For millennia, royals have claimed that their right to rule over the unwashed masses was granted to them by God. But a few have been associated with powers originating far south of heaven. Tonight I’ll share with you the spooky and salacious tales of the demon countess who spawned the bloodthirsty Plantagenet dynasty, an unholy canine who ferociously defended his master on the battlefield; A holy roman Emperor who was not very holy and performed black masses on his Empress’s naked body; and a Spanish king who underwent exorcisms in an attempt to rid himself of his terrible afflictions. The Demon Countess of Anjou The Prince’s Poodle From Hell The UnHoly Roman Emperor’s Black Masses The Exorcisms of The King of Spain Join me every Tuesday when I'm Spilling the Tea on History! Check out my Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/lindsayholiday Please consider supporting me at https://www.patreon.com/LindsayHoliday and help me make more fascinating episodes! Intro Music: Baroque Coffee House by Doug Maxwell #HistoryTeaTime #LindsayHoliday Please contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ if you would like to advertise on this podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From sex-crazed libertines, to noble courtesans, to innocent Empresses; syphilis was a devastating disease which ravaged many, and sometimes changed the course of history. Let’s meet 10 royal and noble victims of this sexually transmitted infection. Lorenzo de’Medici, Duke of Urbino 1492 – 1519 Maria Salviati de’ Medici 1499 – 1543 Abbas II of Persia, Shah of Iran 1632 – 1666 John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester 1647 – 1680 Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor 1678 – 1711 Sally Salisbury 1692 – 1724 Lola Montez, Countess of Landsfeld 1821 – 1861 Luís I, King of Portugal 1838 – 1889 Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria 1858 – 1889 Archduke Otto Franz Joseph of Austria 1865 – 1906 Music: Butterflies in Love by Sir Cubworth Join me every Tuesday when I'm Spilling the Tea on History! Check out my Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/lindsayholiday Please consider supporting me at https://www.patreon.com/LindsayHoliday and help me make more fascinating episodes! Intro Music: Baroque Coffee House by Doug Maxwell #HistoryTeaTime #LindsayHoliday Please contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ if you would like to advertise on this podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1700 the Stuart Dynasty was out of heirs, save one, Princess Anne. Parliament studied the royal family tree to determine who was next in line. The problem was they were all catholic. The succession skipped over 41 closer relations until they got to the nearest living Protestant, Sophia, Electress of Hanover. The Act of Settlement of 1701 declared that all future British monarchs must be her descendant. She ended up dying before Anne and the throne went to her son, George I. But who were the 41 royals skipped over? French Princes, Italian Kings, A Queen of Spain and a couple of Holy Roman Empresses, let’s meet the fascinating potential British Monarchs that never where. This succession uses the rules of male-preference primogeneture, the law of the land at the time. And only looks at dynasts who were alive in the year 1701. Brandenburg Concerto No4-1 BWV1049 - Classical Whimsical by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100303 Artist: http://incompetech.com/ Join me every Tuesday when I'm Spilling the Tea on History! Check out my Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/lindsayholiday Please consider supporting me at https://www.patreon.com/LindsayHoliday and help me make more fascinating episodes! Intro Music: Baroque Coffee House by Doug Maxwell #HistoryTeaTime #LindsayHoliday Please contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ if you would like to advertise on this podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Queen Anne was the younger sister of Mary II, half of England’s only joint monarchy, William and Mary. When they died, Anne had no interest in sharing the throne with her husband. She was the first married Queen of England to rule on her own. Anne was a strong political player and oversaw the creation of the new nation of Great Britain. She had a long term, possibly romantic relationship with Sarah Churchill, but when political differences tore them apart, she transferred her affections to another lady in waiting, Abigail Marsham. Anne had 17 pregnancies, but none of her children survived childhood. Her death meant the end of the Stuart Dynasty and the throne went to her German cousin, George I. Let's examine the life of Queen Anne. Music: Brandenburg Concerto No4-1 BWV1049 - Classical Whimsical by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100303 Artist: http://incompetech.com/ Join me every Tuesday when I'm Spilling the Tea on History! Check out my Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/lindsayholiday Please consider supporting me at https://www.patreon.com/LindsayHoliday and help me make more fascinating episodes! Intro Music: Baroque Coffee House by Doug Maxwell #HistoryTeaTime #LindsayHoliday Please contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ if you would like to advertise on this podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we're bringing you a special teaser of You're Dead To Me, the BBC's hit comedy podcast that takes history seriously – on a topic close to our hearts, Tea! In this episode, host Greg Jenner is joined by historian Professor Yangwen Zheng and comedian Hugh Dennis to trace the story of tea back to its roots in ancient China. Expect hidden history, myth-busting and a lot of laughs. If you enjoy what you hear, find You're Dead To Me wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Queen Mary II was 1/2 of England’s only joint monarchy, and half of a pair of powerful sister Queens. She betrayed her father and took his throne with the support of her Dutch husband, William of Orange. She preferred to take a back seat but ended up doing most of the governing while William was away at war. There is evidence that both she and her sister Anne had romantic relationships with women. Mary’s life was marred by reproductive tragedy and cut short by smallpox. Let's examine the life of Queen Mary II. Music: Brandenburg Concerto No4-1 BWV1049 - Classical Whimsical by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100303 Artist: http://incompetech.com/ Join me every Tuesday when I'm Spilling the Tea on History! Check out my Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/lindsayholiday Please consider supporting me at https://www.patreon.com/LindsayHoliday and help me make more fascinating episodes! Intro Music: Baroque Coffee House by Doug Maxwell #HistoryTeaTime #LindsayHoliday Please contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ if you would like to advertise on this podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the great pestilence burned across central Asia, north Africa and Europe, roughly 100 million people lost their lives in the worst pandemic in human history. More than half of the populations of Florence, Paris and London fell victim. We will never know the names of most of the poor souls who met their end in mass graves. But perhaps the best way to put a human face on this apocalyptic event is to explore the lives of those victims for whom we do have carefully kept records - the Royals. Today let’s meet 21 Kings, Queens and Princes who where cut out of history by the scythe of the black death, and the many outbreaks of plague that followed. And see how their sudden deaths changed the course of history. Abu Sa’id Bahadur Khan, Mongul Sultan Joan of England, daughter of Edward III Blanche of Lancaster Edward of Angoulême, Son of Edward the Black Prince Anne of Bohemia, Queen of England Gruffudd ap Owain George Plantagenet, Duke of Bedford, Future Prince of Wales Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond Joan II, Queen of Navarre Jeanne of Burgundy, Queen of France Bonne of Luxembourg Eleanor of Portugal, Queen of Aragon Alfonso XI, King of Castile Philippa of Lancaster, Queen of Portugal Duarte, King of Portugal Ludovico, King of Sicily Luigi I , king of Naples Maria I, Queen of Sicily Erik Magnuson, King of Sweden Beatrix of Bavaria, Queen of Sweden Margrethe I of Denmark Music: Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saëns, Public Domain, Performed by Kevin MacLeod Join me every Tuesday when I'm Spilling the Tea on History! Check out my Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/lindsayholiday Please consider supporting me at https://www.patreon.com/LindsayHoliday and help me make more fascinating episodes! Intro Music: Baroque Coffee House by Doug Maxwell #HistoryTeaTime #LindsayHoliday Please contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ if you would like to advertise on this podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“How many valiant men, how many fair ladies, how many sprightly youths, … breakfasted in the morning with their kinsfolk, comrades and friends, and that same night supped with their ancestors in the other world.” Giovanni Boccaccio, The Decameron Between 1346 and 1353 a horrifying pestilence burned across Central Asia, North Africa and Europe. The infected, covered in bubos and burning with fever, died in agony, with no family left to care for them or priest to pray for their souls. In some areas 50% of the population was wiped out, leaving whole villages deserted with no one to bury the dead. Those who were lucky enough to be healthy, and have the means to do so, escaped disease riddled cities for the fresh, miasma-free air of the countryside. In the midst of this horror, Florentine Giovanni Boccaccio, wrote his seminal work, The Decameron, about 10 young people who flee the plague for a lavish, sexy Tuscan Villa vacation and to hopefully not die. This medieval masterpiece has recently been turned into a darkly hilarious Netflix series, which further explores the class and gender dynamics of the 14th century in a way that anyone who recently lived through a world-wide pandemic can relate to. Today lets explore the history and science behind the Black death; the plague pandemics that came before and after it, and find out if this horrendous disease is still a risk today. Plus we’ll find out what the Decameron has to say about life, love, sex, and surviving the plague in 1348 and today. Music: Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saëns, Public Domain, Performed by Kevin MacLeod Join me every Tuesday when I'm Spilling the Tea on History! Check out my Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/lindsayholiday Please consider supporting me at https://www.patreon.com/LindsayHoliday and help me make more fascinating episodes! Intro Music: Baroque Coffee House by Doug Maxwell #HistoryTeaTime #LindsayHoliday Please contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ if you would like to advertise on this podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lovers of folklore and Chocolate will have heard of the famous Lady Godiva, who rode her horse naked through the streets of Coventry with only her golden hair to preserve her modesty. And of peeping Tom, the only man in the town who dared to gaze upon her birthday suit and was struck blind for his sin. But did Lady Godiva actually exist? And did she really take her famed bare-back canter? Let’s travel back to Anglo Saxon England and meet the real Lady Godiva... Music: Folk Round by Kevin MacLeod Join me every Tuesday when I'm Spilling the Tea on History! Check out my Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/lindsayholiday Please consider supporting me at https://www.patreon.com/LindsayHoliday and help me make more fascinating episodes! Intro Music: Baroque Coffee House by Doug Maxwell #HistoryTeaTime #LindsayHoliday Please contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ if you would like to advertise on this podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anne Boleyn is one of the most famous women in history. Her meteoric rise from minor noble to Queen of England, and even swifter downfall to the block in the tower of London is the stuff of legend and the focus of too many novels and dramas to count. But there are two important characters in Anne’s story who don’t get as much attention. Her older sister Mary was King Henry’s mistress first, and bore him two children. And her younger brother George also had an impressive rise at court, which was cut short when he was accused of incest with Anne and lost his head 2 days before her. I’m at Hever Castle just south of London where the Boleyn siblings lived for much of their childhood. Let’s explore the castle and get to know more about the Queen Anne’s childhood, and the lives of her fascinating and tragic sister and brother, Mary Boleyn and George Boleyn. Music: Journey in the New World by Twin Musicom Join me every Tuesday when I'm Spilling the Tea on History! Check out my Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/lindsayholiday Please consider supporting me at https://www.patreon.com/LindsayHoliday and help me make more fascinating episodes! Intro Music: Baroque Coffee House by Doug Maxwell #HistoryTeaTime #LindsayHoliday Please contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ if you would like to advertise on this podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices