On the Tudor Trail

Our interview with Maggie Secara from Renaissance – The Elizabethan World

When I discover a website that is absolutely brimming with useful information about 16th century England I get so excited. This is exactly how I felt when I stumbled across Maggie Secara's site, 'Renaissance - The Elizabethan World', last year. If you are keen to explore and learn more about Elizabethan England then this is the site for you. Maggie offers a plethora of information about everyday life in Elizabeth's England, Life at court, Heraldry, and Sumptuary Laws to name but a few areas … [Read More...]

Tudor Tapestries, Tudor costumes and more!

For those of you that have joined On the Tudor Trail's Facebook page you know that I regularly notify members of upcoming Tudor events, articles and news. I thought I would write a little summary of the events today just in case some of you are defying the trend and staying away from Facebook... Henry VIII's Tapestries You can now explore one of Henry VIII's most precious tapestries thanks to the Historic Royal Palaces interactive guide. You can click on different areas of 'The Meeting … [Read More...]

Exclusive interview with Sandra Worth

I have just posted my interview with Sandra Worth acclaimed author of five books chronicling the demise of the Plantagenet dynasty in England. Sandra’s latest novel, Pale Rose of England: a novel of the Tudors, is a story of love and defiance during the Wars of the Roses. In our interview we discuss the lure of Elizabeth of York, the mystery of the Princes in the Tower and, among other things, I ask Sandra whether or not she sees Richard III as a villain or a hero. Read Sandra's … [Read More...]

Uncovering the Mystery of Perkin Warbeck by Sandra Worth

Today's post is a guest article by Sandra Worth acclaimed author of five books chronicling the demise of the Plantagenet dynasty in England. Sandra holds an honours B.A in Political Science and Economics from the University of Toronto and is a frequent lecturer on the Wars of the Roses. Sandra's latest novel, Pale Rose of England: a novel of the Tudors, is a story of love and defiance during the Wars of the Roses. Here is a brief synopsis: It is 1497. The news of the survival of … [Read More...]

On the Tudor Trail’s interview with Robert Parry

I have just published my interview with Robert Parry author of The Virgin and the Crab: Sketches, Fables & Mysteries from the early life of John Dee and Elizabeth Tudor. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and will be publishing my review soon but what I will say now is that although we may know where the story of Elizabeth I ends we have never journeyed there in this fashion. It is a real page turner, entertaining and vivid. We meet many Tudor characters and they are all … [Read More...]

A NEW EXPLANATION FOR THE REPRODUCTIVE WOES AND MIDLIFE DECLINE OF HENRY VIII

Catrina Whitley recently shared with me an article that she and her colleague Kyra Kramer recently wrote about the reasons behind Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn’s many miscarriages and stillbirths. Interestingly, they affirm that it was not Henry’s queens who ‘failed’ to provide the king with an heir, as history so often remembers them, and neither was it the women who were in some way physiologically responsible for the many miscarriages and stillbirths. Instead, the problem lay in Henry … [Read More...]

New book giveaway competition! C.W Gortner’s ‘The Last Queen’

Last week I announced the winner of our December book giveaway competition at On the Tudor Trail, congratulations again Elina from Finland! Today I am very happy to post the details of our January/February book giveaway competition. This time the lucky winner will receive a copy of C.W Gortner's The Last Queen, the story of Juana of Castile the third child of Isabel of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon. It is an evocative and vivid portrayal of the life of a Queen that history all but … [Read More...]

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

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...]