On the Tudor Trail

Episode 215 – Children of the House of Cleves with Heather Darsie

Guest Bio Heather R. Darsie works as an attorney and a part-time law professor in the US. Along with her Juris Doctorate she has a BA in German, which was of great value in her research. She completed multiple graduate-level courses in Early Modern History, with her primary focus being the Holy Roman Empire under Charles V. Heather is an Associate Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and an adjunct law professor at Northern Illinois University. She runs the website … [Read More...]

Episode 214 – The Courtship of Elizabeth I & The Duke of Anjou

Guest Bio David Lee is an Irish historian who specializes in women's history. He graduated from Maynooth University with a MA in Irish History. David's thesis 'Ann Walker (1803-1854) and her times: elite women, inheritance and lunacy' discussed the life of a nineteenth century heiress and her fight for autonomy and independence. He also has a keen interest in the history of marriage, philanthropy and emotions. He has written for Tudor Life Magazine and is the author of The Queen's Frog … [Read More...]

Episode 213 – Tudor Women in Devon with Rosemary Griggs

Guest Bio Author and speaker, Rosemary Griggs has been researching Devon's sixteenth century history for years. She has discovered a cast of fascinating characters and an intriguing network of families whose influence stretched far beyond the West Country. She loves telling the stories of the forgotten women of history, the women beyond the royal court, the wives, sisters, daughters, and mothers who played their part during those tumultuous Tudor years. Her novel, A Woman of Noble Wit … [Read More...]

Episode 212 – Lady Penelope Rich with Tony Riches

Guest Bio Tony Riches was born in Pembrokeshire, West Wales, UK, and spent part of his childhood in Kenya. He gained a BA degree in Psychology and an MBA from Cardiff University. After careers in the Royal Air Force, the NHS and Local Government, he is a full-time author of historical fiction. His Tudor Trilogy has become an international best-seller and he is in regular demand as a guest speaker about the lives of the early Tudors. Tony has returned to Pembrokeshire, an area full of … [Read More...]

Episode 211 – Serving a Tudor Queen with Dr James Taffe

Guest Bio Dr James Taffe is a Tudor historian whose research focuses kingship, queenship, the English royal household and the wider court, concentrating foremost on the households of Henry VIII and his six queens. Born in Birmingham, England, he studied at Queen Mary, University of London and University of Birmingham, before moving to the north-east around four years ago to study for his PhD at Durham University, which he completed in 2022. He now lives in Newcastle, UK. Courting Scandal: The … [Read More...]

Episode 210 – Katherine Parr’s Giftbooks & Henry VIII’s Marginalia with Professor Micheline White

Guest Bio Micheline White is Associate Professor in the College of the Humanities and the Department of English at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. Her research focuses on women and religious literature and culture in Tudor England. She has edited three volumes of essays: in 2018 she co-edited (with Leah Knight and Elizabeth Sauer) Early Modern Women’s Bookscapes: Reading, Ownership, Circulation (University of Michigan Press). She is the editor of English Women, Religion, and Textual … [Read More...]

Episode 209 – Katherine Parr and Firebrand with Elizabeth Fremantle

Guest Bio ELIZABETH FREMANTLE is the critically acclaimed author of four Tudor historical novels: Queen's Gambit (soon to be the feature film, FIREBRAND), Sisters of Treason, Watch the Lady and The Girl in the Glass Tower. As E.C. Fremantle she has written two gripping historical thrillers: The Poison Bed and The Honey and the Sting. Her novel, Disobedient, about the artist Artemisia Gentileschi, will be published in July 2023. ?She lives in London. Tudor Takeaway The discovery of … [Read More...]

Episode 208 – The Ups & Downs of Owning a Tudor House with Brigitte Webster

Guest Bio Brigitte Webster is a qualified teacher of home economics and history, making her the perfect ‘accomplished’ Tudor housewife in modern day Britain. As a competent and experienced cook with a deep passion for Tudor history she fully immersed herself in archaeological, experimental cookery which also motivated her to grow period vegetables, herbs and fruits to achieve the most authentic end results. In 2019 she and her husband bought a small Tudor manor that had escaped ruthless … [Read More...]

The False Anna by Heather Darsie

Anna of Cleves died in July 1557, having reached her forty-second birthday weeks before. Curiously, in 1558, a woman who possessed Anna’s signet ring showed up at the court of Anna’s nephew, John Frederick the Middle. She had an interesting story for the young man, “In December 1558, John Frederick received a letter from a woman styling herself as the Duchess of Aybelen. The woman asked that John Frederick send a discrete, trustworthy person to where she was staying in Eckartsberga, roughly … [Read More...]

Episode 207 – The Cecils: Dynasty & Legacy with David Lee

Guest Bio David Lee is an Irish historian who specialises in women’s history, particularly women in power from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries. He also has an interest in the history of courtship and marriage. David is the author of The Queen’s Frog Prince: The Courtship of Elizabeth I and the Duke of Anjou and The Cecils: The Dynasty and Legacy of Lord Burghley. He lives in Kildare with his husband, Victor. Natalie Grueninger speaks with David Lee about his new book, 'The … [Read More...]

Episode 206 – Thomas Cromwell’s Book of Hours Discovered!

Hever Castle’s amazing curatorial team has found Thomas Cromwell’s book of hours! This is the very same book seen in his famous portrait by Hans Holbein. © The Frick Collection, photo by Michael Bodycomb In 2021, Kate McCaffrey’s groundbreaking research revealed that Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn had copies of the same prayer book printed in 1527 by the prolific French printer, Germain Hardouyn. Cromwell’s book of hours is from this same batch! His book also retains its original … [Read More...]

Episode 205 – The Crooked House Lavenham with Alex & Oli

The Crooked House, Lavenham Described by Country Life as 'one of the world's most photographed homes', The Crooked House in Lavenham was built in 1395 and is said to be the inspiration for the old English nursery rhyme, 'There was a Crooked Man'. Now home to two 'Crooked Men', husbands Alex and Oli, The Crooked House attracts visitors from across the globe, who come to marvel at its fairytale facade and enjoy the popular experiences and events held within. From Henry VII to Elizabeth I, John … [Read More...]