That Other Tudor History Page

in 1603, Elizabeth I died at Richmond Palace aged 69.

Having ruled England from 1558, Elizabeth calmed England’s religious waters in the aftermath of the Marian Catholic Counter-Reformation. She was crowned in January 1559 at Westminster Abbey and the general population were ecstatic as Elizabeth had always been popular, a rebellion even rising with the intent of putting on her on the throne instead of her half-sister Queen Mary. Elizabeth had lived through a very difficult childhood, her mother had replaced Mary’s mother as Queen of England, making their relationship strained from the beginning. It improved somewhat after the death of Elizabeth’s mother, Anne Boleyn.
Having been declared illegitimate by her father Henry VIII, she still received a fine education and was restored to the line of succession by her father in 1544, behind her brother and Mary.
After the death of Henry VIII in 1547, she lived with her stepmother, Katherine Parr, until Katherine’s new husband Thomas Seymour, caused a scandal by entering the young princess’s bedchamber on several occasions. The scandal nearly ruined her.
Just before her brother King Edward VI died, he tried to disinherit both Mary and Elizabeth based on their illegitimacy. However, Henry VIII’s Third Act of Succession was watertight and enshrined in law, so despite Edward declaring his wish that their Protestant cousin Lady Jane Grey should succeed him, Mary did eventually succeed.
With Mary succeeding to the throne, old grievances and religious differences caused the sisters to become further estranged. Perhaps Mary was haunted by the fate of their mothers, or perhaps she was envious of Elizabeth’s youth and popularity. Either way, Mary had Elizabeth imprisoned in the Tower of London on suspicion of treason. Nothing could be proved and Elizabeth, protesting her innocence, was eventually sent to live under house arrest in the countryside.
On the death of Mary in November 1558, legend has it that Elizabeth was found reading under an oak tree at Hatfield Palace and declared
“This is the Lord’s doing, it is marvellous in our eyes!” And so began a relationship that defined her for the rest of her life-her marriage to England.
The only Tudor to give her name to an age, Elizabeth oversaw sea exploration, religious settlement, the golden age of arts and literature, the defeat of the Spanish Armada as well as threats from Scotland and France. She had several nicknames including Good Queen Bess, Gloriana and The Virgin Queen. She became the first woman in English history to demonstrate that a woman could rule at least as well as any man successfully and with the love of her people.
Excluding the fact that his line died with her, if he could have seen his daughter, old Henry VIII would have been proud.

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International Women’s Day! Some of the most influential women of their day graced the Tudor courts of the sixteenth century.

Lady Jane Grey bravely faced a fate that was not her choice and died for her beliefs.

Katherine Parr believed in family and successfully reunited Henry VIII with his daughters, whilst pursuing education and the reformed faith.

Elizabeth I proved that a woman could rule as well as any man, and won the love and respect from the majority of her subjects. She gave her name to a golden age and is remembered as one of the greatest monarchs to sit on the English throne.

Anne Boleyn, won the love of a king and endured huge unpopularity and scorn so that she could become Queen consort only to be betrayed by the king when she did not have a son. She died bravely on the scaffold.

Katherine of Aragon suffered miscarriages, stillbirths and infant deaths for the first ten years of her marriage, before being cast aside and abandoned by her husband. She never gave up her fight even signing her name as Katherine the Queen on her death bed.

Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, a Scottish Queen raised Catholic at the French court, returned home to Scotland a widow, to an unfamiliar and unwelcoming country that eventually forced her abdication and took away her child. She eventually fled to England and was kept prisoner by her cousin Elizabeth, until her ex*****on.

Margaret Beaufort, against all odds became mother to the first Tudor king, Henry VII. Survived and conspired during the Wars of the Roses, was forced to live without her son, but continued to fight for his cause at home, until it was safe for him to return.

Mary I endured years of neglect and suffering after the drama of her parents divorce, remained true to her faith against the backdrop of the English reformation and growing discontent against catholics during the reigns of her father and brother. As Queen, she remained steadfast in her loyalty to Catholicism, despite how unpopular it made her.

All these women are worth remembering. None of them had it easy, all fought against the men who were prominent during their lifetime and have had numerous books, films and series created about them because of their extraordinary lives.

Happy International Women’s Day!

Anne Boleyn: One of the most fascinating women in English history.

Part one:

Born to Thomas and Elizabeth Boleyn in approximately 1501, although this is contested, probably at Blickling Hall in Norfolk. She also spent some of her childhood at Hever Castle in the Kent countryside. She had an older sister called Mary and a younger brother, George.

Anne’s father worked for King Henry VIII as an ambassador to various courts in Europe and it was at the court of Margaret of Austria that Boleyn managed to secure a position for his younger daughter in the regent’s household, where she was to learn courtly ways and improve her language skills. Anne travelled to Mechelen in the Netherlands and thrived under the care of Margaret. It may have been in these years that Anne first became aware of religious controversies and the European reformation.

After her time at Mechelen, Anne and her sister were placed as Maids of Honour to Princess Mary Tudor, the younger sister of King Henry VIII when she travelled to France to marry the king of France. Here she served first Mary and then Claude of France, before being recalled to England by her father.

At this time, in the early 1520s Anne’s sister Mary was in the middle of an affair with King Henry himself. Anne may have been romantically involved with Henry Percy, son of the Earl of Northumberland. The Percy’s were great northern magnates, who considered Anne far too common to marry into their family. Cardinal Wolsey intervened, possibly by request of the King, and Anne was banished to Hever Castle and Henry Percy quickly married off.

By the middle of the 1520s, Anne was back at court and serving Queen Catherine of Aragon as a lady-in-waiting. Her sister’s affair with the King was over and Mary had been married to Sir William Carey. We can’t know for certain when Anne caught the eye of King Henry, only that she did. Perhaps it was the elegance and grace she had learned at the international courts she had attended or her sharp wit and intellect that had been cultivated during her formative years, but whatever it was, Anne was about to begin a journey that would not only seal her fate as one of Henry’s queens, but would change the course of English history forever.

Part two coming shortly.

The burning of the Yule log:-

The Tudors celebrated Christmas a little differently to us in the 21st century.

The twelve days of Christmas were traditionally when the people who worked the land, would stop working to enjoy the celebrations. Christmas carols were popular in Tudor England, some that are recognisable today, such as The Holly and the Ivy and the haunting Coventry Carol. The Boars Head Carol was also popular and was sung at dinner as the pinnacle of the feast (The Boars Head) was brought in:-

“The boars head in hand bear I,
Bedecked with bay and rosemary,
And I pray you my masters, be merry
Quot estis in convivio

Caput apri defero
Reddens laudes Domino”

The last few lines translates to:- As many men as there are at the feast and the boars head bear I, Rendering praises to the Lord.

There was also the traditional bringing of the Yule log on Christmas Eve. This would be cut down from a nearby forest and burned in the fireplace for the entire twelve days of Christmas. The charred remains were often used as kindling the following year.

Another tradition was the Feast of Fools. A Lord of Misrule would be nominated to supervise the entertainment for the Christmas period, choosing games and dancing and general revelry.

Common people would visit their friends and neighbours and enjoy a minced pie, which would consist of thirteen ingredients that represented Christ and his apostles.

Work would reconvene on ‘Plough Monday’ which was the first Monday after the end of the twelve days.

Elizabeth of York was the first Queen consort of the Tudor dynasty. She is also the only person in English history to be daughter, sister, niece, wife, mother and grandmother to the Kings of England.

Born in 1466 to her parents, King Edward IV and his consort Elizabeth Woodville. She was their eldest child. In her youth she witnessed the tumultuous period in history that was known as the Wars of the Roses. A collection of battles fought for control of the throne between rival branches of the Plantagenet line, the Lancastrains and her own family, the Yorkists.

Elizabeth’s parents had several children during this time. Her brother Edward, was born in Westminster Abbey while the Queen and her children were in sanctuary, after the temporary deposition of King Edward. She had two brothers that survived infancy and she lived through the tragedy of the “Princes in the Tower” where the two princes disappeared after the death of their father in 1483. Her uncle, Richard who had been in charge of the two boys and is generally considered to be behind the disappearance, became king.

Elizabeth’s mother, angered and upset after the disappearance of her two sons, conspired with Margaret Beaufort to marry Elizabeth to Margaret’s son Henry Tudor, should he be successful in deposing Richard III. Henry, who had been abroad with his uncle, Jasper Tudor, was the heir to the Lancastrian branch of the family. On his own, his claim to the throne was weak, but by marrying the daughter of King Edward IV his chance was much better.

Henry Tudor invaded England from Wales, where his ancestral home at Pembroke Castle was. His army of mercenaries defeated and killed King Richard at the Battle of Bosworth in autumn 1485. Elizabeth and Henry married in January 1486, uniting the houses of Lancaster and York.

The marriage produced several children, although on four survived infancy. They were Arthur, Prince of Wales, born in 1486, Margaret, Queen of Scotland born in 1489, Henry, Duke of York (later Henry VIII) born in 1491 and Mary, Queen of France and Duchess of Suffolk born in 1496.

Elizabeth, having witnessed so much tragedy in her life, including the deaths of her children, died on her 37th birthday at the Tower of London, having given birth to a baby girl who died shortly after her.

Her direct descendants are on throne to this day.

Below left: Elizabeth of York
Below right: Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville

Who was the better statesman, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey or Thomas Cromwell?

Both rose to prominence under Henry VIII and both fell foul of him too.

The heirs of Henry VIII

All of Henry’s legitimate children inherited his throne, but which of them suffered the most for it?

Edward VI:-

The long awaited Prince, was loved and cared for deeply by his father. Born in 1537 to Henry and Jane Seymour, Edward’s mother died just twelve days after his birth. Although favoured and raised as Prince of Wales, Edward led a very secluded and lonely life. He got on well with his half-sister Elizabeth, who was just four years his senior, but had very irregular contact with his father, who kept him away from London for fear of him catching a disease. The distant father who adored him from afar, died when he was just nine years old.

Mary I:-

Born in 1516 Mary was Henry’s daughter by Catherine of Aragon and the only child that survived from their marriage. Initially her childhood would have been a happy one, the beloved daughter of the King, she was well educated, clever and loved by both her parents, with Henry describing Mary as the “Pearl of his world”. However that changed when Mary was around ten years old and Henry decided that his marriage to Catherine was over. Henry believed, albeit conveniently, that Catherine’s first marriage to his late brother must have been consummated as they had no surviving son. He relied on biblical verses to make his case. Catherine, vehemently denied the allegations and seven years of wrangling with the church failed to reach a verdict. Henry’s wrath was aimed at Catherine and to punish her, he sent her from court and banned her from communicating with their daughter. This would have been very hard on both Catherine and Mary, who had sided with her mother. Mary’s misery was deepened when Henry used the newly founded Church of England to annul the marriage, declaring Mary illegitimate in the process. Mary remained true to the faith of her mother, angering Henry further and the two did not reconcile for several years. Mary had very little support during this time and was forced to wait on her baby half-sister to add to her humiliation.

Elizabeth I:-

Elizabeth was born in 1533 to Henry by Anne Boleyn, the woman he had torn his country in half to marry. Although disappointed that she was a girl, Henry and Anne were both confident that a son would follow and Elizabeth was treated as a princess and heir presumptive. Tragically Henry had her mother executed for treason and adultery before Elizabeth was three years old and in the wake of her mother’s downfall she was neglected and forgotten about. She came back to court for Christmas 1536, largely due to Jane Seymour’s influence and was accepted as one of the King’s daughters, albeit an illegitimate one. She was perhaps the most intelligent of Henry’s children and was provided with an excellent education, above and beyond the standards of the day and Henry became fond of his younger daughter, especially after he married Katherine Parr in 1543. It was the closest thing to family that Elizabeth had experienced and she admired her stepmother enormously, even going to live with her after her father’s death.

So who had the most difficult upbringing? All three suffered during Henry’s reign and yet there is evidence of paternal affection from him. Not, perhaps in a modern sense, but enough to include all three children in the 1544 Act of Succession, which put them all in line for the throne. All three became monarchs of England, which were in varying degrees successful, despite such an unconventional upbringing.

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Over this last week That Other Tudor History Page has travelled to Tewkesbury Abbey in Gloucestershire. Whilst there is no direct link to the Tudors there, we have seen the graves of George, Duke of Clarence and his wife Isabelle Neville in the Abbey.

Clarence was the younger brother of King Edward IV and therefore great-uncle to Henry VIII. He was a key figure in the Wars of the Roses, switching from his native Yorkist roots to Lancaster when he deemed it advantageous for him to do so. He sided with the Earl of Warwick in a rebellion against King Edward, that lead to a temporary restoration of Henry VI in 1470, before switching back to support his brother. Edward forgave many of Clarence’s transgressions, which included marrying Warwick’s daughter Isabelle without the Kings permission. Clarence and Isabelle had two surviving children, Margaret, who married Sir Richard Pole and Edward, Earl of Warwick, who both became victims of Tudor rule. After Isabelle’s death shortly after the birth of Edward, Clarence again rose up against King Edward and lost. Edward had his brother tried and condemned, with legend saying that he was drowned in a barrel of malmsey wine in the Tower of London.
His son Edward was kept prisoner by Henry VII and executed on a trumped up charge of treason in 1499.
His daughter Margaret, was a loyal friend to Catherine of Aragon and was governess to Catherine and Henry’s daughter Mary, before being executed in 1541 at the age of 67 by Henry VIII for high treason.


The Clarence graves are beneath the grille behind the alter of the abbey.

Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived…

On the 12th October 1537, Edward VI was born at Hampton Court Palace to King Henry VIII and his third wife, Jane Seymour.
Jane had had a very long and difficult labour that reportedly lasted three days and three nights, before being delivered of the Prince that her husband had waited twenty-seven years for.
Prince Edward was christened on the 15th October with Archbishop Cranmer, Lady Mary and the dukes of Suffolk and Norfolk to be the child’s godparents. Even Lady Elizabeth, just four years old, had a part in the christening, carrying the chrysom in the arms of Edward Seymour.
Unfortunately the celebrations were to be short-lived. The day after the christening, the Queen became ill with diarrhoea. Although she initially rallied from this, it is thought that lack of hygiene and a poor diet were contributing factors as she became seriously ill. Puerperal fever was a common illness for women after childbirth and as the Queen lay delirious in her bed, it became clear that she was unlikely to survive.
Just twelve days after the birth of her son, Jane died at around 2am on 24th October. She was given the full honours of a queen’s funeral and laid to rest in St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on 12th November, where just nine years later her husband would be laid to rest beside her.
Often described as meek and mild, Jane is remembered as the wife that Henry loved the most. Whilst this is debatable, it is certainly true that she gave the king the last of his children and was the only wife to give him a son that survived infancy.

Henry VII (1457-1509)

Henry VII was the founder of the Tudor dynasty. Born in 1457 to Margaret Beaufort who was barely 13 years old at the time and Edmund Tudor.

Through his mother, Henry was descended from John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, a younger son of King Edward III and his mistress (and later wife) Katherine Swynford. Because the children of John and Katherine had been born before the couple married, they were barred from inheriting the throne.

Through Henry’s father, he was the grandson of Catherine of Valois, the widowed consort of Henry V and Owen Tudor, her groom that she married after the death of her first husband. Catherine’s eldest child was Henry VI and therefore Henry Tudor’s half-uncle.

Although the ties to royalty were thin at best, this made Henry a candidate for Lancastrian heir. During the reign of the York king Edward IV, Henry spent several years in exile with his uncle, Jasper Tudor, his own father Edmund having died before he was born. At the time the Wars of the Roses raged in England with Edward IV seizing the throne from Henry VI, who was prone to mental incapacity. Henry Tudor’s family fell on the side of the red rose of Lancaster, whereas King Edward was the white rose of York. This resulted in Henry and Jasper being hunted as potential threats to Edward’s rule. They spent some of their time in Brittany and Burgandy, narrowly evading capture by King Edward’s sister, Margaret of Burgundy.

In 1483 King Edward IV died suddenly, leaving his 12 year old son as King Edward V. Edward IVs brother, Richard Duke of Gloucester had been appointed as regent for the young king. He was never crowned. Edward V and his younger brother Richard, Duke of York were placed in the Tower of London, seemingly for their protection, but Gloucester had parliament declare Edward IVs marriage to the new king’s mother, Elizabeth Woodville, invalid, therefore disinheriting the new king. Gloucester became Richard III and therefore displaced Edward V and his brother. The two York boys disappeared and became known to history as the Princes in the Tower.

Richard’s only legitimate son, Edward of Middleham, died in April 1484, leaving the king without an heir. The Croyland Chronicle speculates that this turn of events was retribution for the usurpation of Edward IV’s sons, but either way it seems that Richard’s enemies used it as a reason to renew hostilities. Henry Tudor was certainly aware of events in England, possibly due to his mother.
He swore an oath at Rennes Cathedral in France, to marry Edward IVs eldest daughter Elizabeth of York and unite the warring houses.

In 1485 Henry set sail from the continent and landed in Wales, the country of his birth. With French and Scottish troops he marched to meet Richard III and despite been heavily outnumbered, Henry defeated and killed Richard at the Battle of Bosworth Field on 22nd August.

Henry VII was the last king to rule England by right of conquest and he married Elizabeth of York soon after his coronation. Together they founded the Tudor and Stuart dynasties in England. The current King, Charles III, is directly descended from them. Although not by any means the most famous of Tudor rulers, Henry VII established himself as the ruler of a united England, an England that hadn’t had a lasting peace for decades.

How can we know the effects of Anne Boleyn’s death on her daughter, Elizabeth?
Elizabeth was just two and a half years old when Anne died on the 19th May 1536. By modern standards, she was still a baby. But the loss of her mother, in such a brutal way, haunted Elizabeth throughout her youth and even once she had succeeded to the throne in 1558, Catholics believed that Anne had been a heretic and witch, therefore Elizabeth was illegitimate and unsuitable to succeed. Indeed, her own father disinherited her as soon as her mother was dead, before reinstating her in 1544, albeit after her brother and sister.
But in order to reinstate her, Henry VIII must have had some feeling that his marriage to Anne was made in good faith, even if it had ended so badly. He also made sure Elizabeth was extremely well educated and left her a substantial sum in his will.
The reign of her sister, Mary I, must have been a terrifying experience for Elizabeth, being imprisoned in the same place her mother had died, as well as Mary overturning the law that had made Mary’s parents marriage illegal. The implication wouldn’t have been lost on her.
Her refusal to marry once she was Queen, could have had links to her mother’s fate, fearful that a husband would take away her power. How much of her life and choices were linked to the death of her mother is unknown and we can only guess at what she must have felt having learned of Anne’s fate and the ramifications of her downfall. What is certain, is that once she became Queen, she favoured her Boleyn relatives, keeping her cousins close by and was known to have worn a ring with a likeness of herself and Anne hidden in it. Whatever else, she couldn’t have forgotten about the wronged Queen lying in the chapel at the Tower of London, and in becoming such a great queen, Anne’s ghost must have been finally appeased.