Renaissance English History Podcast: A Show About the Tudors

What if Anne Boleyn had agreed to become Henry VIII’s mistress instead of his queen? This thought experiment explores how a single private decision might have altered the English Reformation, the fate of Catherine of Aragon and Princess Mary, and the course of Tudor history itself without catastrophe.

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Breakfast feels ancient. It isn’t. In Tudor England, breakfast was optional, lightly eaten, and sometimes frowned upon. No bacon, no eggs, no fixed hour. Just bread, ale, leftovers, and a lot of flexibility depending on class and work.
This video explores when breakfast actually became “breakfast,” and why the Tudors didn’t believe in it the way we do.
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Speak at Tudorcon 2026: https://tudorcon.englandcast.com/speak-at-tudorcon/

The Tudors did not see history as distant or neutral. They believed they were living after a great age, measuring themselves constantly against Rome, ancient kings, and earlier empires that had already risen and fallen. History, for them, was a warning.
In this episode, we explore how the Tudors studied the past, the classical historians they read, and why history shaped their understanding of power, legitimacy, and decline. From Roman emperors to English chronicles, this is a look at how the Tudors read history.
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In early 1540, Thomas Cromwell was still powerful, but he knew something had shifted.
Today we look at the final year before Cromwell’s fall, not as a sudden collapse, but as a slow recognition that his influence was draining away. As the court reoriented itself, allies fell silent, old enemies returned, and the systems Cromwell built no longer protected him.

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What if Catherine of Aragon had agreed to an annulment in 1527?
Today we explore a Tudor what-if with enormous consequences. If Catherine had stepped aside quietly, Henry VIII might never have broken with Rome, Anne Boleyn might have had time to secure her position, Mary Tudor’s future could have been settled early, and England might have remained a far quieter place.
A meditation on how one refusal, rooted in conscience, reshaped a kingdom.
Check out the Vday collection:
https://tudorfair.com/collections/valentines-day-2026

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