England’s very first official voyage of exploration to the New World didn’t begin in London—or even under an Englishman’s command. It began in Bristol in 1497 and was undertaken by Italian entrepreneur John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto).
Backed by Henry VII, Cabot’s bold journey in search of Asia, but actually to the coast of North America, marked the quiet beginnings of England’s imperial story—decades before Henry VIII or Elizabeth I ever dreamed of global power…
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In my latest YouTube video, I’ve interviewed bestselling author and historian Toni Mount to celebrate the release of The Colour of Darkness — book 13 in the gripping Sebastian Foxley Medieval Mystery series.
Toni takes us behind the scenes of her writing process, research into 15th-century London, and the creation of her beloved protagonist, artist and reluctant sleuth Seb Foxley.
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In July 1577, a courtroom in the city of Oxford turned deadly.
Within days of the trial of a Catholic recusant and bookseller, hundreds, including Nicholas Barham, Queen Elizabeth I’s top lawyer, were dead.
No violence. No uprising. Just a hidden killer…gaol fever!
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On this day in Tudor history, 24th July 1594, John Boste was hanged, drawn, and quartered for in Durham.
His crime?
Treason. Simply doing his job… as a priest.
Let me tell you Boste’s story – from gifted Oxford scholar to hunted man of God, betrayed, tortured by Richard Topcliffe himself, and executed for his faith…
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On this day in history, 22nd July 1437 (or 1438), John Scrope, 5th Baron Scrope of Bolton, was born at Bolton Castle in Yorkshire. He was a man who’d back the losing side multiple times, but with his head intact.
He fought at Towton with Edward IV, rebelled against him, supported Richard III, then Henry VII, then backed a royal pretender… yet he survived! He reall was like a cat with nine lives.
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On this day in Tudor history, 20th July 1554, Prince Philip of Spain landed on English soil to marry Queen Mary I, having left Valladolid on 14th May.
He did not travel light. 1000s of soldiers and men sailed with him, including a dancing master – yes, he had his priorities right – and his journey had been marked by processions, fireworks and artillery salutes.
Let me take you behind the scenes of one of the most politically charged royal arrivals in English history.
[Read More...]Set in medieval London, written by Toni Mount from Gravesend Kent, and featuring fascinating characters, including a cross-dressing male prostitute based on a real 14th century sex-worker; this new murder mystery will be launched at Sandwich Medieval Centre on 26th July.
The Colour of Darkness is the thirteenth instalment in the atmospheric Sebastian Foxley series of medieval murder mysteries. These well-researched and well-loved books are based on thorough historic research of London in the 14th and 15th centuries, and readers comment on the detailed historic basis of the stories, many of which actually happened, (but maybe at different times or to different people).
The book launch will be at 12 midday on Saturday 26th July and will be hosted by The Sandwich Medieval Centre, The Quay, Sandwich Kent CT13 9EN.
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I’ve decided to do a series of called “Tudor True Crime” on my YouTube channel, where I’m going to delve into 16th century crimes and look at what exactly happened, and the consequences.
My very first Tudor trie crime is the murder of Thomas Arden of Faversham in 1551, a story which featured, poisoned milk, a pressing iron, a knife, and a group of people determined to finish him off. It really is darker than fiction!
And one of the killers was his own wife, Alice Arden.
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On this day in Tudor history, 16th July 1517, Mary Tudor, Queen of France, and her husband, Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, welcomed a daughter into the world, Frances.
This little girl grew up to be Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk, and she is often reduced to a footnote in history — simply the mother of the tragic Lady Jane Grey. But who was she really?
In my latest video, I dive into Frances’ life and look at how she’s been maligned by centuries of misrepresentation.
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On this day in Tudor history, 15th July 1497, William Neville was born.
He was a respected courtier and poet, who later found himself accused of something that sounds like it’s straight out of a fantasy novel: trying to make himself invisible!
In my latest “on this day” video, I’m uncovering the rather strange tale of William Neville — from his allegorical poetry and service in Cardinal Wolsey’s household to accusations of treason, sorcery, and near financial ruin…
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In my latest “On This Day” video on YouTube, I’ve headed slightly beyond the Tudor world — north to Scotland — to uncover the story of a young queen who deserves far more recognition than she gets.
On this day in history, 14th July 1486, Queen Margaret of Denmark, consort of James III of Scotland, died at just 30 years old. But her brief life left a permanent mark on British history.
Because of Margaret, Orkney and Shetland became — and remained — part of Scotland. A forgotten dowry, a pledged territory, and a queen who quietly changed the map of the British Isles.
But there’s so much more to her than diplomacy…
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Queen Elizabeth I’s reign has gone down in history as the Golden Age, and the queen as Gloriana and Good Queen Bess, and her reign was certainly a time of exploration, cultural flourishing, and military victories. But was it truly “golden” for everyone.
No, it had a darker side.
This is what I explore in this video…
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On this day in Tudor history, 14th March 1553, during the reign of King Edward VI, Arthur Bulkeley, Bishop of Bangor, died at his home in Bangor.
His final resting place? The quire of Bangor Cathedral.
But who was Bishop Bulkeley, and why does his legacy matter?
Arthur Bulkeley was a Welshman, born around 1495 in Beaumaris, Anglesey. He was a scholar, studying both canon and civil law at Oxford. But his path wasn’t just academic; he found himself serving some of the most powerful figures in Tudor England.
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On this day in history, 13th March 1619, the stage lost one of its greatest stars. Richard Burbage, Shakespeare’s leading man, the original Hamlet, Othello, and King Lear, breathed his last at the age of fifty.
But Burbage wasn’t just an actor. He was a theatre pioneer, a close friend of Shakespeare, and a man whose talent defined the golden age of English drama.
So, who was he?
Richard Burbage was born in 1568, baptised in London’s St. Stephen’s Church on 7th July. His father, James Burbage, was an actor and entrepreneur, and young Richard grew up surrounded by the world of performance.
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On 11th March 1513, Giovanni di Lorenzo de’ Medici was proclaimed Pope Leo X—a man who would leave a lasting mark on the Catholic Church and European history.
Born into the powerful Medici family, Leo was the son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, ruler of Florence and a patron of the arts. From an early age, Giovanni was destined for the Church—he was made a cardinal at just 13 years old! By the time he was elected pope in 1513, he held not just religious power but also political dominance as head of the Papal States and his influential family in Florence.
But what kind of pope was Leo X? Well, let’s just say he wasn’t your typical, pious, reform-driven leader.
Leo X was a true Renaissance pope. He transformed Rome into a thriving cultural hub, attracting artists, poets, and scholars to his court. One of his most famous protégés was Raphael, the great painter and architect. Under Leo’s patronage, Raphael worked on St. Peter’s Basilica and painted some of his most stunning works.
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William Paulet wasn’t born into the powerful aristocracy. He came from Basing in Hampshire, born sometime between 1474 and 1488—even his birth date is a mystery!
His family had connections, but nothing close to the powerhouses of the Tudor court. Unlike men like Thomas More or Thomas Cromwell, Paulet didn’t make his name by standing on principle or radical reform. Instead, he mastered something far more valuable in the Tudor world: survival.
He trained in law at the Inner Temple, which set him up for a career in administration, and he made a very smart marriage—Elizabeth Capell, the daughter of a wealthy Lord Mayor of London. It wasn’t the grandest match, but it gave him financial backing and key city connections.
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By the early 1540s, England’s religious landscape was a minefield. The dissolution of the monasteries had shaken traditional Catholic structures, and Protestant reformers like Archbishop Thomas Cranmer were pushing Henry VIII’s Church further from Rome.
Not everyone was on board.
A faction of conservative clergy and laymen began working covertly to stop these changes. This movement, known as the Prebendaries’ Plot, was centred around five prebendary canons of Canterbury Cathedral, including William Hadleigh, a former monk of Christchurch Canterbury.
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6th March 1547 was a day of humiliation for Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton. Once one of the most powerful men in England, he found himself stripped of the Great Seal of office and confined to his home. But how did a man who had been Henry VIII’s trusted Lord Chancellor fall so fast?
Wriothesley was a rising star of the Tudor court. Born in 1505, he was the son of a herald, educated at Cambridge, and started his career working for none other than Thomas Cromwell. He was ambitious, intelligent, and, according to his friend John Leland, quite good-looking!
His big break came in the 1530s when he became a key figure in Henry VIII’s government. He played a role in the annulment of Henry’s marriage to Anne of Cleves, helped investigate Catherine Howard, and eventually became Lord Chancellor in 1544. He was trusted, powerful, and wealthy—owning vast estates, including the former Titchfield Abbey, which he transformed into his grand home.
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Thank you to Loretta Goldberg, author of The Reversible Mask: An Elizabethan Spy Novel for joining us today and sharing this excellent guest article on the Siege of Antwerp.
During World War II, Sir Winston Churchill said, “In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.” Illusion was a tactic used in 1944 to deceive the Nazis about where the allies would land; many historians believe that the Normandy beachhead held because of the deception. 336 years earlier, in 1588, England faced invasion by Spain with its Armada of 120 ships and 20,000 troops that were meant to be supplemented by comparable forces from Spain’s soldiers and barges in the Netherlands (known as the Army of Flanders.) Illusion then also saved England.
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William Oughtred was baptised on 5th March 1575, at Eton College, where his father worked as a writing master. From a young age, he was immersed in learning, and it wasn’t long before he was off to King’s College, Cambridge, where he earned his BA in 1596 and his MA in 1600.
But Oughtred wasn’t just a numbers man—he was also a man of faith. In 1603, he became an ordained priest, and by 1610, he was the Rector of Albury in Surrey, a position he would hold for 50 years!
Now, here’s where things get really interesting. Oughtred wasn’t content just preaching—his real passion was mathematics.
Ever used the × symbol? Thank Oughtred. He also introduced the abbreviations “sin” and “cos” for sine and cosine, which are still used in trigonometry today!
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On this day in Tudor history, the 4th of March 1590, a man named Christopher Bales met a brutal and unjust end on the streets of London. His crime? Simply being a Catholic priest. His fate was sealed by laws that saw his faith and vocation as treason… and his punishment was death.
But who was Christopher Bales? And why was England so determined to silence men like him?
Christopher Bales was born in County Durham, the son of John and Catherine Bales. He actually came from a Protestant background, so it’s unclear what led him to convert and enter the English College in Reims, France, in 1581—a Catholic seminary where young men trained to become priests in defiance of English law.
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On this day in Tudor history, 3rd March 1528, Margaret Tudor, sister of King Henry VIII and widow of King James IV of Scotland, married for the third time.
Margaret, 38 years old, had already been twice married. Her first husband, King James IV of Scotland, had died at the Battle of Flodden in 1513, leaving her as regent for their young son, James V. However, her controversial second marriage to Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus, led to political turmoil. The Scottish nobility opposed the match, and she lost her position as regent. When she returned to Scotland after a brief stay in England, she discovered that Angus had been living openly with a former lover, Lady Jane Stewart. Determined not to remain in an unhappy marriage, Margaret fought for an annulment, despite opposition from none other than her own brother, Henry VIII, who at the time did not believe in divorce.
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On the night of 28th February 1551, a man who had spent his life fighting for religious reform took his last breath in Cambridge. His name was Martin Bucer—a theologian, a reformer, and a man whose influence stretched across Europe.
But even in death, his struggles weren’t over. Six years after his burial, his body was dug up, put on trial for heresy, and publicly burned in Cambridge along with his works.
So, who was Martin Bucer? Why was he considered such a threat that even his bones had to be destroyed? And why is he remembered today as a key figure in the Protestant Reformation?
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Today, on the anniversary of Anne Line’s execution, on 27th February 1601, I’m honouring her and two other remarkable women, Margaret Clitherow and Margaret Ward, who gave their lives for harbouring Catholic priests in Elizabethan England.
Their crime? Offering sanctuary to men whose very existence had been outlawed. Their fate? Torture, brutal executions, and posthumous sainthood.
But why was it so dangerous to harbour a priest in the reign of Elizabeth I?
In Tudor England, religion wasn’t just a matter of personal belief—it was a matter of life and death.
Following Henry VIII’s break with Rome, England became a Protestant nation. But when his daughter Mary I took the throne, she restored Catholicism and a couple of hundred Protestants burned at the stake. Then, in 1558, Elizabeth I became queen, and England swung back to Protestantism.
Catholics who had hoped for tolerance soon realised that Elizabeth’s government viewed them as a threat. When the Pope excommunicated Elizabeth in 1570, it escalated the conflict. Catholics were now seen as potential traitors—loyal to the Pope, not the queen.
He was the grandson of Mary Boleyn, the husband of Elizabeth Spencer, and a trusted courtier of Elizabeth I. But George Carey, 2nd Baron Hunsdon, wasn’t just another nobleman, he was a key figure in the world of Elizabethan theatre, a patron of Shakespeare’s acting company, and a man who rose to one of the most powerful positions at court.
Today, let’s dive into the fascinating life of George Carey, 2nd Baron Hunsdon; his Boleyn connections, his military career, and his role in shaping the golden age of Elizabethan theatre.
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he was the wife of a Boleyn descendant, the patron of some of Elizabeth I’s greatest minds, and a member of the powerful Spencer dynasty, the same family as Princess Diana. Yet, history has largely forgotten Elizabeth Carey, Lady Hunsdon.
Meet Elizabeth Carey (née Spencer), Lady Hunsdon, a Tudor noblewoman who lived a life of influence, power, and cultural significance.
Born on 29th June 1552 at Althorp (yes, the same family estate later associated with Princess Diana!), Elizabeth was part of the powerful Spencer dynasty, being the sixth child of Sir John Spencer and his wife, Katherine Kitson.
Through marriage to Sir George Carey, later 2nd Baron Hunsdon, grandson of Mary Boleyn, in 1574, Elizabeth became linked to the legacy of Anne Boleyn and Queen Elizabeth I. The couple had one daughter, and their marriage was reportedly happy—Carey even described Elizabeth as “the sweetest Companion that ever Man hathe found in this lief.” After Carey’s death in 1603, Elizabeth married Ralph Eure, 3rd Baron Eure. But it was in the world of literature and music that she made her mark.
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Murder, political betrayal, royal intrigue… The life of Henry Howard, Earl of Northampton, had it all. He was a survivor in a dangerous world, navigating the courts of Elizabeth I and James I, escaping imprisonment five times, and playing a shadowy role in one of the most scandalous murder cases of the 17th century.
But who was he? And how did he go from being a suspected traitor to one of the most powerful men in England? Stick around as we uncover the secrets of this Tudor earl—his rise, his rivalries, and his connection to a deadly conspiracy…
Birthday boy Henry Howard was born into one of England’s most prestigious families on 24th February 1540. But that didn’t mean his life was destined to be easy… because his family was already marked by treason.
His father? None other than Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey—the poet and courtier executed by Henry VIII in 1547 for alleged treason. His brother? Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk—executed by Elizabeth I for plotting to marry Mary, Queen of Scots. With this kind of family history, you’d think Henry would learn to stay away from treasonous schemes… but you’d be wrong.
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