves, quarries, or even beneath innocuous outside toilets. Equipped with basic supplies and large quantities of explosives, these bunkers were designed to be a final home. Once an invasion began, the life expectancy for an auxiliary was estimated at just 2 weeks.

Andy Chatterton and Dan Snow discuss the training and tactics involved in being in the Auxiliary Units.

The brutality of secrecy

The secrecy was so absolute that families often had no idea why their husbands or fathers were slipping away into the night. But this silence had a darker edge. Auxiliaries were trained to be “utterly, utterly brutal” says Andy, striking psychological terror into the German ranks through the mutilation of enemy bodies. 

Most controversially, their orders included the assassination of any British collaborator, or even a fellow citizen who accidentally stumbled upon a hidden base. Secrecy was the only shield the Auxiliary Units had, and they were prepared to protect it at any cost.

Entrance to a concealed ‘Operational Base’ (OB) site.

Image Credit: History Hit

Unearthing the bunkers

For decades, these secret bunkers were left to rot, their locations kept only in the memories of the men who served. Because no official maps were ever made, researchers today rely on oral histories, forensic analysis, and pure luck. Evidence can be as subtle as a stray bit of wire trailed up a tree or a specific type of metal grate hidden in the forest floor.

Today, Andy and his team have located over 300 of these bunkers. In the documentary, Dan and Andy trek through steep terrain to locate newly identified bases, finding the physical remains of a network that most Britons never knew existed – from sticky bomb casings and pressure switches, to blown escape tunnels.

Andy Chatterton and Dan Snow inside a newly identified OB site.

Image Credit: History Hit

The Special Duties Branch

Alongside the saboteurs was the Special Duties Branch, an intelligence network responsible for relaying German movements. Their ingenuity was legendary; Dan explores a concealed bunker hidden beneath a functioning outside toilet, accessible only by a cunning release mechanism. As Dan says, “This is so exciting. I thought I’d seen it all and this really is like nothing I’ve experienced in 25 years.”

Andy Chatterton shows Dan the secret bunker entrance underneath an outside toilet.

Even if the Germans discovered the primary room, a second hidden wall – opened by a secret hook on a shelf – concealed the wireless operator. It was a setup designed for high-stakes espionage where the only exit strategy was often a final message followed by suicide to avoid capture.

The last of the auxiliaries

Dan meets 99-year-old Ken Welch, potentially the last surviving member of the ‘Exiliers.’ Ken shares the remarkable story of following his father into the woods as a teenager, only to discover his family’s patriarch was part of a secret army that he himself would later join.

Ken Welch identifies himself in a photograph of his time in the Auxiliaries. Ken’s father is also pictured to the far left of the photograph)

Ken just thought he was just joining a secret kind of Home Guard, which he was very excited about, “but I never considered the consequences if we were invaded” he says. “It didn’t worry me, like I didn’t think nothing’s going to happen to me”. 

A few years ago, researchers began digging into Ken’s auxiliary story and started combing the landscape for the potential location of his bunker, and astonishingly they found it. Dan and Andy take Ken back to his OB site he served in, which Ken hadn’t returned to since the end of the war – until now.

When the units were finally disbanded in 1944, there were no parades. They were issued a simple letter of thanks explaining that because their lives had depended on secrecy, no public thanks would ever be possible. They were even told they had to buy their own commemorative pin badge – their only token of recognition for preparing to die for their country. Andy explains how quite a few auxiliaries “just shut up the OB and went on with their ordinary life”.

Ken Welch with Dan Snow at Ken’s former OB site.

From the coal mines of Wales to the dense forests of the South Coast, these ‘OB’ sites stand as silent monuments to the men who were prepared to stay behind and fight a war in the dark. 

Watch now on History Hit to discover the secret history of the ‘Stay Behinds’ and the civilian cells that formed Britain’s last line of defence. You can follow Dan Snow as he crawls into underground bunkers that have remained sealed for 80 years and examine the ‘Countryman’s Diary,’ a lethal sabotage manual ingeniously disguised as a harmless rural almanac.

Churchill’s Secret Army is a haunting look at the absolute lengths Britain was willing to go to avoid surrender – a story of ordinary civilians prepared to do extraordinary, brutal things in the name of freedom, only to be asked to simply forget it ever happened once the danger had passed.

Watch Churchill’s Secret Army now on History Hit

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But was Jane Grey truly the passive pawn history suggests? In History Hit’s new documentary series, Queen Jane: The Extraordinary Life of Lady Jane Grey, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb peels back the layers of romantic fiction to reveal the woman behind the myth. By examining Jane’s tragic story, Suzannah uncovers the precarious nature of power in a patriarchal age where a female sovereign defied all precedent.

It is time to meet the real Jane: an intellectual powerhouse, a defiant Protestant, and – as one historian describes her – a “kick-ass woman” of the Tudor court who reigned as Queen of England for 13 days.

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Beyond the ‘Nine-Day’ myth

In Episode One, Suzannah explains how the story of Lady Jane Grey has been mythologised in the centuries since her death, noting how we need to think about how unwittingly we buy into that. 

“We refer to her as Lady Jane Grey – using her maiden name – and we don’t give her her title, ‘Queen Jane’”. Even the term ‘the 9 days queen’ is the victor’s perspective – she ruled for 13 days, from the death of Edward VI to the coup of Mary I. 

Instead, we should try to reckon with the real 17 year old noble woman and queen – the first queen to rule England in her own right? 

‘The Execution of Lady Jane Grey’ by Paul Delaroche, 1833

Image Credit: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Messages from Jane’s final hours

The most visceral evidence of Jane’s character lies in her own hand. At the British Library, Suzannah meets curator Andrea Clark to examine Jane’s personal prayer book – a tiny volume she carried to the scaffold. In its margins, Jane wrote personal messages in her final hours, including a poignant note of comfort to her father and a message she wrote to Sir John Brydges, Lieutenant of the Tower of London, who asked to keep her prayer book as a memento and to write a message to him in it. 

While history paints her as a frightened child, these notes reveal a woman of immense poise and an unwavering adult stoicism and faith. “She seems so adult,” Suzannah observes. “We talk about her as this teenage girl, but here she is comforting her father.”

Writing inside Lady Jane Grey’s prayer book, including her own handwriting written in.

A linguistic prodigy

To understand Jane’s steel, Suzannah looks at her upbringing at Bradgate Park in Leicestershire. Born between October 1536 and May 1537 into the royal lineage – her maternal grandmother was Henry VIII’s sister – Jane was never intended for a quiet life. While the average Tudor man was illiterate, Jane was a linguistic genius, mastering as many as eight languages.

Historian Dr J. Stephan Edwards explains how Jane’s father “spent considerable sums of money hiring the best people to teach her, which shows he was invested in his daughter’s learning.” The sophistication of Jane’s learning was extraordinary for the time – her education wasn’t just broad, it was elite, comparable to the finest university minds of the era. 

From the metaphysics of Plato to the radical Protestantism encouraged by her mentor, Queen Catherine Parr (whom Jane lived with for a time), Jane was being forged into one of the best-educated people in Western Europe. Her only true intellectual rival was her cousin, the future Elizabeth I. 

This was a woman who practiced the intricate art of penmanship with a perfectionist’s flare, a trait that signalled her intense focus and self-control.

Turning the tide of history

Jane’s path to the throne was not paved by her own ambition, but by the dying wishes of her cousin, the 15 year-old King Edward VI. As Edward’s health failed in 1553, he grew desperate to prevent his Catholic half-sister, Mary, from seizing power and dismantling the Protestant Reformation.

At the British Library, Suzannah examines Edward VI’s personal journal, which contains a candid, firsthand account of his intense religious clashes with his Catholic half-sister, Mary. This sets the stage for her visit to the Inner Temple legal library, where she investigates Edward’s ‘Device for the Succession’ – a fascinating map of a young yet dying King’s mind and a radical document that would change the course of English history.

Originally, Edward limited the succession to ‘heirs male’ – excluding his two older half-sisters Mary and Elizabeth out of hand which even his own father had declared illegitimate. Instead he preferred a line of descent through Henry VIII’s sister, his aunt Mary Tudor and her eldest daughter, the Protestant Lady Frances Grey, and through any future male offspring of her Protestant daughters, Lady Jane Grey and her sisters Lady Katherine and Lady Mary.

However, with death approaching and no male heirs in sight, Edward made a “judicious stroke of the pen” and altered his own legal decree by striking through the ‘s’ in ‘Lady Jane’s’ to create: ‘Lady Jane and her heirs male.’ With that single correction, he bypassed his sisters and placed Jane directly on the throne.

Edward VI’s ‘Device for the Succession’

Image Credit: Inner Temple Legal Library / History Hit

The King’s radical gamble

The documentary goes on to reveal the high-stakes gamble that forced the Privy Council “into a rock and a hard place situation”, according to head librarian Rob Ho. Suzannah views the original agreement where the highest lords in the land signed their names to Edward’s plan – a document that many feared was pure treason.

Had Edward lived until the autumn to enshrine this in law via Parliament, Jane’s reign might have lasted 40 years instead of 13 days. She was a woman built for power – assertive, brilliant, and unwilling to be controlled by the men surrounding her.

The precarious nature of power

Jane Grey’s story is a haunting reminder of the precarious nature of power in a patriarchal age. She was a woman built for sovereignty – assertive, brilliant, and unwilling to be controlled by the men surrounding her.

So how did a woman of such formidable intellect and resolve lose her grip on the crown in less than a fortnight? And what happened when the disinherited Mary Tudor began her ruthless, high-stakes march on London?

To discover the hidden reality of England’s first reigning Queen, watch Episode 1 of Queen Jane: The Extraordinary Life of Lady Jane Grey now on History Hit. Stay tuned for the dramatic conclusion in Episode 2, coming soon.

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However, at Duropolis in Dorset – Britain’s largest known Iron Age cemetery – archaeologists are uncovering a society that looks less like a patriarchy and more like a sophisticated matrilocal network. New DNA evidence suggests that 2,000 years ago, it was the women who anchored the community, owned the land, and wielded the keys to the supernatural.

In History Hit’s documentary Iron Age Women: Rulers of the Land, Tristan Hughes explores how groundbreaking genetic research is dismantling the warrior myth to reveal the true prominence of women in pre-Roman Britain.

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Reassessing power

Traditional narratives focus on the localised male violence that met the Roman legions in 43 AD. However, modern archaeology is dismantling the myth of the singular “warrior king.” Evidence now reveals a nuanced social structure where women frequently held central authority. Findings suggest many hilltop strongholds were abandoned long before Rome arrived, replaced by settlements ruled not by male aggression, but by stable, female-led lineages.

Duropolis: the “silent majority” of the Iron Age

Fifteen miles east of Maiden Castle, excavations near Winterborne Kingston are rewriting history. Led by Bournemouth University’s Dr. Miles Russell, the site – dubbed “Duropolis” – reveals an expansive settlement of elite farmsteads. Unlike most tribes, the Durotriges practiced formal burial in large numbers, providing a unique bioarchaeological window into ancient life via 50+ unearthed skeletons.

Dr. Russell argues these domestic farmsteads are more representative of the true Iron Age experience than rare, militarised strongholds. Here, skeletal evidence provides physical proof of female prominence, suggesting a world where women held significant territorial and domestic authority.

Techniques such as photogrammetry create high-resolution 3D digital renders, enabling the preservation of the spatial context of remains for post-excavation study. This synergy of digital reconstruction and paleogenetics allows researchers to reconstruct Iron Age family trees with unprecedented accuracy.

Tristan Hughes and archaeologist Dr. Miles Russell from Bournemouth University, at the Duropolis site.

Image Credit: History Hit

The “Durotrigian Eve”

The most startling revelation comes from the laboratory. Tristan joins Dr. Lara Cassidy of Trinity College Dublin to examine the DNA of 55 individuals from Duropolis, which she explains reveal a “classic signature of matrilocality”. 

Two-thirds of the community share an identical mitochondrial type, tracing back seven generations to a single female ancestor – a “Durotrigian Eve” from the 2nd century BC. While these female lines remained unbroken, male lineages were incredibly diverse, with men migrating from as far as Derbyshire and France to join established, female-led households.

In archaeological terms, matrilocality is a high-accuracy predictor of elevated female status. As Dr. Cassidy notes: “If you were going to pick a period of prehistory to be a woman, it probably was a pretty good one.” This genetic precision allows researchers like Dr. Martin Smith to move beyond generalities, constructing specific “histories” of human connection that effectively bridge the gap between prehistory and the recorded past.

Dr Lara Cassidy, a Geneticist from Trinity College, Dublin, and Dr Martin Smith, Biological Anthropologist at Bournemouth University, with Tristan Hughes seeing three generations of female skeletons from the Duropolis site.

Image Credit: History Hit

Wealth, mirrors, and magic

Dr. Martin Smith (Biological Anthropologist, Bournemouth University) highlights that the ‘wealthy burials’ at Duropolis “always seem to be women”. These graves contain high-value objects suggesting women were the primary holders of material and spiritual prestige.

Among the most intriguing finds are rare Iron Age mirrors. Far from vanity items, Professor Melanie Giles from the University of Manchester, describes them as “potent, even dangerous weapons of the spirit world.” In the flickering light of a roundhouse, a woman wielding such a captivating object held a domain of authority reserved exclusively for females.

This power extended to the battlefield. One young woman’s grave contained a chariot amulet depicting a victorious female driver – a symbol mirrored in the massive Melsonby Hoard. It suggests the “War-Queen” archetype, famously associated with Boudica, was a standard feature of British social structures rather than a historical fluke.

Close-up of Iron Age mirror, found at the Duropolis site, with Celtic art motifs on one side

Image Credit: History Hit / The Dorset Museum

From ritual sacrifice to female judges

Bioarchaeological analysis also reveals a darker, more nuanced hierarchy. Dr. Martin Smith identified vitamin C deficiencies (scurvy) in certain skeletons, suggesting distinct dietary tiers and social differentiation. While elite women received elaborate burials, other remains found in storage pits point to potential human sacrifice.

Yet for the living, the roundhouse served as a sophisticated political hub. Therese Kearns of Butser Ancient Farm points to ancient origins of the “Brehon Laws” – suggesting women held high-status roles as Druids, poets, judges and healers. 

The end of an era

The arrival of the Roman Legions in 43 AD imported a rigid patriarchal hierarchy that effectively ended this age of female power. As Roman law took hold, the ancient custom of matrilocality faded. 

However, now, by combining archaeology, history, and DNA, we are finally reading the biographies of the women who truly ruled the land.

Watch Iron Age Women: Rulers of the Land now on History Hit to see the DNA evidence for yourself.

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In History Hit’s compelling documentary ‘The Face of Anne Boleyn: Capturing a Queen’, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb visits Hever Castle – Anne’s childhood home  – to explore a landmark exhibition, Capturing a Queen, that brings together the largest collection of Anne’s portraits ever assembled. The documentary highlights the cutting-edge forensic science being used to determine if any of these surviving portraits’ “faces” capture the real woman, or if they are merely products of dynastic propaganda.

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Beauty vs. deformity

The mystery begins with conflicting contemporary accounts. Contemporaries of Anne often noted her “beguiling dark eyes” and an elegant, olive-toned complexion. However, as Professor Lipscomb notes, “When it comes to Anne Boleyn, we need to think about who is writing the account.” The most enduring – and infamous description came decades after her death. 

In 1585, Catholic polemicist Nicholas Sander claimed Anne had a projecting tooth, a large cyst under her chin, and six fingers on her right hand. Writing 50 years after her execution, Sander’s “witch-like” caricature was a calculated attempt to delegitimise her daughter, Elizabeth I. This tug-of-war between admiration and vilification has coloured every artistic representation of Anne for centuries.

The “Most Happy” discovery

The documentary explores the collection of portraits of Anne from the 16th century, many of which depict her wearing a ‘B’ necklace – the iconic pearl strand that has become Anne’s visual shorthand. It also highlights a rare artefact: ‘The Moost Happi Medal’.

Loaned from the British Museum, this lead medallion from 1534 was cast when Anne was thought to be pregnant with a son. It is the only contemporary likeness of Anne undisputed by historians. Though damaged, it serves as a ‘Rosetta Stone’ for her features, providing a vital prototype to compare against later, potentially fictionalised paintings. 

‘The Moost Happi Medal’ – Left: original medal, damaged. Right: original sketch

Image Credit: British Museum / Hever Castle / History Hit

Icons of authority

In her lifetime, Anne was often defined by her personal iconography, which would have been familiar to everyone at court. These included a crowned falcon perched on a rose-bearing stump (a potent symbol of fertility and her promise of a male heir), and a leopard (a fierce emblem of royal authority). Such symbols of Anne were also found on her personal possessions.

At Hever, Suzannah examines Anne’s personal velvet-covered Book of Ecclesiastes. As Assistant Curator Kate McCaffrey remarks, “Her DNA is all over this.” It is in these intimate objects that we find a more authentic trace of Anne than many stylised portraits.

A dynastic mask

After her execution in 1536, Anne’s image was effectively purged from the royal record. It only resurfaced decades later during the reign of her daughter, Elizabeth I, as wealthy patrons commissioned ‘corridor portraits’ to signal Protestant loyalty to the Queen.

Scientific analysis, however, reveals a startling truth: many of these images were created using standardised “patterns” or stencils. Under-drawings suggest artists weren’t painting a woman they remembered, but were likely mapping Elizabeth I’s long, elegant face backward onto her mother.

During a perilous period for Elizabeth I’s reign, this “Elizabethanising” of Anne served to visually cement the Queen’s legitimacy to the court. As Suzannah summarises, this also implies that by the 1580s, painters didn’t know what Anne Boleyn looked like, so they were essentially “creating Anne from scratch on the basis of her daughter.”

Production shot of Prof Suzannah Lipscomb and Dr. Owen Emmerson discussing one of Anne Boleyn’s portraits on display at Hever Castle

Image Credit: History Hit

The Hever Rose portrait

A lot of the research done at Hever Castle has been focused on a well-known portrait in their own collection – the ‘Hever Rose Portrait’. 

Unlike the standardised Elizabethan patterns, this painting displays distinct facial variations and a deliberate later inclusion of Anne’s hands – showing a normal number of fingers – holding a rose of Lancaster, likely a direct rebuttal to Sanders’ ‘six-fingered’ rumours.

Dendrochronology has dated the wood panel used in the portrait to 1583. The portrait was sent to the Hamilton Kerr Institute at the Fitzwilliam Museum where an array of non-invasive technologies – including infra-red, x-rays, X-radiography and micro-invasive sampling – were used to help peer through the centuries of pigment and analyse the chemical composition of the paint. Research scientist Paul Van Laar explains that

“The exciting thing about many of these techniques is that we can look beneath what we see with the naked eye. We see the top paint layer but we never know what’s hidden underneath”.

Analysis of the Hever Rose portrait of Anne Boleyn

Image Credit: History Hit

The findings suggest that while this specific portrait was painted in 1583 – a perilous year for Elizabeth I’s reign – it was transferred from a master “pattern” that likely pre-dates the painting by decades. Could that master image date back to Anne’s own lifetime? This offers a tantalising possibility: a surviving link to a master image created during Anne’s actual lifetime.

The search continues

Finding the “real” Anne is about more than aesthetics. As Dr. Owen Emmerson observes, her contemporaries valued her “style, charisma, and intelligence” over her physical features. Yet, the quest to find the real face of Anne Boleyn is more than mere curiosity. Reclaiming her true likeness is an act of historical justice – stripping away the propaganda of her enemies and the political filters of her descendants to see the woman herself.

Join Suzannah Lipscomb at Hever Castle as she aims to uncover ‘The Face of Anne Boleyn: Capturing a Queen’.

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