The Tudor Society

  • A Queen Cast Aside for Another – And it’s not Catherine of Aragon!

    1 month ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Joan of France

    In 1499, King Louis XII of France had his 22-year marriage annulled to marry Anne of Brittany, one of the most sought-after women in Europe. But why did Louis go to such lengths? And what happened to his first wife, who had been loyal for two decades?

    This is a story of royal marriages, political scheming, and a forgotten queen who became a saint.

    On this day in Tudor history, 8th January 1499, French king Louis XII married the queen dowager, Anne of Brittany, in Nantes.
    Louis had had his twenty-two-year marriage annulled so that he could marry Anne, but why and on what grounds?

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  • A New Year, a New King

    1 month ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Thumbnail for my video showing King Louis XII

    On this day in Tudor history, 1st January 1515, King Louis XII of France died at just 52 years old, less than three months into his marriage to eighteen-year-old Mary Tudor, sister of King Henry VIII and daughter of the late King Henry VII. His throne was inherited by Francis of Angoulême, who became King Francis I.

    Was Louis’ death due to illness or, as the French people whispered, the toll of overexerting himself in hopes of securing an heir?

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  • September 14 – A second proxy marriage for Princess Mary Tudor

    1 year ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Mary Tudor, Queen of France, detail from a portrait of her and her second husband, Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk.

    On this day in Tudor history, 14th September 1514, in the reign of King Henry VIII, King Louis XII of France and Mary Tudor, sister of King Henry VIII, married by proxy in Paris.

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  • 9 October – Miguel de Cervantes and the wedding of Mary Tudor, Queen of France

    3 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in Tudor history, 9th October 1547, Miguel de Cervantes, author of the famous classic “Don Quixote”, a book known as “the first modern novel”, was baptised in Alcalá de Henares, Spain. His actual birthdate is unknown.

    Now, this event didn’t happen in Tudor England, but it did happen in the Tudor period, and Cervantes is known the world over. Let me share with you some facts about this man, his rather interesting life, which including being held to ransom by pirates, and his works…

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  • 13 August – Irish friars come to a sad end and a proxy wedding for Mary Tudor

    3 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Mary Tudor, Queen of France, detail from a portrait of her and her second husband, Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk.

    On this day in Tudor history, 13th August 1579, Roman Catholics Friar Conn, or Connatius, O’Rourke and Patrick O’Healy, Bishop of Mayo, were hanged just outside Kilmallock, co. Limerick.

    So desperate was Sir William Drury, Lord President of Munster, to get rid of these two Catholics, that he used martial law to find them guilty of treason, rather than giving them a trial.

    Find out why, what Drury did to poor Bishop O’Healey, and what happened to their remains afterwards, in this video…

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  • A new king’s journey, an earl who kept his head, injury kills a king, and a viscountess’s “Little Rome”

    3 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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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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  • Happy New Year and the death of a king

    4 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Happy New Year!

    In this video that I did for the YouTube channel, I talk about King Louis XII of France, first husband of Mary Tudor, sister of Henry VIII, and his death on this day in history, 1st January 1515.

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  • 9 October – Mary Tudor and Louis XII get married

    5 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in Tudor history, 9th October 1514, eighteen-year-old Mary Tudor, sister of Henry VIII and daughter of the late Henry VII, married fifty-two year-old King Louis XII of France at Abbeville in France.

    In today’s talk, I share contemporary accounts of Mary’s lavish entry into Abbeville on 8th October and the wedding on 9th October, including descriptions of Mary and her apparel.

    Of course, Mary wasn’t married to Louis for long as he died on 1st January 1515.

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  • 13 August – A proxy wedding for Princess Mary Tudor

    5 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in history, 13th August 1514, Princess Mary Tudor, youngest surviving daughter of the late King Henry VII and sister of King Henry VIII, married King Louis XII of France by proxy.

    In today’s talk, I share details of the ceremony, and what everyone was wearing, and explais the symbolic consummation.

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  • The Château de Blois

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    I’ve finally managed to go through my photos of the Château de Blois so here is a Claire Chats video on the Château de Blois, along with galleries of my photos. I hope you enjoy browsing through them.

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  • Mary Tudor, Queen of France

    7 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    This week’s video is by Sarah Bryson and is on Mary Tudor, Queen of France, daughter of King Henry VII and sister of King Henry VIII.

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  • Anne of Brittany and the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Denis

    8 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On 9th January 1514, Anne of Brittany, queen consort of King Louis XII of France, died at the Chateau of Blois. She left her husband, who went on to marry Mary Tudor, sister of Henry VIII, later that year, and two daughters: Claude, Queen of France, and Renée, Duchess of Ferrara. She was buried in the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Denis, just outside Paris, and was joined there by Louis after his death on 1st January 1515.

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  • The Basilica of Saint-Denis Video

    9 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
    2 Comments

    In this week’s Claire Chats I talk about my visit to the necropolis at the Basilica of Saint-Denis in Paris.

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