Elizabeth of York and Henry VII had the very model of a courtly marriage. Their marriage was not only stable but actually affectionate. I’ve speculated in the past that it was because of their genuine feeling for each other that their own children went on to have such tumultuous experiences with marriage, possibly seeking the… Read More “More dirty than queenly”: The Marriages of Mary Tudor
Did someone try to assassinate Elizabeth I with a poisoned dress? This question (the number one question posed to this blog in 2020) derives from the film Elizabeth (1998). In said film, one of her ladies, Isabelle Knollys, dies mid-coitus with Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, while wearing a dress intended for the queen. The… Read More Elizabethan Assassination Attempts (not feat. a poisoned dress)
Season 3 of ‘The Tudors‘ shows the death of Jane Seymour and the subsequent madness of Henry VIII. Beside himself with grief, Henry retreats to his private chambers with no one but his fool, Will Somers, to attend him. The very first thing he does in this aggrieved and almost unhinged state is design a… Read More Nonsuch Palace: “a fantasy work”
Well, I suppose it was only a matter of time before someone asked for this, given the “accuracy” of Shekhar Kapur’s Elizabeth. In fact, I was asked the very same day I published Everything wrong with Elizabeth, so if anything I’m just sorry it took so long to write. While Elizabeth took historical revisionism and… Read More Everything wrong with Elizabeth: The Golden Age
A long, long time ago, I wrote that it would take too long to detail the very many historical inaccuracies present in Elizabeth (1998) and as I recently found my copy of it and have a mighty need to throw it away, that particular article just begged to be written. Described by reviewers as an… Read More Everything wrong with Elizabeth (1998)
Elizabeth I’s sharp tongue was legendary. Her ladies and courtiers alike were keen to avoid her displeasure for she was well known for her verbal dressing downs, and among her household was feared as much for the lingual blows she would deal on those who displeased her as the physical ones. This is a selection… Read More Quotes in Context: Elizabeth I
Anne Vavasour came to the court of Elizabeth I in the new year of 1580, probably with her sister Frances as a lady of the bedchamber. Anne quickly became a maid of honour but would be dismissed from the position in 1581 marking the permanent end of her court career. ‘Maid of Honour’ she was… Read More ‘The subject of much mirth and merriment’: The loves and life of Anne Vavasour
I recently wrote a piece on Henry VII and Elizabeth of York where I suggested that we could see their love for each other reflected in the actions of their children. Arthur Tudor was tender even considering the realms of courtly romance to Catherine of Aragon. Henry VIII famously fell in love with numerous women and… Read More The Marriages of Margaret Tudor: “A shame and disgrace to all her family.”
The English Sweating Sickness, or the Sweat as we commonly know it today, was an aggressive condition that attacked England numerous times between 1485 and 1551. Once it struck it would quickly become a summer epidemic, often leaving a significant death toll in its wake. The Sweat was not as devastating as the plague which… Read More The English Sweating Sickness
I had planned to review OWEN on its own. Indeed, I get so little time to read these days I set aside three weeks to do so. When I opened OWEN I thought it might be a bit of a slog – not because the book looked like it would bore me, on the contrary,… Read More Review: The Tudor Trilogy
