Thomas Cranmer

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 Regency Council of Edward VI

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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

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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. Find Part One Here Find Part Two Here Katheryn Howard - Part Three It was around the same time as Margaret Pole’s unexpected execution at the end of May 1541, that Queen Katheryn had become noticeably upset about her relationship with the King. Rumors had been float [More]

The Life of Jane Seymour – Third Wife of Henry VIII

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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 the podcast of this article instead - just click the [More]

Thomas Cromwell: Downfall and Execution

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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

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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]

Rise & Fall: Katherine Howard

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"Rose without a Thorn" On 28 July 1540, Henry VIII married Katherine Howard at Oatlands Palace (see image). The ceremony was performed by Bishop Bonner in private. Their nuptials were kept secret for ten days before returning to the insanity of court life. The king, who was infatuated with his new bride, wanted to spend quality time alone with her before returning to his courtly duties. In Katherine, Henry found what represented the qualities that he admired most [More]