The Tudor Fair Blog
Spain’s Revenge: The Battle of Cornwall
Seven years after the remnants of the Spanish Armada blew back into Cadiz, the ongoing war between Spain and England still hadn’t ended. Pirates were attacking each others’ ships, and a daring Spanish captain landed in Cornwall. Carlos de Amesquita had an eventful two weeks pillaging and pirating, and he…
This guy could be a Tudor snake oil salesman. Or a serious scientist. Or both.
Hey, stop me if you’ve heard this joke before. An Irish psychic and English alchemist walk into a Polish bar, and get in a duel with local nobility. Oh, hang on. It’s not a joke. It’s a true story. Edward Kelley and John Dee were mystics who worked with royalty,…
Episode 82: Tudor Chroniclers
Episode 82 of the Renaissance English History Podcast is on the Tudor Chronicles. In part because of the rise of humanist thinking, and the printing press, the 16th century saw a huge increase in the number of chronicles, as well as the types of chronicles written. Here are the links,…
Watching The Tudors Season 2 Episode 3
In Watching the Tudors Season 2 Episode 3 after the excruciating wait we suddenly see events move at breakneck speed. Anne becomes pregnant. Anne becomes Queen. Anne gives birth. To a girl. All in one episode. Man, that was fast. We break it all down. Read more about the Crowning…
Musical Expression and Aliveness through the centuries: ORA and Many are the Wonders
On a wintery evening in early February last year I braved the cold rain to make a pilgrimage to the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula in the Tower of London. No, it wasn’t to pay homage to the burial place of Lady Jane Grey or Anne Boleyn, though that…
Episode 081: Tudor Times on Margaret Pole
Episode 081 of the Renaissance English History Podcast is an interview with Melita Thomas on Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury. She lived one of the more turbulent lives of the 16th century, starting off as the niece of the King, and ending up nearly 70 years later penniless in the…
Throwback Episode 31: Trade and Exploration in the 16th century
Episode 31 of the Renaissance English History Podcast, from 2015, was on Elizabethan Exploration and Trade. Listen or read the transcript below. Transcript Remember, if you like this show, there are two main ways you can support it. First (and free!) you can leave a review on iTunes. It really…
Episode 080: The Tudor Bake Along – Tudor Jumbles
Episode 080 is the Great Tudor Bake Along Episode in which we make Tudor Jumbles together. It was a pretty non traditional episode. To start with, we were recording in the kitchen. Normally I record from a script, at my desk, with a decent sound setup, using a pop filter.…
Watching The Tudors Season 2 Episode 2: Tears of Blood
In Season 2 Episode 2 of The Tudors Brandon gets shunned (then doesn’t), Anne goes to France, and More resigns. The drama on The Tudors heats up. We break it down. Read more about More’s resignation here: http://thisdaythen.blogspot.com.es/2012/05/16th-may-1532-sir-thomas-more-resigns.html The rivalry between Brandon and Anne Boleyn http://www.thedaringtruth.com/the-roots-of-dislike-anne-boleyn-duke-of-suffolk-and-mary-tudor-brandon/ Read more about Anne’s relationship…
Throwback Episode 052: Rebellions Part Two
This week, in the second episode on Tudor Rebellions, I talked about each of the major rebellions that the various Tudor monarchs had to deal with, in chronological order (mostly). I also made my first political commentary. It was a big week. Listen, or read the transcript below. Book Recommendation…
Episode 079: An Interview with Roland Hui
Roland Hui is an art historian, and the author of a new book, The Turbulent Crown on the Tudor queens. What a joy it was to speak with Roland Hui, who has made an interesting discovery of a new portrait of Anne Boleyn, and also has a new book out on…
Throwback Episode 26: Catholics in Elizabethan England
Episode 26 of the Renaissance English History Podcast was on Catholics in Elizabethan England. Elizabeth famously didn’t want to make windows into mens’ souls, but sometimes it seemed as if a Catholic couldn’t be loyal to both the Pope and Elizabeth (especially after she was excommunicated). So Catholics were seen…