“Tudors”

A Tale of Three Mistresses – Mangled by More

Feb 5, 2017

genealogy, law, sources

“Tudors”, Annette Carson, Armstrong, Arthur, bigamy, Blaybourne, Cecily Duchess of York, David Grummitt, dispensations, Edward IV, Elizabeth Lucy, Elizabeth of York, Elizabeth Woodville, George Buck, Henry VII, illegitimacy, John Earl, Kincaid, Lady Eleanor Talbot, Louis XI, Mancini, Margaret FitzLewis, Margaret Lucy, Marie Barnfield, mediaeval canon law, mistresses, Ricardian, Richard Duke of York, Richard III, Sir Lewis John, Sir Thomas Lumley, Sir William Lucy, Stephen Lark, Thomas More, usurpation, Waytes of Southampton, William Shore

(from http://www.annettecarson.co.uk) Our primary source of gossip about Edward IV’s mistresses is attributable to the pen of Thomas More (1478–1535), knight and latterly saint. While writing about Richard III, More found space for a lengthy diversion into the career of ‘Mistress Shore’, perhaps Edward’s most notorious extra-marital concubine, about whose present and past conditions the…
Lucy does WOTR fibs….

Jan 28, 2017

television reviews

“Tudors”, BBC4, Lucy Worsley, Myths, Tower of London, Wars of the Roses

I awaited Lucy Worsley’s latest series with great eagerness. Her impish character and entertaining presentation is always worth watching. And so it was again on Thursday, 26th January, in the first episode of British History’s Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley. It concerned the Wars of the Roses. Well, obviously, as a Ricardian I was keen…
How one mediaeval thing leads to another….

Jan 7, 2017

buildings

“Tudors”, Elizabeth I, Eltham Palace, Henry VII, mediaeval buildings

It’s the old, old story again – while looking for one thing, I came upon something else. A Google search turned up a detailed plan of Eltham Palace. I followed the link, and came to a Pinterest page (Traveling Ruygt) with links to other pages, all concerning palaces, castles, etc. from our period of interest.…
Has Henry VII’s actual birthplace been found in Pembroke Castle….?

Dec 19, 2016

buildings

“Tudors”, archaeology, Henry VII, Lady Margaret Beaufort, Pembroke Castle, tyranny

It seems there is now new evidence at Pembroke Castle to suggest the existence of a late medieval building in which Henry VII may have born on 28th January, 1457. I am not quite sure why it is thought this might be the actual building where Margaret Beaufort gave birth at the age of around 14,…
Usurpers? ALL of them…?

Dec 17, 2016

Book Reviews, genealogy

“Beauforts”, “Tudors”, Anthony Steel, Edward III, Edward IV, Edward V, Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI, Henry VII, Lancastrians, Mortimers, Richard II, Richard III, usurpation, Yorkists

Well, all of them except Richard II. The following are extracts from the Introduction to Anthony Steel’s 1941 biography of Richard II. I think it is a very succinct and interesting description of the right to the throne of all the kings of England from Richard II to Henry VII. However… (see my comments at…
Evidence, please?

Oct 15, 2016

genealogy

“Tudors”, Edmund “Tudor”, evidence, Henry VI, Henry VII, Jasper “Tudor”, John Ashdown-Hill, Owen Tudor, sources

From John-Ashdown-Hill, whose Private Life of Edward IV is published a month today: “Can anyone find ANY CONTEMPORARY EVIDENCE to show that Edmund, Earl of Richmond, Jasper, Earl of Pembroke, or Henry VII ever used the name TUDOR? That surname definitely was used by Owen. For example, in 1459 Henry VI gave a commission to…
Richard just HAD to be one of the seven….!

Jun 21, 2016

law

“Tudors”, Battle of Bosworth, History Extra, kings, legislation, Parliament, Richard III

http://www.historyextra.com/article/richard-iii/7-medieval-kings-you-should-know-about Richard HAD to be one of the seven. He may have only reigned for a couple of years, but what years they were. And if he’d won at Bosworth, what a wonderful age his reign would have been. The legislation passed at his parliament was a mere taste of what he wanted to do…
The Success of the Usurper by Barbara Gaskell Denvil

Jun 12, 2016

genealogy

“Tudors”, Anglo-Saxons, Bosworth, claims, France, Hastings, Henry VII, Lancastrians, mercenaries, Normans, Plantagenets, propaganda, St. Edward the Confessor, usurpers, William I, Witangemot

For some years I have set my novels in the last years of Plantagenet reign, or the first years of the Tudor dynasty. William the Conqueror Many authors of historical fiction prefer to set their books in the Georgian or Regency periods, but tor me the Plantagenet dynasty was one of the most interesting…
Was Richard the big-spender on fashion? No, it was Henry….

Jun 9, 2016

Uncategorized

“Tudor” rebellions, “Tudors”, health, Henry VII, Henry VIII, medieval clothes, paranoia, spending

I must admit that the following article didn’t come as quite the surprise it should. Henry has always struck me as a man who enjoyed the good things in life, and was prepared to be lavish when he felt like it. Yes, indeed! And he enjoyed being entertained and so on…but that he was…
“Henry VIII and his six wives” – Channel Five

May 10, 2016

television reviews

“Tudors”, Anne Boleyn, Anne of Cleves, Arthur “Tudor”, Catherine of Aragon, Catherine Parr, Channel Five, Channel Four, Dan Jones, David Starkey, executions, Francis Dereham, Henry VIII, Jane Seymour, John Ashdown-Hill, Katherine Howard, pre-contract, Royal Marriage Secrets, Stephen Gardiner, Suzannah Lipscomb, television programmes, Thomas Cromwell, Thomas Wolsey

This has been presented by two of Five’s favourite history presenters: Dan Jones and Suzannah Lipscomb. Perhaps the title isn’t the best of starts, as Ashdown-Hill (Royal Marriage Secrets, ch.10, pp.95-113) has shown that Henry may have contracted as few as two valid marriages, the third and sixth ceremonies. Jones begins every episode by reciting…