Epoch: 18th century (1700s)

In 1458, five years after the fall of Constantinople to the Turk, eighteen cardinals met in Rome to elect a new pope. A 27-year-old Spanish cardinal, Rodrigo Borgia, learns to play a very dangerous game; how to survive his first conclave.

British historian Lucy Worsley travels to Russia to investigate the 300-year reign of the Romanov dynasty.

The history of the palace of Versailles from its founding to the present.

A witty journey through the history of Paris told to a group of students by Sacha Guitry, from its foundation at the time of Caesar to 1955. Among others you will meet King Charles VII making Agnès Sorel his mistress; you will witness the creation of printing spurred on by King Louis XI; share the life in the Louvres Palace at the time of King François Ier; spend the last night before St Bartholomew's massacre; be horrified by the murder of Henri III by a fanatical monk, watch the abjuration of protestantism by King Henri IV; try to resolve the Man in the Iron Mask enigma; take part in the storming of the Bastille, be present at the execution of King Louis XVI and at the trial of Queen Marie-Antoinette; participate in the Paris Commune, take sides in the Dreyfus affair.

Sophisticated German miniseries on the life and work of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), one of the greatest musicians and composers of all time.

Biopic of Peter I, Czar of Russia, from childhood in 1682 to the Great Northern War against Sweden during the 1700s.

As a boy the orphan Antonio Stradivari heard for the first time in his life the sound of a violin and he was fascinated by its voice. He tried to construct a violin and attracted the attention of Niccolò Amati, a famous lutist of Cremona. Antonio became apprentice in his bottega (workshop). Grown up, he fell in love for Francesca and he succeeded in marrying her. Afterwards he became more and more famous for his violins and he was granted a diploma from the king of Spain. After the death of his wife he was almost forced to marry again. He was chosen by Antonia Maria and it will be a happy marriage. In the background we have a look at the history of Northern Italy during the seventeenth century.

Madame de Maintenon rises from humble beginnings to become a courtesan to the royal court and eventually marries King Louis XIV. With the king's indulgence, Maintenon opens a special school for girls.

In 1667, 28-year-old all-powerful king of France, Louis XIV, decides to build the greatest palace in the world - Versailles. But drained budget, affairs and political intrigues complicate things.

The tale of the 18th century Russian Tsar Peter the Great's demise.

Lucy Worsley untangles Louis XIV's complex world of court etiquette, fashion and feasting, while court politics expert Helen Castor delves into the archives and unpicks the Machiavellian world that Louis created.

Two orphaned sisters are caught up in the turmoil of the French Revolution, encountering misery and love along the way.

A French milliner becomes a casino hostess and courtesan, eventually rising to the position of mistress of King Louis XV.

At the height of the French Revolution, the fanatic Robespierre brings the popular but more moderate leader Danton to trial and demands his execution.

When Prince John and the Norman Lords begin oppressing the Saxon masses in King Richard's absence in 1190s England, a Saxon lord fights back as the outlaw leader of a resistance movement.

The tragic life of Marie Antoinette, who became queen of France in her late teens.

Robespierrre, a powerful figure in the French revolution, is desperately looking for his black book, a death list of those marked for the guillotine.

Swashbuckling adventures of young army recruit Fanfan la Tulipe during the reign of King Louis XV in 18th Century France.

Major Lex Kearney becomes the North's first counterespionage agent as he tries to discover who's behind the theft of Union cavalry horses in Colorado during the Civil War.

A Yankee sea captain has adventures in paradise trying to become an entrepreneur in Micronesia.

Young Jeanne Bécu becomes mistress to Count du Barry, who facilitates her becoming King Louis XV's mistress by arranging a sham marriage. She reigns at Versailles until the King's death, then is exiled and later executed by guillotine.

Explores the mental state of Mozart during production of his final opera "Die Zauberflöte".

After the battle of Worcester at the end of the Civil War, the main aim of Oliver Cromwell's Commonwealth is to capture Charles Stuart. The future king's escape depends on the intrepid Earl of Dawlish.