Curated playlist

English Roman Catholics

Charles II of EnglandCharles II was received in London on the 29th of May 1660, which happened to be his 30th birthday. The crowds met the returning king with public acclaim. He would go on to rule England, Scotland and Ireland until 1685. Contemporaries found…
Richard III of EnglandRichard III's skeleton was found under a car park in Leicester. The king had been buried there in 1485.
Catherine of AragonWidowed at sixteen, Catherine of Aragon became the first known female ambassador in European history.
Jane SeymourJane Seymour once returned King Henry the Eighth's purse of gold without breaking its seal.
Mary IMary I came into the world on the 18th of February 1516 at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, the only child of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon to survive infancy. She died on the 17th of November 1558, aged 42, at St James's Palace,…
Elizabeth of YorkElizabeth of York died on her 37th birthday. She was Henry VII's queen and Henry VIII's mother.
Catherine HowardCatherine Howard was queen of England for barely sixteen months. Henry VIII's fifth wife was beheaded in 1542.
Edward ElgarA 1901 London concert crowd demanded a double encore for Elgar's first Pomp and Circumstance march.
Richard I of EnglandWhile scraping together money for a crusade, Richard I of England reputedly declared, "I would have sold London if I could find a buyer." He ruled as king from 1189 until 1199. In all that time he probably spent no more than six months on…
Henry V of EnglandHenry V of England was crowned at Westminster Abbey on the 9th of April 1413, in the middle of a terrible snowstorm. Onlookers could not decide whether the weather was a good omen or a bad one. That uncertainty suited a king whose…
Alec GuinnessAlec Guinness privately called Star Wars "fairy-tale rubbish" in letters to friends.
William ByrdComposer William Byrd answered a motet from Prague with one of his own. Both were written for eight voices.
Sheila Kaye-SmithSheila Kaye-Smith slipped a joke about Cold Comfort Farm into her own 1939 novel.
Richard II of EnglandRichard II of England was born in the Archbishop's Palace of Bordeaux on the 6th of January 1367. Contemporary sources claimed that three kings were present at the birth: "the King of Castile, the King of Navarre and the King of Portugal".…
Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of NorfolkThe Duke of Norfolk sentenced his own niece Anne Boleyn to death. Thomas Howard presided at her 1536 trial.
Christopher TolkienChristopher Tolkien admitted he had to invent some passages in his father's book The Silmarillion.
Thomas TallisThomas Tallis served four English monarchs without losing his position, his freedom or his head.
Jimmy SavileJimmy Savile ended the last weekly edition of Top of the Pops on the 30th of July 2006 with the words 'It's number one, it's still Top of the Pops.' After the closing credits, he turned off the studio lights. Savile had been a fixture of…
John DowlandIn 1594, lutenist John Dowland applied for a place at Elizabeth I's court and was turned down. He blamed his religion.
Gabriel Turville-PetreIn August 1942, the Foreign Office sent Gabriel Turville-Petre to the Faroe Islands for two months. The stated purpose was "in order to study the inhabitants, their politics and conditions of life." Edward Oswald Gabriel Turville-Petre was…
Aubrey BeardsleyDying at 25, artist Aubrey Beardsley begged his publisher to destroy his most explicit drawings.
Simon CallowSimon Callow's acting career began with a fan letter to Laurence Olivier. Olivier wrote back with a box-office job.
Cynthia ErivoCynthia Erivo, whose surname is pronounced uh-REE-voh, belongs to a very small group. She has been nominated for an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award. She has won every one of them except the Oscar. That set of four honors is known…