Thomas Cranmer – Tudors Dynasty

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

November 27, 2018 by Rebecca Larson Leave a Comment

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 Regency Council of Edward VI

April 7, 2018 by Rebecca Larson 1 Comment

As Henry VIII lay dying in his bedchamber in January 1547, Edward Seymour and William Paget were whispering in the gallery outside his chamber door at Westminster plotting the future. We know this is true because later Paget calls out Edward Seymour on following through on what they had discussed in the gallery that day in a later letter – the letter is also a warning to his close friend. At the point of this letter, Thomas Seymour was already dead (20 March 1549) and things [More]

Katheryn Howard – Part Three

November 20, 2017 by Rebecca Larson 2 Comments

The last article in the series covered Katheryn's wedding night through Easter, or end of March 1541. It was at this point in time that Katheryn began to show favor to Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford.

The Life of Jane Seymour – Third Wife of Henry VIII

October 19, 2017 by Englishhistoryblogger 1 Comment

Described by Polydore Vergil as "A woman of the utmost charm both in appearance and character" and Sir John Russell as, "the fairest of all his wives". Eustace Chapuys described Jane as "of middle stature and no great beauty". Jane was of a natural sweet-nature, unlike her predecessor Anne Boleyn and had also been considered virtuous. Before you continue reading, if you’d prefer, you can listen to a supplemental podcast I made about Jane with the help of Matthew [More]

Thomas Cromwell: Downfall and Execution

January 9, 2017 by Rebecca Larson 2 Comments

Thomas Cromwell was Henry VIII's champion when it came to Anne Boleyn - he also assisted in the downfall of Anne. It appears to us now that Cromwell knew how to survive at the court of Henry VIII....for awhile, at least. It wasn't until Anne of Cleves that thing start to sour for Cromwell. When Henry VIII felt rejected by his new Queen he turned on Cromwell, blaming him for everything. As we all know the King rarely accepted blame in anything and those closest to him were [More]

Timeline of a Queen: Anne Boleyn

February 18, 2016 by Rebecca Larson 8 Comments

Anne Boleyn creates strong reactions when her name is brought into conversation. Whether you believe she "deserved what she got" or you believe she was a "victim" of Henry VIII, it all comes down to the fact that she was a woman. A woman in 16th century England was generally at the mercy of her father's ambitions. Whether Anne Boleyn acted on her own fruition, or was at her father's bidding, I'm not sure we'll ever know for sure. What we do know are the major events of her [More]