Renaissance English History Podcast: A Show About the Tudors

We talk a lot about living through uncertain times, especially now. New technology nobody fully understands. Institutions that keep changing the rules. A world that feels like it's shifting faster than anyone can keep up with. The Tudors would have recognized that feeling immediately. Between 1485 and 1603, England went through changes that were, by any measure, total: the printing press, the Refo...

If you emptied the pockets of a Tudor woman in 1535, what would spill out? In this episode, we’re opening the drawstring purses, apron folds, and girdles of 16th-century women to see what they actually carried. Not the romanticized version. The practical one. From gold pomanders packed with ambergris and spices… To iron keys tied on fraying string… To bread wrapped in linen because there was no su...

There were moments in Mary Tudor’s life when escape seemed like the safest choice. Imperial ambassadors discussed secret routes to the coast. Ships waited across the Channel. Loyal advisers urged her to leave England before her enemies could move against her. In this video, we look at the most dangerous periods of Mary’s early life, first under her father Henry VIII, when Anne Boleyn’s rise left h...

Did the Tudors celebrate Valentine’s Day? And if so, what did it actually look like before chocolates, roses, and greeting cards? In this episode, we step into mid-February in Tudor England, that quiet stretch between Candlemas and the start of Lent, and explore how people marked St. Valentine’s Day. From candlelit church processions and weather lore to love poems written in the Tower of London, w...

What did a typical morning look like in Tudor England? There were no alarm clocks, no hot showers, and no coffee waiting in the kitchen. Instead, people woke in cold rooms, often sharing beds, with the fire nearly out and the day’s work already ahead of them. In this episode, we walk through a full Tudor morning routine, from first light to the start of work. You’ll hear about rush-covered floors,...

Late February was one of the hardest times of year in Tudor England. Food stores were running low, the weather was damp and cold, and spring still felt far away. But in the middle of that hungry season came Shrovetide, a brief burst of pancakes, games, and noise before the long fast of Lent began. In this video, we spend a day inside a Tudor household at the end of winter. From thin pottage and sm...

What if Mary I had listened to her people instead of her heart? When Mary Tudor took the throne in 1553, she was a survivor who had beaten the odds. But she was also a woman in a hurry. She needed an heir, she needed to secure the Catholic faith, and she needed a husband. In our timeline, she chose Philip of Spain, a decision that brought Wyatt’s Rebellion, the loss of Calais, and the nickname "Bl...

Arbella Stuart was born with royal blood, raised under watch, and treated as a possible queen her entire life. She never claimed the throne, but her lineage made her dangerous simply by existing. In this episode, we follow Arbella from her childhood under Bess of Hardwick to her secret marriage to William Seymour, and the dramatic 1611 escape attempt that ended in pursuit, capture, and imprisonmen...

If you’ve ever visited a Tudor palace in winter and wondered why it feels so cold inside, the answer is simple: it always was. In this episode, I explore how people in Tudor England actually stayed warm indoors. Not central heating, not roaring fires in every room, but a daily system built around one hearth, heavy clothing, hot food, shared warmth, and carefully managed routines. We’ll look at fir...

In November 1605, the Gunpowder Plot came terrifyingly close to reshaping England’s future. This episode explores what would have happened if Parliament had actually exploded - killing the king, his ministers, and much of the political class in a single moment. Rather than retelling the familiar story, this video focuses on the aftermath that never came to pass: the succession crisis, the fate of...

When Henry VIII died at Whitehall Palace in January 1547, England faced a dangerous moment. His heir was nine years old, power was about to shift, and the death of a king had to be handled with extreme care. In this video, we follow Henry VIII from his deathbed through one of the most elaborate royal funerals of the sixteenth century. We look at how his body was prepared, why his burial was delaye...

What role did women actually play in England’s early colonial experiments? In this Tudorcon 2025 talk, Colleen Parker explores the overlooked but essential role of women in early English colonization, beginning in Ireland and continuing through Roanoke and Jamestown. Rather than treating women as background figures, this talk shows how they functioned as household managers, negotiators, landholder...

In the summer of 1488, a King of Scots lay dying in a flour mill, allegedly murdered by a man disguised as a priest. But how did James III - a man who preferred lutes to longswords and architects to Earls - find himself fleeing for his life from his own son? This week, we’re venturing just north of the border and slightly back in time to explore the chaotic, culture-clashing reign of James III. Fr...

At the height of his power, Thomas Wolsey stood at the center of Europe’s grandest spectacle - the Field of Cloth of Gold. Ten years later, he was alone, under arrest, and dying far from court. In this What Were They Thinking? episode, we trace Wolsey’s downfall step by step - from supreme confidence in 1520 to political isolation in 1530. We follow how he reacted to each loss of power: his remova...

Elizabeth I’s decision not to marry shaped the entire character of her reign. But what if she had chosen differently, early on, when the pressure was highest and the risks were lowest? In this Thought Experiment, we explore how an early marriage might have changed the succession, court politics, religion, and England’s place in Europe, and what Elizabeth gained, and gave up, by refusing to say yes...

As a major winter storm is hitting much of the United States, it’s hard not to think about how dependent we are on forecasts, alerts, and advance warnings. We know when snow will start, how bad it might get, and when it should be over. The Tudors had none of that. In this episode, we explore how people in Tudor England understood the weather, what “forecasting” meant in a world without instruments...

In the final years of Henry VIII’s reign, even conversation could be dangerous. Katharine Parr was not simply a dutiful queen consort. She was highly educated, deeply interested in theology, and unusually willing to debate religion with the king. At first, Henry encouraged these exchanges. He enjoyed having a companion who could follow his arguments and respond thoughtfully. By 1546, however, thos...

When we think about death in Tudor England, we usually picture executions, plague, or war. But for most people living in 16th-century England, death came much closer to home. In this episode, we explore accidental deaths recorded in coroners’ inquests: drownings while fetching water, fatal after-work swims, farm accidents, falls, fires, and moments of ordinary life that went catastrophically wrong...

In early 1540, Thomas Cromwell was still powerful, but he knew something had shifted. Today we look at the final year before Cromwell’s fall, not as a sudden collapse, but as a slow recognition that his influence was draining away. As the court reoriented itself, allies fell silent, old enemies returned, and the systems Cromwell built no longer protected him. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy...

What if Catherine of Aragon had agreed to an annulment in 1527? Today we explore a Tudor what-if with enormous consequences. If Catherine had stepped aside quietly, Henry VIII might never have broken with Rome, Anne Boleyn might have had time to secure her position, Mary Tudor’s future could have been settled early, and England might have remained a far quieter place. A meditation on how one refus...

In this minicast, we spend twenty-four hours with a yeoman farmer and his family, the solid middle of Tudor society. From waking before dawn to fieldwork, food, spinning, neighborly chatter, and falling asleep by firelight, this is an ordinary working day in rural England. No court, no kings, just the daily rhythm that fed the country and kept Tudor England running. Learn more about your ad choice...

This talk was recorded live at Tudorcon 2025. In this lecture, Mallory Jackson explores the work of Hans Holbein the Younger, the artist whose portraits defined how we visualize the Tudor court. Focusing on key paintings from Holbein’s years in England, she looks at how symbolism, material culture, and political change shaped portraits of figures such as Henry VIII, Thomas More, and Thomas Cromwel...

Juana of Castile is remembered by history as “Juana the Mad,” but that label explains far less than it hides. In this episode, we step away from biography and diagnosis to look instead at power: who held it, who wanted it, and who benefited when Juana was declared unfit to rule. Drawing on recent scholarship and the comparison with her sister Catherine of Aragon, this is a closer look at how a rei...

Henry Beaufort is rarely the most famous Beaufort, but he may have been the most influential. A son of John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford, Beaufort took a different path from his more rebellious relatives. As Bishop of Winchester and later a cardinal, he became the wealthiest churchman in England and a crucial financial backer of the Lancastrian crown. This minicast explores how Henry Beaufort s...

At the Tudor court, Twelfth Night was more than the end of Christmas. Using specific recorded celebrations from across the sixteenth century, this minicast explores how plays, masques, tournaments, dancing, and banquets were used to perform power at court. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices