Claire | December 17, 2022
On this day in Tudor history, 17th December 1559, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Matthew Parker was consecrated as Archbishop of Canterbury. Fifty-five-year-old Parker was far from happy about his appointment. It was an office which he did not want and would not have accepted if “he had not been so much bound […]
Claire | August 26, 2019
On this day in Tudor history, 26th August 1533, Queen Anne Boleyn, second wife of King Henry VIII, prepared for the birth of her first child by “taking her chamber” at Greenwich Palace. This child was of course the future Queen Elizabeth I. “Taking her chamber” was common practice in Tudor England, and in today’s […]
Claire | March 29, 2019
In this instalment of my series “Questions about Anne Boleyn”, I answer the question “Did Anne Boleyn have much of a relationship with Elizabeth?” I consider whether Anne Boleyn was disappointed with her daughter’s birth, whether there is evidence that she didn’t bond with Elizabeth, and how she was involved with the princess’s early life […]
Claire | September 7, 2016
483 years today, on the afternoon of 7th September 1533, Henry VIII’s second wife, Queen Anne Boleyn, gave birth to a baby girl at the Palace of Placentia (Greenwich Palace). Chronicler Edward Hall recorded the royal birth: “The vii. day of September beyng Sondaie, betwene thre and foure of the Clocke at after noone, the […]
Claire | March 30, 2014
As it is Mothering Sunday in the UK, I wanted to share with you snippets from my chapter “Anne Boleyn the Mother” from The Anne Boleyn Collection II. The chapter goes into detail on the rituals and traditions associated with pregnancy and childbirth in Tudor times, but today I want to concentrate on what we […]
Claire | June 15, 2010
Back at the beginning of May, I wrote an article entitled “The Fall of Anne Boleyn” where I mentioned the fact that Anne Boleyn asked her chaplain, Matthew Parker, on the 26th April 1536 to ensure that her daughter, the future Elizabeth I, was looked after if anything happened to Anne. This request is important […]
