Host Natalie Grueninger speaks with Dr Melissa Shiels about New Year's gift-giving across 16th-century England and Ireland, and how material gifts expressed political messages at the Tudor court.

They discuss typical gifts (money, clothing, jewellery, horses, hawks), differences across reigns, examples of gifts that reveal diplomacy or tension, and the distinction between public gift exchange and bribery.

Find out more about Dr Shiels

https://www.instagram.com/dr.melissashiels/

The Greensleeves Project

https://greensleevesproject.uk/

Find out more about your host at

https://www.nataliegrueninger.com

Support Talking Tudors on Patreon!

Host Natalie Grueninger speaks with Dr Michelle Seah about the economic lives of medieval and late 15th-century English queens, focusing on Margaret of Anjou, Elizabeth Woodville, and Elizabeth of York.

They explore how queens raised and managed income—through lands, cash allowances, port customs and the tradition of “queen’s gold”—how their households were organised, and how financial resources shaped their public role, patronage and power.

Learn more about Dr Seah

https://www.newcastle.edu.au/profile/michele-seah

Find out more about your host at

https://www.nataliegrueninger.com

Support Talking Tudors on Patreon!

Host Natalie Grueninger speaks with Kate McCaffrey of Hever Castle about Anne Boleyn’s books of hours, the hidden inscriptions they contain, and the Kentish women who preserved Anne’s memory after her fall.

The episode explores female networks, the material life of devotional books, and how these discoveries challenge the lonely, male-focused myth of Anne Boleyn, plus a preview of Hever Castle’s upcoming exhibition "Capturing a Queen."

Learn more about Kate McCaffrey

https://kateemccaffrey.wordpress.com/

Capturing a Queen: The Image of Anne Boleyn Exhibition

https://www.hevercastle.co.uk/whats-on/capturing-a-queen/

Find out more about your host at

https://www.nataliegrueninger.com

Support Talking Tudors on Patreon!