Tudors Dynasty & Beyond

Welcome back to Off the Record!
Today, Amy and I dive into women “behaving badly”…or at least, that’s how history chose to remember them. And yes—we’re fully aware that women were judged by a very different standard than men.
From alleged husband-murdering, to sharp-tongued insults, to a mother refusing her son the money he demanded, and even a woman boldly owning an affair (and naming her son after her lover)…we unpack the stories behind the scandal.
Were these women truly outrageous—or simply refusing to play by the rules? Let’s get into it.
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Margaret Wotton article: https://tudorsdynasty.com/margaret-wotton-unnatural-mother/
Book I mentioned: A Biographical Encyclopedia of Early Modern Englishwomen: Exemplary Lives and Memorable Acts, 1500-1650.
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Hosts:
Rebecca Larson & Amy McElroy

What do you do when your father is one of the worst kings in English history?
This week, I’m joined by Matt Lewis to unpack the life of Henry III of England—a king who inherited chaos, uncertainty, and a seriously damaged crown after the disastrous reign of King John of England.
We explore how Henry came to the throne as a child, what it meant to grow up in the shadow of his father’s failures, and the surprising role his mother, Isabella of Angoulême, played when she left England behind. What happened to Henry’s siblings? And how did those early years shape the kind of king he would become?
From there, we look at Henry’s own family—his marriage, his children, and the legacy he hoped to build—while also asking a bigger question: was Henry’s reign really as peaceful as it’s often portrayed?
It’s a story of recovery, reputation, and the long shadow of a bad king… and whether Henry III ever truly escaped it.
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Henry III by Matthew Lewis: Amazon US
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Support the podcast on Patreon! https://patreon.com/tudorsdynasty
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Host: Rebecca Larson
Guest: Matt Lewis

After exploring the husbands of Mary, Queen of Scots, Mary I of England, and Mary II of England, we now arrive at the final Stuart queen—Queen Anne—and the often-overlooked man at her side: Prince George of Denmark.
In this overview episode of The Queen’s Husband, Dr. Linda Porter and I take a closer look at George—frequently dismissed as dull or insignificant—and ask whether that reputation is truly deserved. What role did he play in Anne’s life, both personally and politically? Was he simply a supportive consort, or is there more to his story than history has allowed?
Join us as we reassess George of Denmark and explore the dynamics of one of Britain’s quieter—but perhaps more meaningful—royal marriages
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Others in the series: (Spotify Link)
The Queen's Husband: The Men Who Wed Mary, Queen of Scots
The Queen's Husband: Philip II
The Queen's Husband: William III
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Host: Rebecca Larson
Guest: Dr. Linda Porter

What does bad behavior really look like in Tudor England? In this episode, we take a sharp look at the men who pushed ambition, ego, and survival just a little too far.
Charles Brandon turns marriage into strategy, Thomas Seymour spirals after the death of Henry VIII, and John Dudley plays the game for his own gain.
Add in Francis Bryan—who needed papal absolution—and Edmund Howard with his questionable “medicine,” and you’ve got a lineup of men making very bad decisions.
Messy, calculated, and peak Tudor chaos. 👑
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Support our work over on Patreon! https://patreon.com/tudorsdynasty
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Hosts:
Rebecca Larson & Amy McElroy

What happens to the daughters of a king after everything falls apart?
In this episode, we step into the turbulent aftermath of 1066 and follow the extraordinary—and often overlooked—lives of Gunhild of Wessex and Gytha of Wessex, daughters of Harold Godwinson—the last Anglo-Saxon king of England.
Their stories are anything but quiet.
One becomes a royal nun… who doesn’t quite stay that way. The other is swept into exile, navigating a world far beyond England’s shores, eventually tied to powerful dynasties abroad. These are women born into privilege, thrust into chaos, and forced to reinvent themselves in the shadow of conquest.
From cloisters to courts, scandal to survival, we uncover how these sisters carved out lives that were anything but ordinary—and why their stories deserve far more attention.
Because history didn’t end for Harold’s daughters at Hastings…
it only got more interesting.
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Website (and books): https://historytheinterestingbits.com/
A Slice of Medieval Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@DerekBirks-t3o (wherever you get podcasts)
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Host: Rebecca Larson
Guest: Sharon Bennett Connolly