History

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]

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]