Renaissance English History Podcast: A Show About the Tudors

Juana of Castile is remembered by history as “Juana the Mad,” but that label explains far less than it hides. In this episode, we step away from biography and diagnosis to look instead at power: who held it, who wanted it, and who benefited when Juana was declared unfit to rule. Drawing on recent scholarship and the comparison with her sister Catherine of Aragon, this is a closer look at how a reigning queen was sidelined, confined, and ultimately erased without ever being formally deposed. Juana’s story isn’t just tragic. It’s a case study in how authority can be neutralized not by force, but by containment. Read the book Sister Queens - available on Amazon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Henry Beaufort is rarely the most famous Beaufort, but he may have been the most influential. A son of John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford, Beaufort took a different path from his more rebellious relatives. As Bishop of Winchester and later a cardinal, he became the wealthiest churchman in England and a crucial financial backer of the Lancastrian crown. This minicast explores how Henry Beaufort shaped English politics through money and influence rather than titles or armies. From underwriting royal government to clashing with Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester during Henry VI’s minority, Beaufort’s power came from being indispensable, even when he was unpopular. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At the Tudor court, Twelfth Night was more than the end of Christmas. Using specific recorded celebrations from across the sixteenth century, this minicast explores how plays, masques, tournaments, dancing, and banquets were used to perform power at court. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Henry VIII is famous for executions, but he did issue pardons; rarely, strategically, and always on his own terms. Starting with the pardon of Geoffrey Pole in 1539, this minicast explores who Henry spared, who he didn’t, and what mercy really meant under the Tudors. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When you step into the Great Hall at Hampton Court Palace, the walls tell a story. In this minicast, we explore Henry VIII’s Abraham tapestries: vast, expensive works of art that doubled as political messaging. Woven in the 1540s, these biblical scenes weren’t just decoration. They reinforced Henry’s claims to religious authority, dynastic legitimacy, and the future of the Tudor line, all at a moment when succession anxiety and church reform loomed large. Five hundred years later, the tapestries are still hanging—and still saying exactly what Henry wanted them to say. Read more here: https://www.amazon.com/Henry-VIII-Art-Majesty-Tapestries/dp/0300122349 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This tour of Tudor York was originally a Members Only video from two years ago. I’m making it public today so everyone can explore it. Patrons and channel members still get the good stuff first, including extra episodes, and content that never appears on the public channel. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Because it’s Christmas Eve, I’m taking the day to be with family. In place of something new, this episode brings together several Christmas and wintertime Tudor stories from past years in one long, easy listen. These episodes explore how Christmas was celebrated in Tudor England - the traditions, food, faith, music, and rhythms of the season. Perfect for listening while you cook, travel, or enjoy a quiet Christmas Eve. I’ll be back with new episodes soon. Until then, happy Christmas. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode features a live Tudorcon talk by Terry Jones, longtime docent at Agecroft Hall, exploring how jewelry functioned in Tudor and early Stuart England. From pearls and signet rings to portrait jewels and the Order of the Garter, this talk looks at how men and women used jewelry to signal power, identity, loyalty, and belief. Recorded live, the episode includes audience questions and the informal rhythm of an in-person lecture. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1602, Elizabeth I wrote a formal letter to the Emperor of China, hoping to open peaceful trade between their two realms. The letter was sent with an English explorer attempting to reach China via the Northwest Passage. He never made it. The minicast stayed in England for centuries, was once used to line a farm’s bran bin, and was not finally delivered to China until 1984. This episode tells the story of that extraordinary diplomatic misfire, and what it reveals about Elizabethan ambition, global trade, and how history sometimes survives by accident. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yesterday we chatted about how crimes were solved. Today, we look at convictions. What happened after conviction in Tudor England? This minicast looks at how punishment worked through shame, visibility, and public order, from the stocks and church penance to execution and royal mercy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How did Tudor England solve crimes without police or forensic science? This episode explores how murder and suspicion were investigated through community testimony, coroners’ inquests, confession, and local justice, and why the world of Matthew Shardlake feels surprisingly accurate. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Christmas Character quiz is here: https://www.englandcast.com/christmas-character-quiz/ - I'd love to see what you got! And the ecard site is here: https://www.englandcast.com/tudor-tidings/ How did the Tudors understand the human body, and why does their approach feel so strange to us today? In this episode, I explore how people in Tudor England thought about health, illness, emotion, and balance, and how the body was believed to be shaped by air, weather, and even feelings themselves. We’ll also look at where Tudor medicine overlaps with our own, and why their way of living in the body wasn’t as unscientific as it’s often assumed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.

Intermittent fasting might feel like a modern idea, but Tudor England practiced a full winter fast during Advent. People cut out meat and dairy, relied on fish and simple grains, and often waited until evening prayers for their main meal. In this episode we look at what the Advent fast involved, how it shaped daily life in December, and why it ends up sounding a lot like the fasting routines people follow today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today we’re looking at the Privy Council and the work it handled behind the scenes in Tudor England. This small group managed intelligence, arrests, foreign diplomacy, religious enforcement, and the constant flow of problems from every corner of the kingdom. It’s a closer look at how the Tudors actually governed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we trace the Vaux family from their Lancastrian beginnings in the fifteenth century to their role in the Catholic underground during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I. We follow the line from Katherine Peniston and her loyalty to Margaret of Anjou, through Nicholas Vaux’s rise under Henry VII and Henry VIII, and into the recusant world shaped by William Vaux. The story leads to Anne Vaux; her safe houses, her connection to Father Henry Garnet, and her brush with the Gunpowder Plot. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1591, Mabel Bagenal defied her powerful English family and secretly married Hugh O’Neill, Earl of Tyrone. Their relationship became one of the most controversial matches in Tudor Ireland, fueling tensions that were already pushing the country toward war. In this minicast, we explore who Mabel was, why she chose O’Neill, and how her decision shaped the politics around her. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.