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.
Claire Ridgway is the author of the best-selling books On This Day in Tudor History, The Fall of Anne Boleyn: A Countdown, The Anne Boleyn Collection and The Anne Boleyn Collection II. Claire's latest release is George Boleyn: Tudor Poet, Courtier and Diplomat (co-written with Clare Cherry). Claire was also involved in the English translation and editing of Edmond Bapst's 19th century French biography of George Boleyn and Henry Howard, now available as Two Gentleman Poets at the Court of Henry VIII. She is also the creator of The Anne Boleyn Files website and founder of The Tudor Society.
Charlie is writing an Anne Boleyn novel, Perseverance, and started a blog and Facebook page called Through the Eyes of Anne Boleyn to document and share her research into Anne Boleyn's life. She is also a student and is currently studying Medieval History in college. 
Kyra Cornelius Kramer, author of Blood Will Tell: A Medical Explanation for the Tyranny of Henry VIII, is a freelance academic with BS degrees in both biology and anthropology from the University of Kentucky, as well as a MA in medical anthropology from Southern Methodist University. She has written essays on the agency of the Female Gothic heroine and women's bodies as feminist texts in the works of Jennifer Crusie. She has also co-authored two works; one with Dr. Laura Vivanco on the way in which the bodies of romance heroes and heroines act as the sites of reinforcement of, and resistance to, enculturated sexualities and gender ideologies, and another with Dr. Catrina Banks Whitley on Henry VIII.
Roland Hui received his degree in Art History from Concordia University in Canada. After completing his studies, he went on to work in Interpretive Media for California State Parks, The U.S. Forest Service, and The National Park Service.
Conor Byrne studied at the universities of Exeter and York. He is the author of Katherine Howard: A New History and Queenship in England, both published by MadeGlobal. Since 2012 he has run a historical blog and was formerly editor of Tudor Life Magazine. His research interests lie in late medieval and Tudor queenship.
Rioghnach O'Geraghty takes your taste buds on an aromatic and fragrant journey through the culinary history of spic in an adventure through medieval Europe, Tudor England, Renaissance Italy and France. She writes a regular column about the foods, drinks and flavours of the Tudor period
Debra Bayani is a researcher and writer living in the Netherlands with her partner and children. She studied Fashion History and History of Art. Her first non-fiction book, a biography of Jasper Tudor, Duke of Bedford and Earl of Pembroke, was first published in August 2014 and it has been fully revised for re-publication in 2015. In 2018 Debra and artist Dmitry Yakhovsky created The Wars of the Roses Colouring Book.
Emma Taylor works for costumes for television in her native Northern Ireland. She writes a regular column on her passion, the representation of the Tudors through modern media such as TV and film. 
Lauren is currently studying at Queen’s University, Belfast, for her Ph. D. in early modern attitudes to queenship. She previously completed her undergraduate with a dissertation on Elizabeth of York and her postgraduate on Eleanor of Aquitaine. Lauren is originally from Northern Ireland, where she discovered her love for History and the arts. Her articles are wide ranging and detailed, taking in the whole range of personalities during the Tudor era.
Toni is an all/round historian and author with wide ranging interests, but focusing on the lives of everyday people in the Medieval and Tudor eras. She is the author of many acclaimed non-fiction history books and has also found success with her medieval murder mystery novel series which starts with the book "The Colour of Poison".
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