**WARNING: This episode contains descriptions of suicide**

On 6 September 1560, Amy Robsart Dudley died after falling down a staircase at Cumnor Place in Oxfordshire. But did she fall? Was she pushed? Or did she throw herself down the stairs? These questions exercised Tudor courtiers and foreign ambassadors at the time. The truth mattered because Amy was the wife of Queen Elizabeth I’s leading courtier and very close friend, Robert Dudley, and his wife’s death could clear the way for Elizabeth to marry Dudley. But in practice, the circumstances of Amy’s death precluded any possibility of a royal marriage.

In this second episode of our Tudor True Crime Month on Not Just the Tudors, first released in February 2023, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr. Joanne Paul to discuss what really happened - was it an accident, suicide or murder?

MORE:

The House of Dudley >

Robert Dudley: Elizabeth I's Forbidden Love >

Presented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. Edited and produced by Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.

Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcast

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Who stabbed the famed playwright? And who planned it? We're stepping out of the sun and into the shadows on Not Just the Tudors, as Professor Suzannah Lipscomb investigates Tudor True Crime; a selection of history’s most notorious murders and murderers.

Today Suzannah is joined by Charles Nicholl to dig deeper into the mystery of the 1593 murder of the brilliant and controversial playwright Christopher Marlowe, who was stabbed to death in a house in Deptford. The official account stated it was a violent quarrel over the bill. But as Charles Nicholl explains, critical evidence about that fatal day points to Marlowe's shadowy political and espionage dealings.

MORE:

Dr Faustus: Pacts with the Devil >

Mysterious Murder of Juan Borgia >

Presented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. Edited and produced by Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.

Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcast

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

You can take part in our listener survey here:

https://insights.historyhit.com/history-hit-podcast-always-on

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

**Contains examples of 'othering', including birth abnormalities, and the terms used to describe them historically**

Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Dr. Surekha Davies to discuss how individuals and groups were often classified in the Early Modern period, and how ideas evolved around normality versus 'otherness' - or even 'monstrosity'. Suzannah and Surekha consider the influence of the four humors on human classification, the portrayal of different peoples in New World exploration, and the entrenchment of racism and sexism through legal and social frameworks. They also touch upon gender fluidity and intersexuality from various cultural perspectives, culminating in a rich discussion on how humans created their own concepts of 'monsters' amongst men.

MORE:

Unusual Births and Disability in 17th Century England

Making Babies in the 17th Century

Presented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. The audio editor is Amy Haddow and the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.

Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcast.

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

You can take part in our listener survey here: https://insights.historyhit.com/history-hit-podcast-always-on

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.