Many of the Tudor Society members will be at MadeGlobal’s “An Evening with the Authors” event on 24 September in central London, and it would be so lovely to see you there.
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Fliers for MadeGlobal’s “An Evening with the Authors” 24 Sept
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Informal live chat on the chatroom – Friday 9 September
Instead of doing a Claire Chats video this Friday I am going to be running and moderating a live chat on the Tudor Society chatroom. I know that some of you find it hard to come to the expert live chats due to time zone issues, so I’m scheduling this one for a later time.
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Transcript of Lauren Browne’s Live Chat
Thanks to all who attended our live chat with Lauren Browne last night, it was a great chat with an amazing number of people attending. We had people from the UK, Australia and the United States.
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This week in history 5 – 11 September
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Tudor Executions Quiz Part 2
Today we have the second and final part of our Tudor executions quiz. How much do you know about the people executed in the reigns of the Tudor monarchs? Test your knowledge with this fun quiz. Good luck!
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Slut Shaming – Expert talk by Kyra Kramer
This month’s expert is Kyra Kramer, talking about Anne Boleyn and comparing her to Jezabel… take it away Kyra!
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31 August 1555 – The martyrdom of Robert Samuel
On this day in history, 31st August 1555, Robert Samuel, former minister of East Bergholt Church in Suffolk, was burned at the stake in Ipswich, probably at the Cornhill. He was one of the Ipswich Martyrs, Protestants who were executed in Ipswich during the reign of the Catholic queen, Mary I.
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The Annes of Cleves, Part II: 1541 to 1632 by Heather R. Darsie
For Part II of the Annes of Cleves, we’ll learn a little bit more about Henry VIII’s fourth wife, Anne of Cleves; her niece, Anna of Cleves; and Anna, Duchess of Cleves. Throughout the article, I will address them as Anne, Anna of Cleves, and the Duchess, so as to help in understanding who is who.
Anne of Cleves, born in 1515 in Germanic territories of the Holy Roman Empire, married Henry VIII of England in 1540. Her marriage to the King lasted only about six months before he divorced her. Due to Anne’s congeniality, Henry settled a good income and several properties on Anne. She remained in England until her death in 1557, where she enjoyed a relationship with Mary I of England, who was only six months Anne’s junior, and with Elizabeth I of England. Elizabeth and Anne rode together in the chariot just after Mary I’s during Mary’s triumphant ride through London as the new queen. Sadly, Anne passed away just over a year before her other stepdaughter, Elizabeth I, become queen.
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24 September – An Evening with the Authors to be live-streamed
As you will probably know, I’m taking part in MadeGlobal Publishing’s “An Evening with the Authors” event in London on 24th September. It promises to be a great night with nineteen authors and historians taking part. There will be chance to for those attending to chat to the authors, get books signed and ask questions at authors in special panel discussions.
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This week in history 29 August – 4 September
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Tudor Executions Quiz Part 1
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Robert Dudley’s Last Letter
On 28th August 1588, an ill Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, wrote his final letter to his queen and childhood friend, Elizabeth I. He wrote it from the home of Lady Norreys at Rycote, where he was staying on his way to Buxton, to take the waters there. It read:
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September 2016 Tudor Life Magazine
Wales, Scotland and Ireland are often forgotten when you think about the Tudor period, but, as you’ll discover in this month’s Tudor Life magazine, the were very important indeed.
A top quality with 78 pages, this “Dominions” edition of Tudor Life is an amazing focus on the British Isles (and there’s a really great article on grilled cheese by Olga Hughes – Welsh Rarebit!)
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27 August 1549: The Battle of Dussindale and the End of Kett’s Rebellion by Heather R. Darsie
July 1549. The almost twelve-year-old Edward VI had been King of England for two-and-a-half years. Landlords had begun enclosing the common lands, which prevented peasants from being able to have a place for their animals to graze. Several landlords had taken to raising sheep, as the English wool trade was growing quite prosperous. This, in concert with a host of other problems such as inflation and unemployment, led to unrest for the lower classes.
After Edward Seymour, Lord Protector, had issued a proclamation on behalf of Edward VI that made enclosures illegal, several peasants tore down a fence that was raised in the town of Attleborough. On 6 July, the town of Wymondham was observing the illegal feast day for Thomas Beckett. Henry VIII had outlawed any such celebrations or commemorations of Thomas Becket back in 1538. After the festivities, some revellers got together and decided to dismantle some of the enclosures. This was the beginning of the Norfolk uprising and posed a significant threat to the Lord Protector’s government.
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My Peggy Nisbet Dolls Collection
I quite often receive questions about the dolls I have on my bookcase and Margaret asked if I would do a Claire Chats video on them, explaining how/where I got them. So, here you go! My collection is all down to my dear friend Dawn Hatswell – thank you Dawn!
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Lady Katherine Grey
25th August 1540 is the date traditionally given for the birth of Lady Katherine Grey, Countess of Hertford, daughter of Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk, and his wife, Frances (née Brandon), at Bradgate Park. Katherine was one of the sisters of Lady Jane Grey and was the wife of Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford.
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This week in history 22 – 28 August
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22 August 1553 – The execution of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland
On 22nd August 1553, John Dudley, Earl of Warwick and Duke of Northumberland, was beheaded on Tower Hill for his part in putting his daughter-in-law, Lady Jane Grey, on the throne in place of Mary I. Northumberland’s friends, Sir John Gates and Sir Thomas Palmer, were also executed on this day in 1553 for supporting Northumberland.
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The Tudors’ Journey to Bosworth: Part 7 – The Battle of Bosworth by Tony Riches
In this series, I have followed the progress of Henry and Jasper Tudor from Pembroke Castle to their long exile in Brittany and their return with an army to Wales. Their long march, covering as much as twenty-six miles a day, ended when they encountered King Richard III’s army camped at Ambion Hill, close to Sutton Cheyney.
The Battle of Bosworth is poorly documented, with no first-hand accounts surviving. Anything we read about the battle, therefore, has to be looked at closely to see who wrote it and when. One of the best summaries of the often conflicting accounts is Chris Skidmore’s book, Bosworth – The Birth of The Tudors. Even as Chris was writing the book, news emerged of a new location for the battlefield site, and the bones of Richard III were discovered in a car park as he completed the first draft.
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The Tudors on TV and in movies quiz
The Tudor period has been brought to life on the silver screen and on TV in a multitude of movies and TV series. Test your knowledge and your memory with this fun quiz.
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20 August 1588 – England gives thanks
On 20th August 1588, a thanksgiving service was held at St Paul’s in London to give thanks to God for England’s victory over the Spanish Armada. The Armada had been defeated, obliterated in fact, yet the English fleet was left intact and only around 100 English men were lost in the skirmishes.
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About Claire Ridgway video
Thank you to those of you who left comments regarding what you want me to talk about in my Claire Chats videos, I really appreciate it. Somehow I managed to muddle up Kathryn and Margaret’s comments, and it was actually Margaret who asked me to talk about myself. I’m so sorry, Kathryn and Margaret, I feel awful about mixing you two up but I hope that you enjoy this video.
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19 August 1551 – Mary writes a letter to Edward VI
The following letter was written by Princess Mary, the future Mary I, to her brother Edward VI on 19th August 1551. Henry Ellis, editor of Original Letters, Illustrative of English History… explains:
“The following Letter from the Princess Mary to her brother, is preserved upon the Books of the Privy Council. It is probably the best specimen which we have in our power to give of her talent at writing: and, with the singular Paper which follows it by way of comment, will show her to have been a woman of more intellect than the world has usually supposed. Queen Catherine Parr took great pains in the education both of Mary and Elizabeth.
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17 August 1510 – The Executions of Sir Edmund Dudley and Sir Richard Empson
On 17th August 1510, the second year of King Henry VIII’s reign, Henry VII’s former chief administrators, Sir Edmund Dudley and Sir Richard Empson, were beheaded on Tower Hill after being found guilty of treason.
Chronicler Edward Hall records:
“The kynge beyng thus in hys progresse harde euery daye more and more complayntes of Empson and Dudley, wherfore he sent wryttes to the Shynfes of London, to put them in execucion, and so the xvii. day of August, they were both behedded at the Towre hyl, and their bodies buryed and their heades.”
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This week in history 15 – 21 August
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The Tudor Family of Wales Quiz
The House of Tudor originated in Wales but how much do you know about the Tudors’ links with Wales? Find out with this fun quiz.
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Thomas Phaer
On this day in history, 12th August 1560, the translator, lawyer, physician and paediatrician Thomas Phaer made his will after suffering an accident which made his right hand completely useless. His date of death is unknown, but he died at his Cilgerran estate in Pembrokeshire, Wales, within weeks of his will being drawn up.
Phaer started out his working life as a lawyer and published two legal handbooks, Natura brevium (c1530-1535) and A Newe Book of Presidentes (1543), but changed direction in the early 1540s to become a physician and medical writer. His medical works include The Boke of Chyldren (1545), the first book on paediatrics written in English, A Goodly Bryefe Treatise of the Pestylence and A Declaration of the Veynes. He has become known as the “Father of English Paediatrics”.
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Tudor Cooking with Claire – Strawberry Tart
I love strawberries so when I saw this Tudor/Stuart strawberry tart recipe I just had to give it a go. It was delicious and takes very little preparation and time.
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10 August 1512 – The Battle of Saint-Mathieu
On the 10th August 1512, the Battle of Saint-Mathieu, a battle in the War of the League of Cambrai, took place between the English and Franco-Breton fleets off the coast of Brest. England at this time was allied with Spain and the Holy Roman Empire against France.
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Remembering Hieronymus Bosch, 500 Years Later by Heather R. Darsie
On Wednesday 9 August 1516, a funeral mass was sung for the soul of Jeroen von Aeken. Better known by his artistic name of Hieronymus Bosch, he was 58 to 66 years old at death. Dying in the city of ’s-Hertogenbosch, located in the Brabant, Bosch may have passed on from pleurisy which was plaguing the city around that time and claimed the lives of his neighbour, a friend, and one of his cousins.
Bosch was born between 1450 and 1457 into a family of painters; his great-grandfather, grandfather, and other relatives were all artists. Bosch likely completed his first works in the family’s studio, where they would sometimes collaborate on works. His paintings featured religious iconography mixed in with sometimes dreamy, sometimes nightmarish elements.
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