elizabeth i

Dishing with the Tudors: My Adventures in Renaissance Comedy

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Guest Article by: JoAnn Spears Dishing with the Tudors:  My adventures in Renaissance comedy I am one of those people who ‘reads out’ a subject or author of interest. That took some doing with Jean Plaidy’s canon of eighty-odd historical fiction novels.  Having started in on the task at the age of twelve, with The Captive Queen of Scots, I was actually able to exhaust all that Plaidy had to offer before I was out of my twenties.   My favorite sub [More]

Lettice Knollys: Cousin vs. Queen (Part 1)

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Guest article by Karlie It was in the early hours of the morning on September 21st 1578, when a woman of 34 years and a man of 46 years were joined together in holy matrimony. The setting of the ceremony was idyllic: at a country manor called Wanstead Hall, in Essex. The bride was dressed simply and looked demure in a ‘loose [fitting] gown’. The chaplain, a learned and pious man named Humphrey Tyndall, was there to officiate the nuptials. To witness this happy occasion [More]

Why Queen Elizabeth Never Married

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We know Queen Elizabeth I never married, but do we truly understand why? Imagine being the daughter of a king who couldn't settle on a wife, and then going from Princess to Lady overnight. Elizabeth's mother, Anne Boleyn only had a couple of  years with her young  daughter.  Elizabeth most likely had no memory of her mother because of her untimely end. Anne Boleyn was vilified as a witch -- she supposedly seduced Henry VIII into doing things that he norma [More]

Portraits of a Queen: Elizabeth Tudor

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  Elizabeth Tudor, Queen Elizabeth I of England is by far one of the most recognizable monarchs in history. From birth she was the apple of her father's eye and expected to be the sister of Henry's longed for male heir with Anne Boleyn. Unfortunately, two and a half years after her birth, her mother was executed and her father re-married declaring her a bastard. “The birth of Elizabeth on 7 September 1533 was a bitter disappointment to Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn [More]

The Tudor Dynasty

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The Tudor Dynasty began when Henry VII took the throne of England, married Elizabeth of York and had children. You could argue that the Tudor dynasty began with Margaret Beaufort and Edmund Tudor or maybe even Catherine of Valois and Owen Tudor. For now, let's assume it began with Henry and Elizabeth. To make things a little easier to understand I tried to color code: Green: Children of Henry VII & Elizabeth of York (E.o.Y) Purple: Descendants of Margaret Tudor Blue: [More]

Elizabeth’s Heiress

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Guest Article by Moniek When Henry VIII of England died in 1547 his will and the Third Succession Act dictated who should follow him on the throne. His son Edward VI and his heirs would be first in line. However, Edward would die childless at the tender age of 15 without heirs. Although Henry's eldest daughter Mary had been declared a bastard in 1533 upon Henry's marriage to Anne Boleyn she had been returned to the line of succession by the Third Succession, as was her [More]