Tudor History with Claire Ridgway

Elizabeth I’s Forgotten Festival

How England Celebrated Accession Day Like a National Holiday
 
Every year on 17th November, England erupted in bells, bonfires, and jousting tournaments, all to celebrate Queen Elizabeth I’s Accession Day.It wasn’t just royal pageantry,  it was faith, theatre, and politics rolled into one. Knights broke lances before the Queen, the people burned effigies of the Pope, and Elizabeth became “England’s Deborah,” the saviour of Protestant England.Discover how one day in 1558 became the biggest celebration in Tudor England, and how it lived on for centuries after the Virgin Queen’s death.
Listen now to uncover the story behind England’s greatest royal festival.#ElizabethI #TudorHistory #AccessionDay #Gloriana #TudorEngland #History

A Beginner's Guide to Henry VII

A thin, cautious man stepped onto a Welsh beach in August 1485 with fewer soldiers than his enemy, and more to lose than anyone in England.Three weeks later, he had killed a king, married his rival’s niece, and founded a dynasty that still shapes Britain.He was Henry VII - quiet, calculating, and absolutely not boring.In this beginner’s guide, I explore how the first Tudor monarch ended the Wars of the Roses, rebuilt royal authority, and quietly transformed England from chaos to stability.Forget the myth of the miserly king in his counting house, this Henry knew how to wield power, throw a party with dragons and castles on wheels, and plan dynasties like a master strategist.In this podcast:• How Henry won Bosworth and united Lancaster and York• His clever diplomacy, finances, and propaganda• The truth behind his “boring” reputation• The personal losses that reshaped his reign• How his quiet vision laid the groundwork for Henry VIII and Elizabeth IIf Henry VIII was fireworks, Henry VII was the fuse, less flashy, but far more important.Recommended reading: Nathen Amin, Son of ProphecyTell me in the comments: what surprised you most about Henry VII?#HenryVII #TudorHistory #WarsOfTheRoses #TudorDynasty #BritishHistory #ClaireRidgway #HistoryYouTube #BeginnerHistory

Did Mary, Queen of Scots’ Husband Kill Her Lover, or His Own?

A jealous husband.A royal favourite.A queen held at gunpoint.On the night of 9 March 1566, David Rizzio, secretary to Mary, Queen of Scots, was dragged from her side and stabbed over fifty times in Holyrood Palace, while the pregnant queen was forced to watch.But what really lay behind this shocking act?Was Rizzio Mary’s lover?Or was her husband, Lord Darnley, jealous for a different reason?Or was Rizzio just a scapegoat?Join me as I explore the true story behind the Rizzio Murder, where court gossip, sexual scandal, and ruthless politics collided, setting Mary on the path to her downfall.Listen to uncover:- Why Rizzio rose so quickly in Mary’s service- How Darnley’s ambition and insecurity turned deadly- The truth behind those rumours of a royal love triangle- How one murder changed the fate of Scotland’s most tragic queenHistory, passion, and power — Tudor and Stuart style.Subscribe for more true historical scandals and royal mysteries.#MaryQueenOfScots #LordDarnley #DavidRizzio #TudorHistory #StuartHistory #RoyalScandal #HistoryYouTube #ClaireRidgwa

The Abbot Who Defied Henry VIII

The Martyrdom of Hugh Faringdon
 
On this day in Tudor history, 14 November 1539, a man of God was executed at the gate of his own abbey.His name was Hugh Faringdon, Abbot of Reading, a scholar, royal chaplain, and faithful servant of the Church, condemned as a traitor and hanged like a criminal.
 
Join me as I tell the powerful and tragic story of Abbot Hugh Faringdon, who tried to balance loyalty to King Henry VIII with faith in the old Church, and paid with his life.Discover:
The rise of Hugh Faringdon from monk to abbot of one of England’s greatest monasteries
How he served Henry VIII faithfully before the Dissolution of the Monasteries
Why refusing to surrender Reading Abbey made him a target of Thomas Cromwell’s regime
The brutal execution that shocked Tudor England
And how, centuries later, he was beatified as Blessed Hugh Faringdon, a martyr of conscience.
Today, the ruins of Reading Abbey still stand as a silent witness to his courage and conviction.#HughFaringdon #HenryVIII #DissolutionOfTheMonasteries #TudorHistory #ReadingAbbey #TudorMartyrs #OnThisDay #EnglishReformation #TudorFaith #TheAnneBoleynFiles #ClaireRidgway #CatholicHistory #TudorEngland

Jane Seymour’s Final Journey

On this day in Tudor history, 13 November 1537, England mourned its queen.Jane Seymour, Henry VIII’s third wife and the mother of Prince Edward, was laid to rest in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.Her death twelve days after childbirth plunged court and kingdom into grief.Join me as I retrace Jane’s final journey from Hampton Court Palace, where she gave birth and died,to Windsor, where her body was borne in a grand procession of torches, banners, and black-clad mourners.Discover:
Details on the procession and service
Lady Mary’s role as chief mourner
The city-wide mourning in London, with bells tolling across every parish
And the poignant detail that Jane’s heart and entrails were buried separately.
Jane Seymour’s funeral marked the end of a brief, brilliant chapter - the queen who gave Henry VIII the son he longed for and, in death, secured her place beside him for eternity.#TudorHistory #JaneSeymour #HenryVIII #SixWives #WindsorCastle #HamptonCourt #ClaireRidgway #TheAnneBoleynFiles

When Mary I Turned Back the Clock

On this day in Tudor history, 12 November 1555, Queen Mary I turned back the religious clock.Parliament passed the Second Statute of Repeal, restoring papal authority and reuniting England with the Catholic Church after more than twenty years of upheaval.I explore how Mary achieved what had once seemed impossible:
Undoing her father Henry VIII’s break with Rome and her brother Edward VI’s Protestant reforms
Bringing England spiritually home to the Pope
Balancing faith and politics by protecting nobles’ monastic lands
And why, intriguingly, she kept the title “Supreme Head of the Church” even as she restored papal power
For three short years, England was once again Catholic, until Mary’s death in 1558 and Elizabeth I’s sweeping reversal.Was Mary’s vision of unity ever possible in a country so divided by faith?Share your thoughts in the comments below.#TudorHistory #MaryI #CounterReformation #Reformation #QueenMaryI #ClaireRidgway #TheAnneBoleynFiles

The Tudor Day of Feasting, Faith… and the Winter Kill

Today, 11 November, is Martinmas, the Feast of Saint Martin of Tours.
In Tudor England, it was far more than a saint’s day. It marked the great “winter slaughter”, when families across the realm, from manor to cottage, salted and cured their meat to survive the long months ahead.In this video, I explore the man behind the feast, St Martin, the Roman soldier who became a saint after cutting his cloak in half to clothe a beggar, and reveal how faith, food, and survival intertwined in Tudor life.Discover:
The story of St Martin of Tours and why 11 November became his feast day
How Tudor households prepared for winter by salting meat and preserving food
The meaning of old sayings like “His Martinmas will come, as it does to every hog”
Why salt was treasured as life itself
And how Spain’s La Matanza still echoes the traditions that fed the Tudors
Martinmas was the Tudor turning point, the end of harvest, the beginning of winter, and a moment of gratitude for what the land and animals provided.#Martinmas #TudorLife #SaintMartin #TudorHistory #MedievalTraditions #HistoryOfFood #FeastDays #TudorEngland #TudorFeast #ClaireRidgway #TheAnneBoleynFiles #TudorCustoms #TudorFarm #HistoryYouTube

He Dared to Betray the Queen

He was handsome, daring, and utterly reckless, the man who stole the heart of England’s greatest queen in her final years, and then broke it.Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, was born on this day in 1565. He rose from ambitious courtier to Elizabeth I’s beloved favourite - charming, bold, and impossible to ignore. But his pride and defiance would destroy him.I’m historian and author Claire Ridgway, and in this episode we’ll trace the rise and ruin of the Queen’s “darling of her old age”: his dangerous ambition, his disastrous rebellion, and the shocking betrayal that ended with an axe on Tower Green.Was Robert Devereux a tragic hero, or the author of his own destruction?Watch until the end to decide for yourself.
 
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#TudorHistory #ElizabethI #RobertDevereux #EarlofEssex #TudorCourt #TudorScandal #OnThisDay #AnneBoleynFiles #BritishHistory #ClaireRidgway