The Tudor Society

  • November live chats – 17th and 30th

    7 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Just to let you know that this month’s live chats will be taking place on Friday 17th November and Thursday 30th November.

    Here are all the details…

    17 November: Informal live chat – Ladies-in-waiting
    This month’s live chat is on Friday 17th November and the topic is ladies-in-waiting. With our informal chats, we don’t have an expert to ‘grill’, we just all bundle into the chatroom and have fun debating the topic for an hour. The moderator is just there to check that it runs smoothly, and to join the debate too. Feel free to share book recommendations on ladies-in-waiting in general, or particular ladies, to pose questions, to share your views on the role or on particular ladies, anything to do with ladies-in-waiting!

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  • This week in history 6 – 12 November

    7 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in history…

    6th November:

    1501 – Catherine of Aragon met Arthur, Prince of Wales, for the first time at Dogmersfield in Hampshire. They married eight days later at St Paul’s.
    1514 – Mary Tudor, Queen of France, processed into Paris following her coronation the previous day at Saint-Denis.
    1541 – Henry VIII abandoned his Catherine Howard, his fifth wife, at Hampton Court Palace. The investigation into John Lassell’s claims that Catherine had two sexual relationships during her time in the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk’s household had proved them true.
    1558 – Baptism of Thomas Kyd, translator and playwright, at St Mary Woolnoth in London. Kyd is known for his play “The Spanish Tragedy”.
    1612 – Death of Nicholas Fitzherbert, author and former secretary of Cardinal William Allen, near Florence in Italy. Fitzherbert drowned while trying to ford a stream en route to Rome. Fitzherbert left England in the 1570s because of his Catholic faith and to study law at Bologna. In 1580, while he was in Italy, he was attainted of treason back in England due to his Catholic faith. He was buried at Florence, in the Benedictine abbey.

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  • Tudor Society Anne Boleyn Experience is FULL

    7 years ago Author: ADMIN Tim
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    n a luxury historical holiday in May 2018, staying in Hever Castle and visiting places like the Tower of London and Hampton Court Palace.
    We’re happy to say that all the places for this tour are now full. Claire Ridgway is one of the experts on this tour, and she’s really looking forward to meeting friends, old and new, and to talking non-stop Tudor history!

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  • Remember, remember the fifth of November

    7 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    This weekend, people around the UK will have been marking the 5th of November by attending firework displays, letting off fireworks in their backyards, lighting bonfires and burning “the guy”. For many, it’s just a bit of fun, for others it’s time to worry about the pets, and for others, it’s a time to remember the plot that sought to kill a king.

    On the night of 4th/5th November 1605, Guy Fawkes was caught with thirty-six barrels of gunpowder in the cellars beneath Westminster. The idea was to blow up the House of Lords at the opening of Parliament on the 5th November, and to assassinate King James I.

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  • Katherine Howard Quiz

    7 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Catherine Howard

    This week was the anniversary of Archbishop Cranmer informing the king of his fifth wife’s colourful past, so it seems apt to test our knowledge of this queen – good luck!

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  • When is a pudding not a pudding?

    7 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    In this week’s Claire Chats, I look at Tudor puddings, dishes that were not at all what we’d call puddings today.

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  • Mary, Katherine and Lady Jane Grey: Heirs to the last Tudor – Talk by Leanda de Lisle

    7 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Thank you to Leanda de Lisle, Byland Media and the Ryedale Book Festival for this video of Leanda’s recent talk, given at the Ryedale Book Festival. Accompanying Leanda are Chris Parsons, trumpet, and Nicholas Brooksbank, art advisor.

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  • Expert Talk – The Battle of Flodden – Julian Humphrys

    7 years ago Author: ADMIN Tim
    1 Comment

    This month we are thrilled to have Julian Humphrys from the Battlefields Trust as our guest expert speaker. Julian has given us a wonderful talk on the Battle of Flodden in 1513, the battle that took place when Catherine of Aragon was regent for Henry VIII and which was between an invading Scots army under King James IV and an English army commanded by Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey.

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  • 1 November 1456 – Edmund Tudor dies

    7 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in 1456, Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond and father of King Henry VII, died from the plague at Carmarthen Castle in Wales.

    Edmund was the eldest son of Owen Tudor and Catherine of Valois (widow of Henry V and mother of Henry VI). He was born around 1430 in Much Hadham, Hertfordshire, and is sometimes known as Edmund of Hadham. Edmund was made Earl of Richmond by his step-brother, Henry VI, on 23rd November 1452 and his brother, Jasper, was made Earl of Pembroke. The brothers were knighted on 5th January 1453 and in March 1453, at the Reading Parliament, they received recognition as the king’s true and legitimate brothers.

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  • Harry Potter – A History of Magic

    7 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    It seems rather apt to be sharing about this programme on Halloween!

    “Harry Potter: A History of Magic” aired on BBC 2 on Saturday night, 28th October. Why on earth am I sharing about this programme on the Tudor Society, you may be wondering, well, J.K. Rowling didn’t just draw on her vivid imagination for her Harry Potter series of books, she drew on history too. Here’s what the BBC Media Centre said about this programme:

    “Narrated by Imelda Staunton, this is a playful and thrilling adventure through the real life legends, beliefs and folklore that fired JK Rowling’s imagination. In the run up to the major exhibition, Harry Potter: A History of Magic, Rowling ventures behind the scenes of the British Library, revealing the real life counterparts to her fantastical world. From shrieking mandrakes and Elizabethan invisibility spells; to the mystery of the ancient oracle bones of the lost Shang dynasty and the real life search for the Philosopher’s Stone, it’s the start of a journey that takes us to some of the most magical places in the land. There, we’ll encounter wonderful characters whose belief in magic has never waned – from the folk at the beguiling Museum of Witchcraft in Boscastle, Cornwall, to a pair of real life wizarding wandmakers who’ve honed their craft in England’s ancient woodland.”

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  • Reformation 500 – The 500th anniversary of the Reformation

    7 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Today, 31st October 2017, is the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. German Reformer Philipp Melancthon recorded that “Luther, burning with passion and just devoutness, posted the Ninety-Five Theses at the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany at All Saints Eve, October 31”, and Luther sent a copy of The Ninety-Five Theses (proper title: Disputation of Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences) to Albert, Archbishop of Mainz, and the Bishop of Brandenburg along with a letter protesting against the sale of indulgences.

    Martin Luther’s 95 Theses had a major impact. The resulting controversy over Luther’s letter and his Theses is seen as the beginning of the Reformation, the schism from the Catholic Church and the start of Protestantism.

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  • This week in history 30 October – 5 November

    7 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in history…

    30th October:

    1485 – The founder of the Tudor dynasty, Henry Tudor, was crowned King Henry VII at Westminster Abbey. Click here for more.
    The Tudor chronicler, Raphael Holinshed, recorded:
    “…with great pompe he rowed unto Westminster, & there the thirtith daie of October he was with all ceremonies accustomed, anointed, & crowned king, by the whole assent as well of the commons as of the nobilitie, & called Henrie the seaventh of that name…”
    His biographer, Thomas Penn, describes how this was the occasion that Henry was united with his mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, whom he’d not seen for fourteen years. Margaret was said to have “wept marvellously”.
    Henry Tudor had claimed the crown of England after defeating Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field on the 22nd August 1485, and had actually been unofficially crowned with Richard’s crown on the battlefield that day.

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  • Sunday fun

    7 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Today’s bit of Sunday fun is a wordsearch puzzle on the feast days of October. You’ll know the answers to these if you’ve read our Tudor Feast Days book and if you get stuck then you can check in the book or visit our October Feast Days page. Good luck!

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  • November 2017 Tudor Life – Ladies-in-waiting

    7 years ago Author: ADMIN Tim
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    Here is the full version of our 80-page November edition of Tudor Life Magazine. This month we focus on Tudor Ladies-in-waiting and our expert contributors have really enjoyed writing about their favourite women…

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  • Mary Herbert (née Sidney), Countess of Pembroke

    7 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Mary Herbert (née Sidney), Countess of Pembroke, writer and literary patron, was born on 27th October 1561 at Tickenhall, near Bewdley in Worcestershire. She was the third daughter of Sir Henry Sidney and his wife, Mary (née Dudley), daughter of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, and she was the sister of the poets Sir Philip Sidney and Robert Sidney (later Earl of Leicester).

    Mary’s parents were loyal servants of the Crown. Edward VI had died in Mary’s father’s arms and Mary’s mother had nursed Elizabeth I through smallpox, and been badly disfigured as a result of contracting the disease. Mary was also the niece of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, Elizabeth I’s favourite, and Ambrose Dudley, Earl of Warwick.

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  • Did Edward VI really pluck and kill a falcon?

    7 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
    3 Comments

    This week’s Claire Chats video talk was inspired by an “ask the expert” question we received from Tudor Society member Elizabeth and her son Joseph. Elizabeth’s full question was “My son was reading up on Edward VI and came across this story and wondered if it was true. I said that you would know! Simon Renard, the Imperial Ambassador, reported that Edward had plucked a falcon which he had kept in his private chamber and had torn it into 4 pieces saying as he did so that he likened himself to a falcon whom everyone plucked but that he would pluck them too and tear them into 4 parts. We wondered if this was a true story.”

    It’s an interesting question and one I wanted to dig deeper into it.

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  • What did Elizabeth I really look like?

    7 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
    4 Comments

    Thank you to Tudor Life regular contributor, Rioghnach, for asking this question:

    “Claire’s most recent chat on the subject of smallpox during the Tudor era has piqued my curiosity.
    Elizabeth’s portraits always make her skin look flawless. Obviously, this was not the case, but I can understand why her painters used tact and diplomacy in their works. Does anyone actually know for certain, what Elizabeth actually looked like under the layers of white lead etc?”

    Although there are many portraits of Elizabeth I painted in her lifetime, it is impossible to use them as evidence of what the queen really looked like, particularly towards the end of her reign, because portraits of a monarch at this time were not meant to be accurate representations, they were propaganda.

    Elizabeth was twenty-five when she came to the throne in November 1558 and she ruled until March 1603, when she was sixty-nine, but let’s have a look at some of the portraits painted late in her reign, when she covered her greying and thinning hair with wigs and used layers of ceruse to make her “mask of youth”.

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  • The Feast of Saints Crispin and Crispinian

    7 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    In Tudor England, 25th October marked the feast day of Saints Crispin and Crispinian who were brothers (some say twins) and who were martyrs of the Early Church, being beheaded on 25 October 285 or 286 during the reign of Diocletian. Following the victory of England over France on 25 October 1415, at the Battle of Agincourt, the day became a celebration of that event too. Celebrations included bonfires, revelry and the crowning of a King Crispin.

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  • A fantastic view of an Elizabethan House – and some art news!

    7 years ago Author: ADMIN Tim
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    Our lovely friend, Aidan Meller (who many will know as the anchorman at MadeGlobal’s September author event, or from articles in the early days of the Tudor Society) has shared a wonderful video with us about his business in Oxford.

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  • Jean wins a copy of Leanda de Lisle’s book!

    7 years ago Author: ADMIN Tim
    4 Comments

    We’ve been running a photo competition for our full members to win a signed copy of Leanda de Lisle’s book “Tudor: The Family Story”, and we’re proud to announce that Jean is the winner, with her wonderful Tudor dress and Tudor Society Pin Badge!

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  • Jane Seymour resources

    7 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
    1 Comment
    A portrait of Jane Seymour by Hans Holbein the Younger

    As today is the anniversary of the death of Jane Seymour, third wife of Henry VIII, on 24th October 1537, I thought I would share some links to further resources on Jane here at the Tudor Society.

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  • This week in history 23 – 29 October

    7 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in history…

    23rd October:

    1545 – Death of Sir Humphrey Wingfield, lawyer, Speaker of the House of Commons (1533-36) and patron of humanist education, at Ipswich.
    1556 – Death of Sir John Gresham, brother of Sir Richard Gresham and Lord Mayor of London (1547). He was buried in the church of St Michael Bassishaw.
    1570 – Burial of John Hopkins, poet, psalmodist and Church of England clergyman, at Great Waldingfield. Churchman and historian John Bale described Hopkins as “not the least significant of British poets of our time”. Hopkins’ psalms were included in the 1562 “The whole booke of Psalmes, collected into Englysh metre by T. Starnhold, J. Hopkins & others”

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  • Transcript of Live chat with Nathen Amin

    7 years ago Author: ADMIN Tim
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    We had an excellent chat with Nathen Amin in the chatroom at the end of last week. Lots of questions were asked, and lots answered. Thank you to those who came, and congratulations to Dawn as the winner of Nathen’s book, “The House of Beaufort”. Here is the transcript for those who missed the chat.

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  • Edward Seymour and Anne Stanhope Quiz

    7 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    How much do you know about Edward Seymour, brother of Queen Jane Seymour and Lord Protector in Edward VI’s reign,
    and his second wife, Anne Stanhope? Grab your favourite beverage, make yourself comfortable and get those little grey cells working with this little quiz – good luck!

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  • Thomas Seymour: A sexual predator?

    7 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
    5 Comments

    In today’s Claire Chats, Claire considers the primary source evidence for Thomas Seymour’s behaviour with Elizabeth, the future Elizabeth I, between 1547 and 1549.

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  • Tudor Society Pin Badge Competition Closing Soon!

    7 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
    2 Comments

    Just a reminder that our Tudor Society pin badge competition closes at the end of tomorrow, 20th October 2017. We’ve received lots of photos (thank you!) but if you’ve haven’t sent in your photo then do it now!

    Send us your Pin Badge photo!

    If you want the chance to win a signed copy of Leanda de Lisle’s fantastic book Tudor: The Family Story then all you have to do is send us a photo of yourself with your Tudor Society pin badge. Use some creativity and have some fun with what’s in the photo – show us your addiction to the Tudors, show us your most prized Tudor item along with yourself and your badge, wear your Tudor costume, show us other pin badges you’ve collected, take it at a Tudor place… whatever you want as long as it shows your pin badge! We’ll choose the best one.

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  • Sir Philip Sidney

    7 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in history, 17th October 1586, Sir Philip Sidney, the famous Elizabethan poet, courtier and soldier, died as a result of an injury sustained at the Battle of Zutphen in the Netherlands. He was just thirty-one years old. His body was returned to England and laid to rest on the 16th February 1587 in St Paul’s Cathedral.

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  • This week in history 16 – 22 October

    7 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in history…

    16th October:

    1532 – While Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII were lodged in Calais, the Duke of Norfolk, Earl of Derby and a group of gentleman met with “the great mayster of Fraunce” Anne, duc de Montmorency, and his men at the English Pale, six miles outside of Calais. This meeting was to plan where Henry VIII would meet Francis I.
    1555 – The burnings of two of the Oxford martyrs: Hugh Latimer, Bishop of Worcester, and Nicholas Ridley, Bishop of London. Click here to read more.
    1573 – Death of Thomas Davies, Bishop of St Asaph, at Abergele in Denbighshire.
    1594 – Death of Cardinal William Allen at his home in the via Monserrato, Rome, while in exile. He was buried in Rome, in the English College’s Church.

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  • Quiz – Anne of Cleves, fourth wife of Henry VIII

    7 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Anne of Cleves was the fourth wife of King Henry VIII, but how much do you actually know about her? Test your knowledge and have some fun with our Sunday quiz on Anne – good luck!

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  • Smallpox

    7 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
    1 Comment

    In today’s Claire Chats video talk, Claire looks at the disease smallpox, which Tudor people like Henry VIII, Margaret Tudor, Edward VI and Elizabeth I suffered from. What was it? Where did it come from? What were its symptoms and how was it treated?

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