As April is the anniversary of Henry VIII’s accession in 1509, following the death of his father, Henry VII, I thought I’d test your knowledge of Henry VIII with a quiz.
How much do you know about this iconic Tudor king?
Get those little grey cells working with this fun quiz.
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In part two of This Week in Tudor History for the week beginning 5th April, I talk about why Pope Paul IV branded Cardinal Pole a heretic and took away his legatine powers, before introducing you to a sea captain named Drake, but not Sir Francis Drake, and telling you about John Lumley, a baron who was involved with the Ridolfi Plot but kept his head, and a man who was recorded as owning a full-length portrait of Anne Boleyn.
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“I have a fascination to learn by whom, how and to what extent the battlefields of Bosworth, Flodden, Stoke Field and others were cleared in the aftermath. What happened to what was left – carnage, the armour, horses, weapons, personal effects and of course the bodies?”
Our military historian Julian Humphrys of the Battlefields Trust has answered the question. A big thank you to him!
In general terms it was very much a case of ‘to the victor, the spoils’ with the army left in possession of the field at the end of a battle having the pick of whatever remained there. Indeed, battles of the Medieval and Tudor periods were frequently followed by an intense period of clearing up with everything of potential value being taken by the winners. There was nothing particularly new in this – the lower section of the Bayeux Tapestry shows little men gathering up swords and stripping the dead of armour while the fighting rages above them.
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Richard Leigh was born in 1557, the son of Richard Leigh and Clemence Holcroft, daughter of Sir John Holcroft.
Leigh was the subject of an arranged marriage in 1562 with Anne Belfield, daughter of Ralph Belfield of Clegg Hall. Anne’s sister, Elizabeth, was also married that day to Alexander Barlow. However, both marriages were annulled at a later date on the grounds that they were all too young to be legally married.
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In part 1 of This Week in Tudor History for the week beginning 5th April, I will be talking about King James VI of Scotland’s journey from Edinburgh to London, following his accession to the throne of England as James I; the life and career of Henry Stafford, Earl of Wiltshire, who managed to avoid the awful fates of his father and brother despite his Plantagenet blood; the death of King Charles VIII of France after hitting his head on a lintel, and the accession of King Louis XII, and finally Magdalen Browne, Viscountess Montagu, patron of Catholics and a woman whose properties were Catholic safe houses in Elizabeth I’s reign.
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Today is Easter Sunday so it seems apt to celebrate with a fun Holy Week and Easter Word Search. Happy Easter!
Simply click on the image or link below to open and print out.
Remember, the words can go in any direction!
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Today, in the Western Christian Church, is Good Friday, which, of course, commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. I’m going to mark the dat by sharing how the day was commemorated in Tudor times.
But first, here is the account of Christ’s crucifixion from John’s Gospel. I’ve chosen the 16th century Tyndale Bible:
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This week’s Friday video is hosted by Brigitte Webster and is all about the wonderful feasting and food of Easter. After a period of abstinence during Lent, what did the Tudors actually enjoy eating?
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Maundy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper, that final meal that Jesus Christ had with his disciples before his arrest.
In Tudor times, on Maundy Thursday, the church was prepared for Easter with water and wine being used to wash the altars and it was traditional for people to go to confession. The three holy oils – the chrism oil, the oil of catechumens and the oil of the sick – were also blessed on this day.
In this second part of This Week in Tudor history, which covers 1st to 4th April, historian and author Claire Ridgway talks about Thomas Churchyard, a poet and soldier who kept being imprisoned; Sir Ambrose Cave, a man who joined the Order of St John as early as he possibly could, but survived its dissolution and ended his days serving Elizabeth I; before moving on to the death of Elizabeth Boleyn, Countess of Wiltshire, mother of Queen Anne Boleyn and grandmother of Queen Elizabeth I, and finishing with the knighting of explorer Francis Drake.
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Our April expert speaker is historian Nicola Tallis, author of Crown of Blood and Elizabeth’s Rival. Her latest book, Uncrowned Queen, is on Lady Margaret Beaufort, the matriarch of the Tudor dynasty, and Margaret is the subject of Nicola’s talk for us.
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What an informative chat we had with Phil Downing. The subject of priest holes, or hides, is such an alien one for us living today, yet for a period of time, they were literally a matter of life and death for some people.
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In this first part of This Week in Tudor History for week beginning 29th March, I talk about William Wager, a playwright and clergyman who picked wonderful titles for his works; the interesting life and career of Sir Ralph Sadler, who started out working for Thomas Cromwell and who went on to serve Henry VIII, Edward VI, Queen Jane (Lady Jane Grey) and Elizabeth I – oh, and I will tell you about his bigamous marriage! Then, finally, I will leave you with the dying King Henry VIII making his last will and testament.
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Today, Palm Sunday, is the first day of Holy Week, a day which commemorates the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, as told in the Gospels:
“On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, ‘Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.’ And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written, ‘Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass’s colt’.”
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As we’re very nearly at the end of March, I though I’d test your knowledge of Tudor people who were either born or died in March. These are all people who have been mentioned in posts and videos on the Tudor Society website, but how much can you remember about them?
Test yourself with this fun puzzle.
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This month we’re looking into the sin of greed and it has led to this fascinating magazine.
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In this week’s Friday video, I wanted to consider the question “what did Tudor people sound like?” and to share some resources on this topic with you. I’d love to travel back in time to hear them speak!
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I know many of you enjoy historical fiction, so I just wanted to alert you to the fact that there are some special offers on the kindle versions of the Seb Foxley medieval mystery series from today until 29th March 2021. The series is written by our very own Toni Mount, who contributes to Tudor Life Magazine every month.
To celebrate the release of her latest Seb Foxley book, The Colour of Evil, Toni’s first novel The Colour of Poison is free on kindle, and the others in the series are 99c/99p kindle countdown deals. You don’t even need a kindle because you can download the kindle app for your PC, tablet or mobile device.
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In part two of this week in Tudor history, I talk about Walter Raleigh (Ralegh) being given permission to colonise foreign lands in 1584; a disagreement over the wearing of vestments in 1566 which led to a pamphlet war, protests and ministers losing their parishes; a Tudor earl who saved the day for Henry VIII during the 1536 Pilgrimage of Grace rebellion, and the burnings of three Protestant martyrs in Essex in 1555.
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Margaret Ward was born in Congleton, Cheshire, in around 1550; however, this is an estimated guess as we know very little information regarding her early life.
What we do know is that Margaret was living in London, working in the service of a lady, when she found out about the suffering of Richard Watson, a Catholic priest who was imprisoned at Bridewell Prison. She eventually obtained permission to visit him, and over the course of her visits, the guards became less cautious. This lack of caution enabled Margaret to formulate an escape plan for Watson. Margaret’s plan involved commissioning a boatman to take him to safety after he had escaped using some rope that she would provide.
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In this first part of This Week in Tudor History, I talk about Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey’s loss of royal favour after the English defeat in France, but his children’s joy at the news of him returning home; ambassador Sir Henry Unton (or Umpton) who was killed in France by the “purple fever”, and Sir James Dyer, a Chief Justice who has gone down in history as the first law reporter.
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A big thank you to historian and historical novelist Toni Mount for joining us here on the Tudor Society today on her blog/book tour for her latest novel, The Colour of Evil.
An interview with Seb Foxley, artist, scrivener and amateur sleuth of Paternoster Row in the City of London; hero of The Colour of … series of medieval murder mysteries.
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During Lent, the time leading up to Easter, animal products such as meat, eggs, butter and cheese, were forbidden, so more fish was eaten, just as it was eaten on Fridays and other religious days.
But what kinds of fish were enjoyed in medieval and Tudor times, and how did those clever Tudors get round some of the rules and enjoy some meat?
Here’s a word search puzzle to test your knowledge of medieval and Tudor “fish”.
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