Hello, friend, and welcome to the Renaissance English History Podcast, a part of the

Agora podcast network, and the original Tudor history podcast, telling stories of Tudor England since 2009.

It's actually Labor Day 2009. So it's coming up on 15 years exactly in another two months.

And we're going to have some fun things to do to celebrate in the next month or so. So stay tuned for that.

But in the meantime, I am your host, Heather Tesco, and I'm a

storyteller who makes history accessible because I believe it's a pathway to understanding who we

are, our place in the universe, and being so much more deeply in touch with our own humanity.

I am podcasting to you this time, coming to you today, from sunny San Diego, California, where I was at the American

Library Association conference. So that was a good chance to reconnect with some friends I

hadn't seen in a long time. And speaking of friends today, we are going to be talking about

the power of friendship and one

friendship in particular. It's Maria Desilinas. So a couple of weeks ago I did a YouTube

video on Catherine Willoughby. And then I thought, I really should do something on Maria

Desalinas because she's amazing.

And then maybe I turned that YouTube video I did two weeks ago, maybe three weeks ago,

into a full episode here in the next couple of weeks as well.

Catherine Willoughby was her daughter.

And Maria Desalinas was one of the most devoted and loyal figures in Tudor history. She's often overshadowed by more prominent figures of her time, but of course her story is one of unwavering

friendship and steadfast loyalty, particularly to Catherine of Aragon, the first wife, of course, of

Henry VIII. Maria De Salinas was not just a lady in waiting.

She was Catherine's confidant, her rock, and her companion through some of the darkest times of

her life. From their initial meeting in Spain to the heartbreaking final moments at

...