Videos

Anne Boleyn’s Last 18 Days: The Fall That Shocked Tudor England

In May 1536, Anne Boleyn went from Queen of England to execution in just eighteen days.

It remains one of the most shocking political collapses in English history - a moment ...that destroyed families, reshaped the Tudor court, and sent shockwaves across Europe.

Having researched Anne Boleyn’s life and fall since 2009, I still find these events deeply affecting. Each return to the primary sources - letters, trial records, ambassadorial reports and eyewitness accounts - raises the same question:
Was Anne Boleyn’s fall truly a tragedy… or had her fate already been decided?

To mark the 490th anniversary, I’m hosting a live anniversary intensive exploring Anne Boleyn’s final weeks through contemporary evidence and Tudor political reality.

If you’d like to study these events in depth with me, you can find full details here:
https://claireridgway.com/events/last-18/

Early Bird Offer ends 27 February
Use code AB2026 for $20 off.

Thank you for supporting my work and for continuing to explore Tudor history with me.Show More

Anne Boleyn’s Last 18 Days: The Fall That Shocked Tudor England

In May 1536, Anne Boleyn went from Queen of England to execution in ...

Anne Boleyn Before Henry VIII: The Secret Promise, The Poet, and the Myths

In 1522, Anne Boleyn returned to the English court, and within a few ...

Mary I’s Pregnancies Explained: London Celebrated a Prince… But There Was No Baby

In 1555, London celebrated the birth of a prince. Church bells rang. ...

Claire's Birthday Live

What better way to celebrate my birthday than talk Tudor with my ...

The Truth Behind “Bloody Mary” - A Beginner’s Guide

When you hear the name Mary I, you probably hear one phrase: “Bloody ...

When you hear the name Mary I, you probably hear one phrase: “Bloody Mary”.

A queen of fire and fear. A religious fanatic. A failure compared to Elizabeth I.

But that version ...of Mary is a shortcut, and it isn’t good history.

Before the burnings, Mary was Henry VIII’s celebrated heir. A princess educated to rule. A woman who endured humiliation, illegitimacy, and political coercion, and survived. In 1553, when Edward VI died and her succession was challenged, England rallied behind her. She became the first woman to rule England in her own right.

In this Beginner’s Guide to Mary I, we explore:

• Her celebrated birth in 1516
• The trauma of her parents’ annulment
• Her years of resistance under Henry VIII
• Her open defiance under Edward VI
• How she won the throne in 1553
• What she actually tried to achieve as queen
• The context and consequences of the Marian burnings

Yes, we discuss the burnings. But in context, not isolation.

Mary was not a caricature. She was a politically intelligent, legally minded, deeply devout Tudor shaped by fear, faith, and survival.

If you think you know Mary I… think again.

Recommended reading:
Linda Porter - The Myth of "Bloody Mary": The First Queen of England
Anna Whitelock - Mary Tudor Princess, Bastard, Queen
Melita Thomas - The King's Pearl
Research by Johanna Strong & Peter Stiffell - Google them! Or access talks by them, Melita Thomas, Linda Porter and more in my Discovering Mary I course - https://claireridgway.com/history-event-archive/discovering-mary-i-instant-access-replay/

I’m Claire Ridgway, historian and author, and this is part of my Beginner’s Guide series exploring Tudor lives and turning points in depth.

If you enjoy serious, nuanced Tudor history, don’t forget to subscribe and turn on notifications, there’s much more to come.

#MaryI #BloodyMary #TudorHistory #HistoryExplained #WomenInHistory #HenryVIII #ElizabethI #EnglishReformation

Join this channel to get access to perks:
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Subscribe to my channel at https://www.youtube.com/@anneboleynfiles?sub_confirmation=1 so you don't miss my latest videos!

Visit linktr.ee/claireridgway to find resources, events, social media links and more.
You can find my books on Amazon at http://viewauthor.at/claireridgwayShow More

Mary Boleyn’s Lost Years (1513–1522): What the Sources Actually Say

What really happened during Mary Boleyn’s lost years? Between 1513 and ...

Anne Boleyn’s Lost Future: The Marriage She Almost Had

When Anne Boleyn returned to England from France in late 1521, she ...

The Strangest Tudor Cures (And the Ones That Actually Worked) - A Beginner’s Guide to Tudor Medicine

Hare brains. Hedgehog testicles. Mouse skin. Live pigeons. Tudor ...

Tudor Medicine Wasn’t Stupid, It Was a System

Imagine waking in Tudor England with a fever and no paracetamol, no ...

Was Anne Boleyn Really “Corrupted” in France?

The idea that Anne Boleyn was "corrupted in France has been repeated ...

The idea that Anne Boleyn was "corrupted in France has been repeated in popular histories and documentaries, often stated as fact, sometimes even placed in quotation marks, as if it ...were securely sourced. But is it?

In this video, I trace where that idea comes from and what the evidence actually says. We’ll look at:

Anne’s seven formative years at the French court
The oft-quoted remarks attributed to Francis I
The claim that Henry VIII told the Imperial ambassador that Anne had been “corrupted” in France
How later writers inflated ambiguous phrases into supposed proof
And how a chain of interpretation, historical “Chinese whispers”, turned rumour into “fact”
When you follow the sources back to their origins, the picture changes.
What emerges is not a story of sexual scandal, but one of education, cultural formation, and Renaissance courtly polish.

If you haven’t already, watch my full episode on Anne Boleyn’s years abroad to see the wider context - https://youtu.be/TozlLK97oJw

#AnneBoleyn #TudorHistory #HenryVIII #TheAnneBoleynFiles #HistoryMyths #WomenInHistory #Renaissance #TudorEngland #HistoryYouTube #MythBusting #SixWives #EarlyModernHistory #HistoricalSources #FrancisI #ChapuysThe idea that Anne Boleyn was "corrupted in France has been repeated in popular histories and documentaries, often stated as fact, sometimes even placed in quotation marks, as if it were securely sourced. But is it?

In this video, I trace where that idea comes from and what the evidence actually says. We’ll look at:

Anne’s seven formative years at the French court
The oft-quoted remarks attributed to Francis I
The claim that Henry VIII told the Imperial ambassador that Anne had been “corrupted” in France
How later writers inflated ambiguous phrases into supposed proof
And how a chain of interpretation, historical “Chinese whispers”, turned rumour into “fact”
When you follow the sources back to their origins, the picture changes.
What emerges is not a story of sexual scandal, but one of education, cultural formation, and Renaissance courtly polish.

If you haven’t already, watch my full episode on Anne Boleyn’s years abroad to see the wider context - https://youtu.be/TozlLK97oJw

#AnneBoleyn #TudorHistory #HenryVIII #TheAnneBoleynFiles #HistoryMyths #WomenInHistory #Renaissance #TudorEngland #HistoryYouTube #MythBusting #SixWives #EarlyModernHistory #HistoricalSources #FrancisI #Chapuys

Join this channel to get access to perks:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCioSUqeGrdFq6DEVK3-DXGQ/join

Subscribe to my channel at https://www.youtube.com/@anneboleynfiles?sub_confirmation=1 so you don't miss my latest videos!

Visit linktr.ee/claireridgway to find resources, events, social media links and more.
You can find my books on Amazon at http://viewauthor.at/claireridgwayShow More

The Foreign Courts That Created Anne Boleyn

Anne Boleyn didn’t arrive at Henry VIII’s court as an inexperienced ...

Mary Tudor and the Will to Fight

Mary Tudor is often remembered through a single, brutal label: “Bloody ...

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Anne Boleyn’s Last 18 Days: The Fall That Shocked Tudor England

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