Mid-Tudor Crisis
An online course with Professor Suzannah Lipscomb
If you are going to complete any course on the Tudors, make it this one. A range of topics covered, characters of the era brought vividly to life and all taught with humour, kindness and an impressive depth of knowledge. Truly cannot praise this h...
Read MoreIf you are going to complete any course on the Tudors, make it this one. A range of topics covered, characters of the era brought vividly to life and all taught with humour, kindness and an impressive depth of knowledge. Truly cannot praise this highly enough.
Read LessThis course has been enlightening and stimulating from beginning to end. Many thanks to Suzannah for doing the hard work in creating it and sharing your vast knowledge. The course shone a light into so many areas I have never explored before. Also...
Read MoreThis course has been enlightening and stimulating from beginning to end. Many thanks to Suzannah for doing the hard work in creating it and sharing your vast knowledge. The course shone a light into so many areas I have never explored before. Also many thanks to Esther and Max and all my fellow Tudor nerds for the stimulating Zoom meetings.
Read LessThis was an amazing course, following on from Henry VIII The Tyrant. This has gone deeper and has been a joy to do. Suzannah has a brilliant way of talking about each module in a way that is easy to understand, yet she also lets us ask questions a...
Read MoreThis was an amazing course, following on from Henry VIII The Tyrant. This has gone deeper and has been a joy to do. Suzannah has a brilliant way of talking about each module in a way that is easy to understand, yet she also lets us ask questions and do more reading around the subject. I will truly miss the course and am hopeful that Suzannah can come up with another one! I would recommend this course to anyone with an interest in this fascinating part of History.
Read LessI sincerely appreciated this course and found it to be highly enriching. The extensive reading materials provided an excellent opportunity to delve deeply into the subject matter, and the in-depth lectures significantly enhanced my understanding. ...
Read MoreI sincerely appreciated this course and found it to be highly enriching. The extensive reading materials provided an excellent opportunity to delve deeply into the subject matter, and the in-depth lectures significantly enhanced my understanding. I am truly grateful for the structure and quality of the content delivered. Thank you for this valuable learning experience.
Read LessSuch an enriching course, starting with the excellent title and then working through modules on Henry VII all the way through to Elizabeth I. This was so much more than I had hoped for with such a wealth of sources, all backed up with the fortnig...
Read MoreSuch an enriching course, starting with the excellent title and then working through modules on Henry VII all the way through to Elizabeth I. This was so much more than I had hoped for with such a wealth of sources, all backed up with the fortnightly zoom with the opportunity to talk more deeply about each module. It has inspired me to keep on Tudor gazing for a long time to come.
Read LessI am very much an amateur when it comes to history. There was a lot of info, for me, mostly new. I found the modules on Edward and Mary Queen of Scots the most interesting.
I am very much an amateur when it comes to history. There was a lot of info, for me, mostly new. I found the modules on Edward and Mary Queen of Scots the most interesting.
Read LessGreat course, informative, thought provoking, enjoyable.
Great course, informative, thought provoking, enjoyable.
Read LessI loved this course and would recommend it to anyone who wants to know and definitely feel history through access to primary sources. I enjoyed the challenge of reading 16th century text, reading Henry's speech out loud in my kitchen or being mo...
Read MoreI loved this course and would recommend it to anyone who wants to know and definitely feel history through access to primary sources. I enjoyed the challenge of reading 16th century text, reading Henry's speech out loud in my kitchen or being moved by Queen Elizabeth's poetry. The feeling that time was always against them made the course very profound and to see that laid out in Edward's device, the faith driven burnings, royal divorce and finally as the candle ran out on Mary Queen of Scots' life was extremely moving. I was so glad I did this course and so grateful to have a teacher who brings so much warmth, empathy and insight to a subject that is one long crisis of human nature. The Tudors are in good hands. Thank you Suzannah.
Read LessThoroughly engaging, informative and thought provoking course. I learned a lot and enjoyed myself while learning too which is so nice. Thank you :)
Thoroughly engaging, informative and thought provoking course. I learned a lot and enjoyed myself while learning too which is so nice. Thank you :)
Read Lessanother fantastic course from Prof. Lipscomb. Very interesting and thought provoking, as always. Thank you so much.
another fantastic course from Prof. Lipscomb. Very interesting and thought provoking, as always. Thank you so much.
Read LessLoved this course as I did the Henry 8th course. Am hoping Suzannah will do another course. Love the Tudor period, but more than glad did not live in that time period.
Loved this course as I did the Henry 8th course. Am hoping Suzannah will do another course. Love the Tudor period, but more than glad did not live in that time period.
Read LessExplore the neglected Tudor monarchs between Henry VIII and Elizabeth I.
When Henry VIII died in 1547 what he had always feared became reality: a minor became king and – worse still – when he died, the throne inevitably went to a woman!
Historians have long debated whether what followed constituted a mid-Tudor crisis. This short course explores it as a series of crises.
Over three modules, through video lectures, online reading, and close examination of the primary sources – including rebel demands, Edward VI's handwritten 'Device for the Succession', and eyewitness accounts of burnings for heresy – we cover tremendous amounts of ground.
From what life was like for ordinary people in the challenging and changing circumstances of the sixteenth century, via the 1553 battle between Lady Jane Grey and Mary over who was the rightful queen, through to the crucible that was the Reformation, we get to the heart of what mattered in this tumultous period.
Don't miss this opportunity to delve deep into the heart of the Tudor century with one of Britain's leading Tudor historians.
16-week course + 1 bonus module
3 core modules
49 lessons
2.5 hours of video content
primary sources throughout
access to an online community of "Tudor nerds"
closed captions on all videos
further reading lists
lifetime access to the course and all future updates
Professor Suzannah Lipscomb

Suzannah Lipscomb FSA, FRHistS is an award-winning historian, author and broadcaster.
She is Professor Emerita at the University of Roehampton and Senior Member at St Cross College, Oxford. She received a Double First, MSt and DPhil in History from Lincoln and Balliol Colleges, Oxford.
Suzannah is a leading Tudor historian. She has written and edited seven books, including 1536: The Year that Changed Henry VIII, A Visitor's Companion to Tudor England, and The King is Dead: The Last Will and Testament of Henry VIII. She is currently writing a new history of Henry VIII's queens.
Suzannah is also an established television presenter. She has written and presented history series on the BBC, ITV, More 4 and Channel Five, including A History of Royal Scandals, Walking Tudor England, Hidden Killers of the Tudor Home and Henry and Anne: The Lovers Who Changed History.
Suzannah has been a research curator at Hampton Court Palace, royal historian for NBC, columnist for History Today, and is a Trustee of the Mary Rose. In 2024, she was Chair of Judges for the Women's Prize for Non-Fiction.
She also hosts the successful Not Just the Tudors podcast from History Hit.
How to use this course
Welcome to the course!
1.1 Hierarchy, Rural Life & Structural Change
1.2 How to Survive a Little Ice Age
1.3 Religious Revolution
1.4 Popular Politics
1.5 Rebellions
1.6 What was Kett's Rebellion About?
1.7 Kett's Demands – the Mousehold Articles
1.8 Neville's Chronicle
1.9 What Could the Government Do?
1.10 Somerset's Letters I
1.11 Somerset's letters II
1.12 Crisis Management
1.13 Listen to Prof. Andy Wood
1.14 Quiz
1.15 Optional Further Reading
2.1 The Crisis
2.2 Edward's illness
2.3 Wading into the primary sources
2.4 My devise for the Succession – original
2.5 My devise for the Succession – transcript
2.6 Letters Patent for the Limitation of the Succession
2.7 Notes for Edward VI's Last Will
2.8 Why did Edward VI change the succession?
2.9 The Devise and Northumberland
2.10 Scheyfve's Judgement
2.11 Announcement of the accession of Lady Jane to the Crown
2.12 Edward's vision and its legality
2.13 After Edward's death
2.14 Jane's Scaffold Speech v1
2.15 Jane's Scaffold Speech v 2
2.16 How was this crisis handled?
2.17 Optional Further Reading
3.0 Was Mary I a failure?
3.1 The Opening of Shekhar Kapur's Elizabeth
3.2 Introducing Mary I
3.3 Religious Reformation
3.4 Bishop Bonner's Homilies
3.5 The Burnings
3.6 Foxe on the death of the Alens and Alice Benden
3.7 Thomas S. Freeman on John Foxe's sources
3.8 Success, Severity and Sympathy
3.9 Letter to Philip II on the reaction in London to the burnings
3.10 Ridley and Latimer's deaths
3.11 Foxe on Latimer and Ridley
3.12 Margaret Aston on Foxe's images
3.13 Crisis?
3.14 Optional Further Reading
Suzannah's other courses
This course exceeded my expectations. It was easy to follow and taping the live sessions helped tremendously to stay and or get back on track. Thank you for your work Suzannah; your knowledge and how you present history makes the past come to life...
Read MoreThis course exceeded my expectations. It was easy to follow and taping the live sessions helped tremendously to stay and or get back on track. Thank you for your work Suzannah; your knowledge and how you present history makes the past come to life. Thank you.
Read LessThis is a course for anyone with a desire to engage with history. The passion, enthusiasm and wisdom coming through the lectures by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb are infectious and made we want to travel back to Tudor times in a time machine to fin...
Read MoreThis is a course for anyone with a desire to engage with history. The passion, enthusiasm and wisdom coming through the lectures by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb are infectious and made we want to travel back to Tudor times in a time machine to find out who the real Henry was. I really appreciated finding my own ideas on the King's great matter, the break with Rome, the Supremacy, the fall of Ann Boleyn , the dissolution of the monasteries, the pilgrimage of grace and many more subjects that are, like Henry, complex and worth the dive into a huge Tudor sea of intrigue and agony. History was lived by people who felt emotion like we do and not just a set of dates to be memorised. If you feel history, this is the ideal door to a past you will never want to leave
Read LessI have always enjoyed watching Professor Lipscomb's documentaries and interviews, so had fairly high expectations when signing up for this course. They were completely justified. The course was engaging, informative and fun.
I have always enjoyed watching Professor Lipscomb's documentaries and interviews, so had fairly high expectations when signing up for this course. They were completely justified. The course was engaging, informative and fun.
Read LessA hugely stimulating and rewarding learning experience. The course is so well put together and delivered in such a way that’s easy to navigate. The chance to study primary sources with expert guidance has been a highlight for me. Thank you so muc...
Read MoreA hugely stimulating and rewarding learning experience. The course is so well put together and delivered in such a way that’s easy to navigate. The chance to study primary sources with expert guidance has been a highlight for me. Thank you so much to all involved.
Read LessI have been intrigued by the Tudor court for over 15 years. Suzannah Lipscomb has been one of my go-historians. This class has taught me more than I ever thought possible. The people of the court came alive, and many concepts could translate to t...
Read MoreI have been intrigued by the Tudor court for over 15 years. Suzannah Lipscomb has been one of my go-historians. This class has taught me more than I ever thought possible. The people of the court came alive, and many concepts could translate to today's world. The live lectures were amazing and covered a variety of topics to answer any Tudor interests. I would recommend this course to any history lover.
Read LessTotally recommend it!
Totally recommend it!
Read LessThe course is delivered online through video lecture, online readings, exercises, and links to external sources. You can access all three modules on registration.
This course is as substantive as one-third of an undergraduate module. Therefore, based on university tuition fees in the UK, its true cost is therefore over £500. The price is a fraction of that. It includes insights drawn from a lifetime of research on the sixteenth century.
You can begin the course at any time it suits you, and you have lifetime access.
You'll learn about the changing circumstances for ordinary people in sixteenth-century England and why that might have forced them to rebellion, the nature of power and authority under the Tudors, the iconoclasm of Edward VI's reign, the struggle for the succession after his death and the claims of both Jane and Mary, the nature of Mary I's return to Rome and the burning of Protestant heretics. You'll decide whether Lady Jane Grey ought to be referred to as Jane I!
Yes, you can divide the regular price of the course into three payments. It is also possible to pay through Paypal and, in some countries, you can also choose Buy Now Pay Later payment methods through Klarna, Clearpay or Afterpay.
Lots! In total, there are 49 lessons, including two and half hours of video content, introduction to key primary sources like Edward VI's device for the succession and letters patent, rebel articles, and sermons by Mary I's bishops, the opportunity to be part of a lively online community of learners (aka the Tudor Nerd Collective), and lists of further reading.
This course is for everyone – from those who know and love the Tudor period to those who know nothing about the Tudors but want to find out more. Whether you're a student, retired, mother of babes in arms, PhD candidate, or just plain ol' history fan, you're welcome here.
Yes, this course pulls three modules from the 4-month course, Tudor Crisis Management: Henry VII to Elizabeth I.
The value of this course is over £1,500, but it is offered to you for less than a fraction of that.
Advance price
Monthly Payment Plan
With one of the world's leading Tudor historians