By Jillianne Hamilton Everyone knows Henry VIII was unlucky in love. Not nearly as unlucky as many of his wives, of course, but Henry would certainly have considered himself the most unfortunate man in England when it came to his married life. The excuses he used to get out of his marriage varied from wife … [More]
As Henry VIII lay dying in his bedchamber in January 1547, Edward Seymour and William Paget were whispering in the gallery outside his chamber door at Westminster plotting the future. We know this is true because later Paget calls out Edward Seymour on following through on what they had discussed in the gallery that day … [More]
The Tenth Love Letter from Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn Guest post by Heather R Darsie Henry VIII wrote this letter in June 1528 to his beloved Anne Boleyn during an outbreak of the sweating sickness, showing his characteristic nervousness about Anne. It is unknown whether this letter truly does follow the previous, although … [More]
Guest article by Seamus O’Caellaigh “Hear that the king of England has had a fall from his horse, and was thought to be dead for two hours. His lady miscarried in consequence.” This was written on February 12, 1536 by the Bishop of Faenza, according to Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume … [More]
Love this website and podcast and want to show your support? Become a Patron! In the last article of this series we ended with the death of Thomas Seymour in 1549, but before we move forward I’d like to step back a bit to get a bigger picture of what was to come in Elizabeth’s … [More]
Become a Patron! Elizabeth Tudor has always been on the back-burner for me. While I love the fact that she was the daughter of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn I’ve never been as interested in her reign as I have been in her father’s. My views on Queen Elizabeth of England often make me … [More]
Along the way I’ve discovered that Katheryn Howard had a more interesting life than I had expected – very similar to what happened when I researched Jane Seymour. Once you go back and learn about Katheryn’s childhood, and understand her relationship with men, it gives you a better idea of how she got herself into … [More]
The last article in the series covered Katheryn’s wedding night through Easter, or end of March 1541. It was at this point in time that Katheryn began to show favor to Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford. Find Part One Here Find Part Two Here Katheryn Howard – Part Three It was around the same time as … [More]
In Part One of this series, we ended with Katheryn Howard…married, and Thomas Cromwell…executed. If you missed it, I’d recommend going back and reading or listening to it – this series is the life story of Katheryn, to grasp her as a person you’ll need to hear her whole story. Read Part One – Click … [More]
The story of Katheryn Howard intertwines with many other notable figures of the time but none more than Anne of Cleves and Thomas Cromwell. We’ll start with Katheryn’s childhood and attempt to chronologically move through time until her execution in 1542. After writing Part One, I realized her story deserves multiple parts. Part One, will … [More]
Lost Portrait of Young Henry VIII? One of our Facebook fans,Teresa Taylor reminded me about this older post (2015) that covers a portrait found that is suggested to be Henry VIII. There is another that may also be Anne Boleyn. They were found in Czartoryski Museum in Kraków of Poland and are not labeled as our … [More]
This article started as a podcast – if you’d prefer to listen instead of read, click here: When it comes to English monarchs, none is more revered or despised than Henry VIII. The masses are torn on whether to love him….or hate him. Henry VIII did many great things for England during his long reign, … [More]
Described by Polydore Vergil as “A woman of the utmost charm both in appearance and character” and Sir John Russell as, “the fairest of all his wives”. Eustace Chapuys described Jane as “of middle stature and no great beauty”. Jane was of a natural sweet-nature, unlike her predecessor Anne Boleyn and had also been considered … [More]
She has gone down in history as the lucky fourth wife of Henry VIII…but as we’ve discovered in the first two parts of this series, Anne of Cleves was anything but “lucky”, she was patient, intelligent and kind. She was human, like you and me. Unlike her predecessors Anne was able to maneuver through a … [More]
