Centuries later, this same letter would be twisted into something sensational, supposed proof that Elizabeth secretly married Robert Dudley and bore a child… the future philosopher Francis Bacon.

But what did Ascham actually write?

And how did a pious letter about kingship, learning, and virtue become “evidence” for a royal scandal?

In this episode, I uncover:

- Who Roger Ascham really was — Elizabeth’s beloved tutor and humanist scholar

- What his 1566 letter truly says (and doesn’t say)

- How Victorian writers and Baconian theorists turned scripture into scandal

- Why the so-called “secret pregnancy” theory falls apart when you read the text

Ascham’s Divae Elizabethae isn’t confession or gossip, it’s devotion: a dying scholar’s tribute to the queen he’d once taught. So let’s separate Tudor truth from centuries of speculation.

Listen now to discover why this misunderstood letter reveals more about our obsession with the Virgin Queen’s image than about her real life.

#TudorHistory #ElizabethI #RogerAscham #RobertDudley #FrancisBacon #TudorMyths #HistoryDebunked #AnneBoleynFiles