Happy Valentine's Day!
Today, I'm celebrating the day of love with a Claire Chats talk on Tudor love stories. In a period when arranged marriages were the norm for the upper classes, there were still some examples of loving marriages and also star-crossed lovers.
Further Valentine's Day resources:
- Tudor love letters - The Claire Chats video that I mention.
- Valentine Quiz
- Tudor couples and lovers quiz
It’s like East Enders, love these snippets of i formation
Lady Arbella Stuart and William Seymour, a dynastic but love match.
She was a lot older than him but she married without royal permission and King James had him put in the Tower and Arbella was kept under house arrest. She arranged to escape with him and he escaped from the Tower. However, he was held up and Arbella had her ship stopped and searched. She was put in the Tower and William escaped but it was not to be and they were not reunited. William was safe but Arbella died in the Tower of a wasting disease, possibly cancer. William returned having been pardoned, remarried and died in old age. Their love letters are quite tender.