Alexander Courtney

BBC Two tonight at 9 (and on iPlayer)… A little cameo for Basilikon Doron and @theulspeccoll.bsky.social

Happy Powder Treason Night!
#earlymodern

Fantastic @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social interview with @witchykallestrup.bsky.social about The Construction of #Witchcraft in #EarlyModern #Denmark @routledgebooks.bsky.social #skystorians This is how you write a book and take an interview! #BookSky📚💙

newbooksnetwork.com/the-construc...

(reminder) and 'American English' version (@davidveevers.bsky.social ) on Wednesday, 22 October, at 8 am EDT 😁

A pleasure to speak on Mary Stuart’s secret letters on BBC Radio Scotland this morning (though briefly).

Listen to The Sunday Show from 1:27:50 onwards.

See the English language version of the documentary on BBC iPlayer & BBC Two Mon 21 Oct at 9pm.

@labnf.bsky.social
#History #Stuarts #Tudors

I’ve just seen a short clip from the PBS version: great narration!

Excellent - enjoy! There will be another version in Germany too, I understand. Mary Stuart’s world tour!

You’ll enjoy it, I’m sure.
Yes - the Mary letters are a great windfall of words! Such a joy to work on!

YouTube video by ARTE Marie Stuart, l’énigme des lettres codées | Documentaire | ARTE

Thanks, Eilish! If you haven’t seen it, the epic French version, which is longer, is a better guide to the letters themselves - the decryption and significance of which are more the focus there. Strong recommend: ARTE app or their YouTube channel: m.youtube.com/watch?v=4-Kq...

Tonight, 9pm on BBC Scotland & Monday 20/10, 9pm on BBC Two: ‘The Secret Letters of Mary, Queen of Scots’.

Featuring some lovely shots of @selwyn1882.bsky.social and a word or two from me about my friends George, Norbert and Satoshi’s phenomenal discovery.

#StuartSaturday #earlymodern

Most watched 🥳
‘Marie Stuart: l’énigme des lettres codées’ @artefr.bsky.social
#earlymodern #renaissance #monarchy #history

YouTube video by Secrets of the Dead PBS Secrets of the Dead Returns to PBS | October 2025

Coming soon on @pbs.org : Cracking the Queen’s Code

22 October
#SecretsOfTheDead
#EarlyModern #History #MaryQueenofScots

youtu.be/lOvLU47e9vc

Ha ha! Yes - until his next opportunity to do otherwise…

🤓

For ‘famously’ read ‘allegedly’, in my view. The ‘evidence’ concerning Buchanan’s schooling of James VI has been much misunderstood.

A regarder ce soir : « Marie Stuart, l’énigme des lettres codées » sur Arte Le documentaire relate comment trois « codebreakers » ont décrypté les correspondances de la reine maudite après sa mort. Une grande aventure du déchiffrement.

📣 A regarder ce soir sur ARTE !!!

Le documentaire passionant d’Augustin Viatte sur la découverte des lettres codées de Marie Stuart @labnf.bsky.social
@artefr.bsky.social @royalstudies.bsky.social

#earlymodern #renaissance #StuartSaturday #ScotsHistory

www.lemonde.fr/culture/arti...

Seuls des rois de la cryptanalyse pouvaient percer le mystère des lettres codées d'une reine ✍️

The wonderful documentary of my friends George, Norbert and Satoshi’s discovery and decipherment of #MaryQueenofScots lost letters.

Beautifully crafted by writer and director Augustin Viatte.

On @artefr.bsky.social online now and on TV 🇫🇷🇩🇪 27 September.👇

#earlymodern #history

The wonderful documentary of my friends George, Norbert and Satoshi’s discovery and decipherment of #MaryQueenofScots lost letters.

Beautifully crafted by writer and director Augustin Viatte.

On @artefr.bsky.social online now and on TV 🇫🇷🇩🇪 27 September.👇

#earlymodern #history

Chamberlain’s letters are great. Thanks for sharing. Tripping on the stairs needn’t mean James was tipsy, of course, and the existence of the newsletter suggests that the fall was not covered up.

New podcast episode available in French! Join our host @vic-de-valois.bsky.social and guest speaker Fanny Giraudier as they discuss the "Violence à la cour française" conference.

Listen here or on your favourite podcast platform : www.buzzsprout.com/1934722/epis...

📣Calling all new research students in history & historical subjects. Do you want to learn how the IHR can help you during your studies?

Join us on the 8 October to find out more.

@royalhistsoc.org @ihrhistorylab.bsky.social @historyandpolicy.bsky.social @chppc.bsky.social

bit.ly/41UPOyG

It’s wonderful public interest in James VI & I’s life and reign is rising, AND that readers can turn to several new books about him.📚

Here are Steven Veerapen, Clare Jackson, Steven Reid and me discussing our man; Laura Stewart chairing.
#Stuarts #KingJames400 #History #Tudors #earlymodern

James VI of Scotland became Elizabeth’s successor peacefully and was welcomed into England, people’s ‘eyes flaming nothing but sparks of affection’ towards him (as he put it).

There was no better supported claimant; no one with a stronger claim.

#Tudors #KingJames400 #history #earlymodern

Thank you, Neil. This is most kind! I really enjoy that moment of Jacobean political psalmody!

Did the dying Elizabeth I signal that she approved of James VI as her successor? Who knows?! What matters is the story’s meaning.

It’s well known that accounts were circulated by English officials as a supplementary argument for James’s lawful claim.
#Tudors #KingJames400 #earlymodern

Cynthia Fry’s thesis is marvellous - a must-read.

My view is that, yes, the succession was his great goal - not his ‘single’ goal as he didn’t have that luxury.

He was ‘bovvered’ but he was also adept at not making his ‘face look bovvered’!

(One for discussion on BBC Breakfast 🤔?!)

James VI, Britannic Prince: King of Scots and Elizabeth’s Heir, 1566–1603 By drawing upon recent scholarship, original manuscript materials, and previously unpublished sources, this new biography presents an analytical narrative of King James VI & I’s life from his birth in...

Several people have written about this since the 1590s.

I have addressed how James defended his claim (against the doubters and the haters!) here:

www.routledge.com/James-VI-Bri...

#earlymodern

Q. Who had the strongest claim to succeed Elizabeth I? Answer: James VI (as was widely accepted at the time).

Here, though, is the succession according to an opponent of James’s claim, Robert Persons, in 1594/5. An elaborate effort to muddy the waters.

#Tudors #KingJames400 #earlymodern

Thanks, Gabby! I’m thrilled!

Excited to share that I’ve been elected to an IHR Fellowship! ☺️

I have been supported by, and have learnt so much from, many #earlymodern scholars
@ihr.bsky.social over the years.

I’m thrilled now to have the opportunity to join the Institute and contribute to its work in this way.