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?
Many people know about the Mary Rose, one of Henry VIII’s most famous ships, but fewer are aware of Henry’s other nautical pride and joy – the even bigger and even better Henry Grace à Dieu, AKA the Great Harry. The Great Harry was the first carrack launched from the Woolwich Dockyard (which was created… Read more The Great Harry Launches
Henry VIII married his brother’s widow, Katherina of Aragon, at a small ceremony in Greenwich on 11 June 1509. They were a handsome couple, and initially very much in love. Henry probably lied when he claimed his father had told him to marry her while Henry VII was on his death bed, but the… Read more Henry VIII’s First Wedding
Last weekend my husband and I took the girls on a trip to Cornwall, which is a breathtakingly beautiful county and a unique cultural area. It was a Brythonic kingdom, one of the Celtic nations during the the Atlantic Bronze Age, and retains a strong reginal identity to this day. It is surrounded by sea… Read more The Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall
I love Scotland, from the streets of Edinburgh to it’s Highland Coos. Seriously, it is an awesome place filled to the brim with awesome people. And one of the most awesome people to have ever trodden upon Scotland’s soil is Agnes Randolph, the wife of Patrick, 9th Earl of Dunbar and March, known historically as… Read more Black Agnes and Psychological Warfare For the Win
Happy Birthday to Georgiana Spencer Cavendish, the 5th Duchess of Devonshire! She was born on 7 June 1757, the eldest child of John Spencer (who would later become 1st Earl Spencer) and Georgiana Poyntz. As a girl she was affectionately called “Little Gee” by her family, and she was an indirect ancestress of Lady Diana Spencer’s. During their… Read more Georgiana Cavendish, an Amazing Woman
On 3 June 1937 the Duke of Windsor, who had been King Edward VIII of England a few months before, wed the twice-divorced American Wallis Warfield Simpson in France, where they would live out the remainder of their married lives together. This tends to get romanticized – he had to give up a throne just… Read more A Former King Marries His Former Mistress
Anne Boleyn was crowned queen on 1 June 1533. It was a day of many mixed blessings for the new queen. She was publically acknowledged as Henry VIII’s wife, adored by her husband, and she was heavily pregnant with the baby she felt sure would be a boy. On the other hand, supporters of the Henry’s… Read more Anne Boleyn Crowned Queen of England
Lady Margaret Beaufort, the sole living child and heir of John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset and his wife, Margaret Beauchamp of Bletsoe was born on 31 May 1443. Through her father she was the great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster through the legitimized eldest son of his third wife, Katherine Swynford. Thus… Read more The Lancastrian Heir is Born
On 30 May 1536, only ll days after the judicial murder of his second wife, Anne Boleyn, King Henry VIII married Jane Seymour. I In spite of the fact none of his former wives were alive, and he could indisputably wed again, Henry married Jane quietly in the Queen’s Closet of York Place. Archbishop Cranmer,… Read more Third Weddings and a Funeral