Tudor True Crime: Murder of Christopher Marlowe

Not Just the Tudors

History Hit

History

4.8 • 3K Ratings

🗓️ 18 August 2025

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, I'm Professor Susanna Lipscomb.
0:02.6	If you'd like not just the Tudors ad-free to get early access and bonus episodes, sign up to History Hit.
0:10.5	With a History Hit subscription, you can also watch hundreds of hours of original documentaries,
0:16.0	including my own recent two-part series, A World Torn Apart, The Dissolution of the Monastries, and enjoy a new release every week.
0:25.2	Sign up now by visiting historyhit.com forward slash subscribe.
0:32.2	I'm Professor Susanna Lipscomb, host of the Not Just the Tudas podcast.
0:37.1	I want to tell you about a new podcast series, The Mystic and the Mayor.
0:42.0	As a historian, I'm fascinated by stories of witchcraft and magic.
0:47.1	For centuries, accusations of sorcery have brought down even the most rich and powerful.
0:52.7	But this isn't a story from the pages of distant history.
0:57.1	In February 24, in the glamorous French coastal town of Agde, a respected mayor was arrested for
1:04.7	corruption. His defence. He claims he was bewitched by the town's beautiful clairvoyant.
1:11.8	The case has got it all.
1:13.7	Phone calls from the Archangel Michael, seances where the dead speak through the living,
1:18.9	a mayor who believed he was receiving supernatural guidance.
1:23.5	Hosted by the broadcaster Anna Richardson,
1:26.7	The Mystic and the Mayor is a modern-day tale of sorcery
1:29.9	that could have come straight from the history books.
1:32.7	The dark arts, it seems, are alive and well in the 21st century.
1:37.6	Binge the whole series of The Mystic and the Mayor on Wondry Plus
1:41.8	through Apple Podcasts, Spotify or in the Wondry app.
1:49.2	This is an ad by BetterHelp.
	...

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