Nearly 600 years ago England was torn apart by a series of bloody battles for the throne. In just 30 years the crown changed hands 7 times, tens of thousands were slaughtered. It was one of the most turbulent and violent times in British history. It’s known as the Wars of the Roses. The most infamous story in the entire blood-soaked era happens 20 years after the Wars of the Roses begin: the slaying of two innocent young boys – the Princes in the Tower. Dan Jones, Who Killed the Princes in the Tower? Channel 5 2019
The man responsible was almost certainly the Princes’ uncle – Richard III. ibid.
By early Autumn the princes have simply vanished. There’s no reliable record of their death. No bodies are found and no-one is put on trial. But by September almost nobody believes they are still alive. ibid.
1392: At the height of the Middle Ages the once great king of France was on his knees and struggling for life. A King went mad. A Queen betrayed her people. A rampaging enemy went roaring across the land. The only hope was a peasant girl who said she was touched by God. The hundred years’ war was tearing France apart. Dan Jones, Britain’s War of Thrones: The Hundred Years War II
Henry (V) advanced towards Paris with no more than 8,000 troops. ibid.
John the Fearless had to stop Henry’s progress. ibid.
Charles trusted Joan and gave her a mission to fulfil. ibid.
Charles II was determined to kick the English out of France once and for all. ibid.
In the 15th century Europe was a vipers’ nest of faction and intrigue. England was torn apart by the Wars of the Roses. On the continent, alliances constantly shifted as ambitious rulers plotted and backstabbed one another. Dan Jones, Britain’s War of Thrones: The Hundred Years’ War III
More than 2,000 on each side had lost their lives … Louis XI returned to Paris but his enemies refused to give up … With the death of Henry, King Louis had lost a key ally, and more tragedy was to strike France. Once again, the Black Death returned. ibid.
The lands of the Duchy of Burgundy combined with those of the Holy Roman Empire were now richer and more powerful than ever before. And now they were a direct threat to the kingdom of France. ibid.
Charles’ empire stretched from the North Sea to north Africa … not bad for a 17-year-old, but still this wasn’t enough. Dan Jones, Britain’s War of Thrones: The Hundred Years War IV
Charles was unanimously elected Holy Roman emperor. ibid.
For three weeks Henry [VIII] and Francis [I] were inseparable … The Field of the Cloth of Gold was ultimately a waste of time. ibid.
Francis had lost Italy, and to make matter worse, the heir to the throne and his brother were still held hostage in Spain. ibid.
Both men [Charles & Francis] swore a ten-year truce … Europe was at peace for now. ibid.
Elizabeth had an incredibly fiery temper inherited I think from both her father Henry VIII and her mother Anne Boleyn. And she was capable of lashing out at those around her ... She one day stabbed one of the ladies in the back of the hand with a fork for serving her ill at dinner. And she broke another lady’s finger in a fit of temper when the said lady had married without Elizabeth’s consent. Tracy Borman, author Elizabeth’s Women
It’s the early hours of the 19th May 1536: four days ago Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, was tried here at the Tower of London and found guilty of adultery, incest and even worse, treason against her husband Henry VIII. Tracy Borman, The Fall of Anne Boleyn, Channel 5 2020
2 a.m. Friday 19th May 1536: It’s the dead of night; nearly all of London is asleep. But not quite everyone … Unsurprisingly, in the Queen’s apartments where Anne is spending her final moments everyone is awake. ibid.
If there’s one person in history who divides opinion like no-one else, it’s this man – Thomas Cromwell. As King Henry VIII’s right-hand man he changed Britain for ever, severing contact with the Pope to make the King head of the church, plundering monasteries and even conspiring to execute Anne Boleyn. Tracy Borman, Thomas Cromwell: A Very Modern Tudor I, Channel 5 2023
Thomas Cromwell was born around 1485 here in Putney on the banks of the River Thames. ibid.
Back in England, his CV bolstered, Cromwell was now on the lookout for a top job. He didn’t have to wait long. He was headhunted by none other than King Henry VIII’s special advisor, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. ibid.
A man capable of great kindness to his friends but terrible cruelty to his enemies. Tracy Borman, Thomas Cromwell: A Very Modern Tudor II
He masterminded England’s break from the Vatican and the Roman Catholic Church, all that the King could marry Anne Boleyn. ibid.
The Tudor court was a dangerous place, and Cromwell was always looking over his shoulder. ibid.
They called her the Virgin Queen: Elizabeth I. Her reign is said to have produced a golden age. But behind the legend lies many secrets and an enigma that’s obscured over the centuries. Why didn’t Elizabeth marry and provide an heir to the throne? Elizabeth I: The Secret Life, National Geographic 2012
One sensational theory ... The desperate servants substituted a local child for the princess ... The substitute was a boy ... The tale has endured. ibid.
It seemed Elizabeth was a forsaken child. ibid.
Henry’s love-letters to Anne gushed with desire to marry, but the Pope refused to grant him a divorce. ibid.
King Henry married his third wife, Jane Seymour, and she gave him the son he had always wanted, Prince Edward. ibid.
The young princess moved in with her step-mother who quickly married a close friend, Thomas Seymour. The relationship between the princess and her step-father sparked another scandal that may have put her off marriage for good. ibid.
On her deathbed reports claim that Elizabeth firmly decreed that under no condition should her body be embalmed. Did the Queen have something to hide? ibid.
Her One True Love: he was of course Lord Robert Dudley. ibid.
Her letters to Dudley hint at intimacy. ibid.
To many the death of Dudley’s wife wasn’t a coincidence ... Did Elizabeth have anything to do with it? ibid.
She wore heavy white make-up in ever thicker layers. ibid.
Queen Elizabeth I, conqueror of the Spanish Armada, Tudor defender of the Protestant faith, the headstrong virgin queen who refuses to marry. But of all her challenges, her most gruelling battle is with another woman – her own cousin – Mary Queen of Scots. Elizabeth will not face a more relentless threat to her Crown or her life. Bloody Queens: Elizabeth & Mary, BBC 2016
Elizabeth may despise Darnley but she never sends a single soldier to defend her cousin. ibid.
Elizabeth can’t bring herself to condemn Mary. Instead, she turns her rage on the young plotters. ibid.
After nineteen years of confinement, Mary is suddenly told that she will die the next morning at Fotheringay Castle February 8th 1587. ibid.
In 1560 an English nobleman’s wife is found mysteriously dead. But this is no ordinary Elizabethan housewife. She is Amy Robsart, wife of Robert Dudley. Reputed lover of Elizabeth I. Mystery Files: The Virgin Queen, National Geographic 2011
Elizabeth will never be able to marry Dudley because of one rather inconvenient fact: he is already married. ibid.
Ultimately, the jury’s verdict is accidental death. They determine that she died from a broken neck after falling down the stairs. ibid.
In 2007 the original Coroner’s report into Amy’s death was uncovered in the national archives. It reveals in addition to her broken neck there were two lacerations to her head. ibid.
Elizabeth is not above suspicion. ibid.
There are reasons for both Cecil and Dudley to be suspects. ibid.
With so much rumour around the death the two were unable to marry. ibid.
September 8th 1560: the discovery of a young woman’s body is about to shock Elizabethan England. The death of Amy Robsart will threaten Elizabeth’s reputation and it will ultimately destroy the Tudor dynasty. Amy is found dead at the foot of a staircase. The authorities claimed she broke her neck accidentally falling down stairs. Now by extraordinary chance the Coroner’s report has been unearthed after 450 years. It suggests foul play. The document contains the explosive revelation that Amy had other serious injuries. Elizabeth I: Killer Queen? National Geographic 2010
Aged just twenty-five Elizabeth had to take control of her country. Ruthless and fiercely protestant William Cecil became the most influential man in the country. Persuading Elizabeth to choose the right husband is one of Cecil’s chief concerns. Foreign suitors circle the Queen like vultures. ibid.
Her thoughts are elsewhere: she had fallen for the wild charms of Robert Dudley. ibid.
Dudley was playing high stakes to woo the Queen. ibid.
In desperation Cecil plots against the relationship. ibid.
The reports also say she had two massive head injuries. ibid.
England was rife with rumours. The Queen was linked with murder! ibid.
Elizabeth now turned to William Cecil to help her ride out the storm. ibid.
Why not simply annul his marriage? ibid.
But what if Dudley’s henchmen took matters into their own hands and killed Amy? ibid.
Could the Queen have ordered the death of her rival? ibid.
Would Elizabeth have remained the virgin queen if Amy hadn’t been murdered? ibid.
I am come among you as you see at this time not for my recreation and disport but being resolved in the midst and the heat of battle to live and die amongst you all. To lay down for my God and for my kingdom and for my people my honour and my blood even in the dust. I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman but I have the heart and the stomach of a king, and a king of England too; and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realm. Elizabeth I, Tilbury Docks
There will never Queen sit in my seat with more zeal to my country, care to my subjects and that will sooner with willingness venture her life for your good and safety than myself. For it is my desire to live nor reign no longer than my life and reign shall be for your good. And though you have had, and may have, many princes more mighty and wise sitting in this seat, yet you never had nor shall have, any that will be more careful and loving. Elizabeth I
I think that, at the worst, God has not yet ordained that England shall perish. Elizabeth I