Islam and the Elizabethans

Not Just the Tudors

Elizabeth I's excommunication by the Pope in 1570 marked the beginning of an extraordinary - and little talked about - English alignment with Muslim powers that were fighting Catholic Spain in the Mediterranean. This engagement with, and awareness of, Islam found its way into scores of plays, including Shakespeare's Othello.

In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Professor Jerry Brotton about England's fascinating relations with the Muslim world, which were far more extensive, and often more amicable, than we might think.