The Tudor Society
  • Tudor Women Quiz

    Grab a coffee and enjoy a five-minute break while testing your Tudor knowledge with this fun quiz – good luck!

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  • Twelfth Night and Epiphany video

  • Live Chat: The Spicery – 20 January

    Rioghnach O’Geraghty, a medievalist with a strong interest in the spices which were used during the medieval Tudor period, is this month’s expert speaker and she is joining us on the chatroom to answer your questions on Friday 20th January at 11pm UK time.

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  • Reminder – Live Chat on 6 January

    Just a quick reminder that historian Gareth Russell will be joining us in the chatroom tomorrow to discuss Henry VIII as a military leader. This follows on from the chat we had last month when Gareth was experiencing technical problems.

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  • Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall, Who’s the Most Renaissance of Them All? Part III: Henry VIII of England

    This is Part III of a four-part series, which seeks to look at what were considered the attributes of a Renaissance prince, and who of our four princes embodied the ideals of the Renaissance best. What were some of those themes? The idea of a Renaissance man stood for a person who strove to embrace knowledge and develop himself. This included concepts such as the arts, knowledge, physical achievements, and social ideals. More plainly and for a prince, this could include cultivating a court known for patronising artists, musicians, and the like; establishing educational institutions, a good degree of physical fortitude, and things such as chivalric love or engaging in acts of charity.

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  • Unfinished Business: The Reformation

    Thank you to Teri Fitzgerald for sharing this forthcoming radio programme with me:

    “Unfinished Business
    Book of the Week, The Reformation Episode 1 of 5

    500 years after the Reformation, Diarmaid MacCulloch examines how the announcement of a university seminar in Germany led to the division of Europe

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  • This week in history 2 – 8 January

    On this day in history…

    2 January:

    1492 – King Boabdil surrendered Granada to the forces of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile – click here to read more.
    1525 – Death of Sir William Uvedale. Uvedale had been created a Knight of the Bath and Knight of the Royal Body by Henry VII, and served Arthur, Prince of Wales, as his counsellor.
    1536 – Eustace Chapuys, the Imperial Ambassador, arrived at the dying Catherine of Aragon’s bedside in Kimbolton Castle.
    1539 – Geoffrey Pole, son of Sir Richard Pole and Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, was pardoned after attempting suicide for the third time.

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  • Tudor History Quiz

    Thank you to Rebecca Larson for writing this week’s quiz. This general Tudor history quiz should wake you up and get those brain cells working! Good luck!

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  • Happy New Year 2017

    Tim and I just wanted to wish all Tudor Society members a very Happy New Year and to thank you for all the support you’ve given us in 2016. We hope that 2017 brings you joy, health and prosperity – Happy New Year!

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  • Expert Talk – Into the Tudor Spicery

    This month we have a wonderful video from Rioghnach O’Geraghty, a medievalist with a strong interest in the spices which were used during the medieval Tudor period. In this video, Rioghnach discusses some typical spice blends and their uses – they may sound strange to us, but the Tudors really did know how to make food delicious.

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  • January 2017 Tudor Life Magazine

    Here’s the complete edition of our full-colour 62-page January edition of Tudor Life Magazine. The theme this month is “Tudor Propaganda”, and, as you probably know, they were very good at it!

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  • Grimsthorpe Castle – Sarah Bryson

    Sarah Bryson talks about her visit to Grimsthorpe Castle in Lincolnshire. She had a wonderful time visiting the castle and found some remnants of its Tudor past. This video is the third of four in her series on Tudor castles.

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  • 30 December 1546 – Henry VIII signs his will

    On 30th December 1546, Henry VIII signed his last will and testament, authorising changes he’d instructed William Paget to make on his behalf on 26th December 1546.

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  • 6 January 2017 – Live chat with Gareth Russell

    If you joined December’s live chat on Henry VIII as a military leader with Gareth Russell then you’ll know that Gareth’s wifi kept dropping out. Gareth has very kindly offered to do another live chat on 6th January at 11pm UK time – hurrah!

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  • John Davis, navigator and explorer

    On this day in history, 29th December 1605, John Davis (Davys), navigator and explorer, died near Bintang, off the coast of Borneo. His ship, The Tiger, was attacked by Japanese pirates who killed Davis in hand-to-hand combat.

    Davis was one of the main Elizabethan navigators and explorers, and the Davis Strait in the Northwest Passage is named after him. He is also known for being the first Englishman to document a sighting of the Falkland Islands. Davis also wrote the 1594 The Seaman’s Secrets and The World’s Hydrographical Description (1595).

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  • Anne of Cleves – If by land or by sea

    Thank you so much to our regular contributor, Heather R. Darsie, for writing this article on Anne of Cleves for us. Heather is working on a biography of Anne at the moment and is researching her using the German archives.

    Anna von Kleve, known to English speakers as Anne of Cleves, left her homeland in December 1539 to join her new husband, Henry VIII of England. The two had been married by proxy a couple of months earlier, in October. After Henry successfully negotiated the marriage alliance with Anna’s younger brother Wilhelm, Duke of Cleves since early 1538, there was the simple matter of getting Anna to England. But which way to take, a sea route or over land? Both options would take Anna through Imperial and French territory, which was no small matter at the time.

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  • Childermas or the Feast of the Holy Innocents

    Childermas (Children’s Mass) or Holy Innocents’ Day was part of the Twelve Days of Christmas celebrated in the Tudor period and was celebrated on 28th December.

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  • This week in history 26 December – 1 January

    26th December:

    526 – Birth of Rose Throckmorton (née Lok, other married name: Hickman), Protestant and businesswoman, in London. She was the third child of Sir William Lok, a mercer who had also served Henry VIII as a gentleman usher. Rose was married twice: to merchant Anthony Hickman and to Simon Throckmorton of Brampton.
    1545 – Death of Sir George Bowes, soldier, rebel and Captain of Norham Castle. He was buried at Alnwick. Bowes was a member of the rebel army during the 1536 Pilgrimage of Grace, but the patronage of his uncle, Sir Robert Bowes, protected him. He fought in the 1542 Anglo-Scottish War and in the 1544 expedition. He was granted the Barony of Coldingham as a reward for seizing Coldingham Priory on November 1544, but was then taken prisoner in January 1545 and lost the barony.
    1546 – Henry VIII made some changes to his will, a document which had been prepared two years earlier. These changes were made to ensure successful transfer of royal authority to his son, the future Edward VI, and to prepare for Edward reigning during his minority.

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  • Christmas Quiz

    Merry Christmas from all of us here at the Tudor Society! Have a wonderful festive period! If you have a spare few minutes then why not test yourself with this fun quiz.

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  • A Christmas Message from Claire and Tim

    A Christmas message from Claire and Tim Ridgway.

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  • Six Wives with Lucy Worsley Episode 3

    Episode 3 of “Six Wives with Lucy Worsley” looked at Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard and Catherine Parr. I’d love to hear your thoughts on it.

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  • The Tradition of Kissing Under the Mistletoe

    Thank you to regular contributor Heather R. Darsie for writing this interesting article on the history of the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe.

    Oh, the romantic kiss under the mistletoe. The viridian, sturdy, parasitic mistletoe. Varieties of the plant are found all over the world, growing on trees and shrubs. The mistletoe eventually kills the branch of the host plant upon which it is preying, feeding on the host plant throughout the winter. Mistletoe is an Anglo-Saxon word meaning “dung twig.” So how did this plant become a holiday decoration prompting kisses?

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  • Tudor Christmas with Sarah Bryson

    Regular contributor Sarah Bryson talks to us about Tudor Christmas traditions.

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  • Tudor Buttered Beere Video

    In my latest Tudor Cooking with Claire video I’ve made a recipe from Thomas Dawson’s 1594 book The good Huswifes Handmaide for the Kitchin which presumably was the inspiration for the drink butterbeer in the Harry Potter book

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  • This week in history 19 – 25 December

  • General Tudor History Quiz

    Clear the cobwebs and get that brain working with this fun Tudor history quiz!

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  • Tudor Christmas at Little Moreton Hall

    Jane Moulder, Tudor Life magazine regular contributor and a member of the Renaissance music group Piva, has just shared this ITV News video with me. It talks about the different Tudor Christmas traditions, including marchpane.

    It was filmed at the beautiful Tudor property Little Moreton Hall and features Piva too! I hope you enjoy it!

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  • Transcript of Gareth Russell Live Chat

    Even though Gareth was battling wifi issue, we still managed to have an enlightening chat about Henry VIII as a military leader. Thank you so much to everyone who attended.

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  • Chatroom Christmas Party – 18th December

    I know many of you will be super busy in the lead-up to Christmas, but I thought it might be nice to pile into the chatroom for a bit of a Christmas do.

    I’m inviting you to join me at 10pm UK time on Sunday 18th December on the chatroom. Bring your favourite tipple and be prepared to socialise.

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  • Catherine of Aragon resources

    As today is the anniversary of the birth of Catherine of Aragon on 16th December 1485, I thought I would share with you some book recommendations and resources for finding out more about Catherine.

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