This week on the Hot Mess History Podcast, we travel to Elizabethan England to meet Margaret Clitherow—wife, mother, rebel… and saint. When Catholicism was outlawed under Queen Elizabeth I, Margaret didn't just quietly resist—she turned her home into a secret base for underground Masses and fugitive priests.

In a brutal twist of fate, Margaret refused to plead at her trial to protect her family, and the state executed her in one of the most horrific ways imaginable: by pressing. Listen as Sarah guides Alora through this gripping, heart-wrenching story of conviction, courage, and the dark side of religious persecution.

Love the episode? Drop us a rating or review and share with your history-loving friends. It helps new listeners find the show!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the Hot Mess History Podcast, we dive into the radical, rebellious, and deeply spiritual life of Marguerite Porete — a 13th-century mystic who dared to challenge the Church with her book, The Mirror of Simple Souls. She believed the soul could become so united with God that it no longer needed the Church, the sacraments, or even moral rules. Marguerite wasn’t a nun. She was part of the Beguines, a group of laywomen who lived spiritually independent lives outside traditional Church structures. But when her mystical writings started to spread, the Church saw her as a threat. What followed was book burnings, Inquisition trials, and eventually, her execution in 1310. The church tried to silence her, but they failed.

Love the episode? Drop us a rating or review and share with your history-loving friends. It helps new listeners find the show!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

She was brilliant, devout, and politically convenient—and she paid the price. In this episode of the Hot Mess History Podcast, we unravel the heartbreaking story of Lady Jane Grey, the teenage girl forced onto the throne of England for just nine days before being imprisoned and executed.

You’ll hear how a network of power-hungry men used Jane as a pawn, how she tried to resist, and how the brutal politics of Tudor succession ultimately sealed her fate.

Was she a queen? A victim? A martyr?

Yes—she was all three.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.