History City traces the story of York - possibly the second most important place in England - from the end of the last Ice Age to the present day.

Episode 15: Henry VIII, York and the Dissolution of the Monasteries

In this episode, conservative and traditionalist York is a patchwork of secular and religious institutions. Priories, Friaries, St Mary’s Abbey and St Leonard’s Hospital take up a large chunk of real estate and provide valuable employment, relief and spiritual salvation.

But Henry VIII’s Great Matter – ie wanting a new wife so he can have a male heir – is about to have a devastating impact on the social and physical fabric of the city, as our guest Dr Elizabeth Goodwin, Senior Lecturer in Late Medieval and Early Modern History at York St John University explains….

For more internet rabbit holes to chase down, first stop is the BBC’s dramatization of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall triology: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002473m/wolf-hall

Not Just the Tudors, as you might expect, has a hat full of podcasts to delve into. For example:

https://shows.acast.com/not-just-the-tudors/episodes/wolf-hall-whos-who https://shows.acast.com/not-just-the-tudors/episodes/cardinal-wolsey

https://shows.acast.com/not-just-the-tudors/episodes/henry-viiis-conscience-contradictions

https://shows.acast.com/not-just-the-tudors/episodes/what-did-henry-viii-believe

https://shows.acast.com/not-just-the-tudors/episodes/dissolution-of-the-monasteries

Thanks to our guest, Dr Elizabeth Goodwin, Senior Lecturer in Late Medieval and Early Modern History at York St John University.

The Spirit of York is Alison Willis.

This episode of History City was made with the help of the Institute for the Public Understanding of the Past at the University of York and thanks also to researcher Katie Vernon.

The episode was recorded and produced by Guy Morgan of Soundstagenorth.

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