They served every Tudor monarch, and often paid dearly for it.

From their medieval stronghold at Dudley Castle to the heart of the Tudor court, the Dudley family shaped English history for five hundred years. They raised money for Henry VII, ruled the realm under Edward VI, tried to make Lady Jane Grey queen, and stood beside Elizabeth I as she faced the Spanish Armada.

This episode traces their meteoric rise and tragic fall from Edmund Dudley’s execution, to John Dudley’s failed gamble for the crown, to Robert Dudley’s service to Elizabeth, and finally to exile in Florence, where the last of the line became a scientist and mapmaker.

Sources mentioned:

House of Dudley by Joanna Paul: https://www.amazon.com/House-Dudley-History-Tudor-England/dp/1639363289

Dudley Family History on Internet Archive

https://ia601608.us.archive.org/29/items/historyofdudleyf115dudl/historyofdudleyf115dudl.pdf

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