I’m just doing last minute packing, i.e. running around the house like a headless chicken, because tomorrow I fly to the UK to co-lead the Discover the Tudors tour with my good friend, Philippa Lacey Brewell of British History Tours. The tour starts on Sunday and lasts until 24th September so plenty of Tudor talk […]

On this day in history, 10th September 1533, a future Queen of England was baptised in a lavish ceremony at the Church of Observant Friars in Greenwich. The little princess was the three-day-old daughter of King Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn, and she would grow up to be Queen Elizabeth I. The […]

As it’s the anniversary of the Battle of Flodden tomorrow, the Tudor Society is sharing the talk that battlefield historian Julian Humphrys did for members on the Battle of Flodden in 1513. This historic battle took place on 9th September 1513 and saw the Scots defeated by English forces. Henry VIII was away campaigning in […]

As many of you will know, I’m involved in MedievalCourses.com, a company offering online history courses taught by downloadable or streaming audio lectures or videos. Well, I just wanted to let you know that MedievalCourses.com are commemorating the anniversary of the Battle of Bosworth this week by offering 25% off all of their history courses […]

I’ve just come back from a two week holiday travelling through Spain and France to the UK, and while I was in the UK I was lucky enough to attend David Starkey’s talk “Henry VIII: The First Brexiteer” at the Festival Theatre at Hever Castle. It was a wonderful talk, both entertaining and educational, and […]

On 9th August 1588, the fifty-four-year-old Queen Elizabeth I, daughter of King Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn gave a rousing speech. She gave it to the English troops that had been gathered at Tilbury Fort by her good friend, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, in anticipation of the expected invasion by the […]

On this day in history, 8th August 1553, fifteen-year-old King Edward VI was laid to rest at Westminster Abbey. The boy-king was buried in a white marble vault beneath the altar of Henry VII’s Lady Chapel and his grave was left unmarked until a memorial stone was placed in front of the altar in 1966. […]

On this day in history, 6th August 1504, Matthew Parker, a man who served as chaplain to Queen Anne Boleyn and King Henry VIII, and as Archbishop of Canterbury to Queen Elizabeth I, was born in the parish of St Saviour, Norwich, East Anglia, to a worsted weaver and his wife. His loyalty to his […]