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The Secret Lives of Elizabethans
The reign of Elizabeth I was a time of divisive political intrigues, foreign perils and power struggles among strong willed and contentious individuals. Those involved, like all of us today, sometimes made decisions and took actions for highly personal reasons that most history books never discuss.
It is these highly personal relationships and the secrets behind them that I focus on in this blog. Without the darker and personal truths - the intrigues, spies, affairs, bastards, treacheries, betrayals, murders, and the daily violence - Elizabethans become one dimensional paragons of boring virtue.
Not to mention that the best parts of the story would be missing. Read on!
Was Queen Elizabeth I Vain? The Bizarre Blue Starch Fashion Law That Says She Was
Queen Elizabeth I once threatened her subjects with imprisonment for wearing blue-starched ruffs. Discover the bizarre history behind one of Tudor England’s weirdest fashion laws, and what it reveals about beauty, power, and control in her court.
Where Did Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford Go When He Vanished from Plague-Stricken Venice?
Edward de Vere vanished for roughly four months during Venice’s 1575 plague. Can history, maps, and Virgil’s Aeneid shed light on where he went? Does his remarkable journey illuminate Shakespeare’s Mediterranean plays?
How Queen Elizabeth I Trained Young Noblemen as Diplomats, Soldiers and Spies
The Elizabethan Grand Tour is a myth. Queen Elizabeth sent young noblemen abroad, including Philip Sidney, Edward de Vere, Robert Devereux, Henry Wriothesley and Edward Manners to train as diplomats, soldiers and spies, not tourists.
What Actually Happened on Midsummer’s Night in Tudor England and Why Shakespeare Set His Play in the Woods
Most readers think A Midsummer Night’s Dream is about fairies, love potions and a man with a donkey’s head. But in Tudor England, Midsummer Night was something else entirely. It was the night was when people slipped into the woods, the rules loosened, and by morning . . . no one asked too many questions.
How Mary de Vere Risked Everything to Marry Peregrine Bertie – and Outmaneuvered Everyone
Mary de Vere faced fierce resistance to marry Peregrine Bertie. She turned the Duchess of Suffolk from enemy to ally by revealing a dangerous Elizabethan secret that changed everything.
Why Religion Was Such a Dangerous Mess in Elizabeth I’s England, and How the Fitzalan Chapel Still Shows Her Plan for Fixing It
A plain-English look at why religion nearly tore Elizabethan England apart—and how a hidden chapel in Arundel still shows Queen Elizabeth I’s attempt to heal the Catholic–Protestant divide.
Did Queen Elizabeth I Have a Secret Violent Streak?
Did Queen Elizabeth I Get Violent? Did she really break fingers and stab tapestries? And was she Shakespeare’s Real-Life Source? Discover how Shakespeare used real Tudor court scandals to create iconic scenes in Hamlet and his other plays.
Did Queen Elizabeth I Use Swear Words?
An Elizabethan Secret the courtiers of Queen Elizabeth I repeated only in whispers: the Virgin Queen of England had a fiery temper and when she lost it, she swore — spectacularly. Her favorite oath? Not the gentlewomanly “fie,” not the earnest “forsooth,” but the very words that made Puritans faint and Anglican bishops clutch their sleeves: a thunderous “God’s death!”
Abortion and the Secret Language of Elizabethan Women’s Medicine
Elizabethan women kept many secrets, but none more forbidden than how to end an unwanted pregnancy. Elizabethans were masters of saying one thing and meaning another — especially about women’s bodies. Herbal abortion remedies, what we today would call “abortifacients” (a 19th century term), hid under euphemisms. In winter 1574, eighteen-year-old Anne Cecil, has a problem. She is throwing up - and late. Yes, that kind of “late”.
The Three Cooke Sisters: Were They the Real “Witches” in Shakespeare’s Macbeth?
Those three hags on the Scottish heath known as Macbeth’s “witches” bear remarkable resemblances to the Cooke sisters, three politically influential Elizabethan women who were known for making prophesies, wreaking revenge and cooking up strange recipes in their kitchen cauldrons.
Canterbury Cathedral, Tudor Heroines, and My Writing Life
On my third research trip to Canterbury Cathedral’s cloister, I finally figured out why I was there – not from Chaucer’s pilgrims, but when two of my Tudor heroines stepped out of the shadows beneath its heraldic galaxy. Travel, writing life and the secrets the cloister keeps.
How Shakespeare Encoded History, French Diplomacy and the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre into Love’s Labour’s Lost
Shakespeare's Love’s Labour’s Lost is based on historical events and real individuals. Years after the bloody St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre in France, Queen Elizabeth I’s court chuckled at the expense of those involved in its coverup because Shakespeare had cast them in the comic brilliance of Love’s Labour’s Lost. Moth, Don Adriano, The King of Navarre and The Princess of France all have historical counterparts.
The St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre: How an Intercepted Letter Exposed the Cover-up of the Slaughter and Reshaped Elizabeth I’s England
In August 1572, the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre left over 10,000 Huguenots dead in Paris alone. France’s King Charles IX and its Queen Mother Catherine de Medici had turned their sister’s and daughter’s royal wedding into a death trap. The news shook Elizabeth I’s Protestant England to its core. One intercepted letter reshaped it.
Let’s Party Like It’s 1572: Elizabeth I’s Summer Progress and the Fireworks That Set Off the Dudley vs. De Vere Rivalry
Join Queen Elizabeth I and her court in the heart of Warwickshire for the summer of 1572’s hottest event! Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, hosts the Queen at Warwick Castle and Kenilworth Castle for his all-out charm offensive with an eye to launch a marriage proposal to become King Robert I of England.
A Royal Proclamation On Elizabethan Ruffs, Cloaks and Concealed Weapons
What happened when Queen Elizabeth—and her ever-watchful Privy Council—thought Tudor men’s fashions had gone too far? The year was 1580, and what began as a style trend had spiraled into something more dangerous: a cloak-and-dagger culture, with real cloaks . . . and real daggers. It was clearly time for a royal crackdown on ruffs, cloaks and concealed weapons.
💘 5 Swoon-Worthy Pieces of Elizabethan Men’s Fashion We Wish We Could Revive
5 Pieces of Elizabethan Men’s Court Fashion We’re Secretly Sorry We Left Behind.
Jane Guildford Dudley: The Mystery Master Negotiator Who Saved Robert Dudley’s Neck
Jane Guildford Dudley, Tudor strategist extraordinaire, was no ordinary noblewoman. She aided her husband’s meteoric rise to power, suffered his catastrophic fall, and came up with a brilliant plan to save her remaining family.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream: The Queen, the Duke and the Drama – Act IV
Queen Elizabeth I, desperate to rid herself of “frog” prince Alencon, devised an audacious plan: a grueling mid-winter royal progress.
Power, Secrets and Intrigue: Sailing on Queen Elizabeth’s Royal Barge
Explore what it was like to travel on Queen Elizabeth’s royal barge and how Shakespeare transformed Elizabeth into Cleopatra.
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“Merry old England” contained mysteries and secrets more complex, dangerous and beautiful than we’ve been led to believe.
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