Dan Jones

speaker

253 appearances 1 recordings 1 series first heard Jun 2026 last heard 11 Jun

Dan Jones’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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recordings per month · last 12 months

Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 1 in all, peaking in Jun 2026 with 1.

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Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford · Presenting...This is History: A Dynasty to Die For · 11 Jun 2026 podcast

Whether you've been following this podcast since the beginning or you're just joining us for the first time today, I want to remind you of a golden rule of Plantagenet history.

Anything can happen.

In the three centuries we've covered, we've seen kings rise from total obscurity to absolute power, and we've seen rulers who seemed untouchable come hurtling down to earth with a splat.

It pays to remember one of my favourite medieval chroniclers' quotes, by good old Gerald of Wales.

Back in the 12th century, Gerald wrote...

A sensible man ought to consider that fortune's favour is variable, and her wheel is ever-turning.

Although the merciful creator is long-suffering and patient, he is likewise severe in executing punishment and vengeance upon the stubborn and willful, and usually begins to exact that punishment here on earth.

And yes, sure, I don't think we're going to squeeze that down to fit it on a slogan T-shirt, but it seems to capture beautifully the topsy-turviness of the Plantagenet cinematic universe.

One minute, the world is eating out of your hand.

The next, it's sinking its fangs into your glutei maximi.

Which brings us to where we left our story last season.

In season nine, we heard how England went from the triumphs of Henry V's reign to the nadir of Henry VI's.

After a promising start, the king went mad, the nobles went feral, and eventually, after much tussling and some truly savage battles, an 18-year-old giant called Edward, Earl of March, slashed his way to the top.

Edward destroyed his enemies at the monstrous Battle of Towton, crushing a massive Lancastrian army.

Seemingly from nowhere, he then took the throne as Edward IV, becoming the first king of the House of York.

If you're a newbie or want to recap, there's all that and more than 200 other episodes available in our archive.

To get them ad-free, sign up at patreon.com forward slash thisishistory.

The trouble is, it isn't easy at the top.

So that's where we're going to pick up our story.

At the start of this episode, we were with Margaret Beaufort as she gave birth to Henry Tudor in 1457.

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