Henry VIII

“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]

The Other Lady: Jane Seymour

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While this should not be considered an in-depth research of the time period (as that would take the time to write another book), this should be seen as a way to follow Jane Seymour’s rise as the other lady in Henry VIII’s life, just before the execution of Anne Boleyn. In this article I follow the trail of gossip through Imperial ambassador, Eustace Chapuys as well as a letter from Henry to Jane, up to December 1536, when it is suspected that Jane Seymour was [More]

Jane Seymour Character Study (Guest Post)

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Jane Seymour Character Study Guest Post by Hunter S. Jones When I began thinking of what I could write about the Tudor era. I wanted to write a story unlike anything I had ever read before. The artistic seed was there, but what would trigger the growth of a concept which led to Phoenix Rising? Let's examine Jane Seymour. What do we know of Jane Seymour, really know of her? She was the daughter of Sir John Seymour and Margery Wentworth. Jane was the oldest daughter of ten [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]

Book Review: Margaret Tudor – The Life of Henry VIII’s Sister

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Margaret Tudor was an English Princess and daughter of the first Tudor monarch, King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York; Margaret was the sister of King Henry VIII and married King James IV of Scotland - did I mention she was also mother of King James V? I was approached by Pens & Sword History to write a review on the book?Margaret Tudor: The Life of Henry VIII's Sister?by author and historian Melanie Clegg, and happily accepted the opportunity to learn more about one of [More]

The Life of King Edward VI of England (Part One)

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As only the second Tudor king, Henry VIII was troubled through most of his reign by the lack of a male heir. He had sons but they never survived infancy - until the birth of his son Edward, Prince of Wales. It took three marriages and countless pregnancies, miscarriages, stillbirths and deaths before the King got what he so desired. A son. Jane Seymour was the mother of Prince Edward but sadly lost her life after a long and arduous labor. There are debates on whether she [More]

The Procession for the Christening of Edward, Prince of Wales

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The crying of a newborn babe echoed through the bedchamber where Queen Jane had finally given birth to the new Prince of Wales, Edward Tudor. King Henry VIII and his daughters Mary and Elizabeth's lives would change forever because of that crying baby boy - and it would shorten the Queen's. The Monday following the birth of Prince Edward a grand display of succession was displayed when a glamorous christening ceremony was held for the new heir to the English [More]

Thomas the Diplomat and the Siege of Pest

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During my continual research of Thomas Seymour I have come across a many letters that he wrote during his diplomatic missions. I will be honest, when I first found these letters I glanced at them and my eyes instantly glazed over. Most of these letters contained what I considered a bunch of military jargon that made little sense to me. It wasn't until very recently that I decided to look at the letters again to help me truly understand who Thomas Seymour was. He wasn't [More]