HistoryExtra
type: channel
link: https://www.historyextra.com
description: Home of Britain’s bestselling history magazine and award-winning podcast
date: 2026-01-16T14:50:22.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: The Virgin Queen? Elizabeth I's forbidden love
items: Plots and Rebellions, with Professor Tracy Borman
items: Elizabethans quiz – week two
items: Elizabethan Daily Life, with Professor Tracy Borman
items: Elizabethans quiz - week one
items: What did the Tudors wear?
items: In conversation: Tracy Borman on Queen Elizabeth I
items: Hold your noses: the smells, sounds and sights of Elizabethan England
items: The missing Tudors: black people in 16th-century England
items: Your guide to William Cecil, chief adviser to Queen Elizabeth I

The Virgin Queen? Elizabeth I's forbidden love
type: item
date: 2025-07-04T08:00:14.000Z
subject: Elizabethan
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Tudor
subject: British queens
subject: Historical people
subject: Life in Elizabethan England
subject: Tudor kings and queens
description: In 1579, the queen embarked on a romance with a French duke she affectionately dubbed her “frog”. The pair seemed destined for marriage. Yet, writes Elizabeth Tunstall, the people of England had other ideas…
encoded: On 17 August 1579, a ship sailed up the Thames and dropped anchor in Greenwich. Moments later a duke emerged, dressed in the finest clothes that money could buy, and conversing with his entourage in French. The prince’s nationality might have provoked the suspicion – if not the outright hostility – of many residents of Tudor London. Yet this Frenchman was about to be welcomed into the heart of Richmond Palace. There he would be entertained lavishly, wined and dined at parties and balls. And all with good reason. For this Frenchman was being lined up to marry Queen Elizabeth I. Over the centuries, Elizabeth’s romantic travails have become one of the great soap operas of English history. When Elizabeth ascended the English throne in 1558 as a 25-year-old, it was widely expected that she would find herself a husband and produce an heir to carry on the Tudor dynasty for another generation. However, while the queen had several suitors over the years, each proposed match hit the rocks before she could be tempted to offer her hand in marriage. From English earls to Scandinavian kings, none quite fitted the bill. And so, by the time the party of Frenchmen disembarked in Greenwich in the summer of 1579, Elizabeth was well on her way to securing her place in the history books as the ‘Virgin Queen’: the woman who would, so we’re told, sacrifice her heart for the good of the nation. Yet she wasn’t done with trying just yet. As her 46th birthday closed in, Elizabeth would embark on one final bid to find a husband. And this one would take her closer to marriage than perhaps any courtship yet. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2025/07/FFWM82-cmyk-WL-0294cdd.jpg" width="620" height="413" alt="A cow stands in the middle of the image, being ridden by a man in a dark cloak and hat. Behind the cow, a man wearing light pink holds its tail, while another man milks the cow. In front of the cow stands Elizabeth I, dressed in white and another man dressed …

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Plots and Rebellions, with Professor Tracy Borman
type: item
date: 2024-03-25T12:50:47.000Z
creator: Tracy Borman
subject: Elizabethan
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Tudor
subject: HistoryExtra Academy
subject: HistoryExtra Academy Elizabethans course
subject: Life in Elizabethan England
subject: Religion in Elizabethan England
subject: Tudor kings and queens
description: In the third week of the HistoryExtra Academy Elizabethans course, Professor Tracy Borman explains how Elizabeth's seat on the throne was far from secure, and explores some of the many threats to her life that she faced throughout her long reign
encoded: View Green Video on the source website Discover more learning from week three of the HistoryExtra Academy Elizabethans course Did Thomas Seymour sexually abuse the teenage Princess Elizabeth? – reading time 8 mins Sisters at war: Mary I and Elizabeth I – reading time 11 mins Margaret Douglas: The forgotten Tudor princess – reading time 8 mins Mary, Queen of Scots’ tragic life – listening time 33 mins Queens at war: Elizabeth I vs Mary, Queen of Scots – reading time 15 mins Sir Francis Walsingham: spy-master extraordinaire and Elizabeth I's security chief – reading time 11 mins Alternate history: what if the Babington Plot to assassinate Elizabeth I had succeeded? – reading time 5 mins

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Elizabethans quiz – week two
type: item
date: 2024-03-18T13:23:56.000Z
subject: Elizabethan
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Quiz
subject: Tudor
subject: HistoryExtra Academy
subject: HistoryExtra Academy Elizabethans course
subject: Life in Elizabethan England
subject: Religion in Elizabethan England
description: How much did you learn about the Elizabethan daily life this week? Test your knowledge in our quiz
encoded: View Riddle on the source website Discover more learning from week two of the HistoryExtra Academy Elizabethans course Elizabethan daily life, with Professor Tracy Borman – watching time 15 mins What did the Tudors wear? – listening time 36 mins The dark side of Elizabethan England – reading time 9 mins Hold your noses: the smells, sounds and sights of Elizabethan England – reading time 14 mins 10 ways to die in Elizabethan England – reading time 6 mins Tudor childhood: from dodging death to nursery rhymes – listening time 44 mins The missing Tudors: black people in 16th-century England – reading time 5 mins Tudor dining: a guide to food and status in the 16th century – reading time 9 mins

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Elizabethan Daily Life, with Professor Tracy Borman
type: item
date: 2024-03-18T12:17:11.000Z
creator: Tracy Borman
subject: Elizabethan
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Tudor
subject: HistoryExtra Academy
subject: HistoryExtra Academy Elizabethans course
subject: Life in Elizabethan England
subject: Religion in Elizabethan England
description: In the second lecture of the HistoryExtra Academy Elizabethans course, Professor Tracy Borman explores everyday life in the 16th century – from food and fashion, to work and play
encoded: View Green Video on the source website Discover more learning from week two of the HistoryExtra Academy Elizabethans course What did the Tudors wear? – listening time 36 mins The dark side of Elizabethan England – reading time 9 mins Hold your noses: the smells, sounds and sights of Elizabethan England – reading time 14 mins 10 ways to die in Elizabethan England – reading time 6 mins Tudor childhood: from dodging death to nursery rhymes – listening time 44 mins The missing Tudors: black people in 16th-century England – reading time 5 mins Tudor dining: a guide to food and status in the 16th century – reading time 9 mins

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Elizabethans quiz - week one
type: item
date: 2024-03-11T11:52:30.000Z
subject: Elizabethan
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Quiz
subject: HistoryExtra Academy
subject: HistoryExtra Academy Elizabethans course
subject: Life in Elizabethan England
subject: Tudor kings and queens
description: How much did you learn about the Elizabethan court this week? Test your knowledge in our quiz
encoded: View Riddle on the source website

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What did the Tudors wear?
type: item
date: 2023-04-04T06:35:58.000Z
subject: Elizabethan
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Tudor
subject: HistoryExtra Academy
subject: HistoryExtra Academy Elizabethans course
subject: Life in Elizabethan England
description: Jane Malcolm-Davies unpicks the historical sources to uncover what people wore in the 16th century
encoded: How many pieces of clothing did the average Tudor own? Did women in the 16th century have specialised maternity wear? And what was behind the fascination with codpieces? Jane Malcolm-Davies stitches together our understanding of what the Tudors wore, from knitted hats and linen handkerchiefs right down to underwear. Speaking with Emily Briffett, Jane details how clothes were lovingly made, kept and cleaned – and reveals the unusual fashion trend she’d like to see revived. Jane Malcolm-Davies is the co-author of The Typical Tudor. You can purchase the book here. – Discover more learning from week two of the HistoryExtra Academy Elizabethans course The dark side of Elizabethan England – reading time 9 mins Hold your noses: the smells, sounds and sights of Elizabethan England – reading time 14 mins 10 ways to die in Elizabethan England – reading time 6 mins Tudor childhood: from dodging death to nursery rhymes – listening time 44 mins The missing Tudors: black people in 16th-century England – reading time 5 mins Tudor dining: a guide to food and status in the 16th century – reading time 9 mins

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In conversation: Tracy Borman on Queen Elizabeth I
type: item
date: 2022-12-12T09:43:19.000Z
creator: Tracy Borman
subject: Elizabethan
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Tudor
subject: HistoryExtra Academy
subject: HistoryExtra Academy Elizabethans course
subject: Life in Elizabethan England
description: Historian Tracy Borman talks to BBC History Magazine section editor Rhiannon Davies about Queen Elizabeth I, daughter of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII
encoded: How much do you know about Elizabeth I (1533–1603)? Historian Tracy Borman talks to BBC History Magazine section editor Rhiannon Davies about the daughter of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII More in this series | Michael Wood on the West Saxon king Æthelstan View Green Video on the source website Discover more content from week one of the HistoryExtra Academy Elizabethans course The Elizabethan Court, with Professor Tracy Borman – watching time 15 mins 7 things you (probably) didn't know about Tudor fashion – reading time 5 mins Where history happened: Tudor courtiers with Suzannah Lipscomb – reading time 13 mins Elizabeth I's personality: the unfathomable queen – reading time 9 mins Princely pleasures at Kenilworth: Robert Dudley's three-week marriage proposal to Elizabeth I – reading time 6 mins Elizabeth I's Accession Day Celebrations – reading time 7 mins Robert Dudley: Queen Elizabeth I's great love – reading time 12 mins

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height: 826

Hold your noses: the smells, sounds and sights of Elizabethan England
type: item
date: 2021-10-12T04:07:00.000Z
subject: Elizabethan
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Tudor
subject: HistoryExtra Academy
subject: HistoryExtra Academy Elizabethans course
subject: Life in Elizabethan England
description: The act of ‘doing history’ is one of reaching for something that has gone and is, therefore, out of reach. It is hardly surprising that we approach its remains objectively, picking over them with a pair of metaphorical tweezers. But what would we feel if the past were not out of reach? Ian Mortimer prepares prospective time travellers for the sights, sounds, smells and tastes that will await them in the 16th century...
encoded: Traditionally, the past is something we look at from afar. But imagine how your ideas about the past would be different if you could get close up and personal with your forebears. What would you notice if you could see through their eyes, hear with their ears, and smell through their nostrils? What were the tastes and feelings of the past? Can we make any headway in trying to recover them? Adopting this approach is a particularly interesting exercise when it comes to Elizabethan England, and much more revealing than simply looking at ourselves in a 450-year-old mirror. Not only do we see the similarities, we see the differences too: the cruelty of a society that enthusiastically supports baiting games, regularly sentences people to horrific executions, and approves of torture in the interests of the state. We see the hierarchy, violence and misogyny of society, and how young people are (half are under 22). Then, as we peel away the layers of tradition that make us feel that we are fundamentally the same as William Shakespeare’s contemporaries, we realise how they inhabit a sensory world that is considerably different from our own. Here are what six of the senses can tell us about life in Elizabethan England... Sight Darkness reigns in a world where only the rich can afford glass Six months of every year, there is less than 12 hours of daylight, and street lighting is almost unheard of in Elizabethan England. Time outdoors in autumn and winter is characterised by darkness. Dimness is always an aspect of seeing indoors too, even in summer. Domestic glass is rare, due to the paucity of glassmakers in 16th-century England. Although the aristocracy have used glass since the late Middle Ages, and the Countess of Shrewsbury famously has “more glass than wall” at Hardwick Hall, in Derbyshire, most houses have to have small windows to prevent heat loss in winter. Wooden shutters or small opaque screens of horn are used to cover the windows, so there is never much light insid…

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The missing Tudors: black people in 16th-century England
type: item
date: 2020-10-02T04:05:00.000Z
subject: Elizabethan
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Tudor
subject: HistoryExtra Academy
subject: HistoryExtra Academy Elizabethans course
subject: Life in Elizabethan England
subject: Tudor life
description: They were baptised and buried in parishes across the country, and even attended queens at court. So why, asks Onyeka, do we continue to airbrush black Africans out of Tudor England?
encoded: When we think of Tudor England, we don’t immediately imagine black Africans being part of that society. Yet there were Africans here at that time, and they were considered numerous enough in Tudor towns and cities to inspire the phrases “to manie” and “great numbers” in two letters signed by Elizabeth I in July 1596. Both letters sought to have groups of these Africans treated as slaves and exchanged for white English prisoners held captive in Spain and Portugal. Yet it appears that the letters’ authors – an English merchant Thomas Sherley, Sherley’s son of the same name, and a Dutch slave-trader from Lubeck in Germany called Casper Van Senden – were to meet with disappointment. They failed, in their own words “to get any” of the Africans – perhaps because Robert Cecil, the most influential man in Elizabeth’s court, did not like a “commission of that nature”. Were there slaves in Elizabethan England? Cecil’s view was probably shaped by the likelihood that most Africans were integrated members of the parish communities they lived in, and it would have been difficult to extract them from their homes and families. Africans are described in Tudor parish records from 1558 (when most official records began) until well into the 17th century by terms such as “Blackamoores”, “Neygers”, “Aethiopians” and “Negroes”. Meanwhile, in True Discourse (1578), the English traveller and writer George Best refers to them as being as “black as cole”, “so blacke” that when a “faire [white] English woman” engages in a relationship with them they “begat a sonne in all respects as blacke as the father was”. These Africans were baptised, buried and recorded in parish records in London, Plymouth, Southampton, Barnstaple, Bristol, Leicester, Northampton and other places across the country. They include men, women and children such as “Christopher Cappervert, a blackemoore”, who was 28 years old when he died. He was buried in the St Botolph without Aldgate area of London on 22 October 1586. We a…

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Your guide to William Cecil, chief adviser to Queen Elizabeth I
type: item
date: 2020-09-09T10:09:03.000Z
subject: Elizabethan
subject: Period
subject: Tudor
subject: Historical people
subject: Life in Elizabethan England
description: William Cecil’s name is indelibly linked to the reign of Elizabeth I. But to reduce his vast influence in the Elizabethan era to his relationship with the queen does him a disservice, says Janet Dickinson. Ahead of the 500th anniversary of Cecil’s birth, she considers the prolific work and legacy of one of the Tudor queen’s most famous advisers…
encoded: Who was William Cecil, Lord Burghley? William Cecil (1520/1–98) appears omnipresent in Elizabethan history. His proximity to Queen Elizabeth I – and the dominant role that he played in government – makes it hard to write a history of the reign without seeing it partly through Cecil’s eyes. Indeed, the largest collection of documents relating to the reign were collected into Cecil’s family archive. Despite this, getting to really know Cecil remains oddly difficult. The sheer scale and scope of his activities overcomes even the most energetic biographer and the unglamorous hard work that typified his daily life outweighs glimpses that we get of his humanity and his close relations with his contemporaries, notably Mildred, his second wife, to whom he was married for 43 years. We cannot even be sure about Cecil’s year of birth: he himself gave 13 September 1520 and 1521 as his birthdate, helpfully allowing flexibility in plans to commemorate his 500th anniversary. The dark side of Elizabethan England William Cecil: a biography Born: 13 September 1520 or 1521, exact date unknown, in Bourne, Lincolnshire Died: 4 August 1598, after years of declining health, at Cecil House on the Strand in London Buried: St Martin's Church in Stamford, the local church to Burghley House Married to: Mary Cheke (m. 1541–44) & Mildred Cooke (m. 1545–98) Children: A son by Mary Cheke and four children by Mildred Cooke – a son and three daughters, one of whom died in infancy Religion: Protestant Known for: Being the Secretary of State to Queen Elizabeth I and one of her most famous advisers William Cecil’s rise to prominence The Cecils were a Welsh gentry family, with both William’s grandfather and father engaged in royal service. He was destined to follow their path, though in the end his achievements far exceeded both of them. At the age of 14 or 15, Cecil went to St John’s College, Cambridge, where he joined a circle of Protestants that included Roger Ascham, later tutor to the future Elizab…

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