Packed with a wide range of articles about Tudor personalities like the Dudleys, Elizabeth of York, Mary I, Isabella of Spain and Henry Howard. There is part one of an insider’s guide to the Tower of London, a detailed article about Greenwich Palace and Wroxhall Abbey, an article about some bizarre Tudor foods and lots more! It’s our best magazine yet!
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In today’s Claire Chats I look at the rituals associated with Good Friday in Tudor times and draw on the account of Mary I’s Good Friday service of 4th April 1556 to give us a clearer picture.
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On Palm Sunday 1554 (which was 18 March that year), the twenty year old Elizabeth was taken to the Tower of London, the place where her mother had been imprisoned and where her mother and one of her stepmothers had been executed.
We can only imagine the sheer terror she felt when Mary I’s council turned up at her doorstep on the 16th March to formally charge her with being involved in Wyatt’s Rebellion, the revolt which had taken place in January and February 1554. Elizabeth was told that Mary wanted her sister taken to the Tower for questioning and that she would be escorted there the next day.
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On 17th March 1554, two of Mary I’s councillors, Winchester and Sussex, were sent to escort Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, to her prison at the Tower of London by water for her alleged involvement in Wyatt’s Rebellion. This was when Elizabeth wrote what David Starkey calls “the letter of her life”, the famous Tide Letter, so-called because as Elizabeth wrote this letter to her sister the tide turned, making it impossible to take Elizabeth to the Tower that day.
The letter was written in haste but Elizabeth still managed to write an eloquent and well-argued letter, which unfortunately went ignored by Mary. It did, however, delay her imprisonment by one day.
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Packed with a wide range of articles about Tudor personalities like the Dudleys, Elizabeth of York, Mary I, Isabella of Spain and Henry Howard. There is part one of an insider’s guide to the Tower of London, a detailed article about Greenwich Palace and Wroxhall Abbey, an article about some bizarre Tudor foods and lots more! It’s our best magazine yet!
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Fashion has had innumerable iterations throughout the centuries, with the Renaissance bringing about not just changes in thinking, art and education, but also clothing style. And along with new clothing styles came sumptuary laws, which created strict visual distinctions between the different classes. There were also restrictions on who could wear which fabrics.
The lower classes wore linen or wool; cotton was not allowed to be imported into England so as to protect the wool trade. The upper classes enjoyed the luxury of silk, brocade, velvet, and satin. Henry VIII passed his first sumptuary laws in 1510, shortly after ascending the throne. Given that clothing was an automatic identifier of who was what class, Henry wished to keep the status quo in place, despite the rising wealth of the merchant class. Mary I continued this trend, as did Elizabeth I. These same sumptuary laws also allowed the Tudor monarchs to collect fines and bestow special status on favorites.
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As it’s Mary, Queen of Scots’ birthday today I have added a brief biography of her to our Bios section, which already features brief bios of Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, Lady Jane Grey, Mary I and Elizabeth I.
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Today is the anniversary of the burial of chronicler and merchant-taylor Henry Machyn in London in 1563. He died after contracting the plague. Machyn is best known for his chronicle The Diary of Henry Machyn, Citizen and Merchant-Taylor of London, from A.D. 1550 to A.D. 1563 which is a wonderful primary source for the reigns of Edward VI, Lady Jane Grey, Mary I and the beginning of Elizabeth I’s reign.
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he burnings of two of the Oxford martyrs: Hugh Latimer, Bishop of Worcester, and Nicholas Ridley, Bishop of London took place on this day in 1555, in the reign of the Catholic Mary I. The two men, along with Thomas Cranmer, who was burnt at the stake on the 21st March 1556, are known as the Oxford Martyrs and their lives and deaths are commemorated in Oxford by Martyrs’ Memorial, a stone monument just outside Balliol College and near to the execution site, which was completed in 1843. A cross of stones set into the road in Broad Street marks the site of their burnings.
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Margaret Pole, or Margaret Plantagenet, was the daughter of George, Duke of Clarence – brother of two Plantagenet kings: Edward IV and Richard III – and his wife Lady Isabella Neville, daughter of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick and a man known as ‘the Kingmaker’. Margaret was born on 14th August 1473 and she married Sir Richard Pole in 1491, having five children before she was widowed in 1505. One of her children was Reginald Pole who became a cardinal and then Archbishop of Canterbury during the reign of Mary I.
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On 22nd January 1554, Thomas Wyatt the Younger met with fellow conspirators at his home of Allington Castle in Kent to make final plans for their uprising against Mary I and her decision to marry Philip of Spain. This rebellion would become known as Wyatt’s Rebellion.
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Our December talk is by Linda Porter, author of “Crown of Thistles: The Fatal Inheritance of Mary, Queen of Scots”. In this talk, Linda looks at the lives of three queens of England – Katherine Parr, Mary I and Mary, Queen of Scots.
The live chat will be on Monday 15th December at 7:30pm UK Time (That’s 2:30pm Eastern time/11:30am Pacific time/8:30pm Central European Time).
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On this day in Tudor history, 16th May, Sir Thomas More resigned as Lord Chancellor; Archbishop Cranmer visited an imprisoned Queen Anne Boleyn; Mary, Queen of Scots, landed on English soil; and William Adams, the inspiration for Shōgun’s John Blackthrone, died…
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On this day in Tudor history, Queen Anne Boleyn and her brother, George Boleyn, Lord Rochford, were tried for high treason; Baron Darcy and Baron Hussey were tried for treason; and Mary, Queen of Scots married for a third time…
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On this day in Tudor history, 10th May, a special court met to rule on Henry VIII’s Great Matter; the Grand Jury of Middlesex met to decide on whether Queen Anne Boleyn and five courtiers should be tried; the Duke of Norfolk’s secretary committed suicide; and an expedition to find the Northeast Passage set off…
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On this day in Tudor history, 28th April, just a few days before Anne Boleyn’s arrest, the royal council was meeting frequently; a man involved in the falls of two queens died; an 82-year-old priest was executed; and Elizabeth I’s funeral took place…
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On this day in Tudor history, 25th April, Henry VIII wrote of his hopes for his future with Anne Boleyn, the woman he’d soon set aside; Thomas Stafford proclaimed himself “Protector of the Realm”; Catherine Parr’s translation of “Psalms or Prayers” was published anonymously; and St Mark’s Day was celebrated…
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On this day in Tudor history, 18th April, imperial ambassador had an encounter with Queen Anne Boleyn; Thomas Cromwell was made Earl of Essex just three months before his execution; and famous martyrologist John Foxe died aged around seventy…
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On this day in Tudor history, 14th April, Sir Anthony Kingston died on his way to be tried for treason; astrologer, astronomer and magician Edward Gresham was born; and Mary, Queen of Scots’ third husband, the Earl of Bothwell, died in appalling conditions…
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On this day in Tudor history, 12th April, Anne Boleyn attended Easter Sunday mass as queen, causing quite a stir, and courtier and poet Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, was born…
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On this day in Tudor history, 1st April, Chapuys, the imperial ambassador, reported that Henry VIII had sent Jane Seymour a purse of money; physician William Harvey, who discovered the circulation of blood, was born; and author and soldier Thomas Churchyard died…
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On this day in Tudor history, 29th March, Mary Dudley, who would later make a great sacrifice in nursing Elizabeth I through smallpox, married Henry Sidney; Protestant John Laurence was burnt at the stake in Colchester; and playwright and clergyman William Wager was buried…
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On this day in Tudor history, 20th March, Catholic priest and martyr Cuthbert Mayne was baptised; Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley and Edward VI’s uncle, was executed for treason; and Mary Bassett, translator and granddaughter of Sir Thomas More, died…
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On this day in Tudor history, 16th March, soldier, translator and diplomat John Bourchier, 2nd Baron Berners, died; priests Robert Dalby and John Amias were executed at York as traitors; and actor Richard Burbage was buried…
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On this day in Tudor history, 14th March, judge Sir John Port, who is known for mumbling in a case, which had serious repercussions, died; Bishop Arthur Bulkeley, former chaplain to Charles Brandon and Thomas Cromwell, died; and Sir John Russell, Lord Privy Seal, died…
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On this day in Tudor history, 11th March, Giovanni di Lorenzo de’ Medici was proclaimed Pope Leo X, poet William Warner, “Our English Homer”, was buried, and poet, diplomat and MP Giles Fletcher the Elder died in London…
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In my latest video, I unravel the heartbreaking saga of Catherine of Aragon’s relentless quest to provide Henry VIII with a male heir, which saw her experiencing six pregnancies between 1509 and 1518, and losing five children.
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Join The East Grinstead Bookshop for an evening with Alison Weir – from the comfort of your own sitting room – to celebrate the launch of ‘Mary I, Queen of Sorrows’ : A novel by Alison Weir.
The East Grinstead Bookshop are very excited to announce the national launch of Dr Alison Weir’s new historical novel, Mary I, Queen of Sorrows, on Thursday 9 May, 7pm which be available as an on-line event, broadcast across the world. The event will be live-streamed from the historic Sackville College Almshouse, built in 1609 to solve the homeless problem in East Grinstead and still in use as an almshouse today.
Dr Alison Weir is the bestselling female historian in the UK, with over three million copies of her fiction and non-fiction works sold to date. Even as a young girl Alison was fascinated by the Tudors, and has spent most of her life researching and writing about this period. This, her latest novel, is the third in the Tudor Rose series which fictionalises the lives of Elizabeth of York, Henry VIII and now Mary I.
Mary was the daughter of Katherine of Aragon and Henry VIII, a precocious young child with an able intellect and a talent for the harpsichord. Yet, as the first Queen Regnant of England she became a notorious terror, responsible for the deaths of hundreds of protestants and earning the accolade ‘Bloody Mary’. What happened?
Independent Bookseller John Pye will be in conversation with Alison for an evening of lively debate and storytelling, looking at the life of Mary and celebrating the launch of ‘Queen of Sorrows’.
“An exquisitely drawn, poignant portrayal of one of history’s most complex, maligned and fascinating figures. Told with all of Alison Weir's characteristic verve and eye for evocative period detail, this is a book that will stay with you long after the last page has been turned. A must for Tudor fans everywhere.” (Author and Historian, Tracy Borman)
Tickets may be purchased from https://www.eastgrinsteadbookshop.co.uk/event-details/alison-weir-in-conversation-with-john-pye-book-launch
On this day in Tudor history, 5th March, Henry VII issued letters patent to explorer John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto), a bill of attainder listing 33 counts of treason was passed against Edward VI’s uncle, Thomas Seymour, and a Spanish physician introduced tobacco into Europe…
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On this day in Tudor history, 3rd March, Charles Brandon and Mary Tudor may have got married in France, Margaret Tudor, former Queen of Scotland, married for the third time, and Edward IV’s illegitimate son, Arthur Plantagenet, Lord Lisle, died in the Tower of London…
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