On this day in Tudor history, 9th September 1513, during the reign of King Henry VIII and regency of Queen Catherine of Aragon, the Battle of Flodden took place. Henry VIII, who was busy campaigning in France, had appointed his wife, Catherine of Aragon, as regent while he was away. During her short regency, English […]

I was saddened yesterday to hear the news that Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-reigning British monarch, had died at Balmoral Castle, Scotland. Even though the queen was 96, I was still shocked by the news – she was the only monarch I’ve known, and I admired her immensely. My thoughts are with the family. Here […]

On this day in Tudor history, 8th September 1560, in the reign of Elizabeth I, the dead body of Amy Robsart, wife of Elizabeth I’s favourite, Robert Dudley, was discovered. Amy was found at the bottom of some stairs in her rented home, Cumnor Place, in Oxfordshire. But what had happened to her? Had she […]

Yay! My latest book, On This Day in Tudor History II, has been released on kindle and in paperback today – woo hoo! I’m so very excited! The original On This Day in Tudor History book was published back in 2012, so ten years ago. I can’t quite believe it, but time does indeed fly, […]

On this day in Tudor history, 7th September 1533, Queen Anne Boleyn, second wife of King Henry VIII, gave birth to a healthy baby girl at Greenwich Palace. This daughter would, of course, grow up to be Queen Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen, Gloriana, Good Queen Bess, a queen who would rule England for over […]

There are just 24 hours to go until my Elizabeth I online event, “Elizabeth I: The Life of Gloriana, the Virgin Queen”, starts! The event kicks off tomorrow with a talk from Dr Elizabeth Norton on the Elizabeth and Thomas Seymour Scandal, and a live-streamed talk and Q&A from me, Claire Ridgway, on Elizabeth I’s […]

On this day in Tudor history, 6th September 1520, in the reign of King Henry VIII, the famous reformer Martin Luther sent his pamphlet “On the Freedom of a Christian” (also known as “A Treatise on Christian Liberty”) to Pope Leo X. In this pamphlet, Luther emphasised the “two-fold nature” of Christians as saints and […]

There are just 2 days until “Elizabeth I, The Life of Gloriana, the Virgin Queen”, my online event, so I thought I’d share with you a brief running order of the talks and Q&A sessions: Day 1 – Wednesday 7th September – Part 1 – The Elizabeth and Thomas Seymour Scandal – Talk by Dr […]