On this day in Tudor history, 2nd March 1545, scholar, diplomat and founder of the Bodleian Library, Sir Thomas Bodley, was born in Exeter.
Sir Thomas Bodley served as a diplomat in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, but he is most known for his re-founding of Oxford University Library and the Bodleian Library, and all the work he did on it.
Find out all about him and his library in this talk…
Also on this day in Tudor history, 2nd March 1522, there was a Shrovetide joust with the theme of unrequited love at the court of Henry VIII.
You can find out more about this joust, and whether it had anything to do with Mary Boleyn, in this video…
The motto Henry used has often been attributed to Mary Boleyn but virtually nothing is known of their love affair therefore it is just speculation, since it was the norm for knights to wear mottos alluding to passions of the heart quite possibly it did not allude to any lady at all, it is a mystery when the kings affair began and ended with Mary though, some think it started after her marriage, some say it ended before she wed William Carey and some speculate it’s because she was carrying the kings child, it may not even have been an affair but just a few nights, if only we had more information, these tournaments the king loved because he enjoyed physical exercise and showing of to the court, especially the women, he must have looked a fine figure in his vibrant colours and magnificent steed, sadly as he grew older and infirm he had to forgo this pleasure and many others which hastened his decline into old age, but in his youth he was the shining star of these tournaments there possibly was no other man who could hold a candle to him, he was six foot two in an age when the height of people was much shorter than it is today, with a broad chest and shoulders and well muscled calves, his face was described as would suit a pretty woman with golden red hair and bright dazzling blue eyes, no wonder he was called the most handsomest prince in Christendom.