Hey, this is Heather from the Renaissance English History Podcast, and this is your Tudor Minute for June 20.
Today in 1567 the famous Casket Letters, supposedly proving Mary Queen of Scots’ involvement in the murder of her husband, showed up – a gift to the prosecution against her. They were eight letters found in a silver casket that belonged to the Earl of Bothwell, allegedly written by Mary to Bothwell. These are the only evidence that implicates Mary in the murder of her husband, and they no longer exist for us to examine, but there is a great deal of skeptism about them now, just as there was then. We do still have the transcripts along with William Cecil’s notes – he believed that they would have provided adequate justification for an anointed queen to be deposed, and even killed, guaranteeing the safety of Queen Elizabeth without Mary there as a figurehead for Catholic rebels. Sadly, we’ll never know the validity of the casket letters, and the debate will likely continue for generations.
That’s your Tudor Minute for today. Remember you can dive deeper into life in 16th century England through the Renaissance English History Podcast at englandcast.com.
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Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast,  the original Tudor history podcast, started in 2009. She's been writing about history online for over 25 years, since her first site on Colonial American history became number one in history on Yahoo in 1998. In 2019 she created Tudorcon, which is now a yearly event, in addition to writing books, and running TudorFair.com - a whimsical Tudor Merch shop. She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 20 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history.