How To Academy Podcast Philippa Gregory - Jane Boleyn Reimagined
Oct 16, 2025
Philippa Gregory, a bestselling historical novelist and Tudor historian, delves into the life of Jane Boleyn, revealing her not as a schemer but as a survivor amidst Henry VIII’s tyranny. She discusses how Victorian biases distorted Jane's reputation and explores the silences in history that fiction can fill. Gregory suggests Jane may have acted as a spy for Thomas Cromwell and highlights the importance of women's roles at court in managing power dynamics. Ultimately, she warns against the dangers of concentrated power in today’s politics, drawing parallels from Tudor history.
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Victorian Bias Distorts Jane's Story
- Victorian historians shaped Jane Boleyn's reputation through their own cultural prejudices.
- Philippa Gregory argues those biases obscured the real, complex motives of Tudor women.
Reconstructing Jane From Scattered Records
- Jane's recorded life is sparse, so Gregory reconstructs her from surviving documents and gaps.
- She treats the Tudor record like a detective story, tracing Jane through scant evidence and court appearances.
Jane As Cromwell's Court Informant
- Gregory suspects Jane acted as a spy within the court under Thomas Cromwell.
- She links Jane's sudden return to favour and authorship of divorce documents to Cromwell's patronage.
