Lady Jane Grey, the chosen and legal heir of King Edward VI, officially became queen on 10 July 1553. She was a very Tudor monarch, having a marked resemblance to her grand-uncle Henry VIII’s daughters. One eye-witnesses described her as, “very short and thin, but prettily shaped and graceful. She has small features and a well-made nose,… Read more Jane Grey, Rightful Queen
No one expected King Edward VI to die so young. Although he was re-written retroactively as “frail” and unhealthy, there is no evidence to support that conclusion. A French ambassador described Edward as being “remarkably tall for his age” when the future king was four years old, which indicates reasonably good health. (Murphy, 2011:246). Furthermore,… Read more Edward VI
Joan of the Tower, the youngest daughter of Edward II of England and the wife of King David II of Scotland, is a sterling example of what history does with royal women who are never mothers and never scandalous. Joan was born in the Tower of London on 5 July 1321 and she had one… Read more Happy Birthday Queen Joan of Scotland
Princess Elizabeth Tudor, the 4th child and second daughter of King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, was born on 2 July 1492. She seemed healthy enough as a baby, but the little girl died while she was only a toddler in the royal nurseries at Eltham Palace on 14 September 1495. Her parents were,… Read more Elizabeth Tudor, and Medieval Child Mortality
Has anyone else read Robert Harris’s trilogy about the fall of the Roman Republic? It’s a chronicle — told in the point of view of Cicero’s slave Tiro — of how Rome went from a very flawed (but at least trying) representational republic to a dictatorship in just a handful of years. It is excellent,… Read more The Fall of the Republic
Henry VIII was born 28 June 1491 at the Palace of Placentia the third child of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. As hard as is it to believe, considering the stir he would make in the historical record, the little prince was an extremely second fiddle to his elder brother, Arthur, Prince of Wales.… Read more The Incredible Life of Henry VIII
The future King Louis XII was born on on 27 June 1462 to Charles, Duke of Orléans and Marie of Cleves. Louis of Orléans was the 2nd cousin of King Louis XI, known as Louis the Cunning, who (along with his daughter, Anne of Beaujue) had been the main instrument of putting the Tudors on… Read more King Louis XII of France
On 24 June 1509 Henry VIII and his bride, Katherina of Aragon, were crowned together as King and Queen of England. Henry was still a handsome teenage lad described as “cheerful and gamesome” with an unusually mild temper and an excellent sense of fair play. Katherina was a strawberry-blonde and beautiful princess who had overcome… Read more The Coronation of Henry VIII and Katherina of Aragon
On 23 June 1794 Empress Catherine II of Russia, known historically as Catherine the Great, formally granted permission for Jews to move into Kyiv, which is now the Ukrainian city of Kiev. This was an unpopular move on Catherine’s part, since the Orthodox Christians of Kiev insisted that their community was “profaned” by Jewish residency.… Read more Catherine the Great Allows Jewish Settlement in Kyiv
By June of 1553 King Edward VI knew he was dying. The young monarch was in constant pain, but had been using the last few weeks remaining to him to actively try to ensure a Protestant Britain after his death. Although John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, is often – even usually – accused of being King… Read more Why Didn’t Cranmer See Edward VI Alone Before the King’s Death?