Talking Tudors

Natalie Grueninger

Established in 2018, Talking Tudors is one of the longest-running and most popular independent interview podcasts about the Tudor era. It boasts an international listenership and has been downloaded in excess of 4 million times. In each episode, creator and host Natalie Grueninger speaks with esteemed historians and other experts about a wide range of subjects associated with Tudor England. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the Podbean app, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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#394
Yesterday · 52 min
Episode 361 - Women's Literacy & Education in the Middle Ages with Dr Megan J. Hall
Dr Megan J. Hall joins Talking Tudors to explore women's literacy and education in medieval England, tracing how reading and writing shifted from church-centred training to household and aristocratic learning between 1100–1300 and beyond. They discuss educational settings and curricula for girls and boys, the role of saints and literary models, and how modern research reshapes our assumptions about women's intellectual contributions. CHECK OUT OUR SPONSOR, SIMPLY TUDOR TOURS! https://simplytudortours.com/ SUPPORT TALKING TUDORS ON PATREON! https://talkingtudors.podbean.com/ JOIN 365 DAYS IN ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND https://www.nataliegrueninger.com/2026/05/17/365-days-in-elizabethan-england/ VISIT DR MEGAN J. HALL'S OFFICIAL WEBSITE https://www.meganjhall.com/ COULD MEDIEVAL WOMEN READ? https://sites.nd.edu/manuscript-studies/2021/04/14/could-medieval-women-read/ Learn more about your Natalie Grueninger: https://www.nataliegrueninger.com
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#393
September 16 · 56 min
Episode 360 - The Horenbouts & Anne Boleyn: New Evidence Examined with Natalie Grueninger & Dr Owen Emmerson
Host Natalie Grueninger and guest Dr Owen Emmerson examine a tiny Tudor portrait miniature held at the Royal Ontario Museum, exploring its possible attribution to Lucas Horenbout and the tantalizing theory that it may be the earliest depiction of Anne Boleyn. They discuss dating, costume and jewel details, related inventories and court accounts from 1527–28, comparisons with a twin miniature at and why ongoing technical research may help confirm or refute the sitter’s identity. JOIN 365 DAYS IN ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND https://www.nataliegrueninger.com/2026/05/17/365-days-in-elizabethan-england/ Learn more about Dr Owen Emmerson: https://drowenemmerson.com/ Learn more about your Natalie Grueninger: https://www.nataliegrueninger.com Support Talking Tudors on Patreon!
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#392
September 6 · 39 min
Episode 359 - Rethinking Jane Seymour: The Woman Behind the Myths with Dr Elizabeth Norton
Host Natalie Grueninger interviews Dr Elizabeth Norton about her new book on Jane Seymour, exploring fresh archival discoveries that reshape our view of the queen. They discuss Jane’s likely birthdate, court career, political agency, household, material culture and wardrobe accounts, relationships with Princess Mary, and the myths about her religion and headwear. The conversation highlights Jane’s skilful use of patronage, financial acumen, and soft power as queen during a turbulent period of the Reformation, and explains why her planned coronation never took place. Learn more about Dr Elizabeth Norton http://www.elizabethnorton.co.uk/ JOIN 365 DAYS IN ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND https://www.nataliegrueninger.com/2026/05/17/365-days-in-elizabethan-england/ Learn more about your host: https://www.nataliegrueninger.com Support Talking Tudors on Patreon!
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#391
August 30 · 1 hr 11 min
Episode 358 - The Real 'Kat Ashley': Elizabeth I's Governess with Rosemary Griggs
Host Natalie Grueninger speaks with historian Rosemary Griggs about her new biography, 'Queen Elizabeth I's Governess: The Real Kat Ashley', which reexamines the life of Katherine Champanowne (Kat Ashley) and restores her place at the centre of Elizabeth I’s life. Rosemary discusses her archival discoveries, the Champanowne and Carew family connections, Kat’s role in Elizabeth’s upbringing and court, her involvement in political scandals and imprisonments, and the influence and legacy she left during Elizabeth’s reign. Learn more about Rosemary Griggs https://rosemarygriggs.co.uk/ JOIN 365 DAYS IN ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND https://www.nataliegrueninger.com/2026/05/17/365-days-in-elizabethan-england/ Learn more about your host: https://www.nataliegrueninger.com Support Talking Tudors on Patreon!
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#390
August 17 · 42 min
Episode 357 - How Ancient Persia Shaped Elizabethan Politics with Ebrahim Joseph
Host Natalie Grueninger interviews historian Ebrahim Joseph about the surprising influence of ancient Persia, especially Cyrus the Great, on Elizabethan England. They explore classical and biblical sources, princely education, political advice, court drama (including The Wars of Cyrus), the Mary, Queen of Scots debate, and early contacts with Safavid Persia, showing how Persian models of charismatic and ruthless kingship shaped Tudor political culture. LEARN MORE ABOUT EBRAHIM JOSEPH https://www.history.ox.ac.uk/people/ebrahim-hanifehpour-0 Read ‘Honour and Deceit in The Warres of Cyrus, Classical Persia, and Elizabethan Politics’ by Ebrahim Joseph https://doi.org/10.1017/S0018246X26101745 Learn more about today's sponsor - Simply Tudor Tours! https://simplytudortours.com/ JOIN 365 DAYS IN ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND https://www.nataliegrueninger.com/2026/05/17/365-days-in-elizabethan-england/ Learn more about your host: https://www.nataliegrueninger.com Support Talking Tudors on Patreon!
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#389
August 10 · 52 min
Episode 356 - How the Americas Shaped Tudor England with Dr Lauren Working
Host Natalie Grueninger speaks with Dr Lauren Working about her book 'A Golden World' and how voyages to the Americas reshaped 16th‑century England. The episode traces Atlantic influences on London life, art, fashion and trade through objects and people brought back from the New World. Examples include the flood of pearls and emeralds, the rise of tobacco and new fashions, live exotic animals and the crucial Indigenous knowledge behind many colonial practices. The conversation emphasises that Tudor England, even without a formal empire, was transformed by ongoing Atlantic encounters. Learn more about Dr Working https://www.york.ac.uk/english/people/laurenworking/ JOIN 365 DAYS IN ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND https://www.nataliegrueninger.com/2026/05/17/365-days-in-elizabethan-england/ Learn more about your host: https://www.nataliegrueninger.com Support Talking Tudors on Patreon!
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#388
August 3 · 48 min
Episode 355 - Rethinking the Battle of Wakefield with Dr David Grummitt
Host Natalie Grueninger speaks with Dr David Grummitt about the December 1460 events commonly called the Battle of Wakefield. Dr Grummitt argues the episode was a small ambush and murder of Richard, Duke of York and his son rather than a large pitched battle, and explains the primary evidence behind this interpretation. The episode also covers the immediate Lancastrian response, the march to the Palm Sunday battles of 1461, and how later Tudor chroniclers and historians transformed these events into a more dramatic mythology. READ DR GRUMMITT & PAUL DAWSON'S ARTICLE https://oro.open.ac.uk/105170/ JOIN 365 DAYS IN ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND https://www.nataliegrueninger.com/2026/05/17/365-days-in-elizabethan-england/ Learn more about your host: https://www.nataliegrueninger.com Support Talking Tudors on Patreon!
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#387
July 28 · 43 min
Episode 354 - Tudor Poetry with Catherine Williams
Host Natalie Grueninger welcomes Catherine Williams to the podcast to discuss Tudor poetry. Follow Catherine Williams on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/catherinevwill/ TAKEAWAY https://www.poetryfoundation.org/ LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR SPONSOR, SIMPLY TUDOR TOURS https://simplytudortours.com/booking-anne-elizabeth-mother-daughter-traitors-queens/ JOIN 365 DAYS IN ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND https://www.nataliegrueninger.com/2026/05/17/365-days-in-elizabethan-england/ Learn more about your host: https://www.nataliegrueninger.com Support Talking Tudors on Patreon!
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#386
July 19 · 1 hr 7 min
Episode 353 - Marie Maitland: Scotland's 16th‑Century Sappho with Dr Ashley Douglas
Host Natalie Grueninger welcomes Dr Ashley Douglas to discuss her new book, 'With My Own Hand: The Secret Life of Marie Maitland, Scotland's Sixteenth-Century Sappho'. They discuss the life and poems of Marie Maitland, a 16th-century Scottish scribe whose Maitland Quarto contains early sapphic verse. The episode explores Marie's family and court connections, her role as her blind father's secretary, the manuscript's anonymous female poems, and the wider significance for women's and LGBT+ history in Reformation Scotland. VISIT DR DOUGLAS' OFFICIAL WEBSITE https://ashleydouglas.scot/ TAKEAWAY https://www.rps.ac.uk/ JOIN 365 DAYS IN ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND https://www.nataliegrueninger.com/2026/05/17/365-days-in-elizabethan-england/ Learn more about your host: https://www.nataliegrueninger.com Support Talking Tudors on Patreon!
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#385
July 5 · 51 min
Episode 352 - The Accounts of Thomas Boleyn: A Revealing Window into 1526 with Natalie Grueninger & Dr Owen Emmerson
Host Natalie Grueninger and Dr Owen Emmerson examine Thomas Boleyn’s November–December 1526 financial accounts, revealing the family’s substantial landholdings, household expenses, and wide social networks just before Anne Boleyn’s rise. LEARN MORE ABOUT THR QUEEN ANNE BOLEYN MEMORIAL https://anneboleynmemorial.co.uk/ https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/qab-memorial?utm_medium=CA&utm_source=CL JOIN 365 DAYS IN ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND https://www.nataliegrueninger.com/2026/05/17/365-days-in-elizabethan-england/ Learn more about your host: https://www.nataliegrueninger.com Support Talking Tudors on Patreon!
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#384
June 27 · 34 min
Episode 351 - Rethinking Anne of Cleves with Dr Valerie Schutte
In this episode Natalie Grueninger interviews Dr Valerie Schutte about her upcoming cultural biography of Anne of Cleves. They re-examine long-standing myths about Anne's appearance, birthdate, and role in Tudor politics, by returning to contemporary sources and continental perspectives. The conversation also covers Anne's portrayal in art (including Holbein’s portraits), surviving books and dedications, the politics surrounding her divorce from Henry VIII, and how her reputation has evolved across centuries. Schutte's book is published July 3, 2026. Visit Dr Schutte's official website https://tudorqueenship.com/ JOIN 365 DAYS IN ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND https://www.nataliegrueninger.com/2026/05/17/365-days-in-elizabethan-england/ Learn more about your host: https://www.nataliegrueninger.com Support Talking Tudors on Patreon!
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#383
June 18 · 52 min
Episode 350 - Edmund Spenser's 'The Faerie Queene' with Cait Murphy-Hurrell
Natalie Grueninger interviews Cait Murphy-Hurrell about Edmund Spenser's 'The Faerie Queene', exploring the poem's rich allegory, its portrayal of villainous women and otherness, and how Spenser reflects Elizabethan politics, religion, and his experiences in Ireland. Check out Cait's Substack! https://caitmurphyhurrell.substack.com/ Visit 'The Renaissance Academy' https://therenaissanceacademic.com/group-events JOIN 365 DAYS IN ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND https://www.nataliegrueninger.com/2026/05/17/365-days-in-elizabethan-england/ Learn more about your host: https://www.nataliegrueninger.com Support Talking Tudors on Patreon!
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#382
June 13 · 46 min
Episode 349 - The Life & Works of Erasmus with Amy McElroy
Host Natalie Grueninger interviews historian Amy McElroy about Desiderius Erasmus, exploring his mysterious early life, education, travels across Europe, and key works such as 'Praise of Folly' and his Greek-Latin New Testament. The conversation covers Erasmus’s influence on Tudor education and humanism, his relationships with Thomas More and Martin Luther, and his complex legacy as a Catholic reformer and leading Renaissance scholar. This episode of Talking Tudors was made possible by 'Simply Tudor Tours'. Check out their new Anne Boleyn & Elizabeth I Tour! https://simplytudortours.com/anne-boleyn-and-elizabeth-i-tour Visit Amy's Substack! https://amymcelroy.substack.com/ JOIN 365 DAYS IN ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND https://www.nataliegrueninger.com/2026/05/17/365-days-in-elizabethan-england/ Learn more about your host: https://www.nataliegrueninger.com Support Talking Tudors on Patreon!
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#381
June 7 · 30 min
Episode 348 - A New History of Tudor England with Professor Nandini Das
Professor Nandini Das explores how Tudor and Stuart England were shaped by movement, exchange, and diverse individuals—artists, scholars, missionaries, and sailors—whose lives challenge the idea of a sealed island nation. Through four vivid case studies (the court miniaturist Levina Teerlinc from Bruges, the roaming thinker Giordano Bruno, the missionary Thomas Stevens in Goa, and William Adams in Japan), the episode reveals how identity, belonging, and nationhood were negotiated across borders in the 16th and 17th centuries. JOIN 365 DAYS IN ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND https://www.nataliegrueninger.com/2026/05/17/365-days-in-elizabethan-england/ Learn more about your host: https://www.nataliegrueninger.com Support Talking Tudors on Patreon!
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#380
May 31 · 46 min
Episode 347 - Rethinking the Wives of Henry VIII with Jessica Carey-Bunning
Host Natalie Grueninger talks with historian Jessica Carey-Bunning about her book 'The Wives of Henry VIII', presenting fresh archival research and new perspectives on each queen. They discuss Catherine of Aragon’s finances after annulment, Anne Boleyn’s use of dress and image, Jane Seymour’s complex reputation and faith, Anne of Cleves’ later life, Catherine Howard’s queenship, and the contested danger faced by Catherine Parr. Carey-Bunning urges listeners to question traditional narratives and to return to primary sources to better understand the messy realities of Tudor court life. Visit Jessica's official website https://tudortreasures.net/ Learn more about 'Simply Tudor Tours' https://simplytudortours.com/ JOIN 365 DAYS IN ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND https://www.nataliegrueninger.com/2026/05/17/365-days-in-elizabethan-england/ Learn more about your host: https://www.nataliegrueninger.com Support Talking Tudors on Patreon!
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#379
May 24 · 53 min
Episode 346 - Anne Boleyn: Reputation, Revolution, Religion with Martha Tatarnic
Natalie Grueninger interviews Martha Tatarnic about her new book on Anne Boleyn, exploring how Anne shaped the English Reformation, championed the English Bible, and influenced church leadership through key appointments. The conversation also examines how Anne's reputation has been distorted over time, why the stories we tell about historical women matter today, and how recovering silenced voices reshapes our understanding of the past and present. Visit Martha Tatarnic's website https://marthatatarnic.ca/ JOIN 365 DAYS IN ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND https://www.nataliegrueninger.com/2026/05/17/365-days-in-elizabethan-england/ Learn more about your host: https://www.nataliegrueninger.com Support Talking Tudors on Patreon!
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#378
May 17 · 1 hr 31 min
Queen Anne Boleyn's Imprisonment Through the Eyes of William Kingston with Natalie Grueninger & Dr Owen Emmerson
Natalie Grueninger is in conversation with Dr Owen Emmerson about five surviving letters written by William Kingston during Anne Boleyn’s imprisonment in May 1536. They examine Kingston’s eyewitness details—Anne’s moods, her conversations with attendants, mentions of Henry Norris, Mark Smeaton and George Boleyn—and the damaged Cotton manuscripts used alongside later transcriptions. The episode traces Anne’s shifting emotions, her religious faith, the role of her attendants as informants, the hurried preparations for execution, and why Thomas Cromwell may have avoided visiting the prisoners. VISIT DR EMMERSON'S OFFICIAL WEBSITE https://drowenemmerson.com/ EXPLORE COTTON MS OTHO C X https://searcharchives.bl.uk/catalog/040-001102888 JOIN 365 DAYS IN ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND https://www.nataliegrueninger.com/2026/05/17/365-days-in-elizabethan-england/ Learn more about your host: https://www.nataliegrueninger.com Support Talking Tudors on Patreon!
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#377
May 11 · 33 min
Episode 344 - Bess of Hardwick: An Elizabethan Magnate with Dr Wyn Derbyshire
Host Natalie Grueninger interviews Dr Wyn Derbyshire about the remarkable life of Bess of Hardwick — her uncertain origins, four marriages, sharp business sense, and rise to becoming the second-richest woman in England. The episode explores her building projects (Hardwick and Chatsworth), estate management, and relationships with Queen Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots. Learn more about Dr Derbyshire https://spiramus.com/wyn-derbyshire Learn more about your host: https://www.nataliegrueninger.com Support Talking Tudors on Patreon!
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#376
May 4 · 49 min
Episode 343 - Inside the Scriptorium: Medieval Manuscripts and their Makers with Dr Sara Charles
In this episode host Natalie Grueninger speaks with Dr Sara Charles about the production of medieval manuscripts, her hands-on experiments with parchment, inks and pigments, and her book 'The Medieval Scriptorium'. They explore the evidence for where manuscripts were made, the people and long supply chains behind their materials, the evolution of scripts and decoration, and the everyday details that bring medieval scribes to life. Learn more about Dr Charles https://www.teachingmanuscripts.com/about Takeaway 'The Craftman's Handbook' by Cennino d'Andrea Cennin Find out about 'Medieval Castles in Germany' by Kurt Fuchs https://www.etsy.com/au/listing/1691602354/medieval-castles-in-germany?ref=listings_manager_grid&lang_mismatch=1 Learn more about your host: https://www.nataliegrueninger.com Support Talking Tudors on Patreon!
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#375
April 26 · 33 min
Episode 342 - The House of Boleyn with Professor Tracy Borman
Host Natalie Grueninger talks with historian and novelist Professor Tracy Borman about her new novel, 'The House of Boleyn', the rise and fall of the Boleyn family, and Hever Castle as the book’s intimate setting. They explore lesser-known figures like Margaret Butler and Jane Boleyn, plus the servants and daily life that shaped the family. The conversation also covers Borman’s research process, historical details that informed the novel and publication and tour dates (UK release 23 April; US release 4 September). Learn more about Dr Tracy Borman https://www.tracyborman.co.uk/ Find out more about your host: https://www.nataliegrueninger.com Support Talking Tudors on Patreon!
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