The Tudor Society

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  • A Tudor gem that made me dance by Janet Wertman

    We have many historians as members of the Tudor Society, and we thought it would be interesting to ask them what they are researching or working on at the moment, and whether they've come across anything of interest from the Tudor Period. Janet Wertman has responded with this wonderful Tudor gem... over to Janet!


    What are you researching or working on at the moment? Can you share something of interest about the Tudor period?

    Your timing is perfect! I just stumbled upon a gem that made me dance.

    First, a bit of context.

    It will come as no surprise to anyone reading this that the Tudor world is full of wild parallels. Catherine of Aragon spending seven years at the start of her life (relatively) waiting for Henry to marry her, then seven years at the end of her life waiting for him to return to her. The fates of Henry’s wives (divorced-beheaded-died/divorced-beheaded-survived) intertwined with their “types” (foreign princess-Howard family-basic English). Cromwell’s downfall stemming from invented charges and using the Act of Attainder he had popularized. Just to name a few.

    I found one I had never noticed before.

    I am deep into the first draft of The Path to Somerset, the sequel to Jane the Quene that charts Edward Seymour’s rise to power after her death (during what I lovingly refer to as Henry’s “crazy years”). It is turning out to be far darker than I expected – at least the way the story is revealing itself to me – and I have to say, I am having a blast.

    Last week, I sank the Mary Rose (single handedly!). Gardiner was watching the battle with Henry from the shore in Portsmouth, they were right there as the pride of the country foundered (I use two points of view in a book; for Somerset I chose Edward and Gardiner/Protagonist and Antagonist – and Edward was off in Scotland at the time so Gardiner got to be the filter for the event). The scene was intense as it took them through the emotional devastation, the possibility of losing to the French, the fear that God had turned his face from them. But there was something about it that seemed just too pat, too predictable. I wanted a twist.

    I got a great one....

    Tell us about this "wild parallel"?

    The night before the planned French attack, Francis went to dine on his own flagship, the Carraquon, to send off his fleet. Being a king, he brought his own food and chef. The poor man was used to the royal kitchens, not the cramped quarters of a ship’s galley. He was careless with the galley fires, which is not something to do when you’re that close to so much gunpowder. The fire spread quickly and Francis and his family barely made it off the ship before it blew up spectacularly. They had to delay the attack a couple of days to create a new flagship…

    That detail changed everything. It allowed me to start the scene with English arrogance and overconfidence. After all, they had the Great Harry and the Mary Rose, the finest warships in the world, and hundreds of cannon whose fine construction was the envy of their enemies. And, of course, they smugly saw the hand of God in the destruction of the Carraquon– a sign that the Almighty was firmly on the English side. Playing up that attitude made the sudden reversal in the tragedy of the Mary Rose all that more poignant and terrible. It also gave my scene the oomph I was after …


    Janet Wertman is the author of Jane the Quene (The Seymour Saga), a fantastic novel about a fascinating Tudor queen.

  • Transcript of Janet Wertman live chat

    Here is the transcript of last night’s wonderful live chat session with Janet Wertman about Jane Seymour and Janet’s book “Jane the Quene”.

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  • Jane Seymour Live Chat 18 November with author Janet Wertman

    Just a reminder that Janet Wertman, author of Jane the Quene joins us on the Tudor Society chatroom tomorrow night to answer your questions on her research into Jane’s life, her book or anything Jane Seymour related. Or perhaps you’d like to ask her about writing historical fiction. Do join us!

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  • 18 November – Live chat with author Janet Wertman on Jane Seymour

    The time and date have now been confirmed for the live-chat session with Janet Wertman on the Tudor Society chatroom. It will take place at 11pm UK time on 18th November and here are the times in the different time zones:

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  • Expert Talk – Janet Wertman – Researching Jane the Quene

    In this month’s expert chat we have Janet Wertman, author of Jane the Quene, a novel about Jane Seymour, third wife of Henry VIII. Janet discusses how she went about researching her novel, including how she put together a detailed timeline to ensure that events happened in the correct order.

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  • November expert speaker – Janet Wertman on Jane Seymour

    Coming soon to the Tudor Society is our November expert talk! November’s speaker is Janet Wertman, author of Jane the Quene: Book One of the Seymour Saga, who will be talking about her research into the life of Henry VIII’s third wife, Queen Jane Seymour, for her historical novel. Janet’s talk will be followed by a live-chat session with her later in November.

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  • Thomas Seymour’s death warrant

    Thank you so much to historical novelist Janet Wertman for inspiring today’s Claire Chats on the subject of just who signed Thomas Seymour’s death warrant – was it King Edward VI or was it Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector? I look at what the sources say.

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  • Talks about Jane Seymour

    A portrait of Jane Seymour by Hans Holbein the Younger

    As this week has been the anniversary of Jane Seymour giving birth to Edward VI. I thought I’d share with you these expert talks on Jane Seymour from the Tudor Society archives…

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  • 22 December – Advent Calendar Treat

    I do hope you’re having a lovely week so far. If not, don’t worry, I have an Advent Calendar treat for you!

    A Tudor personality is hiding in Coughton Court, waiting to introduce him/herself. Find out who it is…

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  • March 2020 – Tudor Life – Music and Drama

    Here's the full version of your monthly magazine: all about Music and Drama. Those Tudors loved the arts!
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  • 24 October – The death of Jane Seymour, Henry VIII’s third wife

    On this day in Tudor history, 24th October 1537, Queen Jane Seymour, third wife of Henry VIII, died at Hampton Court Palace twelve days after giving birth to a son who would grow up to be King Edward VI.

    In today’s talk, I share contemporary accounts of Jane Seymour’s illness and death, as well as details of how her remains were prepared for burial and where they were buried.

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  • Queen Jane Seymour

    A portrait of Jane Seymour by Hans Holbein the Younger

    As today is the anniversary of the death of Jane Seymour, third wife and queen consort of King Henry VIII and mother of King Edward VI, on 24th October 1537, I thought I’d share some resources from our archives:

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  • Jane Seymour resources

    A portrait of Jane Seymour by Hans Holbein the Younger

    As today is the anniversary of the death of Jane Seymour, third wife of Henry VIII, on 24th October 1537, I thought I would share some links to further resources on Jane here at the Tudor Society.

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  • The Princes in the Tower Live Chat – 11 November

    As today is the anniversary of the birth of Edward V, son of Edward IV and one of the Princes in the Tower, it seems fitting to announce that we’re holding one of our informal live chats on the Tudor Society chatroom on 11th November 2016 and it will be on the Princes in the Tower. It will be open to all full-access Tudor Society members.

    Olga Hughes, Tudor Life magazine regular contributor, and I will be moderating the chat and it will be 60 minutes of chatting about these boys and the theories regarding their fates. It’s your chance to have your say, pose questions or just lurk and ‘listen’ to others if you’d prefer. It will be fun and enlightening, I promise!

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  • April 2015 Tudor Life Magazine

    Here’s the April Tudor Life magazine with a loose theme of Thomas Cromwell, but as usual we cover a wide variety of historical themes.

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