Teasel’s very favourite Tudor is King Henry VIII – only because he was a dog lover and she doesn’t know the bad stuff about him – and in today’s edition of Teasel’s Tudor Trivia, Teasel shares an account from 1525 of an accident that Henry VIII suffered.
This accident wasn’t a jousting accident, it happened while Henry VIII was out hawking, and he nearly drowned! You might remember it from Showtime’s “The Tudors” series. Anyway, Teasel tells us all about it.
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On this day in Tudor history, 5th December 1556, Anne de Vere (née Cecil) was born, She was the daughter of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, and his second wife, Mildred Cooke.
Anne only lived until she was 31 years old, but in her short life she managed to impress scholars, have five children, and have a rather eventful and unhappy marriage with Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, who didn’t treat her at all well and even refused to recognise their first daughter as his own, at one point. If only she had married Philip Sidney instead!
Find out more about the life of William Cecil’s daughter, Anne de Vere, Countess of Oxford, in today’s talk.
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Did you know that Henry VIII was a dog-lover? Yes, he wasn’t all bad!
In today’s Teasel’s Tudor Trivia, Teasel the ex-street-dog shares some information on two of Henry VIII’s very favourite dogs, Cut and Ball.
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On this day in Tudor history, 4th December 1555, in Rome, papal sentence was passed on Thomas Cranmer, resulting in Cranmer being deprived of his archbishopric. Permission was also granted for his fate to be decided by the secular authorities.
In today’s “on this day in history”, I explain what led Cranmer to this day and also what happened next. Thomas Cranmer went on to recant his Protestant faith on several occasions, but was still executed by being burned at the stake. Why?
Find out more in today’s talk.
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In today’s Teasel’s Tudor Trivia, Dr Teasel, as she’s now taken to referring to herself, shares some of her very favourite Tudor remedies for common ailments. These are all remedies taken from works of the Tudor period, but Dr Teasel is a bit of a charlatan really (shhhh! Don’t tell her I said that!) as she hasn’t actually tried them for herself.
Please don’t try any of these at home!
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On this day in Tudor history, 3rd December 1536, a proclamation was made to the rebels of the Pilgrimage of Grace offering them a pardon.
Yes, Henry VIII was offering the rebels “free pardons” for their rebellion against him, his advisors and his religious measures.
In today’s “on this day in Tudor history”, I give a reminder of what the Pilgrimage of Grace rebellion was about and how, even though a free pardon was offered, prominent rebels ended up being executed.
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Here’s the transcript of the lively livechat that we had with Gayle Hulme over the weekend. All full members are welcome to join us at these events and you can either just watch or join in as you wish.
[Read More...]Teasel the dog just loves King Henry VIII. He may have been a tyrant in many ways, but he does seem to have have been a dog-lover and that makes him ok to Teasel.
Teasel has been engrossed in Henry VIII’s inventory, carefully supervised, and has found out so much about the king and his belongings. Today’s advent treat is about what Henry VIII used to help him read.
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On this day in Tudor history, 2nd December 1546, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, poet, courtier, soldier and the eldest son of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, was arrested after Richard Southwell, his former friend, gave evidence against him.
King Henry VIII had just weeks to live and was increasingly paranoid, so Southwell’s ‘evidence’ was just what Surrey’s enemies needed to bring the earl down.
Find out more about the Earl of Surrey’s downfall, and how his father managed to keep his head, in today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 1st December 1541, Thomas Culpeper, a member of King Henry VIII’s privy chamber, and Francis Dereham, a secretary to Queen Catherine Howard, were tried for high treason at Guildhall, London. Both men had been linked romantically with the queen.
They were both found guilty of treason and sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered.
But what about Catherine Howard and her lady, Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford, who had also been arrested. What was happening with them? Find out more about them, and the trial of Dereham and Culpeper, in today’s talk.
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Each year, I like to do some Tudor-themed Advent treats and this year, Teasel, our newly rescued canine friend, is helping me out. Each day, she’ll be bringing us a piece of Tudor trivial. I do hope you enjoy these little Tudor tidbits.
Here’s Day 1!
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As it was the anniversary of William Shakespeare’s marriage to Anne Hathaway this week, I thought we’d celebrate their union with a crossword puzzle on Shakespeare’s plays. How much do you know about the Bard’s works? Test yourself with this fun puzzle.
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Today marks the feast day of St Alexander Briant, the Roman Catholic priest who was hanged, drawn and quartered on 1st December 1581 at Tyburn.
Briant studied at Hart Hall and Balliol College, Oxford, where his tutors included Richard Holtby and Robert Persons, who later became Jesuits. Their influence led to him abandoning his studies and joining the seminary at Douai. On 29th March 1578, he was ordained as a priest and in August 1579, he was sent on a mission to England.
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This month we have the wonderful Matthew Lewis telling us about a very eventful year – Edward IV, Edward V and Richard III. This is an exceptional talk and we know you’ll enjoy it.
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On this day in Tudor history, 30th November 1529, the feast of St Andrew, Henry VIII was reproached by the two women in his life: his wife, Catherine of Aragon, and the woman he wanted to marry, Anne Boleyn.
Catherine of Aragon was not impressed by the way her husband was treating her, and Anne Boleyn didn’t like the fact that the king was letting Catherine get the upper hand. They both told the king exactly what they thought. It was not a good day for King Henry VIII.
Find out exactly what happened with Henry VIII, Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn on this day in 1529, in today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 29th November 1530, at around 8 o’clock in the morning, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, Henry VIII’s former Lord Chancellor, died at the Abbey of St Mary de Pratis, Leicester.
Cardinal Wolsey, who was in his fifties, cheated the executioner by dying a natural death while on his way to London to answer charges of treason. He surely would have been tried and executed had he reached the capital.
Find out about Cardinal Wolsey’s death, and who ended up being buried in the sarcophagus he’d had commissioned, in today’s talk.
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A couple of weeks ago, I talked about skincare in the medieval and Tudor periods, the beauty ideal of the time and what ingredients were used in skincare regimens. Today, I’m following on from that talk by looking at the cosmetics of the time.
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On this day in Tudor history, 28th November 1499, Edward Plantagenet, styled Earl of Warwick, was executed by beheading on Tower Hill.
Warwick was a potential claimant to the throne being the son of George, Duke of Clarence, brother of Kings Edward IV and Richard III, but it was his involvement in a plot by pretender Perkin Warbeck that was his final undoing.
Find out more about his short and sad life, much of it spent in prison, in today’s talk:
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In December, instead of having an informal live chat on a Tudor topic, we like to have a bit of a party to celebrate the festive season and to get to know each other. It's a shame that we can't all get together physically, but the next best thing is piling into the Tudor Society chatroom and socialising with other Tudor Society members.
So, feel free to dress up in party gear, or your favourite Christmas jumper, or even your pyjamas, and bring along a mince pie and Christmas tipple. It'll be fun just to have a chat.
Here are the times in different time zones:
If your time zone is not listed here, then you can use https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html to convert the London time to your zone.
You can find the chatroom at https://www.tudorsociety.com/chatroom/.
Matthew Lewis is our December expert speaker but because the end of December gets a little crazy, with Christmas and New Year, we'll be having our live chat with him on the topic 1483: The Year of Three Kings in January:
I'll also be organising dates for our January informal chat and expert live chat very soon.
Here's the full version of your monthly magazine: December's festive Tudor Life magazine is 60 pages long and packed with interesting and fun articles about Tudor Christmas.
This month the magazine contains:
On this day in Tudor history, 27th November 1582, eighteen year-old William Shakespeare, the famous playwright and a man known as the Bard, married twenty-six year-old Anne (also known as Agnes) Hathaway, at Temple Grafton, near Stratford-upon-Avon, in Warwickshire.
Anne Hathaway was pregnant at the time of their marriage and went on to give birth to a daughter, Susannah, the following May. The couple went on to have twins, Hamnet and Judith, in 1585.
Find out more about William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway, and their marriage, and also what happened to them, in today’s talk:
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On this day in Tudor history, 26th November 1533, in the reign of King Henry VIII, Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset, illegitimate son of King Henry VIII, married Mary Howard, daughter of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, at Hampton Court Palace. They were both fourteen years old.
It appears that the marriage, which was a political match rather than a love match, was the idea of Henry VIII’s second wife, Anne Boleyn.
Find out more about Henry Fitzroy and Mary Howard’s marriage and its context in today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 25th November 1487, the Feast of St Catherine, Elizabeth of York, queen consort of Henry VII and mother of one-year-old Arthur Tudor, was crowned queen at Westminster Abbey.
In today’s talk, I share details of Elizabeth of York’s coronation, including Elizabeth’s apparel, and who attended, plus a list of some of the interesting dishes served at Elizabeth of York’s coronation banquet which included swan and seal!
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On this day in Tudor history, Saturday 24th November 1487, the coronation procession of Elizabeth of York, queen consort of King Henry VII, the first Tudor monarch, took place in London.
Elizabeth of York’s coronation was scheduled for the next day. She had become queen in January 1486, but her coronation had been postponed due to pregnancy and trouble with the Cornish rebels and Perkin Warbeck. Finally, Henry VII’s wife and the mother of little Prince Arthur could be crowned queen.
Find out all about her coronation procession, what Elizabeth wore, who was involved and what happened, in today’s talk.
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How much do you know about our very favourite kings and queens, the Tudor monarchs, and their reigns?
Test your knowledge with this fun quiz! Good luck!
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Note: I say that Margaret of York was the Princes’ sister, when actually she was their aunt. Sorry!
On this day in Tudor history, 23rd November 1499, in the reign of King Henry VII, pretender Perkin Warbeck was hanged at Tyburn after allegedly plotting to help another claimant, Edward, Earl of Warwick, escape from the Tower of London.
Perkin Warbeck had claimed to be Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, the younger of the Princes in the Tower, and had even been proclaimed King Richard IV, but his rebellion and claim failed.
In today’s talk, I give Perkin Warbeck’s background, and explain how he ended up trying to claim the throne of England, and what happened.
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On this day in Tudor history, 22nd November 1545, Henry VIII’s trusted physician and confidant, Sir William Butts, died after suffering from a “dooble febre quartanz”, a form of malaria.
Sir William Butts was the doctor who was sent to treat Anne Boleyn, when she was ill with sweating sickness, and also advised on Princess Mary’s sickness, and was the man King Henry VIII confided in about his problems consummating his marriage to Anne of Cleves. He was obviously a man the king could trust.
Find out more about this Tudor physician in today’s talk, with help from Teasel the dog.
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This week we have Tudor Society member Emma Casson showing us around the places in Edinburgh that Mary, Queen of Scots would have known.
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On this day in Tudor history, 21st November 1559, Frances Grey (maiden name Brandon, other married name Stokes), Duchess of Suffolk and the mother of Queen Jane, or Lady Jane Grey, died at Richmond. She was laid to rest in St Edmund’s Chapel, Westminster Abbey, on the orders of her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I, and her second husband, Adrian Stokes, erected a tomb in her memory.
Frances, daughter of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, and Mary Tudor, Queen of France, has gone down in history as rather a harsh and abusive mother, but let me tell you a bit more about the woman who was once named in Edward VI’s “devise for the succession”.
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Yes, you read that right! You can enjoy mulled wine and mince pies with Queen Elizabeth I herself at Tutbury Church on 19th December 2019. Well, ok, it’s historian, actress and re-enactor Lesley Smith as Elizabeth, but you’ll feel like you’re with Gloriana herself!
Here are the details:
Mulled Wine and Mince Pies with Elizabeth I in Tutbury Church
Thursday 19th December 2019
7:30pm arrival for 8pm start
£12.50 per person