The Rest Is History
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714 episodes
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In August 1785 a shocking affair came to light which would prove so detrimental to the reputation and standing of the French King Louis XVI, and more especially his already unpopular wife, Queen Marie Antoinette, that it would become a decisive moment in the rising tide of the French Revolution. It concerned a gaudy but incalculably expensive diamond necklace commissioned by Louis XV for his mistress, Madame du Barry. Embroiled in the affair was a young prostitute by the name of Nicole Le Guay d’Oiva with an uncanny resemblance to the Queen, a naive Cardinal named Louis-René de Rohan, desperate to return to Marie Antoinette’s good graces, an aristocratic confidence trickster, Jeanne de la Motte, and a Freemason occultist, Alessandro Cagliostro. The web of lies and deceptions that they wove - in many ways capitalising upon the simmering tensions of court life at Versailles - and the scandal that subsequently erupted, would inflame the entire nation.Join Tom and Dominic as they divulge, gem by glittering, salacious gem, the twists and turns of the famous Affair of the Diamond Necklace. An intrigue of such devilish guile and duplicity, with so colourful a cast of characters, that it near bellies belief. But also, with repercussions for the French monarchy that would destabilise it forever…._______Looking for all of our episodes on the French Revolution? Check out The Rest Is History’s French Revolution playlisthttps://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX6W9e1zgsgaG_______*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. *The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com_______Twitter:@TheRestHistory@holland_tom@dcsandbrookProducer: Theo Young-SmithAssistant Producer: Tabby SyrettExecutive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
714 episodes
483. The Mysterious Case of the Ape Man
In Sussex, in 1912, men quarrying in a gravel pit near Piltdown village turned up a human skull. According to Charles Dawson, a lawyer and amateur archeologist with a remarkable track record for finding ancient treasures, it belonged to a …
482. The French Revolution: The Royal Family Escapes (Part 8)
Twelve months after the dramatic Women’s March on Versailles, the Revolution proper was well into its stride, and while Paris overflowed with a sense of unbridled political freedom, the King and Queen were little more than prisoners in the…
481. The French Revolution: The Women's March on Versailles (Part 7)
By the summer of 1789 the different sections of the Revolution were at loggerheads, and the recently created National Assembly riven in two. Both factions, the radicals on the left and the more moderate revolutionaries on the right, upheld…
480. The French Revolution: The Rights of Man (Part 6)
“Liberté, égalité, fraternité!”Alongside violence, the French Revolution is a story of principles and values. It is the ultimate intersection of brutality and Enlightenment idealism, as epitomised by the Fall of the Bastille. So too the cr…
479. The French Revolution: The Storming of the Bastille (Part 5)
“It was violence that made the revolution revolutionary”.The storming of the Bastille is viewed by many across the world as a moment of celebration, when the French people were liberated from the shackles of tyranny and royal despotism. Ye…
478. The French Revolution: Showdown in Versailles (Part 4)
In the summer of 1788, a monstrous storm swept across France, wiping out the crucial wheat harvest. With the nation already in the throes of political and financial calamity, this meteorological disaster - followed by an apocalyptic drough…
477. The French Revolution: The Violence Begins (Part 3)
With seismic antecedents such as the Glorious Revolution in England and the American War of Independence, what was it about the French Revolution that saw it become arguably the most important episode in all early modern political history?…
476. The French Revolution: The Diamond Necklace Scandal (Part 2)
In August 1785 a shocking affair came to light which would prove so detrimental to the reputation and standing of the French King Louis XVI, and more especially his already unpopular wife, Queen Marie Antoinette, that it would become a dec…
475. The French Revolution: Marie Antoinette (Part 1)
The French Revolution is one of the great seismic events of global history. A devouring conflagration of bloodshed, violence and utopianism, it changed France and then latterly the whole of Europe forever. Yet, amidst the panoply of coloss…
474. The Road to The Great War: The Lights Go Out (Part 6)
“The lamps are going out all over Europe, we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime”In the early days of August 1914, the British press has become increasingly vocal about the prospect of war breaking out amongst the great European p…