Tudors Dynasty & Beyond

There are big “what-ifs” in history… and then there are the ones that quietly change everything.
In this episode, we ask: What if Margaret Tudor had no surviving children with James IV?
When James IV was killed at Flodden in 1513, Scotland did not just lose a king - it faced political instability, factional rivalry, and the urgent question of succession. But what if there had been no infant James V? No Tudor heir to carry the Stewart line forward?
Who were the potential heirs to the Scottish throne at that moment? We look at the rival branches of the Stewart family, the strength of dynastic claims, and how Scotland might have chosen - or fought for - its next ruler.
We also explore Margaret’s controversial second marriage to Archibald Douglas, which produced Margaret Douglas - a figure who would later play her own crucial role in the English succession. How would her position have shifted if there had been no surviving royal son from Margaret’s first marriage?
And then there’s England.
If Margaret’s line through James IV had failed, there would have been no Mary, Queen of Scots. No Stuart claim looming during Elizabeth I’s reign. No James VI poised to inherit England in 1603.
So who would have succeeded Elizabeth? A Grey? A distant Plantagenet descendant? A foreign claimant? Would the Union of the Crowns ever have happened at all?
This episode explores the fragile thread of dynastic survival — and how the absence of just one child could have reshaped Scotland, England, and the future of Britain itself.
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Hosted by: Rebecca Larson & Amy McElroy

Today would normally be a Dr. Emma & Me episode, but as many of you know from the last show and the notes here on Patreon, the series is on a brief hiatus.
While Emma takes the time she needs (and we’re all sending her love), I’m so excited to introduce something new in its place: Rebecca & Friends.
And I truly could not have picked a better person to launch this with than my good friend Matt Lewis.
I’m going to be completely honest with you - this may be the most fun I’ve ever had recording an episode. If you watch the video, just look at my face throughout… you can actually see the moments where I’m completely blown away. The theory Matt brings to the table is one of those rare historical ideas that makes you stop mid-conversation and think, wait… what?!
I won’t spoil it here. But if there’s even a chance it’s true, it’s the kind of thing that will absolutely blow your mind.
I cannot wait to hear what you think.
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Host: Rebecca Larson
Guest: Matt Lewis

In this episode, I’m joined by the wonderful Michèle Schindler to explore one of the most dangerous - and politically charged - experiences in medieval life: royal childbirth.
For queens and noblewomen, pregnancy was never just personal. It was dynastic. The survival of kingdoms rested on their bodies. We dive into what childbirth actually looked like inside medieval chambers - the rituals, the midwives, the prayers, the relics, and the intense female networks that surrounded labor.
What happened when things went wrong? How did repeated pregnancies shape a queen’s health - and her political value? And how did the birth (or death) of an heir change the course of history?
From the expectations placed on royal women to the very real medical risks they faced, this conversation sheds light on the physical realities behind medieval monarchy - and the immense pressure carried by women whose primary duty was to secure the future of a realm.
It’s intimate. It’s personal. And it might change the way you think about crowns and succession forever.
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You can find Michele's books pretty much anywhere, but here is her page on Amazon - US.
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Host: Rebecca Larson
Guest: Michèle Schindler

There are so many “what ifs” in history - but this one may have reshaped the world. What if Mary I had given birth to a healthy son who survived? In this episode, we explore the ripple effects of a secure Catholic Tudor succession: What if Mary died in childbirth - who would have ruled as regent? What if she lived a long life and her son inherited the throne? How would England’s alliances with Philip II of Spain and Catholic Europe have evolved? And perhaps most provocatively - what would the future United States look like if Elizabeth I never reigned and her explorers never turned England into a Protestant Atlantic power? One surviving child might have changed the English Reformation, the rise of empire, and the very foundations of the modern world.
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Don't forget to check out all of Amy McElroy's books where you buy books and go give her Substack a follow!
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Hosts:
Rebecca Larson
Amy McElroy

Dr. Emma & Me is pressing pause for now as Emma takes some time for herself. We appreciate your kindness and respect for her privacy during this season, and we’re hopeful we’ll be back together soon. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the new series - Rebecca & Friends.
Spain was not born in 1492.
In this episode, Dr. Emma takes us back to the very beginning - to the Greeks who first traded along Iberia’s shores, the Romans who transformed it into Hispania, and the Visigoths who ruled after Rome’s fall. We explore how once-unified territories fractured into separate kingdoms, how centuries of conflict and coexistence shaped identity, and how the long Reconquista slowly redrew the map of Iberia.
From ancient colony to emerging monarchy, this is the story of how Spain was made — and how Ferdinand and Isabel inherited a world centuries in the making.
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Hosts:
Rebecca Larson
Dr. Emma Cahill Marron