The Tudor Society

Preparing for a royal birth

As today is the anniversary of Queen Anne Boleyn taking her chamber at Greenwich to prepare for the birth of her first child, I thought I'd share this talk I did a few years ago on the guidance Lady Margaret Beaufort gave for the birth and christening of a royal child.

You can read Margaret's Ordinances in Joannis Lelandi antiquarii De rebus Britannicis collectanea at https://archive.org/stream/joannislelandia01heargoog#page/n238/mode/2up or http://books.google.es/books/about/Joannis_Lelandi_antiquarii_De_rebus_Brit.html..., p179-184.

I mention "raynes" in the video and I've since found out that cloth of raynes, or cloth of Rennes, was "a fine, plain weave, linen fabric produced during the Middle Ages. Originally made in France, in Rennes, Brittany, it derives its name from that town.". It tended to be used for bedding and shirts - "The Fairchild Books Dictionary of Textiles" by Phyllis G. Tortora and Ingrid Johnson, Bloomsbury, 2013.

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Preparing for a royal birth