What If Queen Mary I Had a Son? (Off the Record)

There are so many “what ifs” in history - but this one may have reshaped the world. What if Mary I had given birth to a healthy son who survived? In this episode, we explore the ripple effects of a secure Catholic Tudor succession: What if Mary died in childbirth - who would have ruled as regent? What if she lived a long life and her son inherited the throne? How would England’s alliances with Philip II of Spain and Catholic Europe have evolved? And perhaps most provocatively - what would the future United States look like if Elizabeth I never reigned and her explorers never turned England into a Protestant Atlantic power? One surviving child might have changed the English Reformation, the rise of empire, and the very foundations of the modern world.

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Hosts:

Rebecca Larson

Amy McElroy