On this day in Tudor history, 31st May 1443, Lady Margaret Beaufort, the woman known as the matriarch of the Tudor dynasty, was born.
Find out a few facts about her in this #TudorHistoryShorts video…
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31 May – Lady Margaret Beaufort
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30 May – Christopher Marlowe is stabbed!
On this day in Tudor history, 30th May 1593, Christopher Marlowe, the famous Elizabethan playwright, was stabbed to death.
Find out what happened in this #TudorHistoryshorts video…
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Anne Boleyn’s Coronation Quiz
As it’s coming up to the anniversary of the coronation of Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s second wife, I thought we’d mark the occasion with an Anne Boleyn coronation quiz.
How much do you know about Anne Boleyn’s coronation celebrations and ceremony?
Test yourself with this fun quiz.
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29 May – A fire-breathing dragon for Anne Boleyn
On this day in Tudor history, 29th May 1533, the citizens of London were treated to a spectacular river procession. It was part of the coronation celebrations for England’s new queen, Anne Boleyn.
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28 May – Anne Boleyn is the rightful queen!
On 28th May 1533, over four months after Henry VIII had married Anne Boleyn at Whitehall, and six months after a possible secret marriage at Dover, Archbishop Cranmer proclaimed the union valid.
Anne was now officially queen and it was just in time for her coronation!
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One Book Unites Two Rival Queens by Kate McCaffrey
Thank you so much to Kate McCaffrey for sharing this guest article with us today. Kate has been in the news recently because of her discovery of previously hidden inscriptions in one of Anne Boleyn’s Books of Hours at Hever Castle – a wonderful discovery.
Do follow the link at the end of this post to read Kate’s guest article on the Anne Boleyn Files too.
Over to Kate…
Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn. Two queens, two wives, two rivals. They are both highly recognisable leading women from sixteenth-century England, but are also famed rivals in love and power. At best, we consider them to have had a fraught, divisive relationship. In today’s society, as is so often the case, we frequently see them as two women pitted against each other: one ‘good’, one ‘bad’, one Catholic, one Reformist, one wife, one mistress. Certainly, they were rivals and had many differing opinions and standpoints, but they also had key qualities in common. They were both highly educated, pious women who were at the whims of their changeable husband and who, in their own ways, were victims of patriarchal circumstance.
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27 May – Cardinal Pole makes an enemy
On 27th May 1536, Cardinal Reginald Pole, who was in Venice, wrote to King Henry VIII.
It was a very polite letter but what he sent with it brought Pole and his family trouble. He made the mistake of making an enemy of King Henry VIII.
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20 Interesting Facts about Henry VII
As my latest “Facts about…” video is about the very first Tudor monarch, King Henry VII, I thought I’d share it here.
Henry VII does seem to be a neglected monarch, as many people find his son, Henry VIII, and his granddaughter, Elizabeth I, far more interesting, but he deserves some attention, don’t you think?
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Artists in the Spotlight – Maggie
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June 2021 – Tudor Life – Wrath
Bringing our “sins” series to a close, we have a packed magazine focusing on wrath. As you can imagine, this is a powerful magazine as the Tudor monarchs were well known for vengeance, fury and hate at times. 72 pages of Tudor articles.
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26 May – A wife and mother of poets
On this day in history, 26th May 1621, Barbara Sidney (née Gamage), Countess of Leicester, was buried at Penshurst.
Find out about this Tudor lady, whose marriage was the concern of several prominent Tudor men and who ended up marrying an Elizabethan poet.
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The 1536 Medal – Lucy Churchill – Live Chat Transcript
At the end of last week, we had an amazing chat session with Lucy Churchill all about the 1536 Anne Boleyn medal and the King’s College Chapel Choir Screen which features an amazing amount of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII motifs. We learned that there’s a lot more to learn. Enjoy this transcript of our live chat.
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25 May – Lady Jane Grey gets married
On this day in Tudor history, 25th May 1553, in the reign of King Edward VI, Lady Jane Grey married Lord Guildford Dudley.
The bride and groom were from prominent families, but there is the prevailing idea that this marriage was part of a plot by John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland.
Find out more…
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24 May – Robert Cecil, Elizabeth I’s “pygmy”
On this day in history, 24th May 1612, in the reign of King James I, Elizabeth I’s former Secretary of State, Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, died.
Find out a bit more about the man Elizabeth I called “my pygmy”…
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23 May – Henry Grey is finally made a Knight of the Garter
On this day in Tudor history, 23rd May 1547, in the reign of King Edward VI, Henry Grey, 3rd Marquis of Dorset, was finally installed as a Knight of the Garter.
Grey had wanted this honour for years and had been nominated many times, so what had changed? How did he end up joining the Order of the Garter.
Find out in this video…
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Jane Seymour Crossword Puzzle
May is the anniversary of the fall of Anne Boleyn in 1536 and the rise of Jane Seymour, the month of two queens.
Test your knowledge on Henry VIII’s third wife with this fun crossword puzzle.
Simply click on the link or image below to open and print out.
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22 May – Edward Seymour is in favour
On this day in Tudor history, 22nd May 1537, in the reign of King Henry VIII, Queen Jane Seymour’s brother, Edward Seymour, was appointed to the privy council.
It was just one reward of many and you can find out more about Edward Seymour’s rise in this 60-second TudorHistoryShorts video:
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21 May – Philip of Spain
Today is the birthday of Philip II of Spain, king consort of Queen Mary I.
I commemorate his birthday by sharing a few facts about him…
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Was Henry Tudor a Coward at Bosworth? – Julian Humphrys
Some say that Henry Tudor was a coward for hiding behind his men and that Richard was the braver of the two men at this battle – but is this the right assessment?
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Book news – Coming soon – The Boleyns of Hever Castle
The 19th May, the anniversary of Queen Anne Boleyn’s execution, seems a fitting day to announce some news regarding a Boleyn-themed book, don’t you think?
Many of you will know that Dr Owen Emmerson and I have been working on a book about the history of Hever Castle, the childhood home of Anne Boleyn. Well, the original book idea had to be postponed due to travel restrictions and the closure of archives, so we decided to focus on 77 years of Hever’s history, the time when it was owned by the Boleyn family.
The Boleyns of Hever Castle will be launched at Hever Castle on 1st August 2021 – hurrah!
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19 May – Anne Boleyn’s execution
On this day in Tudor history, 19th May 1536, Henry VIII’s second wife, Queen Anne Boleyn, was executed at the Tower of London.
Find out more, and hear some of her final words, in this #TudorHistoryShorts video…
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18 May – I have a little neck
On this day in Tudor history, 18th May 1536, Queen Anne Boleyn’s execution was postponed.
Sir William Kingston, the Constable of the Tower of London, was surprised by the queen’s reaction when he informed her of the delay – why? How did Anne react? What did she say?
Find out exactly what Anne Boleyn said…
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17 May – Around the throne the thunder rolls
On 17th May 1536, poet, courtier and diplomat Sir Thomas Wyatt the Elder, who was imprisoned in the Tower of London, witnessed the executions of his fellow courtiers, George Boleyn, Henry Norris, Sir Francis Weston, William Brereton and Mark Smeaton.
Hear some of what he wrote about that awful day.
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Wars of the Roses Quiz
The Wars of the Roses were a series of dynastic wars between two different branches of the House of Plantagenet, who both thought they had valid claims to the throne. The first Tudor monarch, Henry VII, united these two houses and his reign saw the end of civil war.
But how much do you know about this period of history?
Test yourself on the Wars of the Roses with this fun quiz.
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16 May – Thomas More resigns
On this day in Tudor history, 16th May 1532, Sir Thomas More resigned as Henry VIII’s Lord Chancellor.
But what led to More’s resignation when he had been such a loyal servant to King Henry VIII?
Find out…
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20 Interesting Facts about the Wars of the Roses
In this edition of my Facts About series, I take you back to the Wars of the Roses, that period of civil war between 1455 and 1487.
Find out about the background to the Wars of the Roses, who was involved, what happened and how they came to an end, as well as some Wars of the Roses trivia.
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15 May – Henry VIII’s problems in the bedroom become public
On this day in Tudor history, 15th May 1536, Henry VIII’s second wife, Queen Anne Boleyn, and her brother, George Boleyn, Lord Rochford, were tried one after the other in the King’s Hall of the Tower of London.
It was during George’s trial that problems the king was experiencing with his wife became public, something which must have been rather embarrassing for the king.
Find out what happened on that day in 1536…
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14 May – The Creeping Parliament
On this day in Tudor history, 14th May 1571, the “Creeping Parliament” was held in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Why was it called the “Creeping Parliament” and why were there actually two Parliaments meeting?
What was going on and what happened next?
Find out more…
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Living Tudor History with Brigitte
This week Brigitte takes us for a look around some of her beautifully renovated Tudor house, showing us some of the important features. You’re going to be fascinated by the secret feature on the fireplace.
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13 May – Queen Anne Boleyn is on her way out
On 13th May 1536, eleven days after her arrest, the royal household of Queen Anne Boleyn was broken up and her household discharged.
The queen hadn’t even been tried yet, never mind found guilty!
Find out more about this day and what happened to members of her household in this #TudorHistoryShorts video…
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