Talking Tudors

Host Natalie Grueninger welcomes Dr Ashley Douglas to discuss her new book, 'With My Own Hand: The Secret Life of Marie Maitland, Scotland's Sixteenth-Century Sappho'. They discuss the life and poems of Marie Maitland, a 16th-century Scottish scribe whose Maitland Quarto contains early sapphic verse.

The episode explores Marie's family and court connections, her role as her blind father's secretary, the manuscript's anonymous female poems, and the wider significance for women's and LGBT+ history in Reformation Scotland.

VISIT DR DOUGLAS' OFFICIAL WEBSITE

https://ashleydouglas.scot/

TAKEAWAY

https://www.rps.ac.uk/

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Host Natalie Grueninger and Dr Owen Emmerson examine Thomas Boleyn’s November–December 1526 financial accounts, revealing the family’s substantial landholdings, household expenses, and wide social networks just before Anne Boleyn’s rise.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THR QUEEN ANNE BOLEYN MEMORIAL 

https://anneboleynmemorial.co.uk/

https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/qab-memorial?utm_medium=CA&utm_source=CL

 

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In this episode Natalie Grueninger interviews Dr Valerie Schutte about her upcoming cultural biography of Anne of Cleves. They re-examine long-standing myths about Anne's appearance, birthdate, and role in Tudor politics, by returning to contemporary sources and continental perspectives.

The conversation also covers Anne's portrayal in art (including Holbein’s portraits), surviving books and dedications, the politics surrounding her divorce from Henry VIII, and how her reputation has evolved across centuries. Schutte's book is published July 3, 2026.

Visit Dr Schutte's official website

https://tudorqueenship.com/

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Natalie Grueninger interviews Cait Murphy-Hurrell about Edmund Spenser's 'The Faerie Queene', exploring the poem's rich allegory, its portrayal of villainous women and otherness, and how Spenser reflects Elizabethan politics, religion, and his experiences in Ireland.

Check out Cait's Substack!

https://caitmurphyhurrell.substack.com/

Visit 'The Renaissance Academy'

https://therenaissanceacademic.com/group-events

JOIN 365 DAYS IN ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND

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Host Natalie Grueninger interviews historian Amy McElroy about Desiderius Erasmus, exploring his mysterious early life, education, travels across Europe, and key works such as 'Praise of Folly' and his Greek-Latin New Testament.

The conversation covers Erasmus’s influence on Tudor education and humanism, his relationships with Thomas More and Martin Luther, and his complex legacy as a Catholic reformer and leading Renaissance scholar.

This episode of Talking Tudors was made possible by 'Simply Tudor Tours'. Check out their new Anne Boleyn & Elizabeth I Tour!

https://simplytudortours.com/anne-boleyn-and-elizabeth-i-tour

Visit Amy's Substack!

https://amymcelroy.substack.com/

JOIN 365 DAYS IN ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND

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Support Talking Tudors on Patreon!