Host Natalie Grueninger speaks with Dr Harry Spillane about the life, exile, and execution of William Tyndale, focusing on his groundbreaking translation of the New Testament and the challenges he faced from church and state.

The episode covers Tyndale's translation methods, the printing and smuggling of English Bibles, his clashes with figures like Thomas More and Henry VIII, and his lasting influence on English language and later Bible editions.

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https://www.hist.cam.ac.uk/people/dr-harry-spillane

TAKEAWAYS

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Dr Megan J. Hall joins Talking Tudors to explore women's literacy and education in medieval England, tracing how reading and writing shifted from church-centred training to household and aristocratic learning between 1100–1300 and beyond.

They discuss educational settings and curricula for girls and boys, the role of saints and literary models, and how modern research reshapes our assumptions about women's intellectual contributions.

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VISIT DR MEGAN J. HALL'S OFFICIAL WEBSITE https://www.meganjhall.com/

COULD MEDIEVAL WOMEN READ? https://sites.nd.edu/manuscript-studies/2021/04/14/could-medieval-women-read/

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Host Natalie Grueninger and guest Dr Owen Emmerson examine a tiny Tudor portrait miniature held at the Royal Ontario Museum, exploring its possible attribution to Lucas Horenbout and the tantalizing theory that it may be the earliest depiction of Anne Boleyn. 

They discuss dating, costume and jewel details, related inventories and court accounts from 1527–28, comparisons with a twin miniature at and why ongoing technical research may help confirm or refute the sitter’s identity.

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Host Natalie Grueninger interviews Dr Elizabeth Norton about her new book on Jane Seymour, exploring fresh archival discoveries that reshape our view of the queen. They discuss Jane’s likely birthdate, court career, political agency, household, material culture and wardrobe accounts, relationships with Princess Mary, and the myths about her religion and headwear.

The conversation highlights Jane’s skilful use of patronage, financial acumen, and soft power as queen during a turbulent period of the Reformation, and explains why her planned coronation never took place.

Learn more about Dr Elizabeth Norton

http://www.elizabethnorton.co.uk/

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Host Natalie Grueninger speaks with historian Rosemary Griggs about her new biography, 'Queen Elizabeth I's Governess: The Real Kat Ashley', which reexamines the life of Katherine Champanowne (Kat Ashley) and restores her place at the centre of Elizabeth I’s life.

Rosemary discusses her archival discoveries, the Champanowne and Carew family connections, Kat’s role in Elizabeth’s upbringing and court, her involvement in political scandals and imprisonments, and the influence and legacy she left during Elizabeth’s reign.

Learn more about Rosemary Griggs

https://rosemarygriggs.co.uk/

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Host Natalie Grueninger interviews historian Ebrahim Joseph about the surprising influence of ancient Persia, especially Cyrus the Great, on Elizabethan England. They explore classical and biblical sources, princely education, political advice, court drama (including The Wars of Cyrus), the Mary, Queen of Scots debate, and early contacts with Safavid Persia, showing how Persian models of charismatic and ruthless kingship shaped Tudor political culture.

LEARN MORE ABOUT EBRAHIM JOSEPH https://www.history.ox.ac.uk/people/ebrahim-hanifehpour-0

Read ‘Honour and Deceit in The Warres of Cyrus, Classical Persia, and Elizabethan Politics’ by Ebrahim Joseph

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0018246X26101745

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Host Natalie Grueninger speaks with Dr Lauren Working about her book 'A Golden World' and how voyages to the Americas reshaped 16th‑century England. The episode traces Atlantic influences on London life, art, fashion and trade through objects and people brought back from the New World.

Examples include the flood of pearls and emeralds, the rise of tobacco and new fashions, live exotic animals and the crucial Indigenous knowledge behind many colonial practices. The conversation emphasises that Tudor England, even without a formal empire, was transformed by ongoing Atlantic encounters.

Learn more about Dr Working

https://www.york.ac.uk/english/people/laurenworking/

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Host Natalie Grueninger speaks with Dr David Grummitt about the December 1460 events commonly called the Battle of Wakefield. Dr Grummitt argues the episode was a small ambush and murder of Richard, Duke of York and his son rather than a large pitched battle, and explains the primary evidence behind this interpretation.

The episode also covers the immediate Lancastrian response, the march to the Palm Sunday battles of 1461, and how later Tudor chroniclers and historians transformed these events into a more dramatic mythology.

READ DR GRUMMITT & PAUL DAWSON'S ARTICLE

https://oro.open.ac.uk/105170/

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Host Natalie Grueninger welcomes Catherine Williams to the podcast to discuss Tudor poetry.

Follow Catherine Williams on Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/catherinevwill/

TAKEAWAY

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/

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Host Natalie Grueninger welcomes Dr Ashley Douglas to discuss her new book, 'With My Own Hand: The Secret Life of Marie Maitland, Scotland's Sixteenth-Century Sappho'. They discuss the life and poems of Marie Maitland, a 16th-century Scottish scribe whose Maitland Quarto contains early sapphic verse.

The episode explores Marie's family and court connections, her role as her blind father's secretary, the manuscript's anonymous female poems, and the wider significance for women's and LGBT+ history in Reformation Scotland.

VISIT DR DOUGLAS' OFFICIAL WEBSITE

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TAKEAWAY

https://www.rps.ac.uk/

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