top of page
Blog
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!
Shakespeare Set A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Athens. But Which Athens?
Could Shakespeare’s Athens in A Midsummer Night's Dream have been inspired by Sabbioneta in northern Italy? Explore the clues in one remarkable, forgotten Renaissance city, known as “Little Athens”.
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.
Queen Elizabeth I, Edward Coke and the “Queen Bee” Parliamentary Speech of 1593
In 1593, Edward Coke compared Queen Elizabeth I to a queen bee before Parliament. The biology was wrong. The politics were fascinating. The episode offers a wonderfully revealing glimpse into Elizabethan life, and the patience required of her while others droned on and on.
Which of Queen Elizabeth I’s Favorites Died With the Most Debt? The Answer to a Tudor Puzzle
Which Elizabethan Court Favorite Died With the Most Debt? Leicester, Hatton, Sidney and Warwick died burdened by enormous debt. Discover how Edward de Vere and Elizabeth Trentham used a remarkable legal strategy to protect their family.
Five of Queen Elizabeth I’s Most Powerful Courtiers’ Lavish Lives and Hidden Debts
How wealthy were Queen Elizabeth I’s courtiers, really? Rank Robert Dudley, Ambrose Dudley, Philip Sidney, Christopher Hatton, and Edward de Vere in a Tudor puzzle of debt, status, and survival at court.
Did Shakespeare Steal This Scene? Mary de Vere and the Real Paulina in The Winter’s Tale
Did Shakespeare draw on a real Tudor scandal for The Winter’s Tale? A 1577 letter from the Duchess of Suffolk reveals how Mary de Vere used court politics, family tensions, and a carefully deployed baby in a drama that closely mirrors Paulina and Perdita.
Elizabethan Spies and Plots: How Francis Walsingham Caught Ambassadors Plotting to Overthrow Queen Elizabeth I
In 1583, Francis Walsingham uncovered a covert plot involving the Spanish and French ambassadors, and England’s own envoy to France, to replace Queen Elizabeth I with Mary, Queen of Scots.
Catrin Glyndŵr, Lady Mortimer: When the Welsh Lady Speaks in Henry IV, Part 1
Who was the Welsh Lady in Henry IV, Part I? Discover the real Catrin Glyndŵr, Lady Mortimer, her role on Shakespeare’s stage, and the London church where her memory may have shaped the play.
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.
🦢 The Secret Lies with Swans
Why did Ben Jonson call Shakespeare the “Sweet Swan of Avon”? Discover how Elizabethan understood swans, royal power, Tudor spectacle, and the hidden meanings beneath one of literature’s most famous lines.
💌 How the Tudors Kept Their Love Letters Secret
Tudor letterlocking, wax seals, silk threads, codes and post-haste courier delivery. How Peregrine Bertie’s forbidden love letter reached Mary Vere.
💌 Love in Lockdown: How Peregrine Bertie Wrote a Secret Love Letter to Mary de Vere
Discover how in Tudor England, Peregrine Bertie wrote a secret love letter to Mary Vere by mixing homemade ink and cutting his own goose-quill pens — even while locked up. The first of two posts on the art and craft of Elizabethan letter-writing and delivery.
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!”
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.
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.
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.
John Knox’s Trumpet Blast Against the “Regimens” of Mary Queen of Scots, Mary I and Elizabeth I
John Knox, exiled Scottish Protestant preacher, published his long, loud polemic, The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstruous Regimen of Women, in 1558. His targets? Mary I of England, Mary Guise, Regent of Scotland, Mary Queen of Scots, and Elizabeth I of England.
💘 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.
🎀 5 Pieces of Elizabethan Ladies’ Court Fashion We’re Secretly Glad to Leave Behind!
Elizabethan court fashion? Stunning. Iconic. Gloriously dramatic. Prescribed by the period’s Sumptuary Laws which dictated the fabric, furs and colors you could wear based on your rank. While the final result dazzled, some of those fashion choices? Absolutely bonkers. Here, in ascending order, are 5 Elizabethan court fashion nightmares we're very glad to leave in the wardrobe in history’s attic.
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.
Subscribe
Don’t miss a single scandal!
Hop in the time machine to get the latest news from 400 years ago and receive a FREE ebook, "8 Elizabethan Facts You May Think are Historical Fiction... But You Would be Mistaken"!
“Merry old England” contained mysteries and secrets more complex, dangerous and beautiful than we’ve been led to believe.
bottom of page