Anne of Cleves

Mary Howard: Too Wise for a Woman

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In this article I will be discussing one of my favorite women at Tudor court - the fearless Mary Howard, Duchess of Richmond and Somerset. Mary had the bravery that wasn't often shown by a woman during this time period. She wasn't afraid to stand up for what she thought was right. It was her father who was quoted as saying that Mary was, "too wise for a woman" - one of the reasons I love her so much. This post was originally a podcast that was transcribed into an [More]

The Life of Anne of Cleves (Part Three)

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She has gone down in history as the lucky fourth wife of Henry VIII...but as we've discovered in the first two parts of this series, Anne of Cleves was anything but lucky. Anne was patient, intelligent and kind. She was human, like you and me. Unlike her predecessors Anne was able to maneuver through a failed marriage to become the longest surviving of all of Henry's wives. READ PART ONE - CLICK HERE READ PART TWO - CLICK HERE At the end of Anne of Cleves, Part Two - [More]

The Life of Anne of Cleves (Part Two)

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At the end of The Life of Anne of Cleves (Part One) we had covered Anne's lineage, her education and the negotiations for her marriage with Henry VIII. We also covered the wedding, as well as the wedding night, and how Henry VIII was unhappy with their union - he had claimed he could not consummate the marriage but felt he definitely could perform the task with other women. And then there was Anne of Cleves who was still completely unaware of the gravity of the situation but [More]

The Life of Anne of Cleves (Part One)

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Listen to the Tudors Dynasty Podcast about Anne of Cleves here: Born on the 22nd of September 1515 in Dusseldorf, Anne of Cleves was the daughter of John III, Duke of Cleves and Maria of Julich Berg. Like Katherine of Aragon, Anne of Cleves had the grandest lineage of any of his other wives. She was descended from Edward I of England and on her father's idea was closely related to Louis XII of France as well as the dukes of Burgundy. Anne's education was not that of a [More]

Tudor Power Couple: Edward and Anne Seymour

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The consummate 'power couple from hell', Edward Seymour and his wife Anne Stanhope were portrayed in Showtime's The Tudors as selfish, greedy and uncompromising. In real life you could say the same…or is there more to the story? Edward Seymour Born in 1500, Edward Seymour was the second son of John Seymour and Margery Wentworth and grew up at Wolf Hall. The eldest son of the couple, John most likely died in infancy – so Edward was now the oldest. He had nine siblings in all [More]

Understanding Young Elizabeth Tudor

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Through my constant research of Thomas Seymour I've been led on an unexpected journey to discovering the young Elizabeth Tudor. From those who read my blog often you know that I tend to write mostly about the reign of Henry VIII because, well, that's where I started and there is so much to tell! This is why I've decided to write this piece about my current understanding of Elizabeth Tudor - undoubtedly a monarch I still have a lot to learn about. Born on the 7th of [More]