On this day in Tudor history, 30th October 1566, Queen Elizabeth I’s former tutor, Roger Ascham, wrote her a long, heartfelt letter of praise and moral guidance.
Centuries later, this same letter would be twisted into something sensational, supposed proof that Elizabeth secretly married Robert Dudley and bore a child… the future philosopher Francis Bacon.
But what did Ascham actually write?
And how did a pious letter about kingship, learning, and virtue become “evidence” for a royal scandal?
In this episode, I uncover:
- Who Roger Ascham really was — Elizabeth’s beloved tutor and humanist scholar
- What his 1566 letter truly says (and doesn’t say)
- How Victorian writers and Baconian theorists turned scripture into scandal
- Why the so-called “secret pregnancy” theory falls apart when you read the text
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