Hi, I'm historian Claire Ridgway
I'm the best-selling author of 15 history books and the founder of the TheAnneBoleynFiles.com, Elizabethfiles.com and The Tudor Society.
I help Tudor history lovers worldwide to gain access to experts and resources to discover the real stories behind myths and fiction, so that they grow in knowledge while connecting with like-minded people and indulging their passion for history.
How I can help you...
My latest youtube video
Margaret Tudor’s Flight: The 1515 Escape that Led to a United Crown
On 30 September 1515, Margaret Tudor, Henry VIII’s elder sister and widow of James IV, slipped across the Scottish border into England: heavily pregnant, newly remarried, and out of power. ...Her dash to Harbottle Castle set up a birth with huge consequences: Lady Margaret Douglas, whose line would help unite the Tudor and Stuart claims.
In this episode I set the scene:
The glittering 1503 marriage to James IV and the Flodden aftermath
How Margaret lost the regency by marrying for love: Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus
Duke of Albany takes control, and the royal children
The 1515 flight to Harbottle and the birth (8 Oct) of Lady Margaret Douglas
Why Henry VIII offered hospitality, not armies
Margaret’s return in 1517, and how her daughter’s marriage to Matthew Stewart, Earl of Lennox produced Lord Darnley, and, in the next generation, James VI & I, uniting the crowns in 1603
Question: Was Margaret’s remarriage brave or reckless, or both? Tell me in the comments.
If you enjoy these “On This Day” videos, please like, subscribe, and ring the bell for daily Tudor history.
#MargaretTudor #OnThisDay #TudorHistory #LadyMargaretDouglas #JamesVIandI #HarbottleCastle #HenryVIII #Douglas #DukeOfAlbany #UnionOfTheCrowns #HistoryYouTube #ClaireRidgway
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Margaret Tudor’s Flight: The 1515 Escape that Led to a United Crown
On 30 September 1515, Margaret Tudor, Henry VIII’s elder sister and ...
On 30 September 1515, Margaret Tudor, Henry VIII’s elder sister and widow of James IV, slipped across the Scottish border into England: heavily pregnant, newly remarried, and out of power. ...Her dash to Harbottle Castle set up a birth with huge consequences: Lady Margaret Douglas, whose line would help unite the Tudor and Stuart claims.
In this episode I set the scene:
The glittering 1503 marriage to James IV and the Flodden aftermath
How Margaret lost the regency by marrying for love: Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus
Duke of Albany takes control, and the royal children
The 1515 flight to Harbottle and the birth (8 Oct) of Lady Margaret Douglas
Why Henry VIII offered hospitality, not armies
Margaret’s return in 1517, and how her daughter’s marriage to Matthew Stewart, Earl of Lennox produced Lord Darnley, and, in the next generation, James VI & I, uniting the crowns in 1603
Question: Was Margaret’s remarriage brave or reckless, or both? Tell me in the comments.
If you enjoy these “On This Day” videos, please like, subscribe, and ring the bell for daily Tudor history.
#MargaretTudor #OnThisDay #TudorHistory #LadyMargaretDouglas #JamesVIandI #HarbottleCastle #HenryVIII #Douglas #DukeOfAlbany #UnionOfTheCrowns #HistoryYouTube #ClaireRidgway
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You can find my books on Amazon at http://viewauthor.at/claireridgwayShow More
Dragon-Slayer & Dinner: How the Tudors Marked Michaelmas
I’m Claire Ridgway, historian and author. On 29 September, the Tudors ...
I’m Claire Ridgway, historian and author. On 29 September, the Tudors celebrated Michaelmas, the feast of St Michael the Archangel, heaven’s champion and defender of the Church. Beyond the bells ...and processions, Michaelmas was one of the four quarter days, the moment the Tudor year turned.
In this video:
What Michaelmas meant in scripture & worship (Michael vs. the dragon)
Quarter day basics: new agricultural year, rents & accounts due, hiring/statute fairs
The menu: why Tudors roasted “stubble-goose” (and the saying that it kept you in money)
Folklore: don’t pick blackberries after Michaelmas—the devil’s said to spoil them!
Echoes today: why Oxford, Cambridge and the law courts still call it Michaelmas term
What would be on your table: goose, apples, or a blackberry tart (picked before today, of course)? Tell me in the comments!
If you enjoyed this slice of seasonal Tudor life, please like, subscribe, and ring the bell for more daily “On This Day” history.
#Michaelmas #OnThisDay #TudorFeastDays #TudorHistory #StMichael #EarlyModernLife #TudorFood #SeasonalHistory #HistoryYouTube #QuarterDays #BritishFolklore
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From Exile to Baron
Imagine standing shoulder to shoulder with Henry Tudor in exile, then ...
Imagine standing shoulder to shoulder with Henry Tudor in exile, then riding back to win a crown at Bosworth. Today we meet Robert Willoughby, 1st Baron Willoughby de Broke: sheriff, ...soldier, royal fixer and one of Henry VII’s most loyal supporters, who died on 28 September 1502 at Callington, Cornwall.
In this episode of On This Day in Tudor History, I, Claire Ridgway (historian & author), trace Willoughby’s journey from West Country administrator to exile in Brittany, his role at Bosworth (22 Aug 1485), and the rewards that followed: Knight of the Body, Lord Steward of the Household, Order of the Garter, and more. It’s a story of risk, resilience, and how loyalty shaped the early Tudor court.
What you’ll learn:
Willoughby’s early service in Cornwall & Devon
Backing Buckingham’s 1483 rebellion and fleeing to Brittany
Fighting with Henry Tudor at Bosworth
High offices and lands granted by Henry VII
Why Willoughby mattered to the new Tudor regime
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#TudorHistory #OnThisDay #HenryVII #Bosworth #WarsOfTheRoses #RobertWilloughby #ClaireRidgway #TudorDynasty #HistoryYouTube #MedievalHistory
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Helene Harrison on The Many Faces of Anne Boleyn
Who’s the “real” Anne Boleyn—the medal, the portraits, or the version ...
Who’s the “real” Anne Boleyn—the medal, the portraits, or the version we’ve imagined? In this interview, Helene Harrison joins me to discuss her book The Many Faces of Anne Boleyn: ...Interpreting Image and Perception—not a biography, but a study of how Anne has been seen across centuries.
We explore:
What readers should unlearn about Anne’s image
Beyond the 1534 medal: which likeness may come closest—and which is most misleading
Foreign observers (ambassadors, visitors): who reads Anne well, and who writes with an agenda?
Evidence vs. imagination: where the record ends and interpretation begins
Stage/film/TV: what one portrayal gets right—and what most get wrong
I’m Claire Ridgway, historian, author, and host of the Anne Boleyn Files & Tudor Society. If you enjoy deep dives into Tudor history, please like, subscribe, and share your thoughts below.
Get Helene’s book & follow her work:
Amazon UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Many-Faces-Anne-Boleyn-Interpreting/dp/1036105024/
Amazon.com - https://www.amazon.com/Many-Faces-Anne-Boleyn-Interpreting/dp/1036105024/
Website - https://tudorblogger.com/
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Spies, Sonnets & a Sword
The Short, Daring Life of Thomas Watson On this day in Tudor history, ...
The Short, Daring Life of Thomas Watson
On this day in Tudor history, 26 September 1592, poet and translator Thomas Watson was buried at St Bartholomew-the-Less.
You may not know his name, ...but in Elizabethan circles he was the rule-bender who wrote 18-line “sonnets”, carried letters for Sir Francis Walsingham, supplied lyrics for William Byrd, and once landed in prison after stepping between Christopher Marlowe and a blade.
I’m Claire Ridgway, historian and author. In this episode you’ll discover:
Hekatompathia (1582): the 100-poem love sequence with 18-line “sonnets”
Watson the Latinist: Petrarch, Sophocles’ Antigone, Amyntas & Amintae gaudia
Music & verse: his words for Byrd and Englishings of Italian madrigals
The 1589 brawl with Marlowe & William Bradley: wound, death, and a self-defence pardon
Final years, plague-time death, and The Tears of Fancie (1593)
Where to start reading: dip into Hekatompathia for the form-breaking love poems, then try The Tears of Fancie to hear his later English voice.
Question for you: Had you heard of Watson before? Which Elizabethan poet deserves more attention?
If you enjoyed this “On This Day,” please like, subscribe, and ring the bell for daily Tudor & Elizabethan deep dives.
#OnThisDay #TudorHistory #Elizabethan #ThomasWatson #ChristopherMarlowe #Walsingham #WilliamByrd #RenaissancePoetry #Sonnets #LondonHistory #EarlyModern #EnglishLiterature
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Fotheringhay Bound: Mary, Queen of Scots
The Day Mary, Queen of Scots’ Fate Was Sealed On this day in Tudor ...
The Day Mary, Queen of Scots’ Fate Was Sealed
On this day in Tudor history, 25 September 1586, Mary, Queen of Scots was escorted to Fotheringhay Castle. She would never ...leave.
That same week, Elizabeth I agreed to appoint 36 commissioners to try her cousin. The road from captive to condemned began here.
I’m Claire Ridgway, historian and author. In this episode, I set the scene and trace the chain:
From captivity (1568) and Pius V’s excommunication (1570) to a climate ripe for plots
Ridolfi, Throckmorton, and the fatal Babington Plot (Mary’s “set the six gentlemen to work”)
Walsingham’s cipher trap and the arrests
Transfer to Fotheringhay; the commissioners named
Trial (14 Oct) to guilty (25 Oct) to Parliament’s petition to warrant signed (1 Feb 1587) to execution (8 Feb)
Question for you: Was Elizabeth defending her realm, or crossing a line no monarch should? Tell me in the comments.
If this “On This Day” was useful, please like, subscribe, and ring the bell for daily Tudor history.
#OnThisDay #TudorHistory #MaryQueenOfScots #ElizabethI #Fotheringhay #BabingtonPlot #Walsingham #EnglishHistory #EarlyModern #16thCentury
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Born in the Tower
On this day in Tudor history, 24 September 1561, a baby with a claim ...
On this day in Tudor history, 24 September 1561, a baby with a claim and a cloud was born inside the Tower of London.
Meet Edward Seymour, Viscount Beauchamp, son of ...Lady Katherine Grey (Jane Grey’s sister) and Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, a couple who secretly married without Elizabeth I’s permission.
The queen refused to recognise the union, branding their Tower-born child illegitimate… yet his pedigree ran straight through Mary Tudor, Queen of France, per Henry VIII’s will.
I’m Claire Ridgway, historian and author. In this episode:
The secret marriage, Tower imprisonment, and Beauchamp’s contested status
Why his birth sat at the centre of England’s succession web
His own secret match to Honora Rogers (and the family row it sparked)
How his son William Seymour later eloped with Arbella Stuart
What James I did, and didn’t, undo, and how Beauchamp’s story ends
Question for you: Should Elizabeth have recognised Katherine Grey’s marriage, or was she right to keep rival claims on a tight leash?
If you enjoy these daily Tudor dives, please like, subscribe, and ring the bell.
#OnThisDay #TudorHistory #ElizabethI #KatherineGrey #ViscountBeauchamp #Seymour #SuccessionHistory #TowerOfLondon
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“Truce”… then Cannon Fire
#OnThisDay #TudorHistory #SanJuanDeUlua #JohnHawkins #FrancisDrake ...
The Carpenter Who Built Henry VIII’s World
Ever looked up at Hampton Court’s Great Hall and wondered who made ...
Ever looked up at Hampton Court’s Great Hall and wondered who made that jaw-dropping roof?
On this day in Tudor history, 22 September 1544, James Nedeham, master carpenter, architect and Surveyor ...of the King’s Works, died while on campaign with Henry VIII at Boulogne. You may not know his name, but you know his work: Hampton Court’s Great Hall roof, Traitors’ Gate timbering at the Tower of London, and key projects at Whitehall and beyond.
What you’ll learn:
-How a London guildsman rose to Master Carpenter & Surveyor of the King’s Works
-The story behind Hampton Court’s hammer-beam masterpiece
-Nedeham at the Tower of London: Jewel House & Traitors’ Gate (1532)
-Whitehall, Canterbury, and reusing monastic sites after the Dissolution
-His final campaign with Henry VIII and memorial at Little Wymondley
Question for you: If you could time-travel through one Tudor space, which would it be—Hampton Court, Whitehall, or the Tower—and why?
If you enjoy the “hidden makers” of Tudor England, please like, subscribe, and ring the bell for daily On This Day history.
Hashtags: #TudorHistory #HamptonCourt #HenryVIII #TowerOfLondon #Whitehall #OnThisDay #ArchitecturalHistory #GreatHall #TraitorsGate
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A Duchess’s Cry for Help
Content note: This video discusses historical allegations of domestic ...
Content note: This video discusses historical allegations of domestic abuse.
Imagine being one of the highest-ranking women in England, then writing that you were locked away, stripped of your jewels, pinned ...until you spat blood, and dragged from bed by your hair.
Those are the claims of Elizabeth Howard, Duchess of Norfolk, set down in letters to Thomas Cromwell, and answered by her husband, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk.
I’m Claire Ridgway. Today we examine Elizabeth’s marriage, her letters, Norfolk’s rebuttal, and what this case shows about coercive control and power at the Tudor court.
In this episode:
Elizabeth Howard’s background & marriage to Thomas Howard
Bess Holland, household tensions, and banishment from court
The letters to Cromwell: isolation at Redbourne, financial control, intimidation, and alleged assaults
Norfolk’s defence—and why children and kin sided against Elizabeth
How historians read these sources today: myth, motive, and patterns of abuse
Read the letters (primary sources):
- Letters of Royal and Illustrious Ladies of Great Britain, Vol. II, pp. 218–225; p. 358 onwards:
https://archive.org/details/lettersroyaland00greegoog/page/n242/mode/2up
- Letters of Royal and Illustrious Ladies, Vol. VI, pp. 96–100:
https://archive.org/details/lettersroyaland06greegoog/page/n116/mode/2up
If this topic interests you, please like, subscribe, and share your thoughts: Do you find Elizabeth’s testimony or Norfolk’s defence more convincing, and why?
#TudorHistory #TrueCrime #ElizabethHoward #DukeOfNorfolk #ThomasCromwell #DomesticAbuseHistory #AnneBoleyn #HistoryDocumentary
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From “Looking for Richard” to Writing Richard III — Wendy Johnson Interview
Villain or maligned? In this interview, historical novelist Wendy ...
Villain or maligned? In this interview, historical novelist Wendy Johnson—a founding member of Philippa Langley’s “Looking for Richard” project—joins me to discuss her debut novel, The Traitor’s Son, which traces ...Richard III’s formative decade (1461–1471).
We explore:
What being close to the 2012 discovery in Leicester changed for her as a writer and Ricardian
Why start with boyhood—and what newcomers should unlearn about Richard
Fact vs fiction: where the record ends and imagination begins
Favourite sources for Edward, George, and Richard
Places that shaped the story: Ludlow, Middleham, London
Teasers for Books 2 & 3 in the trilogy
Plus: Wendy’s top Ricardian must-visit sites, the scene she’d film first, and one non-fiction pick to read next.
I’m Claire Ridgway. Thanks for watching. Please like, subscribe, and share your thoughts below!
#RichardIII #WarsOfTheRoses #HistoricalFiction #LookingForRichard #Plantagenets #MedievalHistory
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Katherine Willoughby Duchess, Exile, Survivor
On this day in Tudor history, 19 September 1580, Katherine Willoughby ...
On this day in Tudor history, 19 September 1580, Katherine Willoughby (Katherine Brandon, later Katherine Bertie), Duchess of Suffolk, died after a long illness and was laid to rest at ...Spilsby, Lincolnshire.
I’m historian and author Claire Ridgway, and today I’m telling the story of one of my favourite Tudor women, a brilliant, resilient figure who moved from court glitter to deepest grief, from duchess to exile and back again, guided by a sharp mind and a fiercer faith.
In this episode:
Heiress & child-bride: ward of Charles Brandon and Duchess at 14
Court & conscience: official mourner at Catherine of Aragon’s funeral; hiring Hugh Latimer to preach
Tragedy in 1551: losing both sons to the sweating sickness the same day
Love & exile: marriage to Richard Bertie, flight under Mary I, return under Elizabeth I
Legacy: patronage of reform, Miles Coverdale in her household, and that famous little dog named “Gardiner”
If you enjoy deep dives into remarkable Tudor women, please like, subscribe, and share your thoughts below.
#OnThisDay #TudorHistory #KatherineWilloughby #DuchessOfSuffolk #CharlesBrandon #Reformation #SweatingSickness #ElizabethIJoin
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Online Events
I regularly host online Tudor history conferences to connect Tudor history lovers with Tudor historians all from the comfort of their own homes. They comprise talks, live events, live Q&A sessions and resources, and are educational and fun.
Check out the Events tab to find out about my latest event.
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As featured in...
I am a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. I was a contributor for the BBC docudrama The Boleyns: A Scandalous Family, and have been featured in BBC History Extra, USA Today, History of Royals Magazine, the Express, and Refinery 29, as well as on podcasts including Suzannah Lipscomb's Not Just the Tudors, Gareth Russell's Single Malt History, Natalie Grueninger's Talking Tudors, Hever Castle's Inside Hever, James Boulton's Queens of England, and many more.
Praise for Claire's work
"Claire's blog - recently made available in book form - is more rigorous than that of many professional historians." Susan Bordo, author of The Creation of Anne Boleyn: A New Look at England's Most Notorious Queen
"A sumptuously illustrated and impeccably researched history about the domestic life of a family that shaped British history. This is a fascinating window into both the Boleyns' lives at Hever and upper-class life on the eve of the Reformation." - Gareth Russell, Author of Young and Damned and Fair, on The Boleyns of Hever Castle.
"I've been a history buff all my life, both as a reader and as a writer. I thought I knew about Anne and her Boleyn family, Henry VIII and his court, but this book [The Anne Boleyn Collection] fills in so many blanks for me that I will read it more than once...This is a book for the legion of Tudor fiction readers, who want to know the stories behind the myths, the truth behind the legend...Absolutely fascinating read. " - Jeane Westin, Author of His Last Letter
"Claire has produced another must read for Anne Bolyen fans." Leanda de Lisle, author of Tudor: The Family Story, writing about "The Anne Boleyn Collection II.
More about me
I founded the Anne Boleyn Files in 2009, the Tudor Society in 2014 and I have a popular YouTube channel.
I help Tudor history lovers all over the world learn more about history, connect with experts and like-minded people, and uncover the facts behind the fiction, all from the comfort of their own homes.
I'm a former teacher and a recognised expert in Tudor history, and, as the founder of The Tudor Society, I've built a community of history lovers and experts where members can share their passion for history and receive accurate resources and information.
Claire Ridgway's Books
