UnholyTudor

We all know the story of Henry VIII and his six wives, but I still like to talk about them occasionally. Anna Von Kleves, the Flanders mare? Or a beautiful young woman with a steely determination to survive? I have chosen to refer to Henry's fourth wife as Anna, not Anne, she often referred to herself as Anna. The fourth wife of Henry VIII, and the shortest marriage. However, she had the most successful outcome of his wives. Yes, Katheryn Parr survived, but, Anna watched what happened to her successors, she was wealthy and lived a relatively happy life. Anna of Cleves was born in Dusseldorf, Germany in 1515, between June and September. She was the second daughter of Duke John III and his wife Maria. Anna's father was heavily influenced by the scholar Erasmus, and John was aligned with the protestant faith but his wife was more of the Catholic faith. Anna and her sisters were closely brought up by their mother and Anna was most likely brought up in the Catholic faith. We do not ...

   Elizabeth of York,  The first Tudor Queen Elizabeth was born into a turbulent period of   history, the Wars of the Roses, she was the eldest daughter of Queen Elizabeth Woodville and King Edward IV. Elizabeth was the daughter, niece, sister, wife, mother and grandmother of monarchs, she has one hell of a lineage. Elizabeth was born at the Palace of Westminster in 1469, this was one of the preferred lodgings of Edward IV. She was christened at Westminster Abbey; her grandmothers, Jacquetta Rivers and Cecily Neville, were her sponsors. Elizabeth was surrounded by some of the most dominant women of their time, which might have influenced her. In 1475, Edward IV made an advantageous marriage proposal for Elizabeth to Louis XI's son, Charles. This was a very good match but one that the French would end up abandoning in 1482, Elizabeth was publicly jilted, which was humiliating.  Not much is known about the early years of Elizabeth's life, she was brought up like a...

  Anne Boleyn & Elizabeth I The Mother and Daughter Who Changed History By Tracy Borman Hello, my fellow history lovers, this month I am recommending a new book, it was released last month by the incredible Tracy Borman, she is joint curator of Historic Royal Palaces and author of multiple non-fiction books and historical fiction. This book solely focuses on Anne and her daughter Elizabeth, and the impact Anne had on her daughter and her very successful reign. Anne Boleyn is often a figure of controversy and was an unpopular figure in her lifetime, but, this book shows how much of a positive impact she made on her life and her ideals shaped Elizabeth's life.  If you know me, you know I am obsessed with Anne Boleyn and accept no slander about her whatsoever, so if you are the same as me, this book is for you, it highlights Anne's brilliance, how intelligent she was and how much she fiercely loved and protected her daughter till the very end. As we all know Anne Boleyn was e...

  A life working at Hampton Court Palace Interviewing James Peacock, the Anne Boleyn Society               I have had an exclusive interview with James Peacock, he works at Hampton Court Palace and he created the Anne Boleyn Society. I have questioned him on all things Hampton Court and Anne Boleyn! Let us dig in! So, James tell us a bit about yourself! So, I live on the outskirts of London and have been interested in Anne Boleyn/Tudor history since childhood. I lived in Australia for a few years growing up. I'm a huge fan of Kylie Minogue and about nine years ago I set up The Queen Anne Boleyn Society. What drew you to wanting to work at Hampton Court Palace? I've always had a fascination with the Tudors and of course Anne Boleyn, but also other parts of history as well and fortunately Hampton Court has a  diverse history spanning multiple eras. What do you find so fascinating about Tudor history? The Tudors have something for everyone....

  The saddest princess by Leah Toole An exclusive interview with Leah Toole on her first book Leah wrote her first book on Princess Mary Tudor, the first-born daughter of Henry VIII. This book is historical fiction but is thoroughly enjoyable. You can purchase Leah's book for yourself on Amazon. Tell us a bit about yourself, Leah!  I am a German/British mum of 2, passionate about Tudor history. I grew up in Portugal and lived there for 24 years, where I met my husband and our kids were born.  Where did your fascination with history start? I decided to study History completely at random alongside English Literature and Language and instantly fell in love with it.   Why did you decide to write your first book on Princess Mary?   I believe that Mary I and how we perceive her today is so negative due to the Propaganda during her reign which we still believe to this day when she didn't actually do anything that Henry VIII or even Elizabeth I did. People forget that s...

The Fall of Anne Boleyn A Countdown by Claire Ridgway Hello my fellow history lovers, how are you all doing in the month of May? Claire is the founder of the Anne Boleyn Files and has written many books on the Boleyn family. Seeing that May is the downfall of Anne Boleyn, I decided to recommend a book on the last weeks of Anne Boleyn. This book is utterly fabulous, it goes into enough detail but does not overcomplicate it. The book actually begins in January 1536 with her miscarriage which is a major factor in Anne Boleyn's fall, it factors in everything that will have contributed to the events of May 1536. She does not exclude anyone or forget anyone that was in the events of 1536. When I read this book I was overcome with emotion, because Claire wrote it so beautifully, Anne could not do anything to change what was happening nor did she have any idea of what was going to happen to her.  I do also like that this book goes day by day and month by month as someone who is an avid Tud...

         Catherine and Anne: Rivals, Queens, Mothers  By Dr Owen Emmerson, Kate McCaffrey and Alison Palmer.               Catherine and Anne were more similar than they might have liked to agree, Anne and Catherine had the same book of hours. Owen, Kate and Alison have curated an exhibition on the books of hours that Anne Boleyn and Catherine of Aragon both owned. Dr Owen Emmerson has kindly agreed to have an interview with me on his new book and exhibition. So, Owen, please tell us a bit about yourself first! I am a social and cultural historian and, quite frankly, a bit of a nerd. I completed three degrees at the University of Sussex under Professor Claire Langhamer and Professor Lucy Robinson. While at Sussex, I volunteered at and then worked for the Mass-Observation Archive, which I enjoyed immensely. One of my enduring fascinations is with the minutiae of everyday life, both for the privileged few in society and for ...

                 Crown and Sceptre by Tracy Borman This month I recommend this fabulous book by Tracy Borman, a history of the British monarchy from 1066 to our current monarch, Charles III. The book goes into a lot of detail on each monarch and how every monarch reigned, if they reigned well if they were successful or were a really terrible monarch.  Tracy doesn't pick favourites when it comes to each monarch, she gives a very unbiased view but is very level-headed. You end up learning a lot about each monarch so you have a general history of all the monarchs yourself. I was lucky enough to get this book for Christmas and I thoroughly enjoyed it, I can be quite slow at reading but I practically ate this book up. It is engaging, thorough and well-written. When reading about these monarchs it is interesting to see how much has changed, but also how we still have some of their royal practices hundreds of years later. This book also goes in...

We all know the story of Henry VIII and his six wives, but I still like to talk about them from time to time.           Catherine   Howard, whored her way through life? Or innocent and used all her life? Catherine Howard was the youngest of Henry's wives and the second to be beheaded. She has had quite the slandering throughout history and it is much undeserved. Catherine was born to Lord Edmund Howard and Joyce Culpeper. Edmund was the third son of his father, and he was not well off. Catherine was possibly her tenth mother's child, Joyce had five children from her previous marriage. They had very little to survive on in the marriage and often had to beg for help. Catherine was born between 1524 and 1528, but we really do not know when Catherine was born.  She was between the ages of sixteen and twenty-one when she was executed. Catherine's mother died in 1528, leaving the family destitute. Catherine, along with her siblings to the care of her f...

We all know the story of Henry VIII and his six wives, but I still like to talk about them occasionally.           The meek and docile third wife? Or a woman who had a heart of steel?  Jane earns the reputation as the quiet mouse, but was she just the quiet mouse? Or did she actually have quite a steely exterior and fought for her beliefs? Jane Seymour was born between 1504 and 1509, like most of Henry's wives it is hard to pinpoint her birth date, it is most likely to have been 1508. Her parents were John Seymour and Margery Wentworth, and she was one of many children. Jane had a good childhood growing up, she was taught the skills a housewife needed, sewing and being head of the household, Jane is said to not be as well educated as her predecessors but she could still read and write, even if it was at a basic level. Her needlework received high praise and she seems to have genuinely enjoyed it. We don't know much about Jane's early life, much of it was e...