Tudors Dynasty & Beyond

Today I’m joined by historian and friend Sylvia Barbara Soberton to dig into some of the most famous - and widely repeated - myths about the six wives of Henry VIII. From long-standing misconceptions to stories that have taken on a life of their own, we start unpacking what’s fact and what’s fiction. But we had so much fun talking about the first three queens that we completely ran out of time… so...

Welcome to another Sunday Funday of Off the Record with Amy & Rebecca ! This time I take the lead (forgive me - I’m still getting used to that 😅) as we dive into a few Tudor and Elizabethan relationships that have always fascinated me. We talk about the secret love affair between Margaret Douglas and Lord Thomas Howard , the scandalous marriage of Bess Throckmorton and Walter Raleigh , and th...

When people think of the English civil war known as the Anarchy , one name often stands at the center: Empress Matilda , the daughter of Henry I and the woman who almost became England’s first ruling queen. But who was Matilda really-and why did she never wear the crown? In this episode, Rebecca is joined by historian Matt Lewis to explore the fascinating and often misunderstood story of the woman...

It’s been a little while since our last installment in this series - and Dr. Porter begins by explaining the reason for the delay. In today’s episode, we turn to the husband of Mary II - a figure who plays a pivotal role not only in her life, but also in the story of Mary of Modena, whom we recently explored with Dr. Breeze Barrington. The connections between these royal lives make this discussion...

There are big “what-ifs” in history… and then there are the ones that quietly change everything. In this episode, we ask: What if Margaret Tudor had no surviving children with James IV? When James IV was killed at Flodden in 1513, Scotland did not just lose a king - it faced political instability, factional rivalry, and the urgent question of succession. But what if there had been no infant James...

Today would normally be a Dr. Emma & Me episode, but as many of you know from the last show and the notes here on Patreon, the series is on a brief hiatus. While Emma takes the time she needs (and we’re all sending her love), I’m so excited to introduce something new in its place: Rebecca & Friends . And I truly could not have picked a better person to launch this with than my good friend...

In this episode, I’m joined by the wonderful Michèle Schindler to explore one of the most dangerous - and politically charged - experiences in medieval life: royal childbirth. For queens and noblewomen, pregnancy was never just personal. It was dynastic. The survival of kingdoms rested on their bodies. We dive into what childbirth actually looked like inside medieval chambers - the rituals, the mi...

There are so many “what ifs” in history - but this one may have reshaped the world. What if Mary I had given birth to a healthy son who survived? In this episode, we explore the ripple effects of a secure Catholic Tudor succession: What if Mary died in childbirth - who would have ruled as regent? What if she lived a long life and her son inherited the throne? How would England’s alliances with Phi...

Dr. Emma & Me is pressing pause for now as Emma takes some time for herself. We appreciate your kindness and respect for her privacy during this season, and we’re hopeful we’ll be back together soon. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the new series - Rebecca & Friends. Spain was not born in 1492. In this episode, Dr. Emma takes us back to the very beginning - to the Greeks who first traded...

In this episode, I’m joined by Professor Carol Rutter to explore the fascinating life of Henry Wotton - diplomat, poet, wit, and master of survival in the early modern world. Best remembered for his famous line describing an ambassador as “an honest man sent to lie abroad for the good of his country,” Wotton was far more than a clever epigram. Serving as ambassador to Venice under James I, he oper...

What if Henry VIII had died while campaigning in France? This episode started with what felt like an obvious answer—but quickly turned into a far more complicated and fascinating conversation about succession. We explore the unexpected paths history could have taken, and trust us: this one went places we didn’t anticipate. -- There's still time to sign up for the Identifying Holbein Portraits...

In this episode of Dr. Emma & Me , we explore one of history’s most iconic mother - daughter pairings: Anne Boleyn and her daughter, Elizabeth I. Elizabeth was still a toddler when her mother was executed, yet Anne’s influence lingered in powerful and surprising ways. From shared experiences of danger, scrutiny, and survival to the shaping of identity under a Tudor court that rarely forgave, w...

In this episode, we step into the glittering yet deeply unstable world of the Restoration court through the life of Mary of Modena - a woman whose destiny could not have been further from her original hopes. Mary had envisioned a quiet life devoted to the Church. Instead, she was thrust onto the European stage and into a political marriage with James II , brother and heir to Charles II . As a youn...

In the autumn of 1562, England held its breath. Queen Elizabeth I lay gravely ill with smallpox, her life uncertain, her kingdom unprepared for what might come next. But what if she hadn’t survived? In this episode, we explore one of the most chilling “what ifs” in English history. With no named heir, a fragile religious settlement, and rival claims waiting in the wings, Elizabeth’s death could ha...

Two queens. Two foreign brides. Two marriages to Henry VIII—yet wildly different legacies. In this episode of Parallel Lives , Dr. Emma and I place Anna of Cleves and Katherine of Aragon side by side to explore what it really meant to arrive in England as a teenage bride, shaped by continental courts, dynastic expectations, and political pressure far beyond their control. We look at their early li...

Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich, rose from relatively modest beginnings to become one of the most powerful - and controversial - figures of the Tudor age. A skilled lawyer and political operator, Rich prospered under Henry VIII and Edward VI, playing a key role in the Dissolution of the Monasteries and benefiting enormously from the redistribution of church lands. He is perhaps best remembered for hi...

We know him best as the father of Edward IV and Richard III, and as the husband of Cecily Neville. But in October 1460, everything changed. The Act of Accord named Richard, Duke of York, heir to the throne of Henry VI. Just two months later, he was dead - killed at the Battle of Wakefield. In this episode, Amy and I step into the counterfactual and ask: what if Richard had survived? What would Eng...

One ruled one of the most powerful empires of the seventeenth century. The other shaped how that power would be seen - then and now. In this episode of Parallel Lives , we explore the intertwined lives of Philip IV of Spain and Diego Velázquez , king and court painter, patron and artist, subject and storyteller. Philip’s reign was marked by political strain, military decline, and a deep personal d...

Why are we still so obsessed with the Tudors after five centuries? In this week’s Tuesday Historian Chat, I’m joined by historian and author Elizabeth Goff to explore the women, myths, and memories that continue to define Tudor history. From Penelope Devereux and Katherine Parr to the Grey sisters, we talk about which Tudor women stand out - and which have had their reputations unfairly flattened...

What if Elizabeth I had never signed Mary, Queen of Scots’ death warrant? On this episode of Off the Record , we dive into the political chaos, succession drama, and international consequences of keeping England’s most dangerous prisoner alive—and whether mercy would have been far more dangerous than execution. -- Hosts: Rebecca Larson & Amy McElroy

In this episode of Parallel Tinders , we’re putting England’s most famous sisters side-by-side - Mary I and Elizabeth I - to explore how two women raised in the same dynasty could become such wildly different queens. From Mary’s deep devotion and desire for a traditional marriage, to Elizabeth’s sharp independence and preference for loyal companionship over a crown-sharing husband, we break down t...

In this episode, I’m joined by historian Annie Whitehead to explore the women of the Anglo-Saxon world and the many ways they shaped early medieval England. We talk about education, influence, queenship, and legacy — and how women navigated power in a world that didn’t always preserve their voices. We also discuss how history has remembered these women: who becomes celebrated, who is criticized, a...

What if Lady Jane Grey had outwitted Mary Tudor and stayed Queen of England? In this Off the Record episode, we follow the most fascinating “what if” in Tudor history: a world where Jane’s reign doesn’t end after nine days - but becomes the start of something far bigger (and far more dangerous). Together we unpack what would have needed to change for Jane to keep the crown, why Mary’s victory depe...

In this episode of Parallel Lives , Dr. Emma and Rebecca explore the lives of two remarkable women who turned learning into influence. Christine de Pizan became one of Europe’s first professional female writers, using her words to challenge the misogyny of her age and defend women’s intelligence. Meanwhile in Spain, Beatriz Galindo —known as La Latina —rose as a celebrated humanist at the court of...

Anne of Cleves has long been reduced to a single moment: the “failed” marriage to Henry VIII. But what if that version of her story is incomplete? In this episode, I’m joined by author Dr . James Taffe , whose book Accounting for Anne: The Tudor Queen Who Could Have Been uses Anne’s own surviving household accounts to reconstruct the queenship history usually skips over. Together, we explore what...