Henry VIII died on 28 January 1547, but the time needed to have his body lavishly embalmed and his funeral procession planned meant that the king was not actually buried in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor until almost three weeks later. On 14 February the king’s funeral procession began its journey from Whitehall, where the… Read more Bluff King Hal is Laid to Rest
Henry VIII died on January 28, 1547 … on what would have been his father’s 90th birthday. The relationship between Henry VII and Henry VIII is a bit of a historical conundrum, inasmuch as there is little certainty about any of it. Henry VIII’s love for his mother and grief upon her death is well… Read more Birth and Death and Two Henry’s
On 2 December 1546 Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk and his son, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, were both thrown into the Tower for the shadiest of reasons and for the weakest of excuses. Only the duke would survive. Henry Howard, one of the great poets of the Tudor age, would be executed for trumped up… Read more Henry Howard, the Earl of Surrey
New Year’s Day actually began at sundown on 31 December for people in Medieval times because days were counted as starting then rather than at midnight back in then. That’s also why we do our primary partying (at least when we are younger and stronger than my middle-aged butt is now) on New Year’s Eve… Read more Happy New Year’s!
On New Year’s Day of 1536 Maria de Salinas, Lady Willoughby, breached Kimbolton manor house to be with her dearest fried, Katherina of Aragon, as the former queen lay dying. Maria de Salinas is one of my favorite people of the Tudor era because few people of any time period have ever shown the unswerving… Read more Maria de Salinas, a True Friend
Elizabeth Stuart was the eldest daughter of James VI King of Scots (future King James I of England and Ireland as well after the death of Queen Elizabeth I ), and his wife, Anne of Denmark. She was the granddaughter of Mary, Queen of Scots, and like her grandmother she was famed for her beauty… Read more Elizabeth Stuart, The Winter Queen of Bohemia
Yesterday my husband and I took our children to Margam Country Park, which is near Port Talbot in south Wales. It is more than 800 acres of pretty landscape and and home of some remarkable historic buildings. To wit: the ruins of Margam Abbey, the Margam Orangery from the Regency period, and Margam Castle. Thus,… Read more Ruins and Regency
Public popularity is a fickle, fickle thing. In fact, one of the things that will turn the public against you is becoming “too” popular. Worse, there was nothing so loathed in Regency England (and to some extent, today) as an underdog that seemed to be winning; support was on your side only as long as… Read more The Tide Turns Against Caroline of Brunswick
The Regency Era is named for the decade between June 1811 and January 1820 when the mentally ill King George III’s eldest son ruled in his place as Prince Regent before becoming King George IV, but the name also describes the historically distinctive period of art, literature, fashion, and popular culture between 1795 and 1837.… Read more Austen’s Regency
For the next 6 weeks it is going to be all Regency Era, all the time here. Why? Because on 16 December (the birthday of She Who Is Greatness – Jane Austen) my book Mansfield Parsonage will be released by Made Global Publishers. This makes me soooooooo happy! The book is a retelling of Austen’s… Read more The Regency Era, Mansfield Park, and Me