Claire | January 3, 2022
On this day in Tudor history, 3rd January 1521, Pope Leo X excommunicated Reformer, German priest and professor of theology Martin Luther from the Catholic Church. In this talk, I explain what led to Luther’s excommunication, what happened when Luther was called to the Diet of Worms, and what happened next to this famous Reformer.
Claire | January 2, 2022
On this day in Tudor history, 2nd January 1536, imperial ambassador, Eustace Chapuys, visited his good friend, Catherine of Aragon, first wife of King Henry VIII and a woman who was now officially called the Dowager Princess of Wales. Catherine was seriously ill, in fact, she was dying, and this would be the last time […]
Claire | January 1, 2022
On 1st January 1540, Henry VIII met Anne of Cleves for the very first time. This meeting between King Henry VIII and the woman who would soon become his fourth wife, was a bit of a disaster, but exactly how much of a disaster was it? The accounts differ and Claire shares with you two […]
Claire | December 31, 2021
On this day in Tudor history, 31st December 1535, in the reign of Henry VIII, Sir William Skeffington, Lord Deputy of Ireland, died at Kilmainham in Dublin. Skeffington had become known as “the Gunner” following his use of heavy artillery while taking Maynooth Castle in County Kildare, where he killed, or had executed, the whole […]
Claire | April 20, 2021
On this day in Tudor history, on 20th April 1534, in the reign of King Henry VIII, prominent Londoners were called to swear a special oath. Just what was the Oath of the Act of Succession? What were people swearing to? Find out the highlights in this edition of my #TudorHistoryShorts video series, and read […]
Claire | April 15, 2021
Thank you to Leah for her excellent question regarding a scene from Showtime’s “The Tudors” series in which Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Henry VIII challenges Emmanuel Leconte as Francis I to a wrestling match at the Field of Cloth of Gold meeting. Did Henry VIII and Francis I really wrestle? And, if so, what happened? […]
Claire | October 2, 2020
On this day in Tudor history, 2nd October 1514, Henry VIII’s beloved youngest sister, eighteen-year-old Mary Tudor, set sail from Dover. She was on her way to France to marry fifty-two-year-old King Louis XII of France. She wasn’t keen on the idea, but her brother had promised that when Louis died, she could marry a […]
Claire | July 25, 2020
On this day in Tudor history, 25th July 1535, the Feast of St James, the imperial ambassador wrote about a furious King Henry VIII who’d apparently been nearly driven to commit murder! What had angered the king? Well, it involved Henry VIII’s fool and some foolish name-calling. Find out more in my latest “on this […]
