We all have our favourite Tudor people, don’t we? People we’d love to go back in time and meet or find out more about.
In this talk, I share which top 5 Tudor people I’d host a dinner party for, and explain why.
But which 5 Tudors would you want at your dream dinner party?
Please do share in the comments your top 5 Tudor people and why you’d invite them. It will be so interesting to read your choices.
This is an extremely difficult question because there are so many fascinating Tudor characters I would love to dine with, Henry V111 I’d love as a guest, but when he was in his prime not the sad wreck of a man he later became, I’d love to gaze upon him and see if he really was as physically perfect and as erudite and charming, as he was said to be, also his sister Princess Mary because she was called the most beautiful Princess in Europe and of course, one of Claire’s choices – Anne Boleyn, to be able to converse with her over a few glasses of wine about theology (of which I’d be perfectly hopeless), and ask her if she really loved the king and did she demand marriage or was he the one who mentioned it first, so many questions, I would also love to have around my table Edward V1, the general view is that he was an emotionless child devoid of warmth, I’d love to see if I could crack a smile in that austere face that gazes out at us from his portrait, lastly I would invite Henry Howard Earl of Surrey, he was witty handsome and flamboyant, a very talented poet whose work is still in print today, he was over bold and foolish however, and like most over bold and foolish men, ultimately lost his head for daring to display the arms of Edward the Confessor on his coat of arms, I’d ask him why he did that was he that arrogant, did he believe he was superior in lineage to the king, of course there are literally loads more I’d love to sit down and dine with but these five are my top choices.
Oh heavens… this would be so much fun. I think I would enjoy watching the fur fly and would invite Thomas Cranmer, Thomas Cromwell, Stephen Gardiner, Thomas Howard, and the mediator, Henry VIII. Topic? The Six Articles… discuss!
I would have to invite Henry Viii because at the end of the day its what the age was about. He could speak on any subject and he was the soul of the party. There would have to be ground rules that people could speak freely and with no hindrance or offence and the wine would of course flow and the music would relax the atmosphere.
I would invite five of my favourite female and five male Tudors. So I would invite Thomas More, humanist and scholar who had a wide and great knowledge and who had a fantastic sense of humour, Thomas Cromwell, Thomas Wyatt, Charles Brandon and Eustace Chapuys. I would invite Anne Boleyn and Katharine of Aragon the two most remarkable wives of the period and who had much more in common than one might imagine. I would invite Bess of Hardwick, Katharine Brandon, Duchess of Suffolk and Mary Sydney, the first female scientist.
Put the above together and not only have you got the most stimulating conversation and debate, but a wide range of personalities, experiences and knowledge that could change the world around them. These are some of the most entertaining, vivid and challenging people at the Tudor Court. These people bring together two different worlds, often sat on the opposite side of political and religious spectrum but had the most remarkable minds. They are colourful and all contributed to vast changes during this amazing era. They are not all intellectual, yet they where able to influence and challenge the status quo by their outrageous actions and yet amazing ability to survive.
I would invite Charles Brandon because of his outlook on life, his hearty laugh, his sporting achievements, his romantic life, his charm and his friendship with King Henry. Brandon was a survivor. He was also more able as an administrator and as a commander, political negotiator and local govenor than he is generally given credit for. He was no fool. He wasn’t a scholar but he survived when others didn’t and that makes him well worth having a chat with. Besides, I can imagine him being the life of the party.
Yes the legendary Bess of Hardwick would be on my list to if we were allowed to have several others, I was actually thinking of placing her among my five, she and her husband the Earl of Shrewsbury was the custodian for many years of the tragic Mary Queen Of Scots and must have got to know her very well, Bess had a falling out with Mary and the wounded queen wrote a vicious letter to Queen Elizabeth telling her of the juicy things Bess had gossiped to her about, one of the stories was the queen had raped Christopher Hatton one of her favoured courtiers, and Bess put it about that Mary had seduced her own husband, she was quite a character was Bess! , I was unaware that Mary Sydney was a scientist I have only known her spoken of as being Robert Dudley’s sister, that she was dearly loved by Queen Elizabeth is true, and she lovingly cared for her mistress when she was afflicted by the small pox, leaving poor Mary as ‘foul a woman as the smallpox could make her’ words spoken by her husband, I would love Robert Dudley to as a second choice, this charismatic man held the queen enthralled by many years and was hated by members of the queens council, he was also under suspicion of the murder of his young wife who died in very tragic circumstances, Dr John Dee I would also love he was the queens astrologer, there are so many we are spoilt for choice, I would like Catherine Parr as my guest also she was intelligent and kind and loyal, the way her tomb was desecrated years later was dreadful, the 16th c produced such vital and fascinating men and women – they were true children of the Renaissance.