Think we’ve exhausted Tudor history? Think again — what are we missing?
Are the Tudors really overdone, or are we simply telling the same stories over and over again? Dr Joanne Paul joins Paul Bavill for a counter-rage against the idea that historians should stop studying the Tudors.
From the English Reformation and the Break with Rome to poverty, politics, women, immigrants, people of colour and the extraordinary figures operating beyond the royal spotlight, there is far more to sixteenth-century England than Henry VIII, his six wives and Elizabeth I.
Joanne explains why modern Tudor history is busy challenging Victorian misconceptions, uncovering overlooked lives and rethinking how power actually worked. Why did the dissolution of the monasteries fundamentally change the experience of poverty? Were Tudor counsellors sometimes more important than the monarch? Were the seeds of the English Civil War already being planted in sixteenth-century ideas about government?
There is also plenty of discussion about the English Reformation, Lollardy, Renaissance humanism, Edward VI, the Marian regime, Henry VII, the rise of the “new men” and, inevitably, why Edward Seymour sucks.
If you think Tudor history begins and ends with Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII, this is your challenge to look again.
Dr Joanne Paul is speaking at the Gloucester History Festival, which runs from 12th–20th September. Joanne will be appearing on Friday 18th September at 4pm, discussing the end of Henry VIII's reign. Find festival information and tickets at: https://www.gloucesterhistoryfestival.co.uk
Find out more about Dr Joanne Paul and follow her work:
Website: https://www.joannepaul.co.uk
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DrJoannePaul
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drjoannepaul/
X/Twitter: https://x.com/drjoannepaul
Joanne is the author of Thomas More: A Life and Death in Tudor England and The House of Dudley. Buy The House of Dudley and support History Rage through the History Rage Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/10120/9781405937191
Recommended episodes:
Episode 269: Al Murray argues it’s time to shut up about the Tudors.
Episode 266: Dr Joanne Paul rages that it’s not Lady Jane Grey — it’s Queen Jane Dudley.
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