Renaissance English History Podcast: A Show About the Tudors

For more than three centuries, a restrained Tudor portrait was confidently labeled as Lady Jane Grey. But the woman in the painting is almost certainly not Jane at all. In this episode, we explore the evidence that the famous Wrest Park portrait actually depicts Mary Neville, Lady Dacre, a young widow navigating disgrace, poverty, and political survival after her husband’s execution. Through costume, symbolism, provenance, and later portraits, a very different story emerges. Grab your 2026 Tudor Planner here: https://tudorfair.com/products/2026-tudor-planner Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Poison was the rumor that never died in Tudor England. In this episode, we look at the deaths that Tudor contemporaries believed were “too convenient” to be natural: the Scottish commissioners who fell ill during Mary, Queen of Scots’ marriage negotiations in France, the sudden collapse of Ferdinando Stanley, and the suspicions surrounding Darnley and Amy Robsart. Whether these cases were illness, accident, or something darker, the fear of poison shaped Tudor politics in surprising ways. Get your 2026 Tudor Planner here: https://tudorfair.com/products/2026-tudor-planner?_pos=1&_sid=f3a155f11&_ss=r Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Margaret Douglas, niece of Henry VIII, spent her entire life at the center of Tudor politics. In this episode I look at her childhood in the royal nursery, the scandal that sent her to the Tower, her influential marriage into the Lennox family, and the choices that helped place her grandson James VI on the English throne. A detailed look at the woman who linked the Tudor and Stuart dynasties. Related episodes: Margaret Douglas' secret marriage: https://youtu.be/wIFZYwqhc90 Arbella Stuart: https://youtu.be/YJKkrYLRgy8 Tracy Borman on the other contenders: https://youtu.be/Uod4VosDhno Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tudor England loved true crime just as much as we do today. In this episode, we look at a few cases that gripped 16th-century audiences: the 1551 murder of Thomas Arden of Faversham, and the 1592 killing of John Brewen, preserved in a sensational printed pamphlet. These stories reveal how early printers, ballad sellers, and public executions shaped a uniquely Tudor form of crime storytelling. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.