HistoryExtra
type: channel
link: https://www.historyextra.com
description: Home of Britain’s bestselling history magazine and award-winning podcast
date: 2026-02-18T12:45:38.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: The Tudor law that forced an occult practice underground for centuries
items: Thomas More: life of the week
items: The simple secret that kept the ordinary Tudor diet surprisingly healthy
items: Beyond the podcast: Elizabeth I
items: What happened to Shakespeare's daughters? A guide to the playwright's family life and descendants
items: Meet the incredible woman who saved Portugal's Jews
items: The SECRETS of Anne Boleyn's most treasured possession
items: Tragedy and triumph: a 500-year history of Mexico
items: Was a ruthless Tudor matriarch behind the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower?
items: Henry VIII wanted a giant Tudor tomb. So why didn’t he get it?

The Tudor law that forced an occult practice underground for centuries
type: item
date: 2026-02-18T12:45:38.000Z
creator: James Osborne
subject: Period
subject: Tudor
subject: Discover / Apple News
description: As well as creating new regulations on faith, Henry VIII’s 16th-century government also decided which kinds of knowledge were legitimate – and which were criminal
encoded: The people who controlled Tudor England made certain that any belief that didn’t align with strictly Christian values was deemed to be highly suspicious, and likely criminal. Witchcraft and demonology were stark examples, but Henry VIII himself also passed a law that criminalised palmistry: the reading of one’s fate from the palm of the hand. Henry VIII ruled from 1509 to 1547, presiding over one of the most transformative periods in English and wider British history. His reign encompassed religious revolution, repeated rebellions and an unprecedented expansion of royal authority. But while Tudor governments worked to centralise authority and standardise religious belief after decades of dynastic instability, many elite thinkers continued to explore esoteric ideas in private: the truth was, the early modern period was the perfect hotbed for alternative ideas to flourish. The people who lived in the early 16th century were wracked by uncertainty. England was still emerging from the Wars of the Roses, and Henry VIII was only the second Tudor king; his claim to the throne rested on recent victory in battle rather than ancient lineage, making loyalty to the crown a constant concern. Early modern governance relied heavily on local surveillance and reputation, and strangers presented a challenge to that system. Roma communities were newly visible in England in the early 1500s. As historian Alison Bashford explains, speaking on the HistoryExtra podcast, contemporary Europeans believed these communities came from Egypt. “Hence the term ‘gypsy’,” she says. It was a misidentification that would shape Tudor laws, based on false ideas that Roma people came from a place imbued with ancient, supposedly occult forms of knowledge. The Egyptian Acts and Tudor control Under Henry VIII, Parliament passed a series of statutes known collectively as the Egyptian Acts. They aimed to fix populations in place and eliminate practices that escaped oversight. But they had a much longer reach t…

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Thomas More: life of the week
type: item
date: 2026-02-10T10:00:47.000Z
creator: Kev Lochun
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Tudor
subject: Life of the week (podcast series)
description: Joanne Paul explores the life of the inscrutable Thomas More: the thinker and humanist who served as Lord Chancellor to Henry VIII yet refused to get involved in his Great Matter, ultimately choosing his conscience over his life
encoded: Thomas More is best remembered as a martyr and a saint, but the circumstances of his death were just one facet of his controversial life. Historian and biographer Dr Joanne Paul speaks to Kev Lochun about More's many faces: the Lord Chancellor who refused to yield to Henry VIII; the writer who gave us Utopia, and the zealot who believed heretics deserved to be burned. Yet, she argues, he was none of these things of in isolation, but instead a complicated man whose life has lessons for us today. Thomas More's Utopia is considered one of the most influential pieces of political philosophy today, but how did his contemporaries see it? Joanne Paul considers that thorny question for HistoryExtra. Go beyond the podcast.

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The simple secret that kept the ordinary Tudor diet surprisingly healthy
type: item
date: 2026-02-07T10:45:18.000Z
creator: James Osborne
subject: Period
subject: Tudor
subject: Discover / Apple News
description: For most people in Tudor England, an ordinary diet was more structured – and often more varied – than we might expect
encoded: The excesses of Henry VIII conjure images of lavish feasts: whole-roasted pigs, venison pies, exquisite fruit jellies and fine wines imported from the continent. It’s an image of luxury – but one almost entirely disconnected from the reality experienced by most people living in Tudor England. While Henry VIII and the upper echelons of Tudor nobility could pick and choose from vast, sprawling buffets, ordinary people had their diets dictated by the unyielding rhythm of the seasons. According to the historian Ruth Goodman, this seasonality imposed strict limits on what people could eat and when. At the same time, however, it also created an extraordinary variety across the year, with no two months’ food ever quite the same. Speaking on the new HistoryExtra Academy course Tudor Life, Goodman explores what this meant as the year unfolded, and asks: what was a Tudor diet really like – and just how healthy (and how tasty) was it? The simple foundations of the Tudor diet The diet of most Tudors was built on very humble foundations. “The most important food for any Tudor was probably bread,” Goodman explains. “But ‘bread’ often meant a whole range of things; it covered many different styles.” Watch: What did ordinary Tudors eat? In the fifth episode of her HistoryExtra Academy series Tudor Life, social historian Ruth Goodman takes us inside the kitchens of ordinary Tudors, sharing what would have been served up on the average table. Membership exclusive – watch now In many upland areas, wheat was difficult to grow, and ovens were expensive to build and fuel. As a result, people typically turned to oats instead. “Oats were easier to make into a flat cake rather than a traditional loaf,” says Goodman. “These were dried in front of a fire and cooked on a griddle.” This pattern was repeated across England. According to Goodman, people ate “different sorts of oatcakes, barley bread, rye bread”, and “every region had its own specialities”. What linked these breads together – whet…

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Beyond the podcast: Elizabeth I
type: item
date: 2026-02-03T13:27:03.000Z
creator: Rachel Dinning
subject: Elizabethan
subject: Period
subject: Tudor
description: Want to know more about Elizabeth I and her remarkable reign? Rachel Dinning rounds up essential reads to explore her early life, rise to power, court intrigues, and the legacy that made her one of England’s most iconic monarchs.
encoded: Elizabeth I remains one of the most recognisable and influential monarchs in English history. Born into scandal, declared illegitimate, and raised in the shadow of political and religious upheaval, she would go on to rule England for more than four decades. Her reign witnessed religious transformation, cultural flourishing, and international conflict, while her carefully crafted image as the ‘Virgin Queen’ helped cement her place in both history and myth. In this four-part HistoryExtra podcast series – coming out on 8 March – I’m joined by historian Dr Nicola Tallis, a leading expert on Elizabeth I, to explore the queen’s extraordinary life and legacy. Together, we trace Elizabeth’s journey from her turbulent childhood and precarious path to the throne, through the challenges of ruling as a female monarch in a male-dominated world, to the threats posed by rival claimants, conspiracies, and foreign invasion. We also examine her final years, the question of succession, and the myths that transformed her reign into England’s so-called ‘Golden Age’. Below, I’ve selected some essential further reading, listening and viewing from the HistoryExtra archive to help deepen your understanding of Elizabeth’s life and world. These include expert insights into Elizabeth’s early years and education, her relationships and court culture, the political and religious tensions that shaped her reign, and the lasting legacy of one of Britain’s most iconic rulers.

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What happened to Shakespeare's daughters? A guide to the playwright's family life and descendants
type: item
date: 2026-01-26T12:32:00.000Z
subject: Elizabethan
subject: Period
subject: Stuart
subject: Tudor
description: The story of the Shakespeares was one of social advancement, says Stanley Wells, reflected in dwellings that rose from rural farmstead to manorial splendour. Along the way were some family upsets: pregnant brides, lawsuits and excommunication. As a film adaptation of Maggie O'Farrell's novel Hamnet arrives on cinema screens, find out more about when William married Anne (Agnes) Hathaway, when their children were born, and what became of the Shakespeare family after the playwright's death…
encoded: He is one of the greatest writers of all time, and our longing to know as much as we can about him continues. We know that William Shakespeare was born in 1564 to John and Mary Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, and that he was their first child to survive past infancy. During the Elizabethan period, infant mortality was very high, and his parents had already lost two daughters before young William was born. The exact date of his birth is unknown, but his baptismal record survives, showing that Gulielmus filius Johannes Shakespeare (William, son of John Shakespeare) was baptised in Stratford-upon-Avon’s Holy Trinity Church on 26 April 1564. His birthday is now celebrated on 23 April, since it was common for baptisms to be held three days after a birth. As a film adaptation of Maggie O'Farrell's historical novel, Hamnet, starring Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal, is released, find out more about the playwright's home life and how his family influences shaped him – plus what happened to his daughters after the story of Hamnet concludes. William Shakespeare's birth family: who were his parents? The story of Shakespeare’s family – one of upward social mobility – is reflected in their homes. Start in the small village of Wilmcote, three miles north of Stratford-upon-Avon, where the playwright’s mother, Mary Arden, grew up in a small farmhouse built around 1514 by her father, Robert. Mary was the youngest of eight daughters by his first wife; his second, Agnes Hill, brought with her two sons and two daughters. When Robert made his will in 1556, he named young Mary as one of his two executors and left her a substantial amount of land and money, which suggests that she was a woman of exceptional ability. Mary Arden married the up-and-coming glover (and later wool dealer and money-lender) John Shakespeare, probably in 1557. Before long they moved into his substantial double-house in Henley Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, now known as Shakespeare’s Birthplace. Mary …

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Meet the incredible woman who saved Portugal's Jews
type: item
date: 2026-01-21T15:30:09.000Z
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Tudor
subject: Amazing lives
subject: Catholic
subject: Civil rights
subject: Historical events
subject: Historical people
description: With the Inquisition active throughout much of Europe, the first half of the 16th century was a perilous time for Jewish people. Andreé Aelion Brooks explores how the fabulously wealthy Doña Gracia worked tirelessly to protect her community
encoded: Still in her 20s, Gracia Mendes Nasi (Nacy), better known as Doña Gracia, was recently widowed and fabulously rich. She should have been able to live in comfort for the rest of her life. Her husband, Francisco Mendes, a spice dealer and banker, had divided his wealth in his will between Gracia and his brother, Diogo. Yet without her husband’s protection, even her money could not shield her from a looming crisis. Indeed, being in possession of such a fortune in patriarchal and Catholic Lisbon in the middle of the 1530s was inherently dangerous for someone of Doña Gracia’s background. She was a converso, a term for a person forced to convert from Judaism. When the papal nuncio, an ecclesiastical diplomat, paid a visit to her palatial home in the old Jewish quarter of Lisbon, he demanded yet another bribe to keep the Inquisition from beginning work in Portugal. The Inquisition, Gracia knew, rounded up conversos, who were then charged with being insincere Catholics and imprisoned. Whether this was true or not, their assets were confiscated. Furthermore, Doña Gracia certainly wasn’t sincere in her public faith. While she had married Francisco, who was also her maternal uncle, at Lisbon Cathedral, the ceremony had been preceded by a secret Jewish wedding. Compounding Doña Gracia’s problems, representatives of the Portuguese king, John III, had also visited her. They told her they wanted to take her young daughter, Ana, to the palace to live as an adopted child of the royal family. According to local laws, the king could thus gain the use of any portion of the Mendes fortune that belonged to Ana. It was clear Doña Gracia needed to make a new start elsewhere in Europe, but there was another problem: converso families were forbidden to leave Portugal. Demonstrating the skill that would make her an outstanding leader, she set two plans running simultaneously, an approach she would follow for the rest of her life. Read more | Your guide to the Spanish Inquisition Firstly, she …

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The SECRETS of Anne Boleyn's most treasured possession
type: item
date: 2026-01-09T08:05:54.000Z
creator: Dr Owen Emmerson
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Tudor
subject: Tudor kings and queens
description: Discover the prayer book that Anne Boleyn carried around "like a handbag", as Dr Owen Emerson and Professor Kate Williams get closer to Anne’s treasured Book of Hours, a personal prayer book on display at Hever Castle
encoded: Get closer to a remarkable Tudor artefact, as Dr Owen Emerson and Professor Kate Williams get closer to Anne Boleyn’s treasured Book of Hours, a personal prayer book on display at Hever Castle. Including illustrations and prayers to be conducted at different times of day, this Book of Hours would have governed Anne Boleyn’s daily schedule – and it even features Anne’s handwriting. Discover the marginalia that shows how the doomed queen turned to the book for solace in times of tumult – from when she was close to death from a disease known as the Sweating Sickness, to the fearful moments when she waited for King Henry VIII to decide her fate. View Green Video on the source website

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Tragedy and triumph: a 500-year history of Mexico
type: item
date: 2026-01-05T08:00:31.000Z
creator: Spencer Mizen
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Tudor
description: Paul Gillingham chronicles the conflict and crushing poverty – but also the tolerance and optimism – that have shaped Mexico since the early 16th century
encoded: The chaos of the Spanish conquest, the humiliation of military defeat to the United States, the disruption of the revolution… Mexican history is often viewed through the lens of trauma and violence. Yet, as Paul Gillingham outlines in a new book, Mexico: A History, this was also one of the earliest democracies in the world – one in which Indigenous peoples enjoyed rights unthinkable in the US at the time. Paul guides Spencer Mizen through one nation's extraordinary history.

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Was a ruthless Tudor matriarch behind the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower?
type: item
date: 2026-01-03T10:15:16.000Z
creator: James Osborne
subject: Period
subject: Tudor
subject: Discover / Apple News
description: Margaret Beaufort has long been put forward as a shadowy mastermind potentially behind one of England’s greatest royal mysteries. Does the case against her stand up to scrutiny?
encoded: In the summer of 1483, two boys vanished inside the most famous fortress in England. Edward V, aged 12, and his younger brother Richard, Duke of York, were last seen in the Tower of London after their uncle seized the throne as Richard III. Within months, they were gone, and Richard stood to benefit. But he’s not the only potential culprit behind the disappearance of the two boys who became known to history as the Princes in the Tower. Over the centuries, suspicion has settled on other figures including Henry VII, Henry Stafford, and Margaret Beaufort. Beaufort was the canny and formidable mother of Henry VII, and matriarch of the Tudor dynasty. Was she, as some rumours have suggested, the hidden hand behind the princes’ disappearance? According to historian Lauren Johnson, speaking on the HistoryExtra podcast, the answer is unequivocal. “There is absolutely no evidence that Margaret orchestrated the disappearance – or the murder, I believe – of the Princes in the Tower.” The Princes in the Tower, and the problem of power Who were the princes in the Tower, and why were they important? Young Edward V was the eldest son of Edward IV, and an uncrowned king; his brother Richard was next in line. After Edward IV’s sudden death in April 1483, the boys were placed in the Tower of London, ostensibly for Edward’s protection before his coronation. Instead, their uncle Richard, Duke of Gloucester, declared their parents’ marriage invalid, had himself crowned Richard III, and kept the boys locked away. By the autumn of that year, they had disappeared. Some have suggested they might have escaped to a foreign country, smuggled out by a benign benefactor. But, as Johnson argues, given the violence of the period and the amount that people stood to gain from their removal, it was more likely that they were murdered. In late medieval England, royal imprisonment could be a death sentence. “Look at what happened to Henry VI: he gets murdered in the Tower. There are other instances of k…

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Henry VIII wanted a giant Tudor tomb. So why didn’t he get it?
type: item
date: 2025-12-13T11:35:49.000Z
creator: James Osborne
subject: Period
subject: Tudor
subject: Discover / Apple News
description: Henry VIII planned a monumental tomb to match his power and legacy. Instead, the king who reshaped England’s relationship with Rome now lies beneath a small, easily missed slab. Here’s how three Tudor monarchs, and a civil war, erased his grand design
encoded: It would be entirely possible to visit St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle and glance over the modest stone slab marking the grave of Henry VIII without noticing it. Its setting might be grand, but the marker itself is startlingly small: which is striking, given that it denotes the resting place of a titanic monarch who dominated the first half of the 16th century of English history with his palaces, pageantry and sweeping religious reforms. How exactly did a king famed for grandeur and excess end up with one of the least conspicuous graves of any English ruler? As historian Kate Williams explains, the anonymity was never Henry’s intention. “Henry VIII wanted a giant tomb in St George's Chapel,” she says, on an episode of her HistoryExtra Academy course. “But he made a big mistake.” It was that mistake that would ultimately ruin his ambitious vision and leave him with the humble gravestone. Henry VIII’s vast funerary vision Henry VIII’s planned tomb was intended to be a memorial that also served as a message. Late medieval and early Tudor monarchs used their tombs to assert legitimacy, commemorate dynastic claims and broadcast their religious identity. Henry VII’s chapel at Westminster, completed in gilded splendour, set a new standard. Henry VIII planned to exceed it. “He wanted a huge tribute with a big bronze effigy of him,” says Williams, “surrounded by pillars and models of angels and saints. It was going to be inside a black marble chapel.” The king saw that as befitting the scale of his ambitions and achievements in life. A tomb on this scale would have functioned as his final statement of royal authority, suitable as the resting place of a monarch who made himself head of the English Church. But the mistake Henry made was that he didn’t complete it during his lifetime. Instead, he trusted his successors to see it through. An unfinished project inherited by unwilling heirs When Henry died in 1547, his tomb was incomplete and enormously expensive. It was a pr…

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