The Tudor Society
  • Live chats reminder – 20 July and 27 July

    Just a quick reminder that we have July’s informal live chat taking place in the Tudor Society chatroom – https://www.tudorsociety.com/chatroom/ – tomorrow, Saturday 20th July.

    The idea for these informal chats is for members to jump in and share their views, pose questions for other members, share book/TV recommendations etc. and to just enjoy talking Tudor. The topic for this month is Tudor medicine.

    Here are the times for the chat in different time zones:

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  • Live chat reminders – 13 (tomorrow!) and 28 April

    Just a reminder about tomorrow’s informal live chat on the merry subject of death and burial in Tudor times! Sorry about the topic! Still, it will be interesting to talk about the rituals associated with death and to share resources and book recommendations. Please do come, if you are able to.

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  • Live chat reminder – informal chat tomorrow!

    Just a reminder that February’s informal live chat is taking place in the Tudor Society chatroom tomorrow, Saturday 16th February, at 11pm UK time.

    The first of February’s live chats is an informal one on the topic of finding and using Tudor documents. I will be the moderator and I will also share some of the resources I use to access primary sources, but otherwise it will be an informal chat where we can all share our experiences, our favourite documents, and what we’d like to find. Feel free to lurk in the background or join in.

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  • This month’s live chats – 16 and 22 February

    As usual, we have two live chats in the Tudor Society this month.

    The first of February’s live chats is an informal one on the topic of finding and using Tudor documents. Claire will be moderating, but otherwise it will be an informal chat where you can share recommendations, resources, your experiences etc.

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  • November’s Live Chats – 16 and 30 November

    Just to let you know the details of this month’s live chats. Our informal chat on the topic of Religious persecution and martyrs (such a cheery topic!) will take place on Friday 16th November and our expert live chat with author and founder of the Tudor Society, Claire Ridgway, is on Friday 30th November.

    Both chats will be an hour long and will take place in the Tudor Society chatroom.

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  • October’s Live Chats – 13th and 26th October

    Just to let you know the details of this month’s live chats. Our informal chat on the topic of Tudor life will take place on Saturday 13th October and our expert live chat with historian and author Lauren Mackay will take place on Friday 26th October.

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  • June’s Live Chats – 9 and 23 June

    Just to let you know that this month’s live chats will be taking place on 9th and 23rd June. Both chats will last one hour and will take place in the Tudor Society chatroom at www.tudorsociety.com/chatroom/.

    Our informal chat will take place on Saturday 9th June and this month’s topic is the Seymour family. This is your chance to share your views on the Seymours (Jane, Edward, Thomas, the Seymours in Elizabeth I’s reign, their background, anything Seymour related!), to pose questions about them, to ask the views of other members, to share book recommendations, and to just talk Tudor.

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  • Live chat reminder – Friday 25th May with Nathen Amin on Henry VII

    Nathen Amin was a big hit when he spoke to us last year on Henry VII’s ‘journey’ to Bosworth, i.e. his early life and time in exile, so we got him back for the next instalment of Henry VII’s life. You can view Nathen’s excellent video talk “Henry VII: Bosworth to Coronation” by clicking here.

    Nathen will be joining us in the Tudor Society chatroom tomorrow (Friday 25th May) to answer your questions on his talk, his research and anything Henry VII related. Our last live chat with Nathen was brilliant, so this one is bound to be! Please do join us. Here are the times in different time zones:

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  • This month’s live chats – 12 and 25 May

    Just to let you know that this month’s live chats will be taking place on 12th and 25th May. Both chats will last one hour and will take place in the Tudor Society chatroom at www.tudorsociety.com/chatroom/ and will last an hour each.

    Our informal chat will take place on Saturday 12th May and this month’s topic is Anne Boleyn. This is your chance to share your views on Anne, to ask me questions about her (I have done a bit of research on her!), to ask the views of other members, to share book recommendations, and to just talk Tudor.

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  • April 2018 Live Chats – 13 and 27 April

    As usual, we have two live chats in the Tudor Society chatroom this month – an informal chat and an expert chat. They will both take place in the Tudor Society chatroom at www.tudorsociety.com/chatroom/ and will last an hour each.

    Our informal chat will take place on 13th April and the topic is Lady Jane Grey (Queen Jane). We can all share our views on this Tudor queen, pose questions to each other, share book recommendations etc. – anything to do with Lady Jane Grey.

    Here are the times in different time zones:

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  • Expert Live Chat – Saturday 24 March

    Just to let you know that our expert speaker for this month, Lauren Browne, will be in the Tudor Society chatroom –
    https://www.tudorsociety.com/chatroom/ – at 11pm UK time on Saturday 24th March to answer your questions on her talk on Jane Shore, part 2 of her series looking at rivals and mistresses.

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  • Informal live chat: Elizabeth I – Virgin Queen? – 16 March 2018

    Just to let you know that March’s informal chat will take place in the Tudor Society chatroom on Friday 16th March at 11pm UK time.

    The topic of this month’s informal chat is “Elizabeth I – Virgin Queen?”. If you haven’t been to an informal live chat before, let me explain… We all pile into the chatroom at https://www.tudorsociety.com/chatroom/ and share our views on the topic, pose questions to each other, share book recommendations etc. anything to do with the topic. I’m sure this will be a good one!

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  • February Live Chats – 16th and 24th February

    As usual, we have two live chats this month: an informal chat and an expert live chat. Both will take place in our chatroom at https://www.tudorsociety.com/chatroom/.

    Our informal live chat is on Queen Mary I. This type of live chat is an opportunity for our members to share their views on the topic, pose questions, share book recommendations and to get to know each other. I (Claire) act as moderator, just to keep an eye on things. They’re always good fun and everyone, from newbie to historian, is welcome. No question is a stupid one after all!

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  • Informal live chat: Henry VIII, tyrant? – 13 January 2018

    The iconic portrait of Henry VIII after Holbein

    This month’s informal live chat is on Saturday 13th January and the topic is Henry VIII – tyrant? Yes, we’re discussing that iconic monarch and whether or not the label “tyrant” can be used to describe him. It should be a very interesting debate and I’m looking forward to it.

    With our informal chats, we don’t have an expert to ‘grill’, we just all bundle into the chatroom and have fun debating the topic for an hour. The moderator is just there to check that it runs smoothly, and to join the debate too. Feel free to share book recommendations, to pose questions, to share your views…

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  • Christmas Party – this Friday (15th)!

    Just a reminder that you can join us in the chatroom at 11pm (UK time) this Friday, 15th December, for the Tudor Society Christmas party.

    Bring your favourite tipple and be prepared to socialise. You can introduce yourself, ask a historical question to start a bit of a debate, swap book recommendations, tell jokes…. whatever! I do hope you can join us, even if it’s just for 5 minutes, otherwise, I’ll just be talking to Tim!

    Here are the times in different time zones:

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  • November live chats – 17th and 30th

    Just to let you know that this month’s live chats will be taking place on Friday 17th November and Thursday 30th November.

    Here are all the details…

    17 November: Informal live chat – Ladies-in-waiting
    This month’s live chat is on Friday 17th November and the topic is ladies-in-waiting. With our informal chats, we don’t have an expert to ‘grill’, we just all bundle into the chatroom and have fun debating the topic for an hour. The moderator is just there to check that it runs smoothly, and to join the debate too. Feel free to share book recommendations on ladies-in-waiting in general, or particular ladies, to pose questions, to share your views on the role or on particular ladies, anything to do with ladies-in-waiting!

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  • October’s Live Chats – 14 and 20 October

    This month’s live chats will be taking place in the Tudor Society chatroom on Saturday 14th October and Friday 21st October.

    The first live chat, on 14th, will be our informal chat and the topic this month is the Shakespeare authorship question. Just be warned that the moderator (i.e. me, Claire) is from near Stratford-upon-Avon and loves the Bard; she might be slightly biased!

    With our informal chats, we don’t have an expert to ‘grill’, we just all bundle into the chatroom and have fun debating the topic for an hour. The moderator is just there to check that it runs smoothly, and to join the debate too.

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  • September 2017 Live Chats – 22 and 30 September

    This month's live chats will be taking place in the Tudor Society chatroom on Friday 22nd September and Saturday 30th September.

    Informal Live Chat - 22 September

    September's informal live chat discussion is on Catherine of Aragon and the annulment of her marriage to Henry VIII. Questions, theories, viewpoints, book recommendations etc. on anything to do with this topic are welcome. Was Catherine right to fight for her marriage? Should she have taken the veil? What about Henry VIII - did he have a valid point? etc. etc. Let's enjoy discussing this topic.

    With our informal chats, we don't have an expert to 'grill', we just all bundle into the chatroom and have fun debating the topic for an hour. I (Claire) am usually the moderator, and will be for this one, and I'll just be there to check that it runs smoothly, and to join the debate too.

    Here are the times in different time zones:

    • London, UK - Friday 22 September at 10pm
    • Madrid, Spain - Friday 22 September at 11pm
    • New York, USA - Friday 22 September at 5pm
    • Los Angeles, USA - Friday 22 September at 2pm
    • Sydney, Australia - Saturday 23 September at 7am
    • Adelaide, Australia - Saturday 23 September at 6.30am

    Expert Live Chat - 30 September

    This month's expert speaker, historian and author Elizabeth Norton, is joining us in the chatroom on Saturday 30th September to answer your questions on her talk "The Live of Tudor Women". If you missed her talk then you can click here to view the video now. It's a wonderful talk.

    Our expert live chat sessions last for an hour and they are your chance to ask our experts questions about their talk, their research and/or their books.

    Here are the times in different time zones:

    • London, UK - Saturday 30 September at 10pm
    • Madrid, Spain - Saturday 30 September at 11pm
    • New York, USA - Saturday 30 at 5pm
    • Los Angeles, USA - Saturday 30 September at 2pm
    • Sydney, Australia - Sunday 1 October at 8am
    • Adelaide, Australia - Sunday 1 October at 7.30am

    You can find the chatroom at https://www.tudorsociety.com/chatroom/. It's really easy to join in, you just go to the chatroom at the scheduled time and type your question or comment into the text box and click on "send", or feel free to lurk! They're always good fun.

  • Live chat reminder – it’s today!

    Just a quick reminder that historian Lauren Browne will be joining us later today in the Tudor Society chatroom to answer your questions on her recent talk on Rivals and Mistresses and to chat about this topic and her research.

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  • Informal live chat – 23 June – the Tudors on TV and in fiction

    If you’re like me, you drive your family and friends mad by shouting at the TV or muttering under your breath “well that didn’t really happen” when you’re watching a Tudor themed programme or movie, or you huff and puff your way through a Tudor novel. Is that you or do you have more patience?

    Whatever your level of tolerance, I’d like to invite you to join me on the Tudor Society chatroom this Friday (23rd June) for a one-hour-long informal chat about the Tudors on TV and in fiction. This is your chance to rant and rave, or simply talk about a programme/movie you’ve just seen or a novel you’ve just read. Feel free to share recommendations too. It’s informal, I’ll just be there ‘moderating’ and making sure everything runs smoothly.

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  • Live Chat with Toni Mount on 30th June

    Toni Mount - our guest speaker

    Following on from her expert talk on ordinary people in Tudor times, historian Toni Mount will be joining us on the Tudor Society chatroom on Friday 30th June for a one-hour chat session to answer your questions.

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  • Live chat with Gareth Russell – 29 April

    Just to let you know that this month’s expert live chat will be taking place on 29th April at 11pm UK time

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  • Informal live chat on Elizabeth I – Saturday 22 April

    I know that many of you enjoy our informal live chat sessions where we all discuss a certain topic or person, so I thought I’d schedule one for Saturday 22nd April. The topic for this one is going to be Elizabeth I. I know that’s a very broad topic but I’m happy to schedule further more specific chats on aspects of her life and reign as follow-ups to this one. Let’s go broad this time.

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  • Transcript of our live chat with Lauren

    We had a wonderful live chat with historian Lauren Browne on Saturday night. It was all about the reputations of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Eleanor of Castile in the Tudor period.

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  • Mary, Queen of Scots – live chat on Saturday 4 March

    We’re holding one of our informal live chats on the chatroom this Saturday. Regular contributor Heather R. Darsie will be moderating and you can ask her questions or simply pose questions for debate and discussion. Heather thought it would be nice to talk about Mary’s life after her return from France, but we can stray to her earlier life if you like. We can also discuss books, theories about her… whatever you like, it’s an informal chat.

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  • Reminder: Live chat on Saturday 25 February

    Just a quick reminder about our expert live chat which is taking place this Saturday, 25th February. Lauren Browne will be joining us on the chatroom to answer your questions about the talk she did on the reputations and representations of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Eleanor of Castile in the Tudor period.

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  • Live Chat with Lauren Browne – 25 February

    Just to let you know that historian Lauren Browne will be joining us on the chatroom on 25th February to answer your questions about the talk she did on the reputations and representations of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Eleanor of Castile in the Tudor period, and anything else you want to ask or discuss regarding these women.

    If you haven’t heard Lauren’s talk yet, you can…

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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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  • Elizabeth Woodville chat – 7 October 2016

    Olga Hughes, who you will know from her regular column in Tudor Life magazine, has kindly offered to run a live chat on Elizabeth Woodville on the Tudor Society chatroom on Friday 7th October (or Saturday 8th depending on your time zone). This will be an informal chat, like the one we had this month of Henry VII, and will be a chance to get together and discuss this queen consort of Edward IV.

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