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
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
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
Marie de Guise was born on 22 November 1515 in Lorraine, France. She was the eldest daughter of Claude of Lorraine, Duke of Guise, and quite the matrimonial catch. A tall and lithesome woman, she was also intelligent and brave, and proved her worth many times over as both a duchess and the Queen of… Read more Mary of Guise
The future King Edward VI of England was baptized at Hampton Court on 15 October 1537, with all the holy pomp his father, King Henry VIII, could muster. Every caution was taken to preserve the baby from illness or cold, and no expense was spared on ceremony. As Margaret Beaufort had dictated decades before, the… Read more Baptizing Edward VI
King Edward VI of England was born on 12 October 1537 to the great rejoicing of the populace and profound relief of his father, Henry VIII. Few children have been welcomed into the world with the eagerness in which an entire nation awaited the birth of Edward VI. The pregnancy of Jane Seymour, the third… Read more Happy Birthday to Edward VI!
Anna of Cleves was born on 22 September 1515, and would be Queen of England for 1/2 of 1540 before becoming King Henry VIII’s “sister” until her death on 16 July 1557. Although she was well liked by Henry’s court, she got off on the wrong foot with the king himself. He came in “disguise”… Read more Anna of Cleves, the Six Months Queen
On 16 September 1400 Owain Glyndwr reclaimed his hereditary title of Prince of Powys Fadog and within four years he would be crowned the last Tywysog Cymru – the Prince of Wales – and would lead the Welsh in a final uprising against the English in a bid for national independence. The Welsh were never… Read more The Last Tywysog Cymru