The Forgotten Tudor Wife Who Drank Her Own Urine to Survive - TUDOR TRUE CRIME
Tudor History with Claire Ridgway by Claire Ridgway
Episode notes
Starved. Poisoned. Locked in a castle tower.
In Tudor England, one woman endured unthinkable cruelty at the hands of her noble husband—imprisoned in a tower, reduced to drinking her own urine to survive, and desperate enough to smuggle a secret letter to Thomas Cromwell begging for rescue.
Her name was Elizabeth Hungerford.
Her husband? Walter Hungerford—a man later executed for treason, sorcery, and what the records chillingly called “the abominable vice of bu****y.”
But Elizabeth’s story is the real tragedy—one of domestic abuse, survival against the odds, and a rare voice speaking out in an era when women had little power or protection.
In this episode of Tudor True Crime, I uncover:
Read moreIn Tudor England, one woman endured unthinkable cruelty at the hands of her noble husband—imprisoned in a tower, reduced to drinking her own urine to survive, and desperate enough to smuggle a secret letter to Thomas Cromwell begging for rescue.
Her name was Elizabeth Hungerford.
Her husband? Walter Hungerford—a man later executed for treason, sorcery, and what the records chillingly called “the abominable vice of bu****y.”
But Elizabeth’s story is the real tragedy—one of domestic abuse, survival against the odds, and a rare voice speaking out in an era when women had little power or protection.
In this episode of Tudor True Crime, I uncover:
- Who Walter Hungerford really was
- The disturbing charges brought against him ...