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.

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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.

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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.

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In this episode of Hot Mess History, we dive into the brilliant and brutal life of Hypatia of Alexandria—mathematician, philosopher, astronomer, and the last great light of classical learning before the dark tides of religious and political upheaval swept through the Roman world.

We talk philosophy, power struggles, Neoplatonism, the menstrual rag story (yes, really), and the violent intersection of politics, religion, and gender. Hypatia was brilliant. The world wasn’t ready.

Because history?

It’s messy.

Sources:

Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life by Gabrielle Birchak

Hypatia: Her Life and Times by Faith L. Justice

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In this episode, we dive into the fiery rebellion of Boudica, queen of the Iceni, who led a brutal uprising against Roman rule in Britain. After personal and political betrayal, Boudica sparked a campaign of vengeance that left Roman cities in ruins.

Sources:

• Boudica: Iron Age Warrior Queen by Richard Hingley & Christina Unwin
• Boudica: Warrior Woman of Roman Britain by Caitlin Gillespie

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