Joel | March 25, 2022
On this day in Tudor history, 25th March 1586, Good Friday and also Lady Day, the Feast of the Annunciation, Catholic martyr Margaret Clitherow (née Middleton), known as “the Pearl of York”, was pressed to death at the toll-booth on Ouse Bridge in York, under 7 or 8 hundredweight. She was executed for harbouring Catholic […]
Claire | January 1, 2020
Happy New Year to all Anne Boleyn Files followers! I hope you had a lovely time celebrating the New Year and that 2020 brings you lots of joy. Thank you for following this site and my work. How did people at the Tudor court celebrate New Year? Well, here’s my video from last year I’ve […]
Claire | January 1, 2017
Happy New Year to you! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and that 2017 brings you all that you could wish for! Thank you for following the Anne Boleyn Files, it means so much to me. Now, as I’ve explained before – click here – the 1st January was not the start of the […]
Claire | March 25, 2015
The Tudor tradition of Lady Day keeps Tudor historians and researchers on their toes, and causes confusion when dating events which happened between 1st January and 24th March. “Why?”, you may ask. Well, because in Tudor times the new calendar year did not start on 1st January, it started on 25th March, Lady Day or […]
Claire | January 1, 2014
Happy New Year to you all. I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and that 2014 brings you love, happiness, success and as many good things as possible. Although the Tudor New Year did not begin until 25th March, upper classes exchanged New Year’s gifts on 1st January. Tudor poet Thomas Tusser wrote about […]
Claire | March 25, 2013
Today is Lady Day, the Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin and the official start of the new year, in a legal and calendar sense, in Tudor England. In fact, it was the start of the new year in England until 1752 when 1st January became the official start. What’s confusing is that […]
