Claire | February 14, 2023
Today, 14th February, is, of course, Valentine’s Day, the feast of St Valentine and the day of love. But was Valentine’s Day’s celebrated in Tudor times? Yes! Find out more in this video… The letter mentioned can be seen at http://www.bl.uk/learning/timeline/item126579.html Talking of love, King Henry VIII wrote a series of love letters to Anne […]
Claire | August 16, 2018
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 […]
Claire | February 14, 2017
Today is Valentine’s Day, the traditional day of romance. You can read all about Valentine’s Day itself in an article I wrote for the Tudor Society – click here – but here at the Anne Boleyn Files I want to ask you for your thoughts on Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII. I want to ask […]
Claire | February 14, 2015
If you haven’t noticed (quick, buy a card!), today is Valentine’s Day, the day of love. Contrary to what many people believe, Valentine’s Day was celebrated in Tudor England. Alison Sim, in her excellent book Pleasures & Pastimes in Tudor England writes of how it is mentioned three times in the Paston Letters (a collection […]
Claire | September 17, 2014
The Tudors series would have us believe that Henry VIII first noticed Anne Boleyn at the Château Vert Pageant, just after Anne had made her debut at the English court, but the first solid evidence we have of Henry VIII being in love with Anne is Henry’s request to the Pope in August 1527 for […]
Claire | February 14, 2012
Romance may not be something you associate with King Henry VIII – tyranny: yes, romance: no – but Henry could be very romantic at times. How do I know? Well, I’ve read the love letters that he sent to Anne Boleyn and they are beautiful. Here are some lovey dovey extracts from the King of […]
Claire | February 3, 2012
Anne Boleyn Fellowship member Dr Linda Saether shares her experience visiting the Vatican Archives and actually holding the real love letters written by Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn. The Da Vinci Code has nothing on this! The Vatican Love Letters of Henry VIII by Dr Linda Saether In Henry VIII’s letters to Anne Boleyn I […]
Claire | February 14, 2011
In her book, “Pleasures & Pastimes in Tudor England”, Alison Sim writes of how the Tudors obviously did celebrate St Valentine’s Day because it is mentioned three times in the Paston Letters* in the 1470s. Apparently, “valentines were chosen by lot from among a group of friends, who then had to buy their valentine a […]
