October 1536, Skippton Castle, Henry Clifford, the first Earl of Cumberland, stands on the battlements watching 40,000 rebels camp in the Yorkshire Dales below.

The pilgrimage of grace is swept across northern England like a plague. Banners bearing the five wounds of Christ

flutter over an army that once Henry the 8th's Protestant advisors dead and the old faith restored.

Clifford's pantry is running low. His own tenants argue in the courtyards. Some want to join the rebels,

others say stick with the king. The Earl's

steward reports that three more villages have declared for the pilgrims. A messenger from the rebel

captain Robert Ask demands Clifford open his gates or face siege. Clifford doesn't open them, he talks

instead, promises to carry petitions to London,

swears he shares their concerns about church policy, anything to buy time while Henry VIII musters

his forces in the South. This choice will define the Clifford's for generations.

Three hundred years they've held these northern strongholds,

transforming from Norman Raiders into border wardens,

from medieval muscle into Tudor courtiers.

Their story runs from Bannockburn's slaughter to Elizabeth's court,

from a lord who supposedly lived as a shepherd,

to a woman who rebuilt castles with lawsuit money and left us the most detailed diary in English literature. Welcome to the

rise and resurrection of England's most stubborn northern dynasty.

Music most stubborn Northern Dynasty. Hello, friend.

Welcome back 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. I am your host, Heather, and as

always, I am delighted that you are here with me today talking about the Clifford family.

...