Lucy Wooding on Tudor England: A History

Folger Shakespeare Library: Shakespeare Unlimited

Folger Shakespeare Library

Arts

4.7 • 837 Ratings

🗓️ 31 January 2023

⏱️ 32 minutes

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Summary

We can’t seem to get enough of the Tudor dynasty and its soap-opera twists. But in her book Tudor England: A History, Lucy Wooding argues that to really know the Tudors you must look past the famous names and racy plotlines. While Wooding visits the period’s kings and queens—was Henry VIII the lusty man we imagine? How “bloody” was Mary? What about Henry VII?—she also leaves the court to roam England’s streets and fields. Wooding’s book is a beautifully written account of period's society, culture, and beliefs that the Times of London has called a “classic in the making.” She discusses the Tudors and our major misconceptions about them with host Barbara Bogaev. Lucy Wooding is the Langford Fellow and Tutor in History at Lincoln College, Oxford University. Her book Tudor England: A History is out now from Yale University Press. From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast. Published January 31, 2023. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. This episode was produced by Matt Frassica. Garland Scott is the associate producer. It was edited by Gail Kern Paster. Ben Lauer is the web producer. Leonor Fernandez edits a transcript of every episode, available at folger.edu. We had technical help from Tiffany Cassidy in Oxford and from VoiceTrax West in Studio City, California. Final mixing services provided by Clean Cuts at Three Seas, Inc.

Transcript

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0:00.0	We can't seem to get enough of the Tudor dynasty in all of its soap opera twists.
0:06.0	But to really know the Tudors, you have to look past the famous names and racy plotlines.
0:16.0	From the Fulcher Shakespeare Library, this is Shakespeare Unlimited. I'm Michael Whitmore, the Fulcher Shakespeare Library, this is Shakespeare Unlimited.
0:21.8	I'm Michael Whitmore, the Fulcher director.
0:24.8	Lucy Wooding teaches history at Oxford University and is the author of a biography of Henry
0:30.3	the Eighth.
0:31.4	Her latest book is a sweeping overview of the entire Tudor period.
0:36.5	And it's full of surprises.
0:39.0	For example, Henry VIII wasn't nearly the lusty man he's been made out to be.
0:45.1	Mary the First never deserved her bloody nickname.
0:49.0	And if you want a shrewd, effective, intellectually gifted monarch look no further than the frequently ignored
0:56.5	Henry the 7. Wooding's book covers all the juicy drama of the Tudor nobility, but she argues
1:05.1	there's only so much you can learn about the period by following the ups and downs at court.
1:13.1	To get a real sense of what life was like, you have to get out in the streets and in the fields. She opens her book with a chapter
1:19.5	about the almost mystical connection Tudor people felt to the land that they inhabited.
1:26.2	Lucy Wooding's Tudor England, a a history is a beautifully written account of the society,
1:31.4	culture, and beliefs of the Tudor period.
1:34.4	Along the way, she punctures many of the stubborn myths that cling to the period and its
1:39.8	headlining figures.
1:41.6	The Times of London called it a classic in the making. Here's Lucy
1:46.3	Wooding in conversation with Barbara Bogave. Well, the first and maybe overarching point
1:55.6	that you make in your book is that Tudor England, as most of us think of it from depictions in
	...

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