Hello, I'm an English teacher, I need this recording for my students. I'd like a natural speed and something as fun as possible. Thanks
Terrible Tudors!
Hi everyone, my name’s Elizabeth and I was the queen of England from 1558 to 1603... Yup! I was also called the Virgin Queen because I never married. Well, I was never married to a man but I was married to my country. Let me tell you about my amazing family. My dad’s name was Henry Tudor, but since he was a king he was also called Henry VIII. He reigned over England from 1509 to 1547. But he was a special king, he was the King of England, AND the Head of the Church of England... not bad, hey?
So much power for one man! My dad had six wives... not at the same time, mind you! I mean, he married six times, and apparently he liked Catherines, as three of his wives were named “Catherine”. Strange, isn’t it? Another thing he really loved was decapitation: two of his wives were decapitated! Here’s what happened…
His first wife was Catherine of Aragon. She was a fine lady and a true Catholic – yuck! She gave my dad a daughter, my sister Mary. But she didn’t give him a son, and my dad grew tired of her. So he decided to divorce her. But at the time, England
was Catholic, so the king had to ask the Pope’s permission to get a divorce. Obviously, the Pope wasn’t very happy about it, plus he knew that my dad wanted to marry a new wife, Ann Boleyn. So the Pope refused to let Daddy get a divorce. What do you think Daddy did? Did he just wait? Or abandon? Noooo! He created his own Church
(the Church of England) with himself as the boss and the country became Anglican! Remember? I told you he was no ordinary king... So he married my mother, Ann Boleyn... That’s his second wife, remember? Ann Boleyn gave birth tome but she didn’t give him a son either, plus she was suspected of having lovers. I’m not sure that’s
true, but Daddy was very angry, so he decided to have her executed. She was beheaded, you know... decapitated... zuick! like another of Daddy’s wives
actually, Catherine Howard.... Catherine Howard was his number… hmm… hang on… one, two, three… oh yeah, she was number five! Yes, Catherine Howard was number five and she was decapitated for the same reasons as my mother. Anyway, my father finally had a son, Edward, with his third wife, Jane Seymour – he was really happy
but Jane died and Father was so sad that he waited for two years before he married his fourth wife. But he divorced her very quickly. Do you know why? Because he thought she was ugly!
When my dad died, his son Edward became the king (Edward VI). But Edward died quite young so my sister Mary became the queen of England.
Remember who Mary was? That’s right, Mary was Catherine of Aragon’s daughter. And remember what I said about Catherine of Aragon? She was a devoted Catholic... So what do you think Mary did when she became queen? She made the country Catholic again, and all of the people who refused to be Catholic were executed... Decapitated of course,or burned sometimes! That’s why my sister Mary was called “Bloody Mary”.
But it’s not fair, really, because I was no saint either if you ask me. When Mary died and I became queen, what do you think I did? Yup! I madethe country Anglican again. See? At the time, we queens and kings did exactly as we pleased! But the Catholics didn’t want to become Anglican. So... what could I do... hum... Well, yeah! That’s right!
All the Catholics who refused to convert to the Church of England were beheaded!
Good old days.... You see, decapitation was very common at the time. For lots of people, it was very entertaining. There were other cruel entertainments actually, involving animals and I really enjoyed them; bear-baiting, cock-fighting, or hunting… What fun! I also loved music, poetry and
drama, but that’s another story…
