The Other Half: The History of Women Through the Ages

In the fifth season of the Other Half Podcast, we are looking at Rulers' Mistresses: a cross-cultural story of extra-marital love and lust, bringing ten women, who so often existed in the shadows, into the light.Support the show on PatreonFollow us on Facebook and Twitter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pascalina helps propel Pius XII to the papacy, becoming his right-hand woman and the most powerful woman in Vatican history. Support the show on PatreonFollow us on Facebook and Twitter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pascalina would come a long way from her family farm in Bavaria, becoming the right-hand woman to a man who would become Pope just as Europe slipped towards war.Support the show on PatreonFollow us on Facebook and Twitter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Scandal was never far from Christina but she is about to get embroiled in her most serious one to date.Pontifacts: Women and Female Power in the Vatican with The Other Half PodcastSupport the show on PatreonFollow us on Facebook and Twitter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On Monday 19 September, Queen Elizabeth II will be laid to rest in Windsor after a state funeral at Westminster Abbey. Royal funerals have gone back hundreds of years, with the first one in the Anglican tradition occurring in 1603. What did those funerals look like, and how will they compare to the one we will watch tomorrow?Support the show on PatreonFollow us on Facebook and Twitter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Christina arrives in Rome and makes her mark on a very different court from the one in her homeland.Support the show on PatreonFollow us on Facebook and Twitter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One of the greatest conscious uncouplings in European royal history as Queen Christina does two unthinkable acts: give up both her throne and her faith.Support the show on PatreonFollow us on Facebook and Twitter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Christina, Queen of Sweden, is arguably the most fascinating female monarch in Early Modern history. One of learning and science, independence and free thinking. She is Scandinavia's Elizabeth I in many ways, but their legacy is very different.Support the show on PatreonFollow us on Facebook and Twitter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Corruption, family drama, betrayal. The pontificate of Innocent X would certainly not be a dull one with Olimpia Maidalchini at the helm.Support the show on PatreonFollow us on Facebook and Twitter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Olimpia was very different to her Renaissance forebears, but whose partnership with her brother-in-law would see her become the true power behind the throne of St Peter. Support the show on PatreonFollow us on Facebook and Twitter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You might expect Felice della Rovere's place in history to more or less end with the death of her father - but in fact, she was just getting started.Support the show on PatreonFollow us on Facebook and Twitter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fortune played very little role in Felice's impact on history - few women achieved more in the Italian Renaissance than she. Support the show on PatreonFollow us on Facebook and Twitter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lucrezia emerges from her self-imposed isolation, starts a family and meets the next great love of her life - and I don't mean her husband.Support the show on PatreonFollow us on Facebook and Twitter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lucrezia is pulled out of mourning to get married for the third, and final, time - but not before getting embroiled in scandal.Support the show on PatreonFollow us on Facebook and Twitter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

History has many great femme fatales - but the very byword for femme fatale, the archetype for centuries, is Lucrezia Borgia.Support the show on PatreonFollow us on Facebook and Twitter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Caterina takes on her most powerful yet - the BorgiasSupport the Red Cross Ukraine AppealSupport the show on PatreonFollow us on Facebook and Twitter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With her husband indisposed after an illness and treasury empty, Caterina would need to work hard to prove herself once more as the regent of Imola and Forli.Support the Red Cross Ukraine AppealSupport the show on PatreonFollow us on Facebook and Twitter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Caterina Sforza was married young to a scheming relative of the Pope. She would find quickly that to survive, she would need to take matters into her own hands.Support the show on PatreonFollow us on Facebook and Twitter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Catherine's fame and influence grow, leading her to the papal court itself in Avignon and the heat of the ruptures that would lead to the Great Schism.Support the show on PatreonFollow us on Facebook and Twitter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Introducing the writer, church doctor and eventual saint, Catherine of Siena. Support the show on PatreonFollow us on Facebook and Twitter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I speak to historian and author Hallie Rubenhold about the victims of Jack the Ripper, why they have been forgotten and the importance of social history.Buy The Five The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the RipperListen to Bad Women Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Now nearly 40, Joanna had given up hope of producing a natural heir, meaning that now she had to solve a bit of a conundrum - who should succeed her as ruler of Naples?Support the show on PatreonFollow us on Facebook and Twitter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joanna sits in triumph back in her capital city, but her kingdom still faced three terrible foes: invaders, plague and internal foes.Support the show on PatreonFollow us on Facebook and Twitter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Following the grisly murder of her husband, Joanna ends up facing war from within and without her kingdom, all of which would end up with her on trial for her life in Avignon.Support the show on PatreonFollow us on Facebook and Twitter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We travel to fourteenth-century Naples to hear about one of the most powerful female rulers of the whole medieval period. Joanna of Naples is one of very few queens regnant in the Middle Ages - her reign was action-packed. Support the show on PatreonFollow us on Facebook and Twitter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Call it the Dark Century, Rule of the Harlots, or, as I have, the Pornocracy, the tenth century was a nadir in papal history, with powerful nobles calling the shots. And at the centre of it all its matriarch: MaroziaSupport the show on PatreonFollow us on Facebook and Twitter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The legend of Pope Joan is quite possibly the most intriguing and enduring of Vatican myths. But how could the Papacy allow a story this astonishing, this embarrassing, to survive for centuries?Support the show on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Papacy, which is going to be a hugely important factor in this series, is a two-thousand-year institution - where do you start? Well, talking to the host best papal podcast around seems like a good start. Today I talk to Bry Jensen, one half of the Pontifacts podcast, about what the Papacy is, and how it has affected European history.Support the show on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Introducing the topic for the fourth season of The Other Half Podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In what feels to me a lifetime ago, but was actually only about 12 months, I spoke to Ellen Alspten on the podcast about her book 'Tsarina.Since then - and I can only assume because of it - the book has gone on to be tremendously successful. It has been shortlisted for the Author's Club's Best First Novel award, got a starred review from Booklist and has sold so well that it already has a sequel - 'The Tsarina's Daughter'.I spoke to Ellen earlier this week about it. Enjoy!Buy 'The Tsarina's Daughter' by Ellen Alpsten Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To finish off the third season of The Other Half, we cover three final women: Tomoe Gozen, Khutulun and Escrava Anastacia Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As rebellion sweeps India, Rani Lakshmibai fights for her nation's independence and becomes its most famous heroine.Support the show on PatreonDownload the Lyceum app and join the conversation Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today I speak to one of my favourite history bloggers. Claire is history blogger that lives in the darkest depths of rural Mid Wales (her words). Her great belief is that it's okay to live in the past and her blog is all about the latest history books to read and the latest period dramas to watch. You can also find the latest historical travel inspiration for when you have a spare day or two and want to travel back in time!The Hisdoryan blogHisdoryan on TwitterHisdoryan on InstagramHisdoryan on Facebook Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rani Laksmibai is one of the great heroines of modern India - a warrior queen who fought against British rule of her country Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Elodie Harper is a reporter and presenter at ITV News Anglia. She's worked as a journalist for the past decade, including for Channel 4 News, ITN and BBC Radio with a focus on crime reporting in Norfolk, where her first two novels are set. The Wolf Den takes her in a new direction and to a new time period in the lupanar of Ancient Pompeii.Buy Elodie's book from Blackwells or, if you're not from the US or Canada, from your local bookstore. You can also get it from Amazon, but I reckon Jeff Bezos has enough money. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After her country was stolen from her, a young countess from Lithuania took up arms to get it back.Support the show on PatreonDownload the Lyceum app and join the conversation Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sacagawea completes her journey to the Pacific and back again - making electoral history along the way - as well as looking at how she has been remembered by generations of Americans.Support the show on PatreonDownload the Lyceum app and join the conversation Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sacagawea saves the Corps twice and runs into her family.Support the show on PatreonDownload the Lyceum app and join the conversation Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For me, there is only one woman in US history that truly fits the folk heroine bill, the one with more rivers, mountains and memorials in her honour than any other woman in American history - Sacagawea.Support the show on PatreonDownload the Lyceum app and join the conversation Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Njinga finally achieves ultimate victory and finally rules the nation whose throne she had assumed so many years before. But could she manage to safely pass the kingdom off to her chosen successor.Support the show on PatreonDownload the Lyceum app and join the conversation Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Njinga's brother dying put her in pole position to become Ndongo's first queen, but the route to power for women is rarely obstacle-free.Support the show on PatreonDownload the Lyceum app and join the conversation Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We travel to the lands that make up modern Angola into the era of European colonialism and expansion, slavery and subjugation to tell the story of one of Africa's greatest queens.Support the show on PatreonDownload the Lyceum app and join the conversation Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After Joan's death, France triumphed in the Hundred Years War, and which led to Joan's rebirth as a true heroine of France and of liberty all over the world.Joan of Arc at the PantheonSupport the show on PatreonDownload the Lyceum app and join the conversation Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joan of Arc goes through months of penetrating and humiliating interrogation and trial as her captors seek to break her will and achieve moral as well as military victoryThe full court record of Joan's trialSupport the show on PatreonDownload the Lyceum app and join the conversation Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After winning the faith of the Dauphin, Joan travels to her date with destiny at the besieged city of Orléans.Watch my guest episode on Tudor queens with Heather Teysco of the Renaissance English History PodcastSupport the show on PatreonDownload the Lyceum app and join the conversation Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joan of Arc or Jeanne la Pucelle is the prototypical folk heroine - she is the gold standard on which they are all judged. Today we see how a teenage peasant girl persuaded a prince to let her lead his armies against the old enemy.Support the show on PatreonDownload the Lyceum app and join the conversation Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With her position at home secure, it was time for Tamar to make her mark on history, both on the battlefield and in building her cultural legacyListen to Mily Balakirev's Tamara, played by the Montreal Symphony OrchestraSupport the show on PatreonDownload the Lyceum app and join the conversation Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In twelfth century Georgia, a woman comes to the throne. Her people had never had a queen before, and the nation was surrounded by enemies. Tamar would have her work cut out to survive.Support the show on PatreonDownload the Lyceum app and join the conversation Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

China has a cultural history rich in myth and legend - and none has shone quite so brightly both within and outside China than Mulan.Support the show on PatreonDownload the Lyceum app and join the conversation Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Across the Red River Delta came the pounding of drums. The clans of Ancient Vietnam were being called to war - and the clamour came from two sisters, the eldest of which would fight a great empire in the cause of Vietnamese freedom.Support the show on PatreonDownload the Lyceum app and join the conversation Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Boudica, after seeing her kingdom annexed and her daughters violated fights her final battle against the Romans. She may have lost it, but her enduring legacy has seen her attain the rank of folk heroinehood in England.Support the show on PatreonDownload the Lyceum app and join the conversationHenry Purcell's 'To Arms, To Arms' Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.