As yesterday was the anniversary of the Battle of Bosworth, why not test your knowledge of this historic battle.
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Battle of Bosworth Quiz
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This week in history 17 – 23 August
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Congratulations to John Ashdown-Hill on his MBE
On behalf of all the members of the Tudor Society, I would just like to offer our sincere and warm congratulations to historian John Ashdown-Hill who has been awarded an MBE for services to Historical Research and the Exhumation and Identification of Richard III.
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Lady Margaret Beaufort
Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby, and matriarch of the Tudor dynasty, was born at Bletsoe Castle in Bedfordshire on 31st May 1443. She was the daughter of Margaret Beauchamp of Bletsoe and John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset, grandson of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, and his mistress (and eventual wife) Katherine Swynford. Margaret was their only child. Although a 1397 act of Parliament legitimized the children of John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford, Henry IV declared that they could never inherit the throne.
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Henry VII
Henry VII, or Henry Tudor, was born on 28 January 1457 at Pembroke Castle and was the son of Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond, and Margaret Beaufort. Henry’s paternal grandparents were Owen Tudor (a former page to Henry V) and Catherine of Valois, the widow of Henry V and mother of Henry VI. His maternal grandfather was John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset, and his maternal great-grandfather (John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset) was a son of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, and his mistress (and later wife), Katherine Swynford. It was from this Beaufort side of the family that Henry VII derived his claim to the throne. Lady Margaret Beaufort was only thirteen years old when Henry was born and she was already a widow, his father having died from the plague three months earlier while imprisoned by Yorkists. Margaret had been taken in by her brother-in-law, Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke, the man who helped bring Henry up, who took him into exile in Brittany and who helped him win the crown of England.
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May 2015 Tudor Life Magazine
Here’s the May Tudor Life magazine with a huge 57 page special on Anne Boleyn plus all our regular items and contributors!
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The Road to Bosworth by Sarah Bryson
The Battle of Bosworth has gone down in record as one of the most pivotal battles in English history. The aftermath of the battle changed the course of England and saw a new monarch and dynasty come to the throne.
The 1st of August 1485 was to be the day that Henry Tudor would finally leave France after fourteen years of exile in Brittany and France aiming to lay claim to the English throne. He set sail from Harfleur, France accompanied by approximately 400 Englishmen, 800 Scots and approximately 1500 French troops. The exact number of French troops is hard to estimate as different reports record different numbers.
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Recent and forthcoming books Spring 2015
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In the news this week 23 – 29 March 2015
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In the news this week 16-22 March
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This week in history 16 – 22 March
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In the news this week 9-15 March
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In the news this week
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Henry VII
Henry VII was born at Pembroke Castle on the 28th January 1457. His parents were the thirteen year-old Lady Margaret Beaufort and her husband Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond, who, unfortunately, had died of the plague three months before Henry’s birth.
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This week in history 26 January – 1st February
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Tudor Life December 2014
This is our BUMPER CHRISTMAS magazine, with an amazing 108 pages packed with facts, stories and fun related to the Tudor period, and of course to Christmas too!
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This week in history 17 – 23 November
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This Week in History 3 – 9 November
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This Week in History 27 October – 2 November
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This Week in History 29 September – 5 October
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Henry VII Primary Sources
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The Downfall of Germain Gardiner, John Larke & the Prebendaries’ Plot
By the early 1540s, England’s religious landscape was a minefield. The dissolution of the monasteries had shaken traditional Catholic structures, and Protestant reformers like Archbishop Thomas Cranmer were pushing Henry VIII’s Church further from Rome.
Not everyone was on board.
A faction of conservative clergy and laymen began working covertly to stop these changes. This movement, known as the Prebendaries’ Plot, was centred around five prebendary canons of Canterbury Cathedral, including William Hadleigh, a former monk of Christchurch Canterbury.
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Anne Line, Margaret Clitherow and Margaret Ward – Three Catholic Martyrs
Today, on the anniversary of Anne Line’s execution, on 27th February 1601, I’m honouring her and two other remarkable women, Margaret Clitherow and Margaret Ward, who gave their lives for harbouring Catholic priests in Elizabethan England.
Their crime? Offering sanctuary to men whose very existence had been outlawed. Their fate? Torture, brutal executions, and posthumous sainthood.
But why was it so dangerous to harbour a priest in the reign of Elizabeth I?In Tudor England, religion wasn’t just a matter of personal belief—it was a matter of life and death.
Following Henry VIII’s break with Rome, England became a Protestant nation. But when his daughter Mary I took the throne, she restored Catholicism and a couple of hundred Protestants burned at the stake. Then, in 1558, Elizabeth I became queen, and England swung back to Protestantism.
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Catholics who had hoped for tolerance soon realised that Elizabeth’s government viewed them as a threat. When the Pope excommunicated Elizabeth in 1570, it escalated the conflict. Catholics were now seen as potential traitors—loyal to the Pope, not the queen. -
George Carey, 2nd Baron Hunsdon
He was the grandson of Mary Boleyn, the husband of Elizabeth Spencer, and a trusted courtier of Elizabeth I. But George Carey, 2nd Baron Hunsdon, wasn’t just another nobleman, he was a key figure in the world of Elizabethan theatre, a patron of Shakespeare’s acting company, and a man who rose to one of the most powerful positions at court.
Today, let’s dive into the fascinating life of George Carey, 2nd Baron Hunsdon; his Boleyn connections, his military career, and his role in shaping the golden age of Elizabethan theatre.
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The Executions of Queen Catherine Howard and Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford
On this day in Tudor history, 13th February 1542, Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of Henry VIII, and Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford, were executed at the Tower of London.
Their crime?
Treason against the king – but was Catherine guilty of more than youthful indiscretion? And why was Jane condemned alongside her?
The story of Catherine Howard is one of ambition, betrayal, and a tragic downfall. A young queen who once captured the heart of Henry VIII, she would ultimately face the same fate as her infamous cousin, Anne Boleyn. But Catherine’s downfall wasn’t just about her past—her secret meetings with Thomas Culpeper proved to be her undoing.
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Mary, Queen of Scots, prepares to die
On this day in Tudor history, 7th February 1587, a fateful message arrived at Fotheringhay Castle – the execution warrant for Mary, Queen of Scots. After years of imprisonment and political intrigue, her fate was sealed. But how did Mary react when she was told she would die the next morning? What did she do in her final hours?
Today, we’re travelling back in time to Mary’s last evening on earth—her defiant words, her final prayers, and the preparations she made for her death. This is the story of a queen who faced the axe with courage and unwavering faith.
Mary, Queen of Scots, had been tried for treason in October 1586 after being implicated in the Babington Plot, a plot to depose Queen Elizabeth I and to replace her with Mary. She had been found guilty and sentenced to death, but Elizabeth would not sign the execution warrant, not wanting the responsibility of killing an anointed queen. However, Mary’s gaoler, Sir Amias Paulet, would not agree to quietly doing away with Mary, and after pressure from her council and petitions from Parliament, Elizabeth finally signed the warrant, although she later said she had asked for it not to be sent to Fotheringhay yet.
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Sir Thomas More – The Tudor Court’s Most Loyal – and Doomed – Servant
Did you know that Sir Thomas More knew the risks of serving King Henry VIII, knew that it could cost him his head, and yet he chose to serve him anyway?
Thomas More wasn’t just a lawyer or a statesman. He was one of the most brilliant minds of his time—a humanist who believed in reason, faith, and justice. But he also had a sharp insight into human nature, particularly that of the king he served.
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Hanged, Drawn, and Quartered for Printing a Book? The Fate of Blessed William Carter
On this day in Tudor history, 11th January 1584, Carter paid the ultimate price after being found guilty of treason. His crime? Printing a book that allegedly encouraged the assassination of Queen Elizabeth I.
William Carter was born in London in around 1548 and was the son of draper John Carter and his wife, Agnes. When he was about fifteen, Carter became apprenticed to John Cawood who had been Queen’s Printer to Mary I and who was joint Queen’s Printer to Elizabeth I. Carter was an apprentice to Cawood for a term of ten years before moving on to become secretary to Nicholas Harpsfield, a man who had been Archdeacon of Canterbury under Cardinal Pole in Mary I’s reign and who had been a zealous promoter of heresy trials of Protestants. He had been imprisoned by Elizabeth I’s government for refusing to swear the oath of supremacy and was still in Fleet prison when Carter became his secretary.
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#OTD in Tudor history – 30 December
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#OTD in Tudor history – 20 December
On this day in Tudor history, 20th December, Catherine Howard’s step-grandmother begged Henry VIII for forgiveness (1541), and Edward Arden was hanged, drawn and quartered for allegedly plotting with his son-in-law to kill the queen (1583)…
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