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Charles Brandon’s Marriage to Katherine Willoughby (Guest Post)

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Guest Post by Tony Riches – Charles Brandon’s Marriage to Katherine Willoughby Charles Brandon, Tudor knight and best friend of King Henry VIII, is best known for secretly marrying Mary Tudor, the king’s sister – without Henry’s permission! Less well known is his last marriage, to Lady Katherine Willoughby. I’ve just completed two years of work researching and writing my latest book, Katherine – Tudor Duchess, which concludes the story of Charles Brandon, and will be [More]

Anna of Cleves and Catherine Parr (Guest Post)

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Guest post by Heather R. Darsie Anna of Cleves' marriage to Henry VIII ended in July 1540, scarcely six months after their official wedding took place. Swiftly after that, Henry married the very young Katheryn Howard. During Katheryn's fall from grace, there was strong speculation that Henry would take back Anna. Dignitaries from Cleves actively tried to convince Henry to remarry Anna in early 1542. Henry refused, and Parliament would not support the idea. Even still in [More]

Biblical Perspective on the King’s Great Matter (Guest Post)

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Guest post by Serena Joy Mitra * This article is written from a Protestant perspective and the authors views do not necessarily reflect those of Tudors Dynasty. All Scripture is taken from the 1611 KJV. '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 childless.' ( Leviticus 20;21 ) The above mentioned verse was the foundation of Henry VIII's claim that his marriage to Katherine of Aragon [More]

Can We Give Mary Tudor a Break? (Guest Post)

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Guest post by Juliana Cummings She is known as one of the most evil women in history and is responsible for burning more protestants at stake than any other English Monarch.  There are alcoholic drinks and children’s sleepover games named after her, but in all fairness was Mary Tudor, the first Queen regnant, evil? Born on February 18, 1516, Princess Mary would be the only surviving child of Henry VIII and his first wife, Katherine of Aragon. By the time Mary was bor [More]

What was the Frauenzimmer? (Guest Post)

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By Heather R. Darsie ?In the 15th century, the word “vrouwenzimmer” slowly entered the German lexicon, becoming a fully-fledged concept by the late 15th to early 16th century. Literally meaning “woman’s room,” the word applied to the secondary court which developed around the women of a noble household. The word “Frau,” now simply meaning a woman or a married woman (for example, Mrs. Jones would be Frau Jones), the word “Frau” used to apply explicitly to a married [More]

Painters to the Elizabethan and Jacobean Courts: Nicholas Hilliard & Isaac Oliver (Guest Post)

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Nicholas Hilliard (1547-1619) & Isaac Oliver (1565-1617) Guest post by Melanie V. Taylor Nicholas Hilliard was England’s first English artist to become internationally famous.  His self portrait (© Victoria & Albert Museum, London) is a mere 41mm in diameter (1.6 inches) and it is for  these exquisitely delicate and miniature images of Elizabeth I and her court that he becomes famous. I fell in love with Hilliard’s miniatures portraits when I was a teenage [More]

Movie Review: Mary, Queen of Scots

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When it was announced that there would be a film about Mary, Queen of Scots and Queen Elizabeth I was over the moon. My hope was that it would do both women the justice they deserve. If you have not seen the trailer, here it is: How exciting does that look, right!? Since I am not sure how long it will be before I am able to see the film myself I had two wonderful friends who offered to write reviews for the blog. A special thanks to Sari Graham and Karen L. Largent for [More]

Binge Drinking During the Tudor Dynasty (Guest Post)

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Guest post written by Patrick Bailey  The royal lineage of Tudor dynasty started with Henry VII in 1485 and ended with Elizabeth I in 1603. Lasting for 118 years. This dynasty was one of the most influential and greatest in Britain. But like all other historical stories surrounding the royal throne, not everything is all tea and biscuits. Speaking of tea and biscuits, you would be amazed by what the commoners, as well as royalties, drank during those times. Living i [More]

Notes on Anne Boleyn’s Trial (Guest Post)

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Part Three: Notes on Anne Boleyn’s Trial            Guest post by Pat Deegan Part Two - Anne Boleyn: Triumph to Failure Part One - Anne Boleyn: The Rise Due to personal circumstances, I never did get around to completing a comprehensive examination of Anne’s fall from grace – from being the Queen of England, and mother of the heiress to the throne of England and Wales, to a treasonous and adulterous concubine facing death. Her fall is kind of difficult [More]

The Early Tudor Garden (circa 1490-1550)

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Guest post by Brigitte Webster, owner of Tudor and 17th Century Experience Most of us have admired a Tudor garden which often accompanies a great Tudor House or Palace. It is only when you start looking into the history of early Tudor gardens, that you learn that what is being sold to us as a Tudor garden is actually only the Victorian or early 20th century perception of what a Tudor garden is, yet it is far removed from what Henry VIII or his contemporaries would have [More]