Renaissance English History Podcast: A Show About the Tudors

When Henry VIII died at Whitehall Palace in January 1547, England faced a dangerous moment. His heir was nine years old, power was about to shift, and the death of a king had to be handled with extreme care.

In this video, we follow Henry VIII from his deathbed through one of the most elaborate royal funerals of the sixteenth century.

We look at how his body was prepared, why his burial was delayed, how the funeral procession moved from Whitehall to Windsor, and what those towering candle-filled hearses actually were.

Along the way, we examine one of the most enduring stories associated with Henry’s death - the claim that his coffin burst open at Syon Abbey - and why that story almost certainly isn’t true.

We also explore Henry’s plans for a monumental tomb and a perpetual chantry at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, and why neither was ever completed.

Despite the scale of his funeral, Henry VIII ended up buried without a visible monument, his vault unmarked for centuries.

To celebrate the announcement of Nathen Amin as our Tudorcon keynote, Tudorcon tickets are currently on flash sale - use the code BEAUFORT to save 15 percent (including on payment plans) at https://tudorcon.englandcast.com.
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What role did women actually play in England’s early colonial experiments?

In this Tudorcon 2025 talk, Colleen Parker explores the overlooked but essential role of women in early English colonization, beginning in Ireland and continuing through Roanoke and Jamestown. Rather than treating women as background figures, this talk shows how they functioned as household managers, negotiators, landholders, cultural intermediaries, and, in many cases, the key to whether a colony survived at all.

Topics include:
• Women in the Irish plantations as a testing ground for colonization
• The role of women in Roanoke and the mystery of Virginia Dare
• The Jamestown Brides and why “mail-order brides” is a misleading label
• Women as property holders and legal actors in early Virginia
• Daily survival, childbirth, labor, and negotiation with Native communities

This is a rich, thoughtful look at how women shaped colonization on both sides of the Atlantic.

📣 Tudorcon 2026 Updates
Speaker proposals for Tudorcon are open until February 15. If you’d like to present at a future Tudorcon, the submission form is linked below.

🎉 Flash Sale
We’ve also announced Nathen Amin as our Tudorcon keynote. A limited-time flash sale is running this week ...save 15% with the coupon code BEAUFORT.

👉 Speaker form and tickets are all here: https://tudorcon.englandcast.com.
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In the summer of 1488, a King of Scots lay dying in a flour mill, allegedly murdered by a man disguised as a priest. But how did James III - a man who preferred lutes to longswords and architects to Earls - find himself fleeing for his life from his own son?

This week, we’re venturing just north of the border and slightly back in time to explore the chaotic, culture-clashing reign of James III. From the dramatic "kidnapping" of his childhood to the brutal executions at Lauder Bridge and the mystery of his final moments at Sauchieburn, we look at a monarch who was perhaps too "Renaissance" for his own good.

We’ll also trace the thread that leads directly to the Tudor dynasty, exploring how this medieval tragedy set the stage for the "Union of the Thistle and the Rose" and the eventual rise of the United Kingdom. It’s a story of gold, betrayal, and a lifelong penance worn in the form of an iron belt.
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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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