Bess of Hardwick fell out spectacularly with Mary, Queen of Scots and was dumped in the Tower of London by Elizabeth I. Yet nothing could get in the way of this extraordinary social climber. In this episode, Tracy Borman tells Spencer Mizen about a woman who accrued vast wealth, repeatedly rattled the Tudor court and ultimately earned the grudging respect of the Virgin Queen.

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GO BEYOND THE PODCAST

If you’d like to hear more about Elizabeth I on the HistoryExtra podcast, then why not check out our four-part series on the monarch with historian Nicola Tallis: https://bit.ly/3TqXC9K

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