On this day in history, 20th June 1540, Anne of Cleves, the woman who Henry VIII had married on 6th January 1540, confided in her advisor, Carl Harst, the Cleves ambassador. Anne was concerned about her husband’s interest in her maid of honour, young Catherine Howard, a cousin of Anne Boleyn. Her marriage was just […]

On this day in history, 18th June 1529, Catherine of Aragon, first wife of King Henry VIII, made her first appearance at the special legatine court which had opened at Blackfriars, in London, on 31st May 1529 to hear Henry VIII’s case for an annulment of his marriage to Catherine. The king sent proxies to […]

It’s the turn of Anne of Cleves, Henry VIII’s fourth wife, for my 60-second history treatment. As I’ve explained before, the idea of this 60-second history series is to give information about Tudor history in easy-to-digest 60-second chunks. Die-hard Tudor history fans don’t, of course, need these videos, but I hope they act as introductions […]

On this day in history, 15th June 1536, a week after she had reached out to her father Henry VIII in a letter, twenty-year-old Mary received a visit at Hunsdon from members of the king’s council led by Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk. Rather than informing her that the king was willing to receive […]

On this day in history, Sunday 12th June 1530, according to Eustace Chapuys, the imperial ambassador, Henry VIII got a good telling off from his wife, Catherine of Aragon. At this time, of course, Henry was involved with Anne Boleyn and was trying desperately to get his marriage to Catherine annulled. What did Catherine have […]

On this day in history, 11th June 1509, King Henry VIII married for the first time. His bride was his brother Arthur’s widow, Catherine of Aragon, daughter of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon. Henry was nearly eighteen years of age and Catherine was twenty-three. The wedding was a low-key affair, as […]

Yes, it’s that time of year again (where does time go?)! It’s time to launch our annual photography competition. What is this? I hear you ask. Well, each year we produce The Anne Boleyn Files Tudor Calendar. This is a printed wall calendar and each month features a Tudor-themed photograph taken by an Anne Boleyn […]

On this day in history, 8th June 1536, Henry VIII’s eldest daughter Mary, the future Mary I, wrote to her father, the father she had been estranged from since the breakdown of her parents’ marriage. We have a record of her letter to him, although it is damaged: “Begs his daily blessing. Though she understands, […]