Hello and welcome to the Renaissance English History Podcast, a member of the Agora Podcast Network.

I'm your host, Heather Tesco.

Today I want to do a short supplemental episode telling you about a little known

event, one that has just been researched in the new book, Eric and Robert, Elizabeth's

dueling suitors by Dr. John Stilkington. Many of you will have known the Swedish king, Eric

the 14th of the House of Vasa, was an early suitor for Elizabeth's hands. Even during the reign of Mary,

he was courting her, and Mary had actually been quite supportive, thinking that sending her

attractive and popular sister to be the queen of Sweden would be a good idea. But Elizabeth said

she never wanted to marry and managed his doll for time. Once Elizabeth became queen,

Eric increased his efforts to woo the queen. At the same time,

her favorite, Robert Dudley, was also planning his moves, seeing whether or not he might be able

to make a bid for the queen's heart. Wisely keeping his wife Amy away from court, the relationship

between Robert and Elizabeth became scandalous, not just in England, but also

in courts throughout Europe. Now, Eric heard through the grapevine that his prized queen,

on whom he had invested so much energy in time and built up such a romantic fantasy about,

was potentially slipping away from him, and he decided to do something drastic. The idea that

he wanted to visit Elizabeth isn't new to scholars. There's a famous letter from Elizabeth where she tries to put him off visiting by saying that she doesn't feel the same way about him as he does about her, and that she really hasn't felt that way for anyone yet. But here's where the new research by Dr. Stilkington comes into play. Dr. Stilkington has unearthed letters and papers

showing that Eric managed to board a boat, unbeknownst to anyone, pretending to be a ship's hand

and making it to England in secret. He landed in Dover in the springtime of 1560 and made his way to

London, still pretending to be a commoner. During this time he kept a journal, which

Dr. Stilkington has used extensively in his research. His descriptions of Tudor London are among

the most vivid that we have now, putting Stowe's survey to shame in some respects. He openly

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