Renaissance English History Podcast: A Show About the Tudors

Think you know the story of Guy Fawkes? Think again. In this mini episode, we’re uncovering six myths about the Gunpowder Plot, from who really led it to whether the barrels could have actually blown up Parliament.

Check out the full episode on the Gunpowder Plot here: https://www.englandcast.com/2018/11/episode-113-remember-remember/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Richard Topcliffe was one of Elizabeth I’s most feared servants - a gentleman who became England’s chief interrogator, hunting Catholic priests in the name of loyalty and faith. Today we'll look at his rise, his notorious torture methods, the scandal that nearly ended him, and his grim legacy as the man who turned service to the Crown into cruelty.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode looks at the changing face of witchcraft from the Middle Ages through the Tudor and early Stuart eras. We’ll start with royal women accused of sorcery, like Joan of Navarre and Eleanor Cobham - and trace how superstition turned into state policy under Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, and finally King James I.

https://www.englandcast.com/haunted-tudor-london-walk/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

He was handsome, ambitious, and despised... accused of being Queen Margaret’s lover and blamed for losing England’s empire in France. When Edmund Beaufort fell at St. Albans, the prophecy of his death came true, and England tumbled into civil war.

Sources:

The Reign of King Henry VI by Ralph Griffiths

AJ Pollard - The Wars of the Roses

Tudor London Halloween Walk: https://www.englandcast.com/haunted-tudor-london-walk/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Tudor England, potions promised power, whether to spark desire or to silence rivals. In this spooky Halloween Spooky Week minicast, we’re diving into real Tudor recipes for love and poison, pulled straight from 16th-century sources like The Good Huswifes Jewell and early herbals.

Here's the link to the Haunted Tudor London halloween tour: https://www.englandcast.com/haunted-tudor-london-walk/

Sources:

https://carolcmcgrath.co.uk/aphrodisiacs-in-tudor-times/

https://www.historyanswers.co.uk/medieval-renaissance/mandrake-menstrual-blood-10-medieval-love-potion-recipes-and-ingredients

https://distillatio.wordpress.com/2013/12/16/medieval-poisons-for-killing-animals-and-people/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re kicking off spooky week with a talk from Tudorcon 2024! Victoria Thompson takes us deep into the haunted landscape of East Anglia; a place of ghostly monks, witchcraft, and eerie folklore that has lingered since the Tudor period.

Hear stories of drowned towns, spectral hounds, and strange rituals hidden inside old Suffolk homes. It’s the perfect start to a week filled with Tudor hauntings and supernatural tales.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A countess, a court favorite, and a corpse in the Tower.

Frances Howard and Robert Carr’s forbidden love became England’s first celebrity crime, complete with potions, poison, and accusations of witchcraft.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

They served every Tudor monarch, and often paid dearly for it.

From their medieval stronghold at Dudley Castle to the heart of the Tudor court, the Dudley family shaped English history for five hundred years. They raised money for Henry VII, ruled the realm under Edward VI, tried to make Lady Jane Grey queen, and stood beside Elizabeth I as she faced the Spanish Armada.

This episode traces their meteoric rise and tragic fall from Edmund Dudley’s execution, to John Dudley’s failed gamble for the crown, to Robert Dudley’s service to Elizabeth, and finally to exile in Florence, where the last of the line became a scientist and mapmaker.

Sources mentioned:

House of Dudley by Joanna Paul: https://www.amazon.com/House-Dudley-History-Tudor-England/dp/1639363289

Dudley Family History on Internet Archive

https://ia601608.us.archive.org/29/items/historyofdudleyf115dudl/historyofdudleyf115dudl.pdf

Support the show and unlock exclusive Tudor deep dives at patreon.com/englandcast.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices