Recent Posts

Tudor Hygiene- Housework

I have just published the second part of my article on Tudor Hygiene this time focussing on the role of the Tudor housewife and housework. You can read part 1 of this article here where I discuss Tudor bathing habits. I hope you enjoy the post! Tudor Hygiene Part 2- Housework The Tudors generally accepted that there was a link between dirt and disease and for this reason tried to keep their houses clean. This was no easy task considering that most houses had earth floors, which were dusty and … [Read More...]

Tudor History- Online Courses

The Tudors Family Tree

I have just updated my Tudor History - Online Courses section to include a new course suggested by one of our readers, thank you Tina! The course, The Tudors: History, Culture and Religion,  offered by The University of Exeter considers the Tudor court as archetypal in the history of the English monarchy. You are given the opportunity to study the culture of this period through a blend of archaeology, art, history, and literature; analysing its evolution, function and impact in a period of … [Read More...]

Hampton Court’s Haunted Gallery

One of my readers recently shared with me something strange that happened to her on a visit to Hampton Court Palace in 2009. My job is not to judge the experiences but simply to share them with you. Hampton Court's Haunted Gallery is renowned for spooky occurrences but that is not where Katie's story ends and that is what makes it particularly interesting! This is Katie's story. I visited Hampton Court Palace in April 2009. As I was waiting to see the "Henry's Women" exhibit, I clearly … [Read More...]

New book set in the reign of Mary Queen of Scots

I just received an email about a new book by an Australian author, Jesse Blackadder. The book is called 'The Raven's Heart: The story of a Quest, a Castle and Mary Queen of Scots' and will be available in Australia in February 2011. The Harper Collins description reads: On a winter’s day in 1561, Alison Blackadder watches as a queen is rowed ashore in Edinburgh to claim her throne. Alison has been disguised as ‘Robert’ most of her life to protect her from the murderous clan who stole … [Read More...]

The death of Catherine of Aragon

‘The most virtuous woman I have ever known and the highest hearted, but too quick to trust that others were like herself, and too slow to do a little ill that much good might come of it.’ (Eustace Chapuys describing Catherine of Aragon after her death) On the 13th December 1535, Chapuys wrote that Catherine of Aragon ‘has recovered and is now well’ (Tremlett, Pg. 417) but on the 29th December Dr Ortiz, Catherine’s doctor, sent an urgent message to Chapuys alerting him to the fact that … [Read More...]

Urgent conservation work needed on the NPG’s Portrait of Anne Boleyn

You may have heard through the Tudor grapevine that the National Portrait Gallery's portrait of Anne Boleyn is in urgent need of conservation work. Here is what the NPG have said, "It is in a particularly vulnerable and unstable condition as a result of structural problems with the wooden panel.  Vertical cracking has occurred across the picture causing minor paint loss where the wood has split ... We need to act now as the damage is being caused by the long term effects of an unsuitable … [Read More...]

Happy Twelfth Night!

One of the main celebrations and the climax of the Tudor Christmas period was Twelfth Night, which also coincided with the feast of Epiphany. But when exactly is Twelfth night? Well, there is some debate about the exact date. Some believe it is the 5th of January with the 6th being Twelfth Day and others believe that Twelfth night is on the night of Epiphany itself, the 6th January. It seems that the confusion arose because of the medieval custom of starting each new day at sunset. … [Read More...]

Our exclusive interview with author Anne O’Brien

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Anne O'Brien, international author of historical novels. Her new historical novel, The Virgin Widow, is the story of Anne Neville, England's forgotten Queen, wife to Richard III. This is the first of Anne's novels to be based on the life of an historical character and she is now working on a novel about the early life of Eleanor of Aquitaine. Amazon's product description of The Virgin Widow reads: A dazzling historical novel set during … [Read More...]

Tudor New Year’s Day Celebrations

The Tudors believed that the new year began on March 25th and on this day held the Feast of Annunciation, “celebrating when Mary was first told of the forthcoming birth of Jesus” (Sim, 2009, Pg. 85). The main feature of the 1st of January then was the giving and receiving of gifts. Although gift giving was popular in the upper classes there are no records of it happening in the homes of ordinary people. This is not to say that it didn’t happen, it simply wasn’t recorded. Alison Sim points out … [Read More...]

Tudor Books for Christmas!

I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas full of love, laughter and happiness! Here in Sydney, it is the eve of New Year's Eve and even though we are so close to 2011 I am still having difficulty believing that 2010 is almost over! It truly flew by in the blink of an eye! I thought that before another round of festivities kicks in, I should update you on some wonderful Tudor books that I found waiting for me under the Christmas tree this year - thank you Santa! The first is an … [Read More...]

Catherine Howard- Did she or Didn’t she?

Today's post is a very interesting guest article by Alisa Libby author of The King's Rose, the story of Catherine Howard’s rise and fall told in Catherine’s own words. Read my interview with Alisa here. I think we have all asked ourselves how Catherine Howard could have been so reckless in her dealings with other men especially when she knew of the fate of her cousin, Anne Boleyn. One would imagine that Catherine would have been extra cautious not to anger her royal husband in any way. … [Read More...]

Christmas carols sung in the 16th century

As I prepare for my own Christmas festivities, I have been thinking about what a Tudor Christmas would have been like. I imagine the holly, ivy and other evergreens decorating the halls, the sound of the crackling fire on the hearth, the smell of burning candles and of course, Christmas carols being sung. Smells and songs have the power to transport you to a different time and place. So why not take a moment this Christmas to listen to some carols that perhaps Anne Boleyn herself once sung. … [Read More...]