Renaissance English History Podcast: A Show About the Tudors

At the height of his power, Thomas Wolsey stood at the center of Europe’s grandest spectacle - the Field of Cloth of Gold. Ten years later, he was alone, under arrest, and dying far from court.

In this What Were They Thinking? episode, we trace Wolsey’s downfall step by step - from supreme confidence in 1520 to political isolation in 1530. We follow how he reacted to each loss of power: his removal from office, his enforced move north to York, the dangerous letters he continued to write, and the fatal belief that service, law, and process might still save him.

This is not a story of sudden collapse, but of a man who could not stop thinking like a statesman long after the state had turned against him.
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Elizabeth I’s decision not to marry shaped the entire character of her reign. But what if she had chosen differently, early on, when the pressure was highest and the risks were lowest?

In this Thought Experiment, we explore how an early marriage might have changed the succession, court politics, religion, and England’s place in Europe, and what Elizabeth gained, and gave up, by refusing to say yes.
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As a major winter storm is hitting much of the United States, it’s hard not to think about how dependent we are on forecasts, alerts, and advance warnings. We know when snow will start, how bad it might get, and when it should be over.

The Tudors had none of that.

In this episode, we explore how people in Tudor England understood the weather, what “forecasting” meant in a world without instruments or data, and how households prepared for winter when storms arrived without warning. We’ll look at seasonal preparation, food storage, fuel shortages, and what happened when cold lasted longer than anyone expected.

We’ll also examine real historical examples of severe winters from the Tudor period and just beyond it, including prolonged frosts that froze rivers, stalled trade, and tested the limits of everyday life.

This isn’t a story about cozy snowfalls. It’s about uncertainty, preparation, and what winter meant in a world where no one could say how long the storm would last.
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In the final years of Henry VIII’s reign, even conversation could be dangerous.

Katharine Parr was not simply a dutiful queen consort. She was highly educated, deeply interested in theology, and unusually willing to debate religion with the king. At first, Henry encouraged these exchanges. He enjoyed having a companion who could follow his arguments and respond thoughtfully.

By 1546, however, those same conversations were being reported very differently.

An arrest warrant was prepared. Bishops took notice. Courtiers repeated her words. Katharine found herself in the same position that had destroyed others before her.

This video explores:
Why Katharine felt secure enough to debate theology with Henry
How court politics turned her speech into a risk
What she understood about Henry’s need for control at the crucial moment
And how a carefully chosen conversation stopped the arrest from going forward

This is not a story about luck or silence. It is about timing, perception, and knowing when the safest move was to change the way the story was being told.

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When we think about death in Tudor England, we usually picture executions, plague, or war. But for most people living in 16th-century England, death came much closer to home.

In this episode, we explore accidental deaths recorded in coroners’ inquests: drownings while fetching water, fatal after-work swims, farm accidents, falls, fires, and moments of ordinary life that went catastrophically wrong. Drawing on recent research by historian Steven Gunn, these cases reveal what people were actually doing all day, the risks they lived with, and how unforgiving the physical world of Tudor England could be.

This isn’t a story about kings or court politics. It’s about laborers, women, children, and families navigating daily work, domestic chores, and leisure in a landscape with very little margin for error.

If you’ve ever wondered what Tudor life really looked like beyond the palace walls, this episode offers a stark and fascinating answer.
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