Claire | June 28, 2019
On this day in Tudor history, 28th June 1491, Elizabeth of York, queen consort of King Henry VII, gave birth to her third child and second son at the Palace of Placentia (Greenwich Palace). The little boy was baptised “Henry” at the Church of the Observant Friars, Greenwich, by Richard Foxe, Bishop of Exeter and […]
Claire | June 27, 2019
King Henry VIII has gone down in history as the king who had six wives and who executed two of them, as well as having three of his marriages annulled. He had quite the marital history! But did you know that Henry was just thirteen when he broke one of his wives’ hearts for the […]
Claire | June 24, 2019
On this day in Tudor history, 24 June 1509, Midsummer’s Day and the Feast of St John the Baptist, England’s new king, seventeen-year-old Henry VIII, and his bride of thirteen days, Catherine of Aragon, were crowned king and queen by William Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury, in a joint ceremony at Westminster Abbey in London. The […]
Claire | June 23, 2019
On this day in Tudor history, Saturday 23rd June 1509, seventeen-year-old King Henry VIII and his first wife, twenty-three-year-old Catherine of Aragon, processed from the Tower of London to Westminster in preparation for the coronation at Westminster Abbey. The citizens of London must have been excited about seeing the new king and his bride, and […]
Claire | June 12, 2019
On this day in Tudor history, 12th June 1530, King Henry VIII got criticised for “the evil life he was leading and the bad example he was setting”. Who had the nerve to speak like this to King Henry VIII? His wife, Queen Catherine of Aragon, who was at her wit’s end with her husband’s […]
Claire | June 11, 2019
On this day in history, 11th June 1509, seventeen-year-old King Henry VIII married twenty-three-year-old Spanish princess, Catalina de Aragón, or Catherine of Aragon, in the Queen’s Closet at Greenwich Palace. Henry had come to the throne on 21st April 1509 following the death of his father, King Henry VII, and although he had previously repudiated […]
Claire | March 2, 2019
On this day in history, 2nd March 1522, in Henry VIII’s reign, the annual Shrovetide joust took place. Chronicler Edward Hall gives a very detailed account of the knights’ costumes, trappings and the mottoes embroidered on them. King Henry VIII’s motto was “elle mon coeur a navera”, or “she has wounded my heart”. In my […]
Claire | February 14, 2019
Happy Valentine’s Day! I hope your day is filled with love and joy whatever you’re doing today. To celebrate the day of love, I thought I’d share some resources with you that are related to Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn and their relationship, when it was happy! Henry VIII’s Love Letters to Anne Boleyn by […]
