Guest Author

The Plague of 1536-7 and Jane Seymour’s Delayed Coronation

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Guest article by Sylvia Barbara Soberton The Covid-19 pandemic has changed our lives in a way that has not been seen since the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic. We live our lives knowing that a dangerous virus is out there, killing people every day. We are not used to this. When I was writing my new book, Medical Downfall of the Tudors, it really struck me that in the sixteenth century people lived with dangerous infectious diseases every day because epidemics swept through England [More]

Jane the Fool

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Hear the podcast I did about Jane the Fool with MORE DETAILS! Guest article by Stephanie Stohrer The earliest references to what we know as court jesters, or fools, date back to the 5th dynasty of Egypt, whose Pharaohs employed Pygmies as dancers and buffoons. For centuries, royalty and nobility have hired comic entertainers whose perceived madness or imbecility (whether real or pretended, as I will explain shortly) provided amusement to their superiors. The two [More]

Catherine of Aragon and Elizabeth I (Guest Post)

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Guest article by Samantha K Cohen Catherine of Aragon was born on December 16th 1485, the year Henry VII established the Tudor dynasty. Elizabeth I died March 24th 1603, the year James VI of Scotland became James I of England.   As a child of three, Catherine of Aragon, the youngest daughter of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile was betrothed to Henry VII’s heir, three year old Prince Arthur. In 1501, Catherine and Arthur both fifteen, were married. In 1502 [More]

Tudor Etiquette (Guest Post)

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Guest article by Rose Rylotte The Tudors are often depicted as messy or ill-mannered ruffians.  However, they were impeccably dressed and carried themselves with honor and dignity. Starting off with personal hygiene, since they believed disease entered the body through open pores of the skin they did not bathe as regularly but thought it important to rinse their hands and face before every meal.  This was done in clean cold water to wash off surface dirt. Rinsing [More]

“Divers Children,” The Many Pregnancies of Katharine of Aragon

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Guest article by Lissa Bryan On June 21, 1529 Katharine of Aragon entered a courtroom at Blackfriars. A hearing had been convened by papal agents to rule on the question of the legitimacy of her marriage to King Henry VIII. Henry claimed he had sinned by marrying his brother’s widow and was enduring the curse in Leviticus 20:21:  And if a man shall take his brother's wife, it is an unclean thing: he hath uncovered his brother's nakedness; they shall be [More]

Illegitimate Daughter of Charles V: Margaret of Parma (Guest Post)

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Part One by Heather R. Darsie Margaret of Parma was born 5 July 1522 to the twenty-two-year-old holy Roman Emperor Charles V and his paramour, Johanna van der Gheenst. She was born in Oudenaarde, Netherlands.  Margaret was the eldest of all of Charles’ children. Charles met Johanna during a six week-long visit to Charles de Lalaing, Count of Lalaing’s home in late 1521. There, Charles met Johanna, and their daughter Margaret was born the following summer. Margaret was [More]

The Marriages Of Alice Chaucer (Guest Post)

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Guest post by Michéle Schindler Alice Chaucer was a formidable lady. Living to nearly 71 years of age, she was a royal confidante and friend, mother-in-law to a king`s sister, a politican and a reviled widow in her time. Though born a commoner, she moved in royal circles, her approval sought after and her opinion considered even by her king and queen.  Though this rise was in large parts due to Alice herself, and her reportedly witty and charming personality, it was [More]

Book Review: “The Boy King” by Janet Wertman

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The review of this wonderfully written book was written and shared by Heidi Malagisi of Adventures of a Tudor Nerd In 1547, young Prince Edward is having the time of his life studying and hoping to one day take part in a tournament. He has not a care in the world. That is until his beloved father King Henry VIII passes away, and the 9-year-old boy is now Edward VI, King of England. He must navigate family drama between his older half-sister Mary Tudor and his uncles, [More]

Tudor Rivals: The Scorned Rose and England’s Precious Jewel

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Guest article by Anthony Ruggiero  The Tudor Dynasty of England, spanning from the late fifteenth century into the early seventeenth century, was a fascinating drama, filled with intrigue, lust and murder. The dynasty’s monarchs were its main characters whose relationships impacted the country socially, economically and politically. Such relationships included Queen Mary I and King Edward VI. Mary Tudor, the daughter of King Henry VIII and his first wife, ruled over [More]

Creating A Modern Version of The Decameron

Let’s do like they did in the 14th century during the outbreak of the Black Death. As some of you are self-quarantining, or self-isolating, let’s use the inspiration of Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio who compiled: 100 tales told by a group of seven young women and three young men sheltering in a secluded villa just outside Florence to escape the Black Death, which was afflicting the city. Boccaccio probably conceived of The Decameron after the epidemic of 1348, and [More]