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
If you live outside the United Kingdom (or within it – in a bubble roughly the shape of West Glamorgan) you may have escaped the extreme weather that has battered Great Britain recently. Described as, ‘Britain’s Big Chill,’ ‘Britain’s Big Freeze’ and by those within the aforementioned bubble as, ‘what snow?’ it has been described… Read More The Winter of 1407-08: ‘The Great Frost and Ice’
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
Originally 327 feet in length, the Orangery at Margam was one of the longest in Britain, and while it may not be that long now, it is still considered one of the finest examples of an 18th Century building in Britain. Today the Orangery is a lovely place for a stroll and a highly sought-after… Read More How the Orange Trees came to the Orangery
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
The problem with the Tudors is that they’re all too interesting for their own good. The colourful lives of Henry VIII and his children somewhat overshadow those who came before them, though their lives were no less interesting. The royal claim of the Tudors came through John of Gaunt, son of Edward III, who after… Read More The Life and Times of Owen Tudor
Content Warning: Bodies, corpses, cadavers etc. This article looks at unusual ways in which bodies have been preserved. With pictures.
It’s not often I get to do this, but I am very excited to present a guest post! Author of The Tudor Trilogy, Tony Riches, shares his thoughts on the benefits of writing a trilogy when considering historical fiction. If you’re interested in reading about the very underrepresented in fiction early Tudors, details of The… Read More Why You Should Consider Writing a Trilogy
