Betwixt The Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society

When Henry VIII wanted a divorce from Catherine of Aragon, he needed to prove that she was not a virgin when they wed. One woman was key to proving this: Catalina of Motril, Catherine's enslaved servant who was always present in the royal bedroom. Before the divorce, though, what was Catalina's experience like in the heart of the Tudor court? What would it have been like for her, as a person of colour in Tudor England? And did Henry's lawyers ever track her down? Joining Kate today is historian and

Why were children punished for illegitimacy in the 18th century? And what does the word even mean?The truth is quite shocking, and probably still affects a lot of the people you know today.Joining Kate today is Kate Gibson, historian and author of Illegitimacy, Family, and Stigma in England, 1660-1834, to explore the ways that female sexuality played a part in the stigma of illegitimacy, and how attitudes evolved, from the Victorians up until the modern day.This episode was edited by Tom Delargy

Why did the Ancient Greeks depict a womb as an octopus in their textbooks?Their writings and (mis)understandings of the female body might seem borderline comical now, but how did these beliefs on the physical indicators of womanhood still impact us today?Joining Kate is Helen King, author of Immaculate Forms: A History of the Female Body in Four Parts, to explore Ancient Greeks beliefs on breasts, clitoris, hymen and the womb.This episode was edited by Tom Delargy. The producer was Stuart Beckwith