History Hub

HistoryHub

Connecting past and present

Menu

The interviews for Kingdom, Empire and Plus Ultra, conducted by historian Dr. Edward Collins, cover a range of topics on the domestic and overseas histories of Portugal and Spain.  Episodes in the series have been downloaded more than 200,000 times.

Kingdom, Empire and Plus Ultra

History Hub is delighted to present Kingdom, Empire and Plus Ultra: conversations on the history of Portugal and Spain, 1415-1898. This podcast series features interviews with experts in the areas of Portuguese and Spanish history, from the beginning of the Portuguese discoveries in 1415 to the end of Spanish dominion in America in 1898.

The interviews, conducted by historian Dr. Edward Collins, will cover a range of topics on the domestic and overseas histories of both nations, which include, among others: the Portuguese explorations of Africa and Asia, Spanish navigation and settlement in America, the church in Portugal and Spain, monarchy and intermarriage in the Iberian kingdoms, natural science and mapping in America, the role of nautical science, Irish historical relations with Portugal and Spain, and imperial competition in Europe and overseas.

Kingdom, Empire and Plus Ultra is available via iTunes, Spotify and Soundcloud.

The interviewees comprise a number of established and renowned academics, as well as up-and-coming researchers from universities and institutions worldwide. This History Hub series is funded by UCD Seed Funding and supported by UCD School of History.

The series is currently our most popular with 2,000 downloads per month more than 200,000 in total since we launched the series in 2016. Kingdom, Empire and Plus Ultra is available via Apple, Spotify and Soundcloud.

Kingdom, Empire and Plus Ultra

How to listen

The series is currently our most popular with 2,000 downloads per month and more than 200,000 in total since we launched the series in 2016. Kingdom, Empire and Plus Ultra is available via Apple, Spotify and Soundcloud.

Podcast host

Dr. Edward Collins is a historian of early modern Portugal and Spain, and received his doctorate at NUI Galway in 2010 under the supervision of Professor Nicholas Canny. His research focuses on early modern Iberian navigation and nautical science, with particular emphasis on Portuguese and Spanish influences on the development of nautical science in early modern Europe. He has published a number of journal articles and book chapters on these themes, and is currently in the process of completing his manuscript based on his doctoral and postdoctoral research.

Kingdom, Empire and Plus Ultra Episodes

Image: Title page for Novum organum scientiarum, 1645, by Francis Bacon (1561-1626) (author) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

Latest Podcasts

Explore more
Me and My Research Podcast Series

‘Me and My Research’ is a brand new podcast series from History Hub which sees UCD MA in Public History student Josh Clarke sit down with researchers from UCD School of History to explore their work, and the ideas that inspire them.

The series brings new historical research to a wider audience while offering insights into the lives of the historians behind it. Listen to the series on the History Hub podcast, which is available on Apple, Spotify, Soundcloud, as well as on History Hub.ie.
Military Communities’ Medical Welfare and Care History Conference Series

The Military Welfare History Network provides a networking and dissemination platform for scholars who are research active in military welfare history.

Thanks to the generous funding of the Wellcome Trust, through the Society for the Social History of Medicine, in 2025-26 the MWHN ran a three-part series of events.

Entitled the ‘The Military Communities’ Medical Welfare and Care History Conference Series’, this series comprised three accessible hybrid network events, which took place in the UK and online (via Zoom) over the course of the twenty-four months of the award. All of which focused on the burgeoning ‘perspective’ of military welfare history; defined as the welfare, care and medical provisions afforded to service personnel, their families and other dependents.

Attendees at the Military Welfare History Conference.
Keynotes from the Military Welfare History Network 2023 Conference

The first in-person meeting of the Military Welfare History Network took place in Sutherland School of Law, University College Dublin on 7 July 2023. The event, which was co-ordinated by Dr Paul Huddie, comprised two keynotes and four panels, totalling 14 speakers.

Conference keynotes by Dr Matthew Neufeld (University of Saskatchewan) and Dr Ke-Chin Hsia (Indiana University Bloomington) were recorded and are now available to podcast.
Military Welfare History Network 2024 Conference

The Military Welfare History Network provides a networking and dissemination platform for scholars who are research active in military welfare history.

In 2024 the Military Welfare History Network (MWHN) hosted its third international conference at the University of Leeds on 20 and 21 June. Led by Prof Jessica Meyer, the organising team hosted a two-day event at Leeds on the theme of ‘Economies of Military Welfare: conversations between past and present’. The conference was generously supported by the University of Leeds and the Economic History Society. Two papers recorded at the conference are now available to podcast.

Scroll to Top