Hans Holbein the Younger is one of history’s most famous painters and it is thanks to his great skill and talent that we have so many paintings of the people of Henry VIII’s reign, including the great King himself. But who exactly was Hans Holbein the Younger and how did he come to the English court and catch the eye of Henry VIII?
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Our March talk is by Natalie Grueninger, author of “In the Footsteps of Anne Boleyn”. Natalie takes us through the reasons why the Tudor court went on progress and gives us many interesting facts and tales about some of the different progresses that Henry VIII went on.
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Every aspect of Anne Boleyn’s life is controversial. Her birth date, her personality, her relationship with Henry VIII, whether she was guilty of the crimes attributed to her – all of these, and more, arouse fierce debate. But it is Anne’s physical appearance that is perhaps the most lingering and heated of controversies about her.
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Katherine Parr was different to Henry VIII’s other consorts. She was several years older than his previous wives, she had been married twice before, and she had not spent considerable time in royal service. Above all, however, Katherine differs to her five predecessors by virtue of her status as an author. She was the first Queen of England to publish her own work.
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Hampton Court has origins far older than Henry VIII. Originally Hampton Court was a settlement belonging to the Saxon period; its original name was ‘Hammton’ meaning ‘a settlement by the river’. In the early 12th century the land was owned by Reginald de St Valery, a crusader in Jerusalem. He allowed the Knights Hospitallers of St John to rent the land. The Knights built the House of Hampton and the land was primarily used to manage the Knights agricultural estates.
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Thanks this month goes to historian Elizabeth Norton for her expert chat all about the Boleyn Family. It’s very easy to be absorbed in the fascinating life of Queen Anne Boleyn and her marriage to Henry VIII, but the Boleyn family has a much longer history. In this Expert Talk, Elizabeth Norton explains to us where the Boleyns came from and how they rose high enough for Anne to become Queen Consort. Fascinating stuff!
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We had a wonderful live-chat session with author Sandra Vasoli (author of “Je Anne Boleyn”) last night. The questions were coming in thick-and-fast and Sandra had some amazing additional stories to tell us about her visit to the Vatican Archives to see the love letters of Henry VIII.
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Happy 481st birthday to Queen Elizabeth I who was born at 3pm on 7th September 1533. She was, of course, the daughter of Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn.
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London Museum Docklands has been in touch with me to share some events they have coming up which may be of interest to some of you.
From African women in Tudor London to archaeology, alchemy and mudlarking, there’s so much history to enjoy!
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On this day in Tudor history, 14th March 1553, during the reign of King Edward VI, Arthur Bulkeley, Bishop of Bangor, died at his home in Bangor.
His final resting place? The quire of Bangor Cathedral.
But who was Bishop Bulkeley, and why does his legacy matter?
Arthur Bulkeley was a Welshman, born around 1495 in Beaumaris, Anglesey. He was a scholar, studying both canon and civil law at Oxford. But his path wasn’t just academic; he found himself serving some of the most powerful figures in Tudor England.
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On this day in history, 13th March 1619, the stage lost one of its greatest stars. Richard Burbage, Shakespeare’s leading man, the original Hamlet, Othello, and King Lear, breathed his last at the age of fifty.
But Burbage wasn’t just an actor. He was a theatre pioneer, a close friend of Shakespeare, and a man whose talent defined the golden age of English drama.
So, who was he?
Richard Burbage was born in 1568, baptised in London’s St. Stephen’s Church on 7th July. His father, James Burbage, was an actor and entrepreneur, and young Richard grew up surrounded by the world of performance.
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On 11th March 1513, Giovanni di Lorenzo de’ Medici was proclaimed Pope Leo X—a man who would leave a lasting mark on the Catholic Church and European history.
Born into the powerful Medici family, Leo was the son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, ruler of Florence and a patron of the arts. From an early age, Giovanni was destined for the Church—he was made a cardinal at just 13 years old! By the time he was elected pope in 1513, he held not just religious power but also political dominance as head of the Papal States and his influential family in Florence.
But what kind of pope was Leo X? Well, let’s just say he wasn’t your typical, pious, reform-driven leader.
Leo X was a true Renaissance pope. He transformed Rome into a thriving cultural hub, attracting artists, poets, and scholars to his court. One of his most famous protégés was Raphael, the great painter and architect. Under Leo’s patronage, Raphael worked on St. Peter’s Basilica and painted some of his most stunning works.
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William Paulet wasn’t born into the powerful aristocracy. He came from Basing in Hampshire, born sometime between 1474 and 1488—even his birth date is a mystery!
His family had connections, but nothing close to the powerhouses of the Tudor court. Unlike men like Thomas More or Thomas Cromwell, Paulet didn’t make his name by standing on principle or radical reform. Instead, he mastered something far more valuable in the Tudor world: survival.
He trained in law at the Inner Temple, which set him up for a career in administration, and he made a very smart marriage—Elizabeth Capell, the daughter of a wealthy Lord Mayor of London. It wasn’t the grandest match, but it gave him financial backing and key city connections.
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He was the grandson of Mary Boleyn, the husband of Elizabeth Spencer, and a trusted courtier of Elizabeth I. But George Carey, 2nd Baron Hunsdon, wasn’t just another nobleman, he was a key figure in the world of Elizabethan theatre, a patron of Shakespeare’s acting company, and a man who rose to one of the most powerful positions at court.
Today, let’s dive into the fascinating life of George Carey, 2nd Baron Hunsdon; his Boleyn connections, his military career, and his role in shaping the golden age of Elizabethan theatre.
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Today marks the anniversary of the accession of the late Queen Elizabeth II on 6th February 1952. She was the longest reigning monarch in British history, ruling from this day in 1952 until her death in September 2022. As we reflect on her remarkable reign, I thought it would be fitting to explore an intriguing piece of history—the present royal family’s descent from both the Tudors and the Boleyns.
Yes, you heard that right! King Charles III has Tudor blood AND Boleyn blood.
But wait—how is that possible? The last Tudor monarch, Elizabeth I, died childless, and as we all know, she was Anne Boleyn’s only surviving child. So where does the royal family’s Tudor-Boleyn connection come from?
Let’s unravel this fascinating royal lineage…
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On 4th February 1495, Anne of York, daughter of Edward IV and sister of Queen Elizabeth of York, married Thomas Howard, the future 3rd Duke of Norfolk, at Westminster Abbey. But this was far more than just a romantic union—it was a strategic marriage with deep political significance.
It was an unlikely match. Anne was the sister-in-law of King Henry VII, and Thomas Howard’s father and grandfather had fought against Henry at the Battle of Bosworth Field just ten years earlier.
So why did Henry VII allow this marriage? And what did it mean for the future of the Howard family?
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On this day in Tudor history, 24th January 1502, King Henry VII, the first Tudor monarch, ratified a peace treaty, the Treaty of Perpetual Peace, with King James IV of Scotland, at Richmond Palace in the presence of James’s representatives, Robert Blackadder, Archbishop of Glasgow, Patrick Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, and Andrew Forman, who all signed it.
This treaty was a landmark agreement between England and Scotland aimed at ending two centuries of conflict between the two nations. It was a diplomatic triumph for both monarchs, King Henry VII of England and King James IV of Scotland, and it marked a rare moment of peaceful relations in what was often a turbulent and violent history.
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Jane Dudley, Duchess of Northumberland, is one of my favourite figures from Tudor history—and for good reason. Her story is one of resilience, faith, and immense tragedy. She lived through one of the most tumultuous periods in English history, lost her husband and children to the axe, and yet, she carried on. Today, on the anniversary of her death, I’m exploring her life and legacy.
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On this day in Tudor history, 11th January 1584, Carter paid the ultimate price after being found guilty of treason. His crime? Printing a book that allegedly encouraged the assassination of Queen Elizabeth I.
William Carter was born in London in around 1548 and was the son of draper John Carter and his wife, Agnes. When he was about fifteen, Carter became apprenticed to John Cawood who had been Queen’s Printer to Mary I and who was joint Queen’s Printer to Elizabeth I. Carter was an apprentice to Cawood for a term of ten years before moving on to become secretary to Nicholas Harpsfield, a man who had been Archdeacon of Canterbury under Cardinal Pole in Mary I’s reign and who had been a zealous promoter of heresy trials of Protestants. He had been imprisoned by Elizabeth I’s government for refusing to swear the oath of supremacy and was still in Fleet prison when Carter became his secretary.
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In 1499, King Louis XII of France had his 22-year marriage annulled to marry Anne of Brittany, one of the most sought-after women in Europe. But why did Louis go to such lengths? And what happened to his first wife, who had been loyal for two decades?
This is a story of royal marriages, political scheming, and a forgotten queen who became a saint.
On this day in Tudor history, 8th January 1499, French king Louis XII married the queen dowager, Anne of Brittany, in Nantes.
Louis had had his twenty-two-year marriage annulled so that he could marry Anne, but why and on what grounds?
On this day in Tudor history, 31st December, “the Gunner” Sir William Skeffington, Lord Deputy of Ireland, died at Kilmainham (1535), and Owen Oglethorpe, Bishop of Carlisle, died while under house arrest (1559)…
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On this day in Tudor history, magistrate, sheriff and witch-hunter Brian Darcy died (1587), and Lettice Knollys (married names: Devereux, Dudley and Blount) died at the age of ninety one (1634)…
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On this day in Tudor history, Henry VII’s uncle and mentor, Jasper Tudor, Duke of Bedford and Earl of Pembroke, died (1495), and the Feast of St Thomas the Apostle (or Didymus or Doubting Thomas) was celebrated…
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On this day in Tudor history, 13th December, civil lawyer and dean of Chester William Clyffe died (1558), and pirate, sea captain, and explorer Sir Francis Drake finally left Plymouth on his circumnavigation of the Globe (1577)…
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On this day in Tudor history, 8th December, Sir William Coffin, Master of the Horse to Queens Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour, died (1538), and Mary, Queen of Scots, was born at Linlithgow Palace (1542)…
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On this day in Tudor history, 6th December, soldier and administrator Sir Hugh Paulet, a man who served four monarchs, died (1573), and the Feast of St Nicholas was celebrated with the election of a Boy Bishop…
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