Podcast appearances and mentions of edward seymour

In this week's episode, I take a historical digression to look at the four major Thomases of the English Reformation - Thomas Wolsey, Thomas More, Thomas Cromwell, and Thomas Cranmer. This coupon code will get you 25% off the ebooks in the Dragonskull series at my Payhip store: QUEST25 The coupon code is valid through March 9 2026. So if you need a new ebook this winter, we've got you covered! TRANSCRIPT 00:00:00 Introduction and Writing Updates Hello, everyone. Welcome to Episode 292 of The Pulp Writer Show. My name is Jonathan Moeller. Today is February 27th, 2026. Today we are taking a digression into history by looking at the four Thomases of the English Reformation (with one bonus Thomas). We'll also have Coupon of the Week and a progress update on my current writing and publishing projects. First up, let's do Coupon of the Week. This week's coupon code will get you 25% off the ebooks in the Dragonskull series at my Payhip store. That coupon code is QUEST25 and as always, the links to the store and the coupon code will be available in the show notes of this episode. This coupon code is valid through March 9th, 2026. So if you need a new ebook this winter, we have got you covered. Now for an update on my current writing, publishing, and audiobook projects. I am very nearly done with Cloak of Summoning. As of this recording, I am 35% of the way through the final editing pass. This episode should be coming out on, let's see, March the 2nd. I'm hoping Cloak of Summoning will be available a few days (hopefully like one or two days) after this episode goes live, but we'll see how things go. In any event, it should be out in very early March, which is not far away at this point. I'm also 14,000 words into Blade of Wraiths, the fourth book in my Blades of Ruin epic fantasy series. Hopefully that will be out in April, if all goes well. That's my secondary project right now, but once it gets promoted to primary project once Cloak of Summoning is available, my new secondary project will be Dragon Mage, which will be the sixth book in the Rivah Half-Elven Thief series. I'm looking forward to that since it is going to bring to an end a lot of ongoing plot threads. So it should be quite a fun book to write and hopefully to read. That should hopefully be out in May or possibly June, depending on how things go. In audiobook news, Cloak of Titans, the audiobook narrated by Hollis McCarthy, should be available in more audiobook stores than it was this time last week, though it's still not on Amazon, Audible, or Apple. Brad Wills is working on recording Blade of Storms and I think the first six chapters are done. Hopefully we should have those audiobooks available to you before too much longer. So that is where I'm at with my current writing, publishing, and audiobook projects. 00:02:18 Main Topic: The Four Thomases of the English Reformation Now without further ado, let's get to our main topic and it's time for another of my favorite topics overall, a digression into obscure points of history. I've mentioned before that Wolf Hall (both the TV show and the book) is a lot easier to understand if you are at least passingly familiar with the key figures of the English Reformation, which happened during the reign of King Henry VIII. But who were these key figures? I had a history professor who said that to understand the English Reformation, you need to know about the four Thomases of the English Reformation: Thomas Wolsey, Thomas More, Thomas Cromwell, and Thomas Cranmer, since each one of them altered events in a major way. Fun fact: only one of the four died from natural causes and right before he was about to go on trial for treason, which would have likely ended with his execution. The English Reformation was a tumultuous time and the Tudor court was not a place for the faint of heart or the morally scrupulous. So let's talk about the four Thomases and one bonus Thomas today. But first to understand them, we should look at three background trends that converged and boiled over during their lifetimes. #1: Henry VIII needs an heir. King Henry VIII was quite famously married six times and executed two of his wives in his quest for a male heir. To the modern era, this sounds odd and chauvinistic, but one of the errors of studying history is assuming that the residents of the past had any interest in 21st century standards of behavior. By the standards of Henry's time, having a male heir to assume the kingdom after his death was absolutely vital. In fact, an argument could be made that Henry was attempting to act responsibly by going to such lengths to father a male heir, though naturally he went about it in a spectacularly destructive and self-absorbed way. Remember, Henry's father, Henry VII, came to the throne after a 30-year civil war, and there were noble families that thought they had a better claim to the throne than Tudors and would be happy to exercise it. A good comparison is that the lack of a male heir for Henry VIII was as serious a crisis as a disputed presidential election in 21st century America would be. You can see evidence for this in Henry's famous jousting accident in 1536. For a few hours, people were certain that he was dead or was about to die, and this incident caused a brief constitutional crisis. If Henry died, who would rule? His daughter, Mary, who he had just declared a bastard? His young daughter Elizabeth from Anne Boleyn? His bastard son, Henry FitzRoy? A regent? One of the old families who thought they had a claim to the throne? Now, these are the sort of questions that tend to get decided by civil wars, which nobody wanted. So Henry needed a male heir and it weighed on him as a personal failure that he had been unable to produce one, which was undoubtedly one of the reasons he concluded that several of his marriages had been cursed by God and needed to be annulled. Though, of course, one of Henry's defining traits was that his self-absorption was such that nothing was ever his fault, but a failing of those around him. #2: The Reformation is here. At the same time Henry was beginning to have his difficulties, the Protestant Reformation exploded across Europe. The reasons for the Reformation were manifold. There was a growing feeling across all levels of society that the church was corrupt and more concerned about money than tending to Christ's flock, a feeling not helped by the fact that several of the 15th and 16th century popes were essentially Renaissance princelings more interested in luxury, money, and expanding the power of the papal states than in anything spiritual. Many bishops, archbishops, abbots, and other high prelates acted the same way. The situation the early 16th century church found itself in was similar to American higher education today. Many modern professors and administrators go about their jobs quietly, competently, and diligently, but if you want to find examples of corruption, folly, and egregious waste in American higher education, you don't have to try very hard. Reformers could easily find manifold examples of clerical and papal corruption to reinforce their arguments. Additionally, nationalism was beginning to develop as a concept, as was the idea of the nation state. People in England, Scotland, Germany, and other countries began to wonder why they were paying tithes to the church that went to build beautiful buildings in Rome and support the lavish lifestyle of the papal court when that money might be better spent at home. For that matter, the anti-clericalism of the Reformation was not new and had time to mature. At the end of the 14th century, Lollardy was a proto-Protestant movement in England that challenged clerical power. In the early 15th century, the Hussite wars in Bohemia following the teachings of Jan Hus were a preview of the greater Reformation to come. Papal authority had been severely damaged by the Great Schism at the end of the 14th and the start of the 15th century when two competing popes (later expanded to three) all tried to excommunicate each other and claim control of the church. In the aftermath, Renaissance Humanists had begun suggesting that only the Bible was the proper source and guide for Christianity, and that papal authority and many of the church's practices were merely human traditions that had been added later and were not ordained by God. A lot of the arguments of the Reformation had their earliest form from the writers of the 15th century. Essentially, the central argument of the Reformation was that the believer's personal relationship with God is the important part of Christianity and doesn't need to be mediated through ordained priests in the official sacraments of the church, though such things were still important. Of course, all the various reformers disagreed with each other about just how important and what the nature of that relationship was, how many sacraments there should be, and what the precise relationship between the individual, the church, and the state should be (and that argument got entangled with many other issues like nationalism), but that was a central crux of the Reformation. So all these competing pressures have been building up, and when Martin Luther posted his statements for debate on church reform in October of 1517, it was the equivalent of lighting a match in a barn that had been stuffed full of sawdust and was suffering from a natural gas leak. #3: The printing press. So why did Luther's action kick off the Reformation as we know it and not the other proto-Protestant movements we mentioned? I think the big part of that is the printing pass, perhaps the biggest part. The printing press did not exist during the early proto-Protestant movements, which meant it was a lot harder for the ideas of reform to spread quickly. The Lollards in particular wanted to translate the Bible into English instead of Latin, but the Bible is a big book and that is a lot of copying to do by hand. In 1539, after a lot of encouragement from Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII decreed that an English Bible should be placed at every church in England. In 1339, that would have been an impossible amount of copying by scribes. In 1539, thanks to the printing press, it was essentially on the scale of the government embarking on a mid-sized industrial project, perhaps a bit of a logistical and organizational challenge and you have to deal with contractors, but by no means impossible. The printing press made it possible for the various arguments and pamphlets of the Reformers to spread quickly throughout Europe. Luther published tracts on a variety of religious and political topics for the rest of his life, and those tracks were copied, printed, and sold throughout Europe. In fact, he had something of a flame war with Thomas More over Henry VIII's "Defense of the Seven Sacraments". Kings and governments frequently tried to suppress printers they didn't like, but the cat was out of the bag and the printing press helped drive the Reformation by spreading its ideas faster than had previously been possible. AI bros occasionally compare modern large language model AIs to the printing press as an irreversible technological advancement, but one should note that the printing press of the 16th century did not require an entire US state's worth of electricity and an unlimited supply of water. So those were some of the undercurrents and trends leading up to the English Reformation. With that in mind, let's take a look at our four Thomases. #1: Thomas Wolsey. Cardinal Thomas Wolsey was Henry's right hand man during the first 20 years of his reign and essentially the practical ruler of England during that time. He started his career in Henry's reign as the almoner, essentially in charge of charity, and it ended up becoming the Lord Chancellor of England. Since Henry was not super interested in actually doing the hard work of government, Wolsey ended up essentially running the country while Henry turned his full enthusiasm towards the more ceremonial aspects of kingship. Wolsey was an example of the kind of early 16th Century church prelate we mentioned above, more of a Renaissance princeling than a priest. However, as Renaissance princelings went, you could do worse than to have been ruled by someone like Wolsey. And if you were a king, you would be blessed to have a lieutenant as diligent in his work as the Cardinal. Granted, Wolsey did amass a large fortune for himself, but he frequently patronized the arts, education and the poor, pursued some governmental reforms, and deftly maintained England's position in the turbulent diplomacy of the time. He was also much more forgiving in questions of religious dissent than someone like Thomas More. Wolsey was the most powerful man in England at his apex, and the nobility hated it for him because his origins were common. So long as he had Henry's favor, Wolsey was untouchable and the nobility couldn't move against him. But the royal favor came to an end as Henry's marriage to Catherine of Aragon was unable to produce a son. Since Catherine had previously (and briefly) been married to his older brother Arthur before Arthur's death, Henry became convinced (or succeeded in convincing himself) that his marriage was cursed by God for violating the prohibition against sleeping with your brother's wife in the book of Leviticus. His eye had already fallen on Anne Boleyn and Henry wanted an annulment and not a divorce in his marriage with Catherine. In the eyes of God, he would never have been married at all, and then he could marry Anne Boleyn with a clear conscience. Here, Wolsey's gift for diplomacy failed him, but perhaps it was an impossible task. Catherine of Aragon was the aunt of Emperor Charles V, who at the time was the most powerful man in Christendom. All of Wolseley's efforts to persuade the pope to annul the marriage failed, partly because the pope had already given Henry VIII dispensation to marry his brother's widow. Wolsey's failure eroded his support with the king. Anne Boleyn likewise hated Wolsey partly because she believed he was hindering the annulment, and partly because he had blocked her from marrying the Earl of Northumberland years before she had her eyes set upon Henry. Finally, Henry stripped Wolsey of his office of Lord Chancellor, and Wolsey retired to York to take up his role as archbishop there. Wolsey's popularity threatened Henry and Anne, so Henry summoned him back to London to face treason charges. Perhaps fortunately for Wolsey, he died of natural causes on the journey back to London. His replacement as Lord Chancellor was Thomas More, the next of our major for Thomases. #2: Thomas More. More was an interesting contrast-a Renaissance Humanist who remained a staunch Catholic, even though Renaissance Humanists in general tended towards proto-Protestantism or actual Protestantism. He was also in some ways oddly progressive for his time. He insisted on educating his daughters at a time was considered pointless to educate women about anything other than the practical business of household management. Anyway, More's training as a lawyer and a scholar led him to a career in government. He held a variety of posts under Henry VIII, finally rising to become the Lord Chancellor after Wolsey. In the first decades of his brain, Henry was staunchly Catholic and despised Protestantism, in particular, Lutheranism in general and Martin Luther in particular. In 1521, Henry published "Defense of the Seven Sacraments" against Luther, and More helped him write it to an unknown degree. In their dislike for all forms of Protestantism, More and Henry were in harmony at this point. More was involved in hunting down heretics (i.e. Protestants) and trying to convince them to recant. During his time as the Lord Chancellor, More ended up sending six people to be burned at the stake for heresy, along with the arrest and interrogations of numerous others. This rather clashes with his "humanist man of letters" aspect, but More was undoubtedly convinced he was doing the right thing. And while he might have believed in education, he most definitely did not believe in freedom of conscience in several areas. To be fair to More, in the view of many at the time, Protestants, especially Anabaptists, were dangerous radicals. Likely More viewed hunting heretics in the same way as some modern politicians view hunting down covert terrorist cells or surveilling potential domestic terrorists. Harsh measures true, but harsh measures allegedly necessary for the greater good of the nation. However, the concord between More and Henry would not last. Henry wanted to set aside Catherine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn, which More staunchly opposed. More especially opposed Henry breaking away from Rome and becoming head of an independent English Church. At first, More was able to save himself by maintaining his silence, but eventually Henry required all of his subjects take an oath affirming his status as head of the church. Thomas Cromwell famously led a deputation to try and change More's mind, but he failed. More refused, he was tried on specious treason charges, and beheaded in 1535. Later, the Catholic church declared him the patron saint of politicians. This might seem odd given that he oversaw executions and essentially did thought police stuff against Protestants, but let's be honest-it's rare to see a politician even mildly inconvenience himself over a point of principle, let alone maintain it until death when he was given every possible chance to change his mind. Probably the most famous fictional portrayals of More are A Man For All Seasons and Wolf Hall. I would say that A Man For All Seasons was far too generous to More, but Wolf Hall was too harsh. #3: Now for the third of our four Thomases, Thomas Cromwell. After Wolsey's fall and More's refusal to support Henry's desire to either annul his marriage to Catherine or to make himself head with the church so he couldn't annul the marriage, Thomas Cromwell rose become Henry's new chief lieutenant. Cromwell is both a fascinating but divisive figure. For a long time, he was cast as the villain in Thomas More's saga, but Hillary Mantel's Wolf Hall really triggered a popular reevaluation of him. Like A Man For All Seasons was too generous to More, I would say Wolf Hall was too generous to Cromwell. Nonetheless, I suspect Cromwell was and remained so divisive because he was so effective. He got things done on a scale that the other three Thomases of the English Reformation never quite managed. Cromwell's origins are a bit obscure. It seems he was either of non-noble birth or very low gentry birth and his father Walter Cromwell was a local prosperous tradesman in a jack of all trades with a reputation for litigiousness. For reasons that are unclear, Cromwell fled his birthplace and spent some time in continental Europe, possibly as a mercenary soldier. He eventually made his way to Italy and started working for the merchant families there, gaining knowledge of trade in the law, and then traveled to the Low Countries. When he returned to England, he became Cardinal Wolsey's right hand man. After Wolsey's fall, Cromwell went into Parliament and defended his master whenever possible. This loyalty combined with his significant talent for law and administration caught the eye of Henry and he swiftly became Henry's right-hand man. Amusingly, Cromwell never became Lord Chancellor like More or Wolsey, but instead accumulated many lesser offices that essentially allowed him to carry out Henry's directives as he saw a fit. Unlike More and Wolsey, Cromwell had strong Protestant leanings and he encouraged the king to break away from the Catholic Church and take control of the English Church as its supreme head. Henry did so. His marriage to Catherine of Aragon was nulled. The rest of Europe never accepted this until Catherine died of illness and it became a moot point. In 1533, he married Anne Boleyn. Like Cromwell, Anne had a strong Protestant bent and began encouraging reformers to take various offices and began pushing Henley to make more reforms than he was really comfortable doing. For example, Cromwell was one of the chief drivers behind the English Bible of 1539. This, combined with Anne's inability to give Henry a son, contributed to Anne's downfall. Unlike Catherine, she was willing to argue with Henry to his face and was unwilling to look the other way when he wanted a mistress, and this eventually got on Henry's nerves. Events are a bit murky, but it seems that Henry ordered Cromwell to find a way he could set aside Anne and Cromwell complied. Various men, including her own brother, were coerced and confessing to adultery with Anne on charges that were most likely fabricated and Anne's "lovers" and Anne herself were executed for treason in 1536. Cromwell had successfully used a technique that many modern secret police organizations and dictatorships employ- if you want to get rid of someone for whatever reason, accuse them of a serious crime, coerce them to a confession, and then have them executed. Joseph Stalin did basically the same thing when he purged the Old Bolsheviks after Lenin's death. Henry married Jane Seymour shortly after Anne's execution, and she finally gave Henry his long-waited son, though she died soon afterwards of postpartum complications. Cromwell also oversaw the dissolution of the English monasteries in the 1530s. Monasticism had become quite unpopular even before the Reformation, especially among humanist writers. The concentration of property in the hands of monasteries made for a ripe target. Using Parliament and with Henry's approval, the monasteries of England were dissolved, the monks and nuns pensioned off, and the various rich properties held by the monasteries were given to the king and his friends. Cromwell himself profited handsomely. This was essentially legalized theft, but there was nothing the monasteries could do about it. Cromwell pushed for more religious reforms, but that combined with the dissolution of the monasteries caused "The Pilgrimage of Grace" in 1537, a rebellion that Henry was able to put down through a combination of lies, stalling, outright bribery, and brutal repression under the Duke of Norfolk (more about him later). Cromwell was at the zenith of his power and influence, but his reformist bent and made him a lot of enemies. For that matter, Henry was increasingly uncomfortable with further religious changes. He wanted to be head of his own church, but essentially his own Catholic Church, not his own Reformed or Lutheran one. Cromwell's alignment with the reform cause gave his more traditionalist enemies a tool to use against him. Cromwell's foes had their chance in 1540 when Henry married his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves. Cromwell had heavily pushed for the match, hoping to make an alliance with the Protestant princes of Germany against the Catholic Holy Roman Emperor. For whatever reason, Henry took an immediate dislike to Anne and never consummated the marriage, which was swiftly annulled and Anne pensioned off. Henry blamed Cromwell for the failed marriage and Cromwell's enemies, particularly Duke of Norfolk and Bishop Gardiner of Winchester, were able to convince Henry to move against him. Cromwell was arrested, stripped of all the titles and property he had amassed, and executed in July of 1540. The sort of legal railroading process he had born against Anne Boleyn's alleged lovers and numerous other enemies of Henry's was used against him. This was one of the very few executions Henry ever regretted. Within a year, the French ambassador reported that Henry was raging that his counselors had misled him into putting to death the most faithful servant he had ever had. Once again, nothing was ever Henry's fault in his own mind. The fact that Henry allowed Cromwell's son Gregory to become a baron and inherit some of his father's land shows that he likely changed his mind about the execution. For once in his life, Henry was dead on accurate when he called Cromwell his "most faithful servant". He never again found a lieutenant with Cromwell's loyalty and skill. The remaining seven years of Henry's reign blundered from setback to setback and all the money Henry obtained from the dissolution of the monasteries was squandered in indecisive wars with France and Scotland. I think it's fair to say that the English Reformation would not have taken the course it did, if not for Cromwell. As ruthless and as unscrupulous as he could be, he nonetheless did seem to really believe in the principles of religious reform and push such policies whenever he could do so without drawing Henry's ire. #4: Now the fourth of our four major Thomases, Thomas Cranmer. If Thomas Cromwell did a lot of the political work of the English Reformation, then Thomas Cranmer wrote a lot of its theory. Cranmer was a scholar and something of a gentle-minded man, but not a very skillful politician. He seemed happy to leave the politicking to Cromwell. I think Cranmer would have been a lot happier as a Lutheran pastor in say, 1950s rural Nebraska. He could have married a farmer's daughter, had a bunch of kids, and presided at weddings, funerals, and baptisms where he could talk earnestly about Jesus and Christian virtues, and he probably would have written a few books on obscure theological points. But instead, Cranmer was destined to play a significant part in the English Reformation. He started as a priest and a scholar who got in trouble for marrying, but when his wife died in childbirth, he went back to the priesthood. Later, he became part of the team of scholars and priests working to get Henry's marriage to Catherine of Aragon annulled. While he was at university and later in the priesthood, he became fascinated by Lutheran ideas and became a proponent of reform. As with Cromwell, Henry's desire to marry Anne Boleyn gave Cranmer his great opportunity. Anne's family were also in favor of reform, and they arranged for Cranmer to become the new Archbishop of Canterbury. The new archbishop and the like- minded clerics and scholars laid the legal and theological groundwork for Henry to break with Rome and become head of the English church with Cranmer and the rest of the reform faction wanted to be used to push for additional church reforms. He survived the tumults of Henry's reign by total loyalty to the king – he mourned Anne Boleyn, but didn't oppose her execution (though he was one of the few who mourned for her publicly), did much the same when Cromwell was executed, and personally sent news of Catherine Howard's adultery to the king. Because of that, Cranmer had a great chance to pursue the cause of reform when Henry died and his 12-year-old son Edward VI became King. Edward's uncle Edward Seymour acted as the head of the King's regency council, and Seymour and his allies were in favor of reform. Cranmer was at last able to steer the English church in the direction of serious reform, and he was directly responsible for writing the Book of Common Prayer and several other key documents of the early Anglican church. But Cranmer's of luck ran out in 1553 when Edward VI died. Cranmer was part of the group that tried to put the Protestant Lady Jane Grey on the throne, but Henry's daughter Mary instead took the crown. Mary had never really wavered from her Catholicism despite immense pressure to do so, and she had last had a chance to do something about it. She immediately brought England back to Rome and started prosecuting prominent reform leaders, Cranmer among them. Cranmer was tried for treason and heresy and sentenced to be burned, but that was to be commuted if he recanted his views in public during a sermon, which he did. However, at the last minute, he thunderously denounced his previous recantation, asserted his reformist faith, and vowed that he would thrust the hand that signed the recantation into the flames first. Cranmer was immediately taken to be burned at the stake, and just as he promised, he thrust his hand into the flames, and his last word is that he saw heaven opening and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Cranmer had spent much of his life trying to appease Henry while pushing as much reform as possible, but in his final moments, he had finally found his defiance. When Mary died and Elizabeth took the throne, she returned England to Protestantism. Elizabeth was much more pragmatic than her half siblings and her father ever were, so she chose the most expedient choice of simply rolling the English church back to as it was during Edward VI's time. Cranmer's Book of Common Prayer and religious articles, lightly edited for Elizabeth's sensibilities, became the foundational documents of the Anglican church. So these four Thomases, Thomas Wolsey, Thomas More, Thomas Cromwell, and Thomas Cranmer were central to the events of the English Reformation. However, we have one bonus Thomas yet. Bonus Thomas: Thomas Howard, the Duke of Norfolk. Thomas Howard was a powerful nobleman during the reign of Henry, and the Duke of Norfolk was frequently Henry's lieutenant in waging various wars and putting down rebellions. He was also the uncle of Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, Henry's second and fifth queens. He was also involved in nearly every major event of Henry's reign. So with all that, why isn't Norfolk as remembered as well as the other four Thomases of the English Reformation? Sometimes a man would be considered virtuous by the standards of the medieval or early modern age, yet reprehensible in ours. For example, for much of the Middle Ages, crusading was considered an inherently virtuous act for a knight, whereas in the modern age, it would be condemned as war mongering with a religious veneer. However, by both modern standards and Tudor standards, Thomas Howard was a fairly odious character. For all their flaws and the morally questionable things they did, Wolsey, More, Cromwell, and Cranmer were all men of conviction in their own ways. More and Cranmer explicitly died with their faith. Cromwell's devotion to the Protestant cause got him killed since he insisted on the Anne of Cleves match. Even Wolsey, for all that he enriched himself, was a devoted servant of Henry after his downfall never betrayed the king. By contrast, Norfolk was out for Norfolk. This wasn't unusual for Tudor nobleman, but Norfolk took it to a new level of grasping venality. He made sure that his daughter was married to Henry's bastard son, Henry FitzRoy, just in case FitzRoy ended up becoming king. He used both his nieces, Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard, to gain power and lands for himself, and then immediately turned against him once he became politically expedient. In fact, he presided over the trial where Anne Boleyn was sentenced to death. After the failure of the Anne of Cleve's marriage, Norfolk made sure to bring his young niece Catherine Howard to court to catch Henry's eye, and to use the Anne of Cleve's annulment as a lever to get rid of Thomas Cromwell. Both stratagems worked, and he attempted to leverage being the new Queen's uncle to bring himself to new power and riches, as he had with Anne Boleyn. Once Henry turned on Catherine Howard, Norfolk characteristically and swiftly threw his niece under the bus. However, as Henry aged, he grew increasingly paranoid and vindictive, and he had Norfolk arrested and sentenced to death on suspicion of treason. Before the execution could be carried out, Henry died, and Norfolk spent the six years of Edward VI's reign as a prisoner in the Tower of London. When Edward died and Mary took the throne, she released Norfolk since she was Catholic and Norfolk had always been a religious traditionalist suspicious of reform. He spent the remaining year of his life as one of Mary's chief advisors before finally dying of old age. As I often say, history can be a rich source of inspiration for fantasy writers, and the English Reformation is full of such inspiration. Wolsey, More, Cromwell, and Cranmer can all make excellent inspirations for morally ambiguous characters. For that matter, you can see why the reign of Henry VIII has inspired so many movies, TV shows, and historical novels. The real life events are so dramatic as to scarcely require embellishment. So that's it for this week. Thank you for listening to The Pulp Writer Show and thank you for listening as I went on one of my little historical digressions. I hope you found the show enjoyable. A reminder that you can listen to all the back episodes on https://thepulpwritershow.com. If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a review on your podcasting platform of choice. Stay safe and stay healthy, and we'll see you all next week.

Who was Edward VI? To many, he's the pale, serious boy in a fur-trimmed coat, a footnote between Henry VIII and Mary I. But in reality, Edward's short reign reshaped England dramatically. In A Beginner's Guide to Edward VI, I explore: - His sheltered childhood and intense education - The power struggle between Edward Seymour and John Dudley - The sweeping Protestant reforms that changed England's religious identity - The rebellions that shook the kingdom - Edward's final illness, and his disastrous “Devise for the Succession” - How his decisions paved the way for the Lady Jane Grey crisis Edward VI ruled for just six years… yet his policies, beliefs, and fears set England on a path that would shape three Tudor reigns after him. If you enjoy this guide, please like, subscribe, and ring the bell for daily Tudor history! #EdwardVI #TudorHistory #OnThisDay #ClaireRidgway #HistoryYouTube #Tudors #HenryVIII #LadyJaneGrey #EnglishReformation #HistoryNerd #BritishHistory #HistoryDocumentary

On 13 October 1549, Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, the man who had ruled England as Lord Protector for young Edward VI, lost it all. By the next day, he was in the Tower. How did the most powerful man in Tudor England fall so fast? In this episode, I uncover the character flaws, bad decisions, and political missteps that doomed Somerset's rule. He was a soldier, reformer, and visionary, but also proud, volatile, and deaf to counsel. Discover: - The letter that warned Somerset he was heading for disaster - How anger and obstinacy turned allies into enemies - Why his leadership failed both at home and abroad - And how ambition finally led him to the scaffold in 1552 Was Somerset a well-meaning reformer crushed by politics, or an arrogant ruler who couldn't share power? Tell me what you think in the comments. #TudorHistory #EdwardSeymour #DukeOfSomerset #EdwardVI #HenryVIII #Reformation #TudorDrama #OnThisDay #HistoryTok #BritishHistory

For nearly 1000 years, the tower of London has been the site of the bloody executions of some of England's most famous historic figures. And many of the tower's victims were laid to their final rest within the walls, never to escape the prison where they met their tragic end. A King, 3 Queens, A Prince, 5 dukes and many more noble men and women were buried here. Let's meet them and learn how they met their doom at the tower of London. Thomas Seymour, Baron of Sudley (1549) Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset (1552) Sir Ralph Vane & Sir Thomas Arundell (1552) John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland (1553) Lord Guildford Dudley (1554) (Queen) Lady Jane Grey (1554) Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk (1572) Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland (1585) Sir John Perrott (1592) Philip Howard, Earl of Arundel (1595) Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex (1601) Sir Thomas Overbury (1613) Thomas Lord Grey of Wilton (1614) William Howard Viscount Stafford (1680) Arthur Earl of Essex (1683) James Scott, Duke of Monmouth (1685) George Jeffreys, Baron Jeffreys (1689) John Rotier (1703) Edward Lord Griffin (1710) William Marquis of Tallibardine (1746) William Earl of Kilmarnork (1746) Arthur Lord Balmerino (1746) Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat (1747) Join me every Tuesday when I'm Spilling the Tea on History! Check out my Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/lindsayholiday Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100091781568503 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/historyteatimelindsayholiday/ Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@historyteatime Please consider supporting me at https://www.patreon.com/LindsayHoliday and help me make more fascinating episodes! Intro Music: Baroque Coffee House by Doug Maxwell Music: Funeral March by Chopin #HistoryTeaTime #LindsayHoliday Please contact ⁠advertising@airwavemedia.com⁠ if you would like to advertise on this podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How Edward Seymour Went from Power to the Scaffold   On this day in Tudor history, 8 October 1549, England's most powerful man became its newest traitor. Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset and uncle to the boy-king Edward VI, had ruled England as Lord Protector since 1547.    He pushed bold reforms (the Act of Uniformity and the Book of Common Prayer) but rebellion, rivalry, and ambition brought him down. When unrest broke out in 1549 - the Prayer Book Rebellion and Kett's Rebellion - Somerset's authority crumbled. He panicked, calling men to arms and taking the young king to Windsor. His enemies, led by John Dudley, Earl of Warwick, moved fast. On 8 October 1549, the Privy Council branded Somerset a traitor. By the 11th, he had surrendered. Within days, he was in the Tower; his protectorate abolished.   But this is Tudor England… and there's always a twist. Somerset returned to power briefly, only to be accused of plotting against Northumberland and executed in January 1552.   Join me, historian and author Claire Ridgway, as we explore how ambition, politics, and faith brought down the “Good Duke".   Was Somerset a reformer out of his depth, or a ruthless operator undone by his own hand? Tell me in the comments!   Don't forget to like, subscribe, and ring the bell for daily Tudor history deep dives.   #OnThisDay #TudorHistory #EdwardVI #DukeOfSomerset #EdwardSeymour #Reformation #KettsRebellion #PrayerBookRebellion #JohnDudley #TudorPolitics #TowerOfLondon #TudorTok #HistoryTok #ClaireRidgway #BritishHistory

On this day in Tudor history, 24 September 1561, a baby with a claim and a cloud was born inside the Tower of London. Meet Edward Seymour, Viscount Beauchamp, son of Lady Katherine Grey (Jane Grey's sister) and Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, a couple who secretly married without Elizabeth I's permission.    The queen refused to recognise the union, branding their Tower-born child illegitimate… yet his pedigree ran straight through Mary Tudor, Queen of France, per Henry VIII's will. In this episode: The secret marriage, Tower imprisonment, and Beauchamp's contested status Why his birth sat at the centre of England's succession web His own secret match to Honora Rogers (and the family row it sparked) How his son William Seymour later eloped with Arbella Stuart What James I did, and didn't, undo, and how Beauchamp's story ends Question for you: Should Elizabeth have recognised Katherine Grey's marriage, or was she right to keep rival claims on a tight leash? If you enjoy these daily Tudor dives, please like, subscribe, and ring the bell. #OnThisDay #TudorHistory #ElizabethI #KatherineGrey #ViscountBeauchamp #Seymour #SuccessionHistory #TowerOfLondon

Join host Natalie Grueninger in this captivating episode of 'Talking Tudors' as she delves into the narratives of Edward Seymour's wives with historian and archaeologist, Rebecca Batley. Discover the mysterious life of Catherine Filliol, the enduring allure of Anne Stanhope, and the complex web of intrigue at the Tudor court. Gain insights into Seymour's rise to power, the enigmatic scandals surrounding his marriages, and the enduring influence of his family during the tumultuous reign of the Tudors. Rebecca Batley sheds light on the lesser-known stories woven into the rich tapestry of 16th-century England. Visit Rebecca's Substack https://amymcelroy.substack.com/ Find out more about your host at https://www.nataliegrueninger.com Support Talking Tudors on Patreon  

Anne Stanhope, Duchess of Somerset—ambitious, powerful, and controversial. History remembers her as arrogant and ruthless, but was she truly a villain, or simply a strong woman in a world that feared female power?   As the wife of Edward Seymour, Lord Protector of England, Anne was the highest-ranking woman in the country after the queen. She influenced religious reform, controlled vast lands, and had a reputation for defending her status fiercely—even clashing with Katherine Parr, Henry VIII's widow. But when her husband was overthrown and executed, Anne lost everything.   Yet, she never gave up. Was she a power-hungry schemer or a woman unfairly vilified by history? Watch to find out!   Don't forget to like, subscribe, and hit the notification bell for more Tudor history deep dives!   #TudorHistory #AnneStanhope #PowerfulWomen #TudorNobility #HiddenHistories #EdwardVI #KatherineParr #HistoryMakers #TudorScandals #RuthlessWomen #TudorCourt

On 6th March 1547, Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton and former Lord Chancellor to Henry VIII, suffered a dramatic fall from power, losing the Great Seal of his Lord Chancellorship. But was this really about his overreach, or was it part of a larger power struggle?   Wriothesley had been one of Henry VIII's most trusted advisors. He played a key role in major Tudor events, including Catherine Howard's downfall, Anne Askew's trial, and Henry VIII's final days. Yet, his opposition to Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, sealed his fate.   Join me as I explore the life, power, and downfall of this controversial Tudor figure.   #TudorHistory #HenryVIII #ThomasWriothesley #WolfHall #AnneBoleynFiles #OnThisDay #HistoryLovers #Tudors #BritishHistory #RenaissanceHistory #HouseOfTudor

In this episode we'll look at the rise and downfall of Edward Seymour, who became England's most powerful man under the reign of his nephew Edward VI. Books to dig deeper: Tombland by CJ SamsonThe Path to Somerset by Janet WertmanSupport the podcast on Patreon for extra episodes and more at https://www.patreon.com/englandcast and thank you! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, ruled England as Lord Protector during Edward VI's reign, wielding power like a king—but his story ended on the scaffold.   From his meteoric rise as Henry VIII's trusted brother-in-law and a staunch Protestant reformer to the catastrophic rebellions and political rivalries that sealed his fate, Somerset's journey is one of ambition, betrayal, and leadership gone awry.   How did this once-powerful man lose it all? And was his downfall due to his own flaws, or the cutthroat politics of the Tudor court?   Explore the dramatic highs and devastating lows of Edward Seymour's life in this fascinating Tudor tale.   #TudorHistory #EdwardSeymour #LordProtector #TowerHill #Rebellion #EdwardVI #HenryVIII #HistoricalDrama #TudorCourt #HistoryLovers

In this episode, I welcome Susan Higginbotham to discuss the reputation of Anne Stanhope – wife of Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector. Anne's behavior has always left a bad taste in my mouth, and that is why I've asked Susan here today to dispel any myths and to help us learn who the real Anne Stanhope was. -- Love the show, want a commercial-free experience, or want to show your support? Become a patron on Patreon! Credits: Hosted by: Rebecca Larson Guest: Susan Higginbotham Books: Her Highness the Traitor The Woodvilles Margaret Pole --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rebecca-larson/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rebecca-larson/support

In this episode we look at how Edward Seymour became the Protector in England, during the reign of his nephew, Edward VI. Thanks so much for your listenership and support, friends! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Marking the end of a turbulent beginning to the Sixteenth Century, the deaths of Henry VIII, Francis I, and Charles V (who technically abdicates before his death) brings one era to a close. Francis and Charles are left exhausted after years of pointless war, but both die knowing that their lines will live on. Henry VIII believes to have put in place an iron-clad succession plan, but Thomas Cranmer and Edward Seymour have other ideas. Oh, and Henry marries one last time. Katherine Parr will become his sixth and final wife.Website: www.westerncivpodcast.comAd-Free Shows: www.patreon.com/westerncivpodcastWestern Civ 2.0 Free Trial: www.glow.fm/westernciv

I'm joined by Thomas Edward Seymour, film professor in CUNY system working at Laguardia College and director of 2016's VHS Massacre (https://vhsmassacre.com/) and 2019's VHS Massacre, Too, a pair of documentary about the last stand of the American exploitation film. The first VHS Massacre installment explores the immediate fall-out of the post video store era, arguing that media consolidation led to the censorship and near death of the independent and exploitation film industry. The follow-up documentay movie follows the trajectory into the streaming age and takes viewers on an adventure leading from the last Blockbuster video store in Bend Oregon to Troma Entertainment in New York. Tom's a friend back from my days as an alt-weekly reporter in Connecticut where I covered several of his independent film projects for my paper The Hartford Advocate. In our conversation for the podcast, Tom catches me up on what's been going on with independent filmmakers, exploitation films and physical media in a post pandemic, post movie theater, streaming world and gives a full throated defense of the need for exploitation films in a world of corporate entertainment. VHS Massacre, too is available for sale as a Blu Ray here (https://www.amazon.com/VHS-Massacre-Too-Various/dp/B09G72PRMM/ref=asc_df_B09G72PRMM/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=533457185749&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2227944913918362546&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9004394&hvtargid=pla-1435345422690&psc=1). Troma's streaming service is here (https://watch.troma.com/).

On this episode I welcome Susan Higginbotham to discuss the reputation of Anne Stanhope - wife of Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector. Anne's behavior has always left a bad taste in my mouth, and that is why I've asked Susan here today to dispel any myths and to help us learn who the real Anne Stanhope was. Love the Tudors? Read the stories of the Tudors on the blog: Tudors Dynasty Buy Tudors Dynasty Merchandise Love the show and want to show your support? Become a patron on Patreon! Credits: Hosted by: Rebecca Larson - Twitter Guest: Susan Higginbotham - Facebook  Book: Her Highness the Traitor  Editing: Rebecca Larson Voice Over: David Black Music by: Ketsa, Alexander Nakarada, and Winnie the Moog via FilmMusic.io, used by EXTENDED license.

#vhsmassacre #vhsmassacretoo #podcast #troma #tomseymour #independentfilm #thomasedwardseymour #astoria #longislandcity #queens #newyork #ny #musicislifepodcast #ratsaladreview #paramount #comcast #disney #fox #sony #warnermedia #lloydkaufman #steinwaystreet #ditmarsboulevard #video #vhs #rental #physicalmedia #joebobbriggs #debbierochvon A while ago, I came across an amazing documentary called “VHS Massacre” on Amazon Prime, regarding cult/exploitation/genre films and the decline of physical media. Recently, the sequel “VHS Massacre Too” was released, but it was only available for purchase. So I bought it, watched it, loved it, and reviewed it. The day I released the review, by sheer good fortune, or kismet, or luck, or by me reaching out to him, the filmmaker Thomas Edward Seymour was down to come on my podcast. SCORE ONE FOR THE GOOD GUYS! I genuinely thought Tom's documentaries were two of the best I've ever seen. Informative and entertaining, I quickly found myself drawn back into a world I was familiar with and championed, and felt it was necessary to discuss his film career, his podcast (VHS Massacre Radio), and what he's currently doing to promote his work. Again, what started as an interview turned into a friendly conversation, and as always, those make the best podcast episodes. My review: VHS Massacre Too is a sequel to the original VHS massacre, released in 2016 from Troma and directed by Thomas Edward Seymour and Kenneth Powell. Thomas also hosts a podcast called VHS Massacre, available on all streaming media platforms. The first film discusses the decline of physical media. The sequel discusses the difficulty of independent content creators distributing their films for the masses to consume. Talking points such as the monopolization of movie theater chains by the major communication conglomerates, the end of mom and pop video rental stores, and net neutrality are brought up. They also interview joe bob Briggs in one of his final interviews prior to the premiere of shudders the last drive in, cult film queen Debbie rochon and Lloyd Kaufman, the president of Troma films, which is the longest running independent film studio. This was a great documentary. If you want to open your perspective on genre films, and do your due diligence to seek films that you can't find on Netflix, Amazon prime, Hulu or Disney plus, I seriously recommend this film. I give this film 5 out of 5 horns. Thank you, Tom, for blessing my little podcast with your presence. Cheers! Link directly to Tom at https://vhsmassacre.com Follow Tom on all social media platforms with handle @VHSMassacre (including Instagram, Twitter and YouTube) Purchase VHS Massacre Too on Blu-Ray: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09G72PRMM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_WG600QABYW0JPPBZKY1K You can also purchase both VHS Massacre films at Troma Direct: https://www.tromadirect.com Don't give up the fight for truly independent art! To purchase official Music Is Life Podcast merchandise from TeePublic.com, use this link: https://www.teepublic.com/t-shirt/24041518-music-is-life-podcast-official-logo?fbclid=IwAR2DMITWW5QtpxOQFBXgnnguy3rEksMGzkmr7WCPVCHgDZp8hu85LJAup40&ref_id=24450 If you want me to review YOUR band or YOUR music, please contact me at LouMavs@MusicIsLifePodcast.com. If you'd like to donate to the podcast, please send via PayPal to MusicIsLifePodcast@gmail.com. Thanks in advance. Channel graphic created by Rocky Baia. To commision him for work, please follow and DM him at https://twitter.com/RockyBaia. Also, check out his merch store at https://ProWrestlingTees.com/RockyBaia.html. Intro/Outro Music - "Lose Control" by The Rebel Medium (Jacalyn Guitard, Ernest Layug, Lou Mavs) --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rat-salad-review/message

#vhsmassacre #vhsmassacretoo #podcast #troma #tomseymour #independentfilm #thomasedwardseymour #astoria #longislandcity #queens #newyork #ny #musicislifepodcast #ratsaladreview #paramount #comcast #disney #fox #sony #warnermedia #lloydkaufman A while ago, I came across an amazing documentary called “VHS Massacre” on Amazon Prime, regarding cult/exploitation/genre films and the decline of physical media. Recently, the sequel “VHS Massacre Too” was released, but it was only available for purchase. So I bought it, watched it, loved it, and reviewed it. The day I released the interview, by sheer good fortune, or kismet, or luck, or by me reach out to him, the filmmaker Thomas Edward Seymour was down to come on my podcast. SCORE ONE FOR THE GOOD GUYS! I genuinely thought Tom's documentaries were two of the best I've ever seen. Informative and entertaining, I quickly found myself drawn back into a world I was familiar with and championed, and felt it was necessary to discuss his film career, his podcast (VHS Massacre Radio), and what he's currently doing to promote his work. Again, what started as an interview turned into a friendly conversation, and as always, those make the best podcast episodes. My review: VHS Massacre Too is a sequel to the original VHS massacre, released in 2016 from Troma and directed by Thomas Edward Seymour and Kenneth Powell. Thomas also hosts a podcast called VHS Massacre, available on all streaming media platforms. The first film discusses the decline of physical media. The sequel discusses the difficulty of independent content creators distributing their films for the masses to consume. Talking points such as the monopolization of movie theater chains by the major communication conglomerates, the end of mom and pop video rental stores, and net neutrality are brought up. They also interview joe bob Briggs in one of his final interviews prior to the premiere of shudders the last drive in, cult film queen Debbie rochon and Lloyd Kaufman, the president of Troma films, which is the longest running independent film studio. This was a great documentary. If you want to open your perspective on genre films, and do your due diligence to seek films that you can't find on Netflix, Amazon prime, Hulu or Disney plus, I seriously recommend this film. I give this film 5 out of 5 horns. Thank you, Tom, for blessing my little podcast with your presence. Cheers! Link directly to Tom at https://vhsmassacre.com Follow Tom on all social media platforms with handle @VHSMassacre (including Instagram, Twitter and YouTube) Purchase VHS Massacre Too on Blu-Ray: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09G72PRMM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_WG600QABYW0JPPBZKY1K You can also purchase both VHS Massacre films at Troma Direct: https://www.tromadirect.com Don't give up the fight for truly independent art! To purchase official Music Is Life Podcast merchandise from TeePublic.com, use this link: https://www.teepublic.com/t-shirt/24041518-music-is-life-podcast-official-logo?fbclid=IwAR2DMITWW5QtpxOQFBXgnnguy3rEksMGzkmr7WCPVCHgDZp8hu85LJAup40&ref_id=24450 If you want me to review YOUR band or YOUR music, please contact me at LouMavs@MusicIsLifePodcast.com. If you'd like to donate to the podcast, please send via PayPal to MusicIsLifePodcast@gmail.com. Thanks in advance. Channel graphic created by Rocky Baia. To commision him for work, please follow and DM him at https://twitter.com/RockyBaia. Also, check out his merch store at https://ProWrestlingTees.com/RockyBaia.html. Intro/Outro Music - "Lose Control" by The Rebel Medium (Jacalyn Guitard, Ernest Layug, Lou Mavs) Links to social media pages on respective websites. https://MusicIsLifePodcast.com https://linktr.ee/MusicIsLifePodcast https://RatSaladReview.com Music Is Life Podcast with Lou Mavs is produced by Anchor.Fm and distributed through Rat Salad Review Network. All rights reserved; any content not created by me is subject to fair use. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/lou-mavs/support

Welcome to Episode 118! On this episode, Steph is joined by Leanda de Lisle who answers your questions on Arbella Stuart. We learn all about the secret marriage with William Seymour and Leanda wished for me to let you know that she misspoke when she said William was the son of Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford and Catherine Grey. William was their grandson.   Show Notes: TudorsDynastyPodcast.com (AVAILABLE 7/5/21) -- Credits: Written by: Rebecca Larson & Steph Stohrer Voiced by: Rebecca Larson, Steph Stohrer, and Leanda de Lisle Produced by: Steph Stohrer Edited by: Rebecca Larson Imaging by: Troy Larson (TroyLarsonCreative.com) Music Credits: Mr Knights Galliard, P 36 · Paul O'Dette; Dowland: Complete Lute Works, Vol. 1; ℗ harmonia mundi usa; Released on: 2005-08-18; Artist: Paul O'Dette, Composer: John Dowland Resources: TudorsDynasty.com TudorsDynastyPodcast.com YouTube.com/TudorsDynasty Patreon.com/TudorsDynasty (Patron site)

SPECIAL EDITION! Rebecca Larson, owner of the website and podcast Tudors Dynasty, shares her expertise on the very notable Thomas Seymour. Rebecca sheds light on some of the most controversial rumors about Thomas Seymour, who was uncle to King Edward VI and the younger brother of  Sir  Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset. As an author and well-known podcast host herself, Rebecca started her blog Tudors Dynasty in 2015 and it has since exploded into a go-to source for Tudor knowledge. She has interviewed herself a variety of well-known historians such as Tracy Borman, Margaret George, Alison Weir, Dan Jones, Suzannah Lipscomb and so many more. In this exclusive interview, Rebecca and Megan chat about everything from Thomas Seymour's romantic appeal to the 33 charges his own brother and nephew threw at him, leading him to the dreaded scaffold. Enjoy this off-season interview-style episode and, of course, please be sure to check out tudorsdynasty.com for more on Rebecca Larson and Tudor history. 

At the beginning of 1553, Henry VIII's only son King Edward VI was dying. For the first time in English history all potential claimants were women. Henry's daughters Mary and Elizabeth, and their cousins Jane Grey (1553) and Mary, Queen of Scots. For the first time in history, England would have a Queen regnant. Partisan councillors would jockey for position in order to secure their own futures and the religious destiny of the nation. CHARACTERS Lady Jane Grey – Queen of England (disputed) Guildford Dudley – husband of Lady Jane Grey Henry VIII – Jane great uncle and King of England (1509-47) Edward VI – Jane's cousin and King of England (1547-53) Henry Grey, duke of Suffolk – father of Lady Jane Grey Frances – mother of Lady Jane Grey Mary – daughter of Henry VIII Elizabeth – daughter of Henry VIII Mary, Queen of Scots – cousin of Lady Jane Grey Edward Seymour, duke of Somerset – Lord Protector under Edward VI John Dudley, duke of Northumberland – president of the council under Edward VI, father of Guildford Dudley Thomas Cranmer – Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Seymour – brother of Edward Seymour and husband of Catherine Parr Thomas Harding – tutor of Lady Jane Grey, family chaplain John Aylmer and Michelangelo Florio – tutors of Lady Jane Grey Catherine of Aragon – 1st wife of Henry VIII, mother of Mary Anne Boleyn – 2nd wife of Henry VIII, mother of Elizabeth Catherine Howard – 5th wife of Henry VIII Catherine Parr – 6th wife of Henry VIII Alison Plowden – Historian Richard II – King of England (1377-99) Henry IV – King of England (1399-1413), known as Henry Bolingbroke before his reign CREDITS Alfonso Ferabosco – Amor Mia Sprona BalGas9 gidion owi-spit aarnnoo – woman crying metzik – medieval market

In 1547, the last minority in English history was formed for 9 year old Edward VI (1547-53). After the titanic reign of his father Henry VIII, a contemporary may have wondered if the country may be engulfed in civil war once more.Had the rampant religious and administrative upheaval been possible due to the colossus at the helm? Would the country accept such terms under a new king? Or would the country yield to the familiar squabbles of grasping councillors?If there were nerves, they were hidden on the 20th February 1547 when the 9-year-old walked through the nave of Westminster Abbey. The nation stood on a precipice and history was not on their side. CHARACTERS Edward VI – King of England Henry VIII – King of England, father of Edward VI (1509-47) Jane Seymour – Queen of England, mother of Edward VI, 3rd wife of Henry VIII Princess Mary – half-sister of Edward VI Princess Elizabeth – half-sister of Edward VI Catherine Parr – Queen of England, 6th wife of Henry VIII Edward Seymour, duke of Somerset – Lord Protector, uncle of Edward VI Thomas Seymour – uncle of Edward VI, brother of Edward Seymour John Dudley, duke of Northumberland – Lord President of the Council Thomas Cranmer – Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Wriothesley – Lord Chancellor Hugh Latimer – Bishop of Worcester William Paget – statesman and ally of Edward Seymour, duke of Somerset Thomas Cromwell – Chancellor of the Exchequer under Henry VIII John Cheke and Richard Cox – Tutors of Edward VI Thomas Howard, duke of Norfolk – nobleman and uncle of Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard Robert Kett – leader of Kett's rebellion Lady Jane Grey – cousin of Edward VI Mary, Queen of Scots – Queen of Scotland Francis – French dauphin, husband of Mary, Queen of Scots Richard Chancellor – explorer Ivan the Terrible – First Tsar of Russia Edmund Dudley – financial agent of Henry VII, father of John Dudley, duke of Northumberland Robert Dudley – son of John Dudley, duke of Northumberland Guildford Dudley – son of John Dudley, duke of Northumberland, husband of Lady Jane Grey Anne Boleyn – Queen of England, 2nd wife of Henry VIII Catherine Howard – Queen of England, 4th wife of Henry VIII Henry VII – King of England, grandfather of Edward VI (1485-1509) Henry VI – King of England (1422-61, 70-71) Richard II – King of England (1377-99) CREDITS Charpentier – Prelude aue dem Te Deum 2019 Tielman Susato – La Mourisque freesound.org jg booysen – pistol gunshot anton – dog bark Staffordshire bull terrier robin hood 76 – sledge ride 1 tiisetso – scrubbing floor mushroomjesus – baby noises 2-3 month old j-zazvurek – woman scream 5 roxis boy – chain rattling 2 hinzebeat – plate with cutlery f-r-a-g-i-l-e – medieval lute chords nickh69 -quill and parchment tim Kahn – footsteps bare feet soundmary – wild horses running

On this day in Tudor history, 22nd May 1537, in the reign of King Henry VIII, Queen Jane Seymour's brother, Edward Seymour, was appointed to the privy council. It was just one reward of many and you can find out more about Edward Seymour's rise from historian Claire Ridgway. You can see this podcast as a video at the following link: https://youtu.be/-7xo_RiEiGA Claire is the founder of the Tudor Society, an online membership site for those who love Tudor history. There, you can learn from Claire and many other expert historians and authors, enjoy Tudor-focused magazines and live Q&A sessions with experts, and have access to all kinds of talks, articles, quizzes, virtual tours and more. Try it with a 14-day free trial - https://www.tudorsociety.com/signup/   Claire has written some bestselling Tudor history books:   On This Day in Tudor History - https://amzn.to/3oceahH The Fall of Anne Boleyn: A Countdown - https://amzn.to/3m8KaSi George Boleyn: Tudor Poet, Courtier and Diplomat - https://amzn.to/2TdwyZr The Anne Boleyn Collection - https://amzn.to/3kiQc1T The Anne Boleyn Collection II - https://amzn.to/3o9LUwi The Anne Boleyn Collection III - https://amzn.to/3kiQc1T The Life of Anne Boleyn Colouring Books - https://amzn.to/3jkJ5Vz   Claire has also done an online history course, The Life of Anne Boleyn, for MedievalCourses.com - https://medievalcourses.com/overview/life-anne-boleyn-mc06/   You can find Claire at: https://www.theanneboleynfiles.com  https://www.tudorsociety.com https://www.facebook.com/theanneboleynfiles/ https://www.facebook.com/tudorsociety/ https://twitter.com/AnneBoleynFiles  https://twitter.com/thetudorsociety  https://www.instagram.com/tudor.society/  https://www.instagram.com/anneboleynfiles/

Jane Seymour was the third wife of King Henry VIII, the mother of King Edward VI and the sister of Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector, and Thomas Seymour, Baron Seymour of Sudeley. Even though she was queen for a relatively short period, Jane Seymour is still an interesting Tudor lady, and in this latest "Facts about..." instalment, Claire Ridgway, author of several Tudor history books, shares 20 interesting facts about her. Did you know all of them?

In this first part of This Week in Tudor History, historian Claire Ridgway talks about Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey’s loss of royal favour after the English defeat in France, but his children’s joy at the news of him returning home; ambassador Sir Henry Unton (or Umpton) who was killed in France by the "purple fever", and Sir James Dyer, a Chief Justice who has gone down in history as the first law reporter. You can see this podcast as a video at the following link: https://youtu.be/9fV6-17YkJA   22nd March 1546 - Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, lands at Calais to relieve Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, as King Henry VIII's lieutenant general. Find out what had happened, why Surrey had fallen out of favour and what happened next.   23rd March 1596 - The death of Sir Henry Unton, resident ambassador in France, from "a violent, burning fever" which was described as the "purple fever". Find out about Unton's life and career.   24th March 1582 - Death of judge, law reporter, Member of Parliament and Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir James Dyer, at the age of 72.   Book recommendation: Henry VIII's Last Victim: The Life and Times of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey by Jessie Childs.   -- Claire Ridgway Historian and author, founder of the Anne Boleyn Files and Tudor Society www.theanneboleynfiles.com www.tudorsociety.com https://twitter.com/AnneBoleynFiles http://www.facebook.com/theanneboleynfiles https://www.instagram.com/anneboleynfiles/ https://twitter.com/thetudorsociety https://www.facebook.com/tudorsociety/ https://www.instagram.com/tudor.society/  

In this edition of Tudor Fan Q&A, historian and author Claire Ridgway answers a question about a character featured in Showtime's "The Tudors" series.You can see this podcast as a video at the following link:https://youtu.be/ex2q9kL-2NcColleen, from California, wanted to know whether Anne Seymour (née Stanhope), wife of Edward Seymour, really had scandalous affairs with Sir Francis Bryan and her own brother-in-law, Thomas Seymour, and if Thomas really fathered one of her sons. Claire looks at the Anne Seymour of the series compared to the Anne of the contemporary sources, and shares the truth about this maligned duchess.

In this second part of “This week in Tudor history” for week beginning 15th February, historian Claire Ridgway tells us how the death of a French duke led to an awful massacre, and how the imprisoned Margaret Douglas heard of her son's murder, as well as introducing us to a countess who served all six of Henry VIII’s wives and who was close to his daughter Mary, and a noblewoman who managed to  give birth twice while imprisoned in the Tower of London. 18th February 1563 - Francis, Duke of Guise, was wounded by a Huguenot assassin at the Siege of Orléans. He died a few days later and his death was a factor in the 1572 St Bartholomew's Day Massacre. 19th February 1567 - An imprisoned Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox, is informed of the murder of her son, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, King Consort of Scotland as the husband of Mary, Queen of Scots. 20th February 1552 - Anne Herbert, Countess of Pembroke and sister of the late Queen Catherine Parr, dies at Baynard's Castle. She was buried at Old St Paul's Cathedral in a lavish funeral. 21st February 1568 - Death of Lady Katherine Seymour (née Grey), Countess of Hertford, and sister of the late Lady Jane Grey, or Queen Jane. Katherine was under house arrest at the time for marrying Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, without Queen Elizabeth I's permission. St Bartholomew's Day Massacre - https://youtu.be/1DmTMXr0TcQ Edward Seymour, the Serial Secret Husband -  https://youtu.be/lYBsHD2kMw4Lady Mary Grey - https://youtu.be/amBA9_Ifjno  Other Tudor events for these dates: February 18 - Happy Birthday Queen Mary I - https://youtu.be/67X8uA_k2cMFebruary 18 - The Ridolfi Plot against Elizabeth I - https://youtu.be/_7WjajdaFRwFebruary 19 - King Edward VI's Coronation Procession - https://youtu.be/UwabU2pySnsFebruary 19 - The Rose Theatre, an Elizabethan playhouse - https://youtu.be/l-Xh1-cUadsFebruary 20 - King Edward VI's Coronation - https://youtu.be/OZubBZP3-B4February 20 - The hanging of Lady Hungerford - https://youtu.be/EjFZCHtXyfcFebruary 21 - The Execution of St Robert Southwell - https://youtu.be/i-lJgaY975QFebruary 21 - Ambrose Dudley, Earl of Warwick - https://youtu.be/VWSw1uwMvq8

In this Homeschooling History episode, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, explore the fascinating history of UNCLES. From discussions of the Richard III and the Princes in the Tower to seventeenth-century kinship networks in the diary of Samuel Pepys and the personification of the US state in the figure of Uncle Sam, James and Sam rampage around history of uncles before settling on the fascinating history of the reign of Edward VI (1537-1553), who ascended to the throne of England in January 1547 aged only 9 years old. After discussions of the provisions in his father King Henry VIII's will, we look at the seizure of power by Edward's uncle, Edward Seymour, brother of Queen Jane Seymour, who became the Duke of Somerset and appointed Protector. In this capacity he oversaw the government of the country, and we explore his personality, his policies and his ultimate fall from power. The demise of Protector Somerset was orchestrated by John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, who effectively took over power, and we discuss the nature of his rule and government. With Edward VI's untimely death from tuberculosis aged only 15, Northumberland subverts the succession and supports the accession of Lady Jane Grey to the throne, a plot that ultimately failed and for which he and the tragic Lady Jane were both executed. As always, there is a quiz at the end, and a writing task, based on Edward VI's Journal. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this Homeschooling History episode, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, explore the fascinating history of UNCLES. From discussions of the Richard III and the Princes in the Tower to seventeenth-century kinship networks in the diary of Samuel Pepys and the personification of the US state in the figure of Uncle Sam, James and Sam rampage around history of uncles before settling on the fascinating history of the reign of Edward VI (1537-1553), who ascended to the throne of England in January 1547 aged only 9 years old. After discussions of the provisions in his father King Henry VIII's will, we look at the seizure of power by Edward's uncle, Edward Seymour, brother of Queen Jane Seymour, who became the Duke of Somerset and appointed Protector. In this capacity he oversaw the government of the country, and we explore his personality, his policies and his ultimate fall from power. The demise of Protector Somerset was orchestrated by John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, who effectively took over power, and we discuss the nature of his rule and government. With Edward VI's untimely death from tuberculosis aged only 15, Northumberland subverts the succession and supports the accession of Lady Jane Grey to the throne, a plot that ultimately failed and for which he and the tragic Lady Jane were both executed. As always, there is a quiz at the end, and a writing task, based on Edward VI's Journal. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this day in Tudor history, 13th October 1553, Queen Mary I wrote a very interesting letter to the imperial ambassador, Simon Renard. In it, she asked the ambassador to meet with her secretly, and she'd encouraged him previously to come to her secretly and in disguise. Why? What was going on? And why did Mary seem to trust the emperor and his ambassadors more than her own council? Find out more about the situation in today's talk from Claire Ridgway, founder of the Tudor Society. You can see this podcast as a video at the following link:https://youtu.be/XKWL6RONk5Y Also on this day in Tudor history, 13th October 1549, Edward VI’s council abolished his uncle Edward Seymour’s protectorate and membership of the Council. It was the beginning of the end for Seymour and you can find out what he’d done to provoke his downfall, and what happened next, in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/3y8vOOYwUFc 

Welcome back to the next episode of Past Loves - the weekly history podcast that explores affection, infatuation and attachment across time - and this time it's the first ever Tudor love story!That's right, this week I am joined by Melita Thomas, author and co-founder/editor of Tudor Times, to discuss the love story between Lady Katherine Grey and Edward Seymour. After the death of her sister Lady Jane Grey, Katherine became the next Grey in line to the throne. So when her secret marriage to Edward Seymour was disclosed, it called down Queen Elizabeth's wrath.The couple had enjoyed a fragrant summer of banquets and garden walks at Eltham in 1559, before marrying the following year with Edward's sister Jane and a priest as witnesses. When Katherine realised that she was pregnant, it was time to tell the Queen. Predictably, the admission was to have disastrous consequences for the couple. This is, therefore, a story quite unlike any other, weaving together Tudor court politics, familial ties and romantic pursuits. With this, I think that it is safe to say that Katherine and Edward's relationship may just be the most romantic and heart-breaking Tudor tale there is. The story of their love for each other deserves to be told.With a special thanks to Llinos @thiscatladylife, to whom this episode is dedicated, for suggesting their story.Where To Find UsDiscover the joys of Tudor Times here: https://tudortimes.co.uk/Shop Tudor Times Insights - Lady Katherine Grey, Tudor Prisoner: https://shop.tudortimes.co.uk/collections/books/products/lady-katherine-grey-tudor-prisonerFollow Tudor Times on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheTudorTimesDiscover Melita's other book The House of Grey: Friends & Foes of Kings: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-house-of-grey/melita-thomas/9781445684970Join the Past Loves newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/d293dd27393a/past-loves-newsletterFollow Past Loves on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pastlovespodcast/ If Past Loves has become your current love, you can email me at pastlovespodcast@gmail.com

On this day in Tudor history, 5th October 1549, Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector, ordered a gathering of men at Hampton Court Palace, where he was lodged with the young King Edward VI, due to tensions mounting between Somerset and John Dudley, Earl of Warwick. What was going on and what happened when 4,000 peasants turned up? How did John Dudley react and what did King Edward VI have to say about it all? Find out what happened, and how this led to Somerset's undoing, in today's talk from Claire Ridgway, founder of the Tudor Society. You can see this podcast as a video at the following link:https://youtu.be/WPlTPV9cpEU Also on this day in Tudor history, 5th October 1518, two-year-old Princess Mary, daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, became betrothed to François, the Dauphin of France, who was just a few months old. This betrothal was part of a treaty agreed between England and France, Henry VIII and Francis I. Find out what happened at the betrothal ceremony at Greenwich Palace, as well as what else the treaty involved, and what happened to this betrothal in the end, in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/v4_Y8Q0nXbA

Eric "#KingCre8" Walker is a legendary Graffiti Artist, muralist, illustrator, graphic designer, art instructor, and motivational speaker from South Central, Los Angeles. Val is his lovely wife. Topics: Carlsbad Wall, Snyder, KRS-One, guys who inspired King Cre8, can control with spray bottle or lysol, Suited and Booted for court, Why is that? , How king cre8 and his wife Val met? , Go Paint, Edward Seymour, Getty Museum, stock tips.

On this day in Tudor history, Saturday 10th September 1547, in the reign of King Edward VI, the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, also known as the Battle of Pinkie, took place near Musselburgh, in Scotland, on the banks of the River Esk. The English forces, led by Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, defeated the Scots, killing thousands. It was a bloody battle, but started off well for the Scots. In today's talk, historian Claire Ridgway shares an eye-witness account of how the battle changed so dramatically, leading to the loss of between 6,000 and 15,000 Scots. Roger Knox's video on the battle  - https://youtu.be/C9M_dbLCuPg  William Patten's detailed account - https://archive.org/details/tudortracts00polliala/page/106/mode/2upAlso on this day in Tudor history, 10 September 1533, King Henry VIII and Queen Anne Boleyn's daughter, Elizabeth (the future Queen Elizabeth I), was christened at the Church of Observant Friars in Greenwich. Elizabeth I's christening service was a lavish ceremony presided over by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, who also stood as the little girl's godfather. Find out more about Elizabeth’s christening and the celebrations that followed, in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/gBTYJ6_BxTg

On this day in Tudor history, 22nd May 1541, following their elections on St George’s Day, 23rd April 1541, Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford; Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey; Sir John Gage, and Sir Anthony Wingfield were all installed as Knights of the Garter. Who were these men and what was the Order of the Garter? Claire Ridgway, founder of the Tudor Society, introduces these Garter Knights and explains the origins of the Order of the Garter, England's oldest order of chivalry. You can see this podcast as a video at the following link:https://youtu.be/YR85DSx3ONA Also on this day in Tudor history, 22nd May 1538, Franciscan friar John Forest met his end at Smithfield in London for his allegiance to the Church of Rome. His death, along with the burning of a religious statue from Wales, was said to be the fulfilment of a prophecy made about the statue. Find out more in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/om41xAXnxcQ

On this day in history, 6th April 1621, in the Stuart period, Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford, died at Netley in Hampshire. He was aged around 81 at his death. Now, Hertford is known for his secret marriage to Lady Katherine Grey, sister of Lady Jane Grey, and their conjugal visits in the Tower of London, but Hertford had a thing for secret marriage and married twice more, all in secret. And then his son and grandson also had secret marriages! Find out more in today's talk from Claire Ridgway, author of "On This Day in Tudor History". Also on this day in Tudor history, 6th April 1590, Queen Elizabeth I’s diplomat, secretary, adviser and spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham, died. Find out more about the man Elizabeth called her “moor” in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/XLP3N2AYuLg 

Natalie Grueninger speaks to Margaret Scard about William Paulet and Edward Seymour. Find out more about your host at On the Tudor Trail. Join our Talking Tudors Podcast Facebook group for all the behind-the-scenes news and updates. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all my wonderful patrons! If you love Talking Tudors and would like to show your appreciation, and support the work I do, I invite you to become a part of the Talking Tudors family and become my patron! Music break courtesy of guitarist Jon Sayles.

On this day in Tudor history, 26th February 1552, Sir Thomas Arundell, Sir Michael Stanhope, Sir Miles Partridge and Sir Ralph Fane (or Vane) were executed. The men had been condemned as traitors after being accused of conspiring with Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset and former Lord Protector, against John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, the new man in control of King Edward VI's government. Find out all about these men and how these loyal royal servants came to these sticky ends in today's talk from Claire Ridgway, founder of the Tudor Society. You can see this podcast as a video at the following link:https://youtu.be/tSH2feVoYHQ Also on this day in Tudor history, 26th February 1564, poet and playwright Christopher Marlowe was baptised in Canterbury. Find out all about Marlowe in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/QnT2Qp7RuXc 

Well, ok, perhaps love at second or third sight!  On this day in Tudor history, Saturday 17th February 1565, Mary, Queen of Scots, met and fell in love with Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, at Wemyss Castle in Scotland. Just over 7 months later, the couple got married. Find out more about the background of this meeting between Mary, Queen of Scots and Lord Darnley, Mary's thoughts on Darnley, and what happened next, in today's talk from Claire Ridgway, founder of the Tudor Society. You can see this podcast as a video at the following link:https://youtu.be/dsuimqJz_sI Also on this day in Tudor history, 17th February 1547, Edward Seymour was made Duke of Somerset. Find out more in last year's video - https://youtu.be/teSMa93EF6E

 On this day in Tudor history, 22nd January 1554, Thomas Wyatt the Younger met with fellow conspirators at his home of Allington Castle in Kent. The purpose of their meeting was to make final plans for their uprising against Queen Mary I and her decision to marry Philip of Spain. This rebellion would come to be known as Wyatt's Rebellion, although the leader at the start appears to have been Sir James Croft. Find out all about Wyatt's Rebellion and what happened in this talk from Claire Ridgway, author of "On This Day in Tudor History". You can see this podcast as a video at the following link:https://youtu.be/8P_Fhj7t8Bk Also on this day in Tudor history, 22nd January 1552, Edward Seymour, former Lord Protector, was executed. Find out more in Claire's video from last year - https://youtu.be/yrztjxs92B0February 1 - Mary I's Rousing Speech - https://youtu.be/hwf3CbwYjWM February 12 - The executions of Lady Jane Grey and Lord Guildford Dudley - https://youtu.be/qf7up1CHfJA February 23 - What happened to Henry Grey's head? - https://youtu.be/xkyb5qTHSBU April 11 - The end of rebel Sir Thomas Wyatt the Younger - https://youtu.be/HCKNH7_NFsU

Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was the King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death. He was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, and England's first monarch to be raised as a Protestant. During his reign, the realm was governed by a regency council because he never reached maturity. The council was first led by his uncle Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (1547–1549), and then by John Dudley, 1st Earl of Warwick (1550–1553), who from 1551 was Duke of Northumberland. Edward's reign was marked by economic problems and social unrest that in 1549 erupted into riot and rebellion. An expensive war with Scotland, at first successful, ended with military withdrawal from Scotland and Boulogne-sur-Mer in exchange for peace. The transformation of the Church of England into a recognisably Protestant body also occurred under Edward, who took great interest in religious matters. Although his father, Henry VIII, had severed the link between the Church and Rome, Henry VIII had never permitted the renunciation of Catholic doctrine or ceremony. It was during Edward's reign that Protestantism was established for the first time in England with reforms that included the abolition of clerical celibacy and the Mass, and the imposition of compulsory services in English. In February 1553, at age 15, Edward fell ill. When his sickness was discovered to be terminal, he and his Council drew up a "Devise for the Succession", to prevent the country's return to Catholicism. Edward named his first cousin once removed, Lady Jane Grey, as his heir, excluding his half-sisters, Mary and Elizabeth. This decision was disputed following Edward's death, and Jane was deposed by Mary nine days after becoming queen. During her reign, Mary reversed Edward's Protestant reforms, which nonetheless became the basis of the Elizabethan Religious Settlement of 1559. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thehistoryexpress/support

This day in Tudor history, 13th October 1549, was the beginning of the end for Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset and Edward VI's uncle, for it was on this day that the king's council abolished both his protectorate and his membership of the Council. Somerset had been left vulnerable by social unrest in the kingdom and when things got tense between him and John Dudley, Earl of Warwick, and his supporters, Somerset took action, action that would see him being branded a traitor. In today's talk, Claire Ridgway, author of "On This Day in Tudor History", explains exactly what Protector Somerset did to provoke his downfall and what happened next. Edward Seymour ended up being executed on 22nd January 1552 and you can find out more about his execution in Claire's talk from 22 January - https://youtu.be/yrztjxs92B0 You can see this podcast as a video at the following link:https://youtu.be/3y8vOOYwUFc You can find Claire at:https://www.theanneboleynfiles.com https://www.tudorsociety.comhttps://www.facebook.com/theanneboleynfiles/https://www.facebook.com/tudorsociety/https://twitter.com/AnneBoleynFiles https://twitter.com/thetudorsociety https://www.instagram.com/tudor.society/ https://www.instagram.com/anneboleynfiles/

Hello, Claire here! I'm celebrating reaching 25,000 YouTube subscribers today by having a bit of fun at Tim's expense, although I am allowing Henry VIII and William Shakespeare to help him a bit.Play along with us and see whether you can do better than Tim with these Tudor history questions (surely you can!). Get 1 point for each correct answer and question 16 is worth a possible 3 points. The questions are below, and then the answers below that, so please don't look ahead! Good luck!I would just like to say a big thank you for following this channel. I feel so blessed to be able to talk Tudor with you.You can see this podcast as a video at the following link:https://youtu.be/SWf-aQpWios1. King Henry VII united the Houses of Lancaster and York by marrying Elizabeth of York, but who was Elizabeth’s father?2. Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales, eldest son of King Henry VII, died at this castle in April 1502.3. Robert Dudley, Elizabeth’s favourite, was Earl of this English city.4. Robert Dudley was married twice: to Amy Robsart and then to a woman Elizabeth I called the She-Wolf, what was her name?5. What was the name of Lady Jane Grey’s husband?6. This famous mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, occultist and philosopher was an advisor to Queen Elizabeth I. What was his name?7. True or false: Mary I was 42 when she died on 17th November 1558?8. Elizabeth I was said to have been sitting under an oak tree on the estate of this place in 1558 when she was informed that she was queen.9. Henry VIII, Mary I and Elizabeth I were all born at this palace.10. In which battle did the Mary Rose sink on 19th July 1545?11. Edward VI’s council was led first by Edward Seymour, as Lord Protector, and then by another man as Lord President, who was the second leader?12. What was the name of the war between Scotland and England from 1543 to 1551 which aimed to make Scotland marry off Mary, Queen of Scots, to Henry VIII’s son Edward?13. Which Elizabethan playwright wrote Doctor Faustus, Tamburlaine and the Jew of Malta?14. This Protestant woman was illegally racked before being burned at the stake on 16th July 1546.15. This Tudor woman had a dog that she named Gardiner, after her enemy Bishop Stephen Gardiner, which she dressed in a vestment and processed around in “a mock parade” to humiliate the bishop.16. Bonus question (a point for each correct answer) – Mary Queen of Scots was married three times, can you name all 3 of her husbands?---------------------Answers.... NO CHEATING!1. Edward IV2. Ludlow Castle3. Leicester4. Lettice Knollys (or Devereux)5. Guildford Dudley6. Dr John Dee7. True!8. Hatfield House9. Greenwich Palace or the Palace of Placentia10. The Battle of the Solent11. John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland12. The Rough Wooing13. Christopher Marlowe14. Anne Askew15. Catherine Willoughby or Catherine Brandon, Duchess of Suffolk16. Francis (François II); Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, and James Hepburn, 4th Earl of BothwellYou can find Claire at:https://www.theanneboleynfiles.comhttps://www.tudorsociety.comhttps://www.facebook.com/theanneboleynfiles/https://www.facebook.com/tudorsociety/https://twitter.com/AnneBoleynFileshttps://twitter.com/thetudorsocietyhttps://www.instagram.com/tudor.society/https://www.instagram.com/anneboleynfiles/

On today's show I have historical fiction author Janet Wertman. Janet is author of such books as 'Jane the Quene' and 'Path to Somerset', books one and two of her Tudor trilogy. Today we are discussing the characters that her books were based on: Edward Seymour and Jane Seymour. If you'd like to check out Janet's blog you can do so HERE. Check out the Tudor Radio Network! -- Written by: Rebecca Larson Voiced by: Rebecca Larson & Janet Wertman Produced by: Rebecca Larson Imaging by: Troy Larson Music Credits:  Suonatore di Liuto Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ 

  Produced by: Rebecca Larson Music Credits:  Suonatore di Liuto Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ 

Natalie Grueninger speaks with historical fiction writer Janet Wertman about Edward Seymour. Visit Janet Wertman's official website.  Learn more about your host at On the Tudor Trail. Join our Talking Tudors Podcast Facebook group for all the behind-the-scenes news and updates. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank our wonderful Patrons! If you love Talking Tudors and would like to show your appreciation, and support the work I do, I invite you to become a part of the Talking Tudors family and become my patron! Music Break by Jon Sayles.

Within week, Edward Seymour was safely ensconced on the seat of power. But brother Thomas was not impressed, and would involve three women - Catherine Parr, Princess Elizabeth and Jane Grey in his attempt to gain power and influence See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In questa puntata analizziamo il regno di Edoardo VI, erede di Enrico VIII, che salì al trono a nemmeno dieci anni. Data la minore età il potere fu sempre in mano ad altri, nella fattispecie prima nelle mani dello zio Edward Seymour e poi nelle mani del potente John Dudley.  Questi due uomini furono, quasi … Continua la lettura di Edoardo VI: il re ragazzino →

 iTunes  Twitter  Google App!  Stitcher Radio  Facebook  Youtube For over 15 years, Thomas Edward Seymour was CBS News Editor and Internet content creator.  He has been in the entertainment industry, in one facet or another. Thomas has remained almost exclusively underground (except for an occasional New York Times mention, an “Ain’t it Cool” review or a regional NPR appearance). His most notable films are Bikini Bloodbath and Mark of the Beast.  He has also worked on successful web videos that have been shown on “Attack of the Show” and the “Tonight Show”. Some notable online content creators that he has partnered up with also include NBC Universal Digital Studios, College Humor, and Black20.  Tom currently works as tenured college staff in the CUNY system. VHS Massacre is the 9th feature film that Tom has directed, and this is his first documentary. When Tom is not busy making movies he enjoys playing & collecting retro video games, watching bad movies and eating cheese. Join in a conversation with Mr. Thomas Edward Seymour who won Best Documentary film at the Miami International Science Fiction Film Festival. We discuss his lively documentary and explore the rise and fall of physical media and its effect on Independent and cult films. Our conversation will range from the origin of home movies through the video store era. If you have not seen the documentary, you will nevertheless enjoy this episode. We will also cover other aspects of independent film and what direction the industry will find itself in the not so distant future.

This episode of CS is titled is titled “English Candles.”We've spent the last several episodes looking at the Reformation & Counter-Reformation in Europe. In this episode we'll take a look at how the Reformation unfolded, specifically in England.The story of the Church in England is an interesting one. The famous, or infamous, Henry the VIII was king of England when Luther set fire to the kindling of the Reformation. Posturing as a bulwark of Catholic orthodoxy, Henry wrote a refutation of Luther's position in 1521 titled “Defense of the Seven Sacraments” and was rewarded by Pope Leo X with the august title, Defender of the Faith. Ironic then that only about a decade later, Henry would hijack the church, officially ousting the Pope as head of the Church IN England and making himself head of the Church OF England.What makes the story of these years in England so interesting is the marital & political shenanigans Henry VIII played. The intrigues played out for the thrones of Spain, France & England all make for the best drama and most people don't realize that so many of the famous names of history all lived right at this time and knew each other, at least by reputation. If the story was a movie dreamed up in Hollywood, most would consider it too far-fetched.Without getting into the minutiae of the details of Henry's multiple marriages, it was his lust for power & desire to produce a son & heir that motivated him marry, divorce, re-marry and do it all over again. Henry persuaded the Pope to allow him to marry his sister-in-law, that is, his dead brother's wife, Catherine of Aragon, herself the daughter of Queen Isabella & King Ferdinand of Spain, sponsors of Christopher Columbus. Catherine gave Henry a daughter named Mary but no sons. So Henry put her aside and married his mistress, the vivacious & opinionated Anne Boleyn.In order to set Catherine aside so he could wed Anne, Henry had to persuade the Pope, who had taken some persuading to allow him to marry Catherine in the first place, to annul that marriage, saying he ought never have been allowed to marry her in the first place. The archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer was employed by Henry to put pressure on Rome to grant the annulment. But Pope Clement VII wouldn't budge. So in 1531, Henry announced to the clergy they were from then on to look to him as the head of the Church in England. It's at that point we may say that the Church IN England, became the Church OF England.For the next few years, there was effectively little difference between Roman Catholicism and what later came to be called Anglicanism. But under Thomas Cranmer's guidance, the Church of England began a halting process of departure from its Roman past.It seems this departure can be assigned in part to Anne Boleyn. A woman of astute intellect & firm convictions, she found much merit in the Reformed position and had a hand in seeing Thomas Cranmer appointed as Archbishop of Canterbury.Cranmer is an interesting figure. He seems in his early years to vacillate in his opinions and comes off as being anything but the stalwart bulldog of protestant ideals, as a Luther or Calvin. Yet, he went to the stake at the end of his life rather than recant his most dearly held beliefs. And what he did in the Church of England was truly remarkable.Once the break with Rome came, Cranmer quietly set about to install the Reformation ideas of Calvin in England. He didn't really do much while Henry VIII sat the throne but as soon as his reform-minded son Edward became king, he went to work in earnest.Cranmer was born in Nottinghamshire and attended Cambridge, where he was ordained a priest. He threw himself into his studies, becoming an outstanding theologian, a man of immense, though not original, learning. In 1520, he joined other scholars who met regularly to discuss Luther's theological revolt in Europe.Cranmer's theological leanings remained merely academic until he was drawn into the politics of the day. In August 1529, King Henry VIII happened to be in a neighborhood Cranmer was visiting, and he ended up conversing with the king. Henry was trying to figure out how to divorce Catherine so he could wed Anne Boleyn. Impressed with Cranmer's reasoning, Henry commanded Cranmer to write a treatise backing the king's right to divorce and then made Cranmer one of his European ambassadors.It was in this capacity that Cranmer made a trip to Germany, where he met the Lutheran reformer Andreas Osiander, and his niece, Margaret. Both Osiander's theology and niece so appealed to Cranmer, despite his vow to celibacy, he married Margaret in 1532. Because of the complex political situation in England, he kept this a secret.In August 1532, the aged archbishop of Canterbury died, and by March of the next year, Cranmer was consecrated as the new archbishop. Cranmer immediately declared the king's marriage to Catherine void & the king's previously secret union w/Anne Boleyn valid.Cranmer advocated the policy of royal absolutism, or what is popularly known as The Divine Right of Kings. Cranmer said his primary duty was to obey the king, God's chosen, to lead his nation and Church. Time and again in Henry's rocky reign, Cranmer was ordered to support religious policies of which he personally disapproved, and he always obeyed the king. And for this, Cranmer has been labeled a vacillator, a waffler – a leader of uncertain loyalty and fidelity to the Lord. Let's hold off judging that judgment till we see his end.In 1536, he became convinced, he said, by questionable evidence, that Anne had committed adultery, and he invalidated the marriage. In 1540, he ruled Henry's proposed marriage to Anne of Cleves was lawful—and when Henry sought a divorce from her just 6 months later, Cranmer approved it on the grounds the original marriage was unlawful!We'd be wise to be careful of assigning the archbishop the title of lackey. Yes, his flip-flopping on Henry's marital life is distressing, but given what we know about the King, what would have happened if he'd opposed his wishes? He'd have quickly been shorted by about 9 inches and Henry would have appointed a replacement bishop who gave him what he wanted. Cranmer had important work to do in reforming the Church of England and understood he was uniquely positioned to do it. Yeah, Henry VIII was a piece of work. But Cranmer was installing reforms in the Church that would make sure future kings couldn't get away with what Henry was getting away with. Though he bent to the king's will regarding his marital state, time and again, Cranmer alone of all Henry's advisers pleaded for the lives of people who fell out of royal favor, like Sir Thomas More, Anne Boleyn, and Thomas Cromwell. He even publicly argued against Henry's Six Articles, which were aimed at moving England back into the Roman Church. Then, in an apparent sign of weakness, when the Six Articles were approved by Parliament, he went along with the king's policies. But again. What else could he do?Some would say he ought to have stood strong, like Luther at the Diet of Worms. But if he had, it's debatable if the Church of England would have become the Anglican Church. And lest we assume that Henry was just an tyrannical spoiled brat who happened to be king, he intervened on Cranmer behalf when court politics threatened the archbishop's position and life. It was Cranmer Henry asked for on his deathbed.With Henry's death & his sons Edward VI ascension to the throne in 1547, Cranmer's time arrived. The young king's guardian, Edward Seymour, began to make the Church of England determinedly Protestant. Cranmer took the chief role in directing doctrinal matters. He published his Homilies In 1547, which required all clergy to preach sermons emphasizing Reformed doctrine. He composed the first Book of Common Prayer which was only moderately Protestant, in 1549, then followed it up in 1552 by a 2nd edition that was more clearly Protestant. Cranmer also produced the Forty-Two Articles a year later. This was a set of doctrinal statements that moved the Church of England even further in a Reformed, and I mean Calvinist direction.These documents became critical to the formation of Anglicanism, and the Book of Common Prayer (BCP), though revised over the years, still retains Cranmer's distinctive stamp and is used by millions of Anglicans worldwide.When Edward VI died in 1553, Cranmer supported his cousin, the Lady Jane Grey as the new sovereign. She was even more reform minded than Edward had been. While monarch, Edward had changed the rules of succession to ensure she'd receive the crown, and his older half-sister Mary Tudor, as the daughter of Catherine of Aragon, a staunch Roman Catholic, from gaining the throne. But Lady Jane Grey was deposed in only 9 days, and Mary triumphantly entered London.Parliament immediately repealed Henry VIII and Edward VI acts and reintroduced the pro-Catholic heresy laws. Mary's government began a relentless campaign against Protestants. Cranmer was charged with treason and imprisoned in November 1553. After spending nearly 2 years in prison, Cranmer was subjected to a long, tedious trial. The foregone verdict was reached in February 1556, and in a ceremony carefully designed to humiliate him, Cranmer was degraded from his church offices and handed over to be burned at the stake. He was just one of thousands of Protestants to know Queen Mary's fury, earning her the title Bloody Mary.Cranmer's long imprisonment and harsh treatment combined to weaken his resolve. Hoping to avoid the stake, he became convinced he should submit to a Catholic ruler and repudiate his reforms. He signed a document that said, “I confess and believe in one, holy, catholic visible church; I recognize as its supreme head upon earth the bishop of Rome, pope and vicar of Christ, to whom all the faithful are bound subject.”Even with this confession in hand, the Royal Court & Parliament believed Cranmer had to be punished for the havoc he'd wreaked on the Church. The plan was still to burn him at the stake—but he'd be allowed to make one more profession of his Catholic faith and so redeem his soul though his body would perish in the flames.On the night before his execution, Thomas Cranmer was seated in an Oxford cell before a plain wooden desk, weary from months of trial, interrogation, and imprisonment, trying to make sense of his life. Before him lay the speech he was to give the next morning, a speech that repudiated his writings that had denied Catholic teaching. Also before him was another speech, in which he declared the pope “Christ's enemy and antichrist.”Which would he give on the morrow?The next morning he was led into a church, and when it was his turn to speak, he drew out a piece of paper and began to read. He thanked the people for their prayers, then said, “I come to the great thing that troubles my conscience more than any other thing that I ever said or did in my life.” Referring to the recantations he had signed, he blurted out, “All such bills which I have written or signed with my own hand are untrue.”Loud murmurs sped through the congregation, but Cranmer continued, “And as for the pope, I refuse him as Christ's enemy and antichrist, with all his false doctrine. And as for the sacrament—” But no more words were heard by the crowd because Cranmer was dragged from the stage out to the stake. The fire was kindled and quickly the flame leapt up. Cranmer stretched out his right hand, the one who'd written the previous recantation, into the flame and held it there as he said, “This hand has offended.” He died with the words of many of the martyrs, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”Within just 2 years, Elizabeth I ascended the English throne and moved the church back in a Protestant direction, revising Cranmer's 42 Articles to 39, and adopting his Book of Common Prayer as the guide to worship. Today Anglicanism & its New World counterpart in Episcopalianism, is the expression of faith for 50 million worldwide.[1]As we end this episode, I want to mention 2 more who lost their lives in Bloody Mary's purge; Nicolas Ridley & Hugh Latimer.Ridley was Thomas Cranmer's chaplain when Cranmer was Archbishop of Canterbury. He eventually became the bishop of London. He helped Cranmer write the Book of Common Prayer. Ridley was instrumental in altering the interior of the churches of England. He replaced the stone altars with simple wooden tables for the serving of Communion. He shifted the work of priests from sacramental & sacerdotal work inside the church to pastoral work outside it.Hugh Latimer started out as a passionate preacher of Catholicism. When he received a degree in theology in 1524, he delivered a lecture assailing the German Lutheran heir to Luther's legacy, Philip Melanchthon, for his high view of Scripture.Among Latimer's listeners was Thomas Bilney, leader of the Protestants at Cambridge. After the lecture, Bilney asked Latimer to hear his confession. Believing his lecture had converted the evangelical, Latimer readily agreed. The “confession,” however, was a stealthily worded sermon on the comfort and confidence the Scriptures can bring. Latimer was moved to tears, and to Protestantism.Latimer's sermons then targeted Catholicism and social injustice. He preached boldly, daring in 1530 to give a sermon before King Henry VIII that denounced violence as a means of protecting God's Word. For this he won the king's respect.He became one of Henry's chief advisers after the king's break with Rome. Appointed bishop of Worcester, he supported Henry's dissolution of the monasteries. However, when he opposed the Henry's retreat from Protestantism in the Six Articles, he was put under house arrest for 6 years.Freed during the reign of Edward VI, he flourished as one of the Church of England's leading preachers. But with the ascension of Mary, he was again imprisoned, tried, and along with Ridley & Cranmer, condemned to death.According to Foxe's Book of Martyrs, Ridley arrived at the field of execution first. When Latimer arrived, the 2 embraced and Ridley said, “Be of good heart, brother, for God will either assuage the fury of the flame, or else strengthen us to abide it.” They both knelt and prayed before listening to an exhortation from a preacher, as was the custom before an execution for heresy.A blacksmith wrapped an iron chain around the waists of Ridley and Latimer. When the wood was lit, Latimer said, “Be of good comfort, Mr. Ridley, and play the man! We shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust never shall be put out.”As the fire rose Latimer cried out, “O Father of heaven, receive my soul!” and he died almost immediately. Ridley however, hung on, with most of his lower body having burned before he passed from this earth into Heaven's waiti ng arms.[2][1] Galli, M., & Olsen, T. (2000). 131 Christians everyone should know (372–374). Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.[2] ibid

After the tumultuous reign of Henry VIII, in 1547 his young son Edward VI comes to the throne. As a minor, Edward's reign is dominated the machinations of the key men at court, particularly his uncles (Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, and Thomas Seymour), and John Dudley (Duke of Northumberland), while Thomas Cranmer pushes forward radical Protestant reforms. However, Edward himself shows great promise and intelligence and comes to exert a real influence on events, particularly in religion and concerning his oldest sister, Mary. Often dismissed as an insignificant interlude, Edward's reign is another fascinating episode in the Tudor dynasty - but is it a successful one? If you get confused by all the different names (and indeed, promotions mean some people change their name!) check out our Who's Who guide: https://rexfactor.wordpress.com/english-monarchs/whos-who/tudors/whos-who-edward-vi/

This episode of CS is titled is titled “English Candles.”We've spent the last several episodes looking at the Reformation & Counter-Reformation in Europe. In this episode we'll take a look at how the Reformation unfolded, specifically in England.The story of the Church in England is an interesting one. The famous, or infamous, Henry the VIII was king of England when Luther set fire to the kindling of the Reformation. Posturing as a bulwark of Catholic orthodoxy, Henry wrote a refutation of Luther's position in 1521 titled “Defense of the Seven Sacraments” and was rewarded by Pope Leo X with the august title, Defender of the Faith. Ironic then that only about a decade later, Henry would hijack the church, officially ousting the Pope as head of the Church IN England and making himself head of the Church OF England.What makes the story of these years in England so interesting is the marital & political shenanigans Henry VIII played. The intrigues played out for the thrones of Spain, France & England all make for the best drama and most people don't realize that so many of the famous names of history all lived right at this time and knew each other, at least by reputation. If the story was a movie dreamed up in Hollywood, most would consider it too far-fetched.Without getting into the minutiae of the details of Henry's multiple marriages, it was his lust for power & desire to produce a son & heir that motivated him marry, divorce, re-marry and do it all over again. Henry persuaded the Pope to allow him to marry his sister-in-law, that is, his dead brother's wife, Catherine of Aragon, herself the daughter of Queen Isabella & King Ferdinand of Spain, sponsors of Christopher Columbus. Catherine gave Henry a daughter named Mary but no sons. So Henry put her aside and married his mistress, the vivacious & opinionated Anne Boleyn.In order to set Catherine aside so he could wed Anne, Henry had to persuade the Pope, who had taken some persuading to allow him to marry Catherine in the first place, to annul that marriage, saying he ought never have been allowed to marry her in the first place. The archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer was employed by Henry to put pressure on Rome to grant the annulment. But Pope Clement VII wouldn't budge. So in 1531, Henry announced to the clergy they were from then on to look to him as the head of the Church in England. It's at that point we may say that the Church IN England, became the Church OF England.For the next few years, there was effectively little difference between Roman Catholicism and what later came to be called Anglicanism. But under Thomas Cranmer's guidance, the Church of England began a halting process of departure from its Roman past.It seems this departure can be assigned in part to Anne Boleyn. A woman of astute intellect & firm convictions, she found much merit in the Reformed position and had a hand in seeing Thomas Cranmer appointed as Archbishop of Canterbury.Cranmer is an interesting figure. He seems in his early years to vacillate in his opinions and comes off as being anything but the stalwart bulldog of protestant ideals, as a Luther or Calvin. Yet, he went to the stake at the end of his life rather than recant his most dearly held beliefs. And what he did in the Church of England was truly remarkable.Once the break with Rome came, Cranmer quietly set about to install the Reformation ideas of Calvin in England. He didn't really do much while Henry VIII sat the throne but as soon as his reform-minded son Edward became king, he went to work in earnest.Cranmer was born in Nottinghamshire and attended Cambridge, where he was ordained a priest. He threw himself into his studies, becoming an outstanding theologian, a man of immense, though not original, learning. In 1520, he joined other scholars who met regularly to discuss Luther's theological revolt in Europe.Cranmer's theological leanings remained merely academic until he was drawn into the politics of the day. In August 1529, King Henry VIII happened to be in a neighborhood Cranmer was visiting, and he ended up conversing with the king. Henry was trying to figure out how to divorce Catherine so he could wed Anne Boleyn. Impressed with Cranmer's reasoning, Henry commanded Cranmer to write a treatise backing the king's right to divorce and then made Cranmer one of his European ambassadors.It was in this capacity that Cranmer made a trip to Germany, where he met the Lutheran reformer Andreas Osiander, and his niece, Margaret. Both Osiander's theology and niece so appealed to Cranmer, despite his vow to celibacy, he married Margaret in 1532. Because of the complex political situation in England, he kept this a secret.In August 1532, the aged archbishop of Canterbury died, and by March of the next year, Cranmer was consecrated as the new archbishop. Cranmer immediately declared the king's marriage to Catherine void & the king's previously secret union w/Anne Boleyn valid.Cranmer advocated the policy of royal absolutism, or what is popularly known as The Divine Right of Kings. Cranmer said his primary duty was to obey the king, God's chosen, to lead his nation and Church. Time and again in Henry's rocky reign, Cranmer was ordered to support religious policies of which he personally disapproved, and he always obeyed the king. And for this, Cranmer has been labeled a vacillator, a waffler – a leader of uncertain loyalty and fidelity to the Lord. Let's hold off judging that judgment till we see his end.In 1536, he became convinced, he said, by questionable evidence, that Anne had committed adultery, and he invalidated the marriage. In 1540, he ruled Henry's proposed marriage to Anne of Cleves was lawful—and when Henry sought a divorce from her just 6 months later, Cranmer approved it on the grounds the original marriage was unlawful!We'd be wise to be careful of assigning the archbishop the title of lackey. Yes, his flip-flopping on Henry's marital life is distressing, but given what we know about the King, what would have happened if he'd opposed his wishes? He'd have quickly been shorted by about 9 inches and Henry would have appointed a replacement bishop who gave him what he wanted. Cranmer had important work to do in reforming the Church of England and understood he was uniquely positioned to do it. Yeah, Henry VIII was a piece of work. But Cranmer was installing reforms in the Church that would make sure future kings couldn't get away with what Henry was getting away with. Though he bent to the king's will regarding his marital state, time and again, Cranmer alone of all Henry's advisers pleaded for the lives of people who fell out of royal favor, like Sir Thomas More, Anne Boleyn, and Thomas Cromwell. He even publicly argued against Henry's Six Articles, which were aimed at moving England back into the Roman Church. Then, in an apparent sign of weakness, when the Six Articles were approved by Parliament, he went along with the king's policies. But again. What else could he do?Some would say he ought to have stood strong, like Luther at the Diet of Worms. But if he had, it's debatable if the Church of England would have become the Anglican Church. And lest we assume that Henry was just an tyrannical spoiled brat who happened to be king, he intervened on Cranmer behalf when court politics threatened the archbishop's position and life. It was Cranmer Henry asked for on his deathbed.With Henry's death & his sons Edward VI ascension to the throne in 1547, Cranmer's time arrived. The young king's guardian, Edward Seymour, began to make the Church of England determinedly Protestant. Cranmer took the chief role in directing doctrinal matters. He published his Homilies In 1547, which required all clergy to preach sermons emphasizing Reformed doctrine. He composed the first Book of Common Prayer which was only moderately Protestant, in 1549, then followed it up in 1552 by a 2nd edition that was more clearly Protestant. Cranmer also produced the Forty-Two Articles a year later. This was a set of doctrinal statements that moved the Church of England even further in a Reformed, and I mean Calvinist direction.These documents became critical to the formation of Anglicanism, and the Book of Common Prayer (BCP), though revised over the years, still retains Cranmer's distinctive stamp and is used by millions of Anglicans worldwide.When Edward VI died in 1553, Cranmer supported his cousin, the Lady Jane Grey as the new sovereign. She was even more reform minded than Edward had been. While monarch, Edward had changed the rules of succession to ensure she'd receive the crown, and his older half-sister Mary Tudor, as the daughter of Catherine of Aragon, a staunch Roman Catholic, from gaining the throne. But Lady Jane Grey was deposed in only 9 days, and Mary triumphantly entered London.Parliament immediately repealed Henry VIII and Edward VI acts and reintroduced the pro-Catholic heresy laws. Mary's government began a relentless campaign against Protestants. Cranmer was charged with treason and imprisoned in November 1553. After spending nearly 2 years in prison, Cranmer was subjected to a long, tedious trial. The foregone verdict was reached in February 1556, and in a ceremony carefully designed to humiliate him, Cranmer was degraded from his church offices and handed over to be burned at the stake. He was just one of thousands of Protestants to know Queen Mary's fury, earning her the title Bloody Mary.Cranmer's long imprisonment and harsh treatment combined to weaken his resolve. Hoping to avoid the stake, he became convinced he should submit to a Catholic ruler and repudiate his reforms. He signed a document that said, “I confess and believe in one, holy, catholic visible church; I recognize as its supreme head upon earth the bishop of Rome, pope and vicar of Christ, to whom all the faithful are bound subject.”Even with this confession in hand, the Royal Court & Parliament believed Cranmer had to be punished for the havoc he'd wreaked on the Church. The plan was still to burn him at the stake—but he'd be allowed to make one more profession of his Catholic faith and so redeem his soul though his body would perish in the flames.On the night before his execution, Thomas Cranmer was seated in an Oxford cell before a plain wooden desk, weary from months of trial, interrogation, and imprisonment, trying to make sense of his life. Before him lay the speech he was to give the next morning, a speech that repudiated his writings that had denied Catholic teaching. Also before him was another speech, in which he declared the pope “Christ's enemy and antichrist.”Which would he give on the morrow?The next morning he was led into a church, and when it was his turn to speak, he drew out a piece of paper and began to read. He thanked the people for their prayers, then said, “I come to the great thing that troubles my conscience more than any other thing that I ever said or did in my life.” Referring to the recantations he had signed, he blurted out, “All such bills which I have written or signed with my own hand are untrue.”Loud murmurs sped through the congregation, but Cranmer continued, “And as for the pope, I refuse him as Christ's enemy and antichrist, with all his false doctrine. And as for the sacrament—” But no more words were heard by the crowd because Cranmer was dragged from the stage out to the stake. The fire was kindled and quickly the flame leapt up. Cranmer stretched out his right hand, the one who'd written the previous recantation, into the flame and held it there as he said, “This hand has offended.” He died with the words of many of the martyrs, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”Within just 2 years, Elizabeth I ascended the English throne and moved the church back in a Protestant direction, revising Cranmer's 42 Articles to 39, and adopting his Book of Common Prayer as the guide to worship. Today Anglicanism & its New World counterpart in Episcopalianism, is the expression of faith for 50 million worldwide.[1]As we end this episode, I want to mention 2 more who lost their lives in Bloody Mary's purge; Nicolas Ridley & Hugh Latimer.Ridley was Thomas Cranmer's chaplain when Cranmer was Archbishop of Canterbury. He eventually became the bishop of London. He helped Cranmer write the Book of Common Prayer. Ridley was instrumental in altering the interior of the churches of England. He replaced the stone altars with simple wooden tables for the serving of Communion. He shifted the work of priests from sacramental & sacerdotal work inside the church to pastoral work outside it.Hugh Latimer started out as a passionate preacher of Catholicism. When he received a degree in theology in 1524, he delivered a lecture assailing the German Lutheran heir to Luther's legacy, Philip Melanchthon, for his high view of Scripture.Among Latimer's listeners was Thomas Bilney, leader of the Protestants at Cambridge. After the lecture, Bilney asked Latimer to hear his confession. Believing his lecture had converted the evangelical, Latimer readily agreed. The “confession,” however, was a stealthily worded sermon on the comfort and confidence the Scriptures can bring. Latimer was moved to tears, and to Protestantism.Latimer's sermons then targeted Catholicism and social injustice. He preached boldly, daring in 1530 to give a sermon before King Henry VIII that denounced violence as a means of protecting God's Word. For this he won the king's respect.He became one of Henry's chief advisers after the king's break with Rome. Appointed bishop of Worcester, he supported Henry's dissolution of the monasteries. However, when he opposed the Henry's retreat from Protestantism in the Six Articles, he was put under house arrest for 6 years.Freed during the reign of Edward VI, he flourished as one of the Church of England's leading preachers. But with the ascension of Mary, he was again imprisoned, tried, and along with Ridley & Cranmer, condemned to death.According to Foxe's Book of Martyrs, Ridley arrived at the field of execution first. When Latimer arrived, the 2 embraced and Ridley said, “Be of good heart, brother, for God will either assuage the fury of the flame, or else strengthen us to abide it.” They both knelt and prayed before listening to an exhortation from a preacher, as was the custom before an execution for heresy.A blacksmith wrapped an iron chain around the waists of Ridley and Latimer. When the wood was lit, Latimer said, “Be of good comfort, Mr. Ridley, and play the man! We shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust never shall be put out.”As the fire rose Latimer cried out, “O Father of heaven, receive my soul!” and he died almost immediately. Ridley however, hung on, with most of his lower body having burned before he passed from this earth into Heaven's waiti ng arms.[2][1] Galli, M., & Olsen, T. (2000). 131 Christians everyone should know (372–374). Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.[2] ibid