3. Story of England: Tudor Feuds, Explorers and Fanatics
Dan Snow's History Hit
History Hit
4.7 • 13.7K Ratings
🗓️ 23 May 2023
⏱️ 53 minutes
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Summary
The Tudors were the dynasty that had it all- power, family feuds, sex and scandal. Dan couldn't do a history of England without a hearty helping of our favourite family and for this episode, he's joined in the Elizabethan garden at mighty Kenilworth Castle by Dr Joanne Paul who tells the intricate story of the powerful Queen Elizabeth I and her mutual infatuation with Sir Robert Dudley, to whom she gifted the castle. Meanwhile, pirate expert and historian Angus Konstam delves into tales of pillaging, plundering and the Elizabethan Sea Dogs, who took to the high seas to steal from the Spanish and acquire new lands for England, establishing lost colonies, engaging in slavery and looting along the way. It’s a whistle-stop tour of this period of upheaval in England as Dan makes his way to Boscobel House to see the Royal Oak, the hiding place of Charles II from the parliamentarians after his father was executed by Cromwell’s roundheads in the English Civil War.
Produced by Mariana Des Forges and sound-designed and mixed by Dougal Patmore. Artwork by Teet Ottin.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | On the mid-summer morning in 1485, Henry Chouda, an army of 2,000 men sailed across the English |
| 0:10.0 | Channel from France, landing in his birthplace, Wales. |
| 0:15.9 | His army marched north, amassing more men as it went. |
| 0:19.9 | They were preparing for a battle that would usher in a new ruling dynasty, the Chouda's. |
| 0:29.7 | Henry had been born in Pembroke Castle 28 years early. |
| 0:34.4 | His family was a junior branch of the House of Plantageant, which had ruled England since |
| 0:40.0 | 1154. Over that 300-year reign, England had flourished, parliament emerged, Westminster |
| 0:47.7 | Abbey had been rebuilt, and the country's first universities, Oxford and Cambridge were |
| 0:52.7 | established. It was the era of Chaucer and Magna Carta. |
| 0:57.4 | But it was also a time of bloody conflict and unrest, both for the country and within |
| 1:03.2 | the Royal House. For the entirety of Henry Chouda's life, the country had been embroiled |
| 1:09.2 | in the Hundred Years' War, and then the Wars of the Roses. |
| 1:16.0 | The most of the 15th century, the House of Plantageant had been firmly divided into two, |
| 1:22.2 | a House of York and a House of Lancaster. For years, cousins on both sides vied for the |
| 1:28.3 | right to the English throne. Those arguments eventually erupted into full-blown battles |
| 1:34.2 | across the country. For over 30 years, the family was at war with itself. It all came to |
| 1:41.0 | a head in August 1485. |
| 1:45.6 | Henry, a Lancastrian, arrived in England with his army. He was unfamiliar with the land |
| 1:53.0 | he was trying to conquer. He spent the first half of his life in Wales and the next half |
| 1:57.8 | in exile in Brittany and France. Though he didn't care much for battles and he wasn't much |
| 2:02.9 | of a warrior, he was strong and decisive. He marched on London. But word reached the |
| 2:10.0 | reigning King Richard III, a Yorkist who assembled his own, much larger and more formidable |
... |
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