On This Day in Tudor History

November 17, 1558 was monumental day in Tudor—and for that matter—English history.

It was on this day that Queen Mary I died at St. James Palace and her half sister, Elizabeth I, succeeded her to the throne, beginning the fashionable, creative, amazing Elizabethan Era in England. (think Shakespeare!)Against all odds, the daughter of Queen Anne Boleyn would become one of the greatest monarchs of all time.

Mary reigned only five years but left a legacy that would always be remembered as one of persecution and execution, leaving her with the sobriquet "Bloody Mary."

Elizabeth became queen at the age of 25, and upon hearing of her accession to the throne, she is reputed to have quoted the 118th Psalm's twenty-third line, in Latin: "A Dominum factum est illud, et est mirabile in oculis notris" - "It is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes."

What REALLY Happened On This Day—November 14th—in Tudor History?

One of the more interesting claims to come out of the differing biographies and historical accounts of the Tudor Era is the possibility that Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn had more than one secret wedding ceremony and the anniversary of their ill-fated marriage is actually today, November 14, 1532.

Thanks to Elizabeth I's September 7, 1533 birthday, it's hard to dispute that Henry and Anne finally consummated their six-and-a-half-year relationship in November of 1532.

According to “The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn,” Boleyn biographer Eric Ives claims Henry and Anne thought that he was sufficiently detached from Katherine of Aragon to finally have sexual relations. After all, Henry just had taken Anne on the state visit to Calais to treat with King Francis I and even he officially received her as the King of England's consort--a major coup. There are also theories (as portrayed on Showtime's The Tudors) that Henry and Anne finally slept together when their return home was delayed by storms and they remained in Calais a few days.

The idea that a 16th century king desperate for a male heir would risk any resulting child being declared illegitimate is the likely impetus for the idea that Henry and Anne would marry--perhaps in secret--as quickly as possibly after the consummation. That would mean a November ceremony or perhaps just a traditional, formal betrothal.

By January, 1553, it's clear that Anne believed herself to be pregnant and it is widely believed the couple underwent a more formal secret ceremony in front of only their closest confidents on January 25 in the turret over the entrance gate to Whitehall Palace, London. In fact, the wedding was kept so quiet that Eric Ives quotes Eustace Chapuys, the Imperial ambassador, as reporting, in March 1533, rumors that Henry would not marry Anne until Easter of that year, clearly in the dark about any earlier wedding.

According to Ives's research, Tudor chronicler, Edward Hall, was the one who wrote of the possible November ceremony, putting forward St. Erkenwald's Day (November 14, 1532) as the date.

“The king, after his return [from Calais] married privily the Lady Anne Bulleyn on Saint Erkenwald’s Day, which marriage was kept so secret that very few knew it, till she was great with child, at Easter after.”

Of course, this date meant that Elizabeth was conceived in marriage. Had the wedding been January 25, Elizabeth would have been blatantly illegitimate by any standards. There would be no defense of her bastardy.

Even Catholic apologist and Boleyn hater, Nicholas Sander, dates Henry and Anne’s marriage as the 14th November.

All of this is fairly convincing evidence of two ceremonies.

Henry VIII loved nothing more than the masque. He loved to fool people and make them believe what he wanted them to believe. It is entirely possible that he would hold a secret wedding ceremony and dissemble in public.

However, the January ceremony baffles me a bit because Henry HAD to realize that the date would put paternity of his child (and long-awaited male heir, in HIS mind) and the legitimacy in question. They clearly had to real witnesses to a November ceremony and perhaps thought they needed another ceremony--with witnesses--to make it official before Anne started showing?

Then again, there seems to be no end to the things that baffle me (and millions of others) about Anne and Henry.

On This Day in Tudor History

On September 22, 1515, Anna von Jülich-Kleve-Berg was born in Germany. She is better known as Anne of Cleves, the fourth wife of Henry VIII of England and Queen of England from 6 January 1540 to 9 July 1540.


The marriage was never consummated, and she was never crowned queen consort. Following the annulment of their marriage, Anne was given a generous settlement by the king, and thereafter referred to as the "King's Beloved Sister."

Henry was convinced to make the match with Anne by his chancellor, Thomas Cromwell. It would prove to be Cromwell's undoing.

Anne's divorce settlement included Richmond Palace and Hever Castle -- home of Henry's former in-laws, the Boleyns. Her name and initials can still be seen throughout the house, such as on a fire screen in a sitting room.

Anne was invited to court often and had a close relationship with Henry's daughters, Mary and Elizabeth. In 1553, Anne was present at Mary I's coronation at Westminster. As the new Queen was a strict Catholic, Anne converted her religion for the second time, now becoming a Roman Catholic.

Anne's health began to fail in 1557, so Mary allowed her to live at Chelsea Old Manor, where Henry's widow Catherine Parr, lived after her remarriage. Here, in the middle of July 1557, Anne dictated her last will. In it, she mentions her brother, sister and sister-in-law, as well as the future Queen Elizabeth, the Duchess of Norfolk and the Countess of Arundel. She left money to her servants and asked Mary and Elizabeth to employ them in their households.

Anne died at Chelsea Old Manor on 16 July 1557, a few weeks before her forty-second birthday. The cause of her death was most likely cancer. She is buried in Westminster Abbey, on the opposite side of Edward the Confessor's shrine and slightly above eye level for a person of average height.

She is the only wife of Henry VIII to be buried in the Abbey and also has the distinction of being the last of Henry VIII's wives to die. She outlived Catherine Parr by 9 years.


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On This Day in Tudor History

On September 5, 1548, queen Catherine (Kateryn) Parr died of puerperal fever at the age of 35.

Following the death of King Henry VIII on 28 January 1547, Catherine was given an allowance of ₤7,000 per year, befitting her station. Henry had further ordered, after his death, though a queen dowager, she be given the respect of a Queen of England, as if he was still alive.

Catherine was able to marry her old love, Lord Seymour of Sudeley (Sir Thomas Seymour). As they married within six months of the old king's death, they had to obtain King Edward VI's permission for the match. When their union became public knowledge, it caused a small scandal. Catherine became pregnant by Seymour at age thirty-five. This pregnancy was a surprise as Catherine had not conceived a child during her first three marriages (however, two of her husbands had been much older than she).




Catherine gave birth to her only child — a daughter, Mary Seymour, named after her stepdaughter, Queen Mary I of England — on 30 August 1548, and died only six days later, on 5 September 1548, at Sudeley Castle in Gloucestershire, from what is thought to be puerperal fever or puerperal sepsis, also called childbed fever. Coincidentally, this was also the illness that killed Henry's third wife, Jane Seymour. It was not uncommon, due to the lack of hygiene around childbirth.

Catherine's widower, Lord Seymour of Sudeley, was beheaded for treason less than a year later, and the infant Mary was taken to live with the Dowager Duchess of Suffolk, a close friend of Catherine. After a year and a half, Mary's property was restored to her by an Act of Parliament, easing the burden of the infant's household on the duchess. The last recorded mention of Mary Seymour is on her second birthday, and although stories circulated that she eventually married and had children, most historians believe she died as a child.


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On This Date in Tudor History

On July 19, 1553, King Henry VIII's daughter, Mary, was proclaimed Queen of England after Edward VI's chosen successor, Lady Jane Grey, who had claimed the monarchy for nine days, was deposed. After initially being forgiven by Queen Mary I, Lady Jane Grey and her husband were imprisoned and later executed for high treason.


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On This Day in Tudor History:

On February 20, 1547, Prince Edward is crowned King Edward VI of England at the tender age of 9.
Edward was the long awaited son of Henry VIII with his third wife, Jane Seymour. Edward was England's first sovereign to be raised a full Protestant.
Sadly, Edward's reign was marked by economic and social unrest. Of course, Edward only ever ruled through a Regency Council because he never reached maturity.
Edward fell ill in January 1553, and when it was discovered to be terminal, he and his Council attempted to prevent the country being returned to Catholicism by naming his cousin, Lady Jane Grey, as his heir and excluding his half sisters, Princesses Mary and Elizabeth. This would doom Lady Jane to execution by Queen Mary I.

On This Day in Tudor History:

On September 7, 1533, Queen Anne Boleyn gave birth to a daughter, the future Queen Elizabeth I, in Greenwich Palace in the Chamber of Virgins between three and four o'clock in the afternoon (much to the disappointment of her father, King Henry VIII).

Elizabeth was born a princess, but after the fall of her mother, Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth was declared illegitimate and Anne was executed. Her brother, Edward VI, also cut her out of the succession. His will was set aside, and in 1558 Elizabeth succeeded her half-sister, Queen Mary I, during whose reign she had been imprisoned for nearly a year on suspicion of supporting Protestant rebels.

Despite her father's disappointment in her gender, Elizabeth would go on to be one of the greatest British monarchs of all time... though she would be the last Tudor on the throne because she died childless.

On This Day in Tudor History:

On August 14, 1473, Lady Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury was born - the last legitimate member of the House of Plantagenet.
Lady Salisbury was Godmother and sponsor to King Henry VIII's daughter with Katherine of Aragon, Princess Mary, later Queen Mary I. She was also appointed Mary's Governess until Henry had Mary declared illegitimate and placed in Princess Elizabeth's household.
After Margaret's son, Reginald Cardinal Pole, published a treatise critical of Henry for leaving Katherine and marrying Anne Boleyn, the King systematically dismantled and executed the Poles while Reginald stayed safe over seas.
On My 28th, 1541, Lady Salisbury was executed on the Tower Green.
According to some accounts, Lady Salisbury, who was 67 years old, frail and ill, was dragged to the block, but refused to lay her head on it, having to be forced down. As she struggled, the inexperienced executioner's first blow made a gash in her shoulder rather than her neck. Ten additional blows were required to complete the execution. A less reputable account states that she leapt from the block after the first clumsy blow and ran, pursued by the executioner, being struck eleven times before she died. She was buried at the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula and beatified a martyr by the Catholic Church.

Fixing The Tudors?

About a week ago the Primetime Emmy Nominations were announced in Los Angeles. Now, I don't want to take anything away from the crew of the Showtime series The Tudors, so I will first congratulate them on these noms:

* Outstanding Art Direction For A Single-Camera Series
* Outstanding Casting For A Drama Series
* Outstanding Cinematography For A One Hour Series
* Outstanding Costumes For A Series
* Outstanding Hairstyling For A Single-Camera Series

I have made no secret of the fact that I was not at all satisfied with this past season of the Tudors (Season 3 in America). I am not at ALL surprised to see the lack of acting nods. This was not the finest hour for the show nor for the cast. I still believe many of them capable of delivering great performances, but this season's scripts just didn't deliver the juicy, clever story lines to which we have become accustomed.

To my great surprise, I was recently contacted about these opinions by those looking to make season 4 a greater success. Unfortunately, I cannot go into detail, as I signed a confidentiality agreement. I will say only that clearly, I am NOT alone in noticing the departure this past season and wishing for the Tudors we saw in seasons 1 & 2. (It can never be the same without the brilliant story involving Anne Boleyn and actress Natalie Dormer, but I have no doubt that writer Michael Hirst can recapture the magic!)

In my opinion, focusing too much on the Pilgrimage of Grace and other uprisings is alienating The Tudors' core audience: women. You cannot take a series for which you built a following of mainly women by focusing on a love triangle and shift it entirely to warfare and politics in season 3! It seems quite obvious to me, but we will have to see if Hirst & Co. have learned their lesson for season 4.

** On a side note, although I was - at first - understanding of the decision to not fatten Henry in the series, I have since changed my mind and believe it to be a BIG mistake.

On This Day in Tudor History:

July 12, 1543, Henry VIII married his sixth and final wife: Kateryn Parr at Hampton Court Palace. Kateryn was Henry's queen consort upon his death in January 1547.

As Queen, Kateryn was partially responsible for reconciling Henry with his daughters from his first two marriages, who would later become Queens Regnant, Mary and Elizabeth. She also developed a good relationship with Henry's son Edward, King Edward VI, and Lady Jane Grey, The "Nine Days Queen," lived with Princess Elizabeth and Dowager Queen Kateryn at Chelsea.

Kateryn Parr (the wife who "survived" in the famous mnemonic) only outlived Henry VIII by a year and a half, dying of childbed fever after giving birth to her daughter, Mary, by fourth husband, Thomas Seymour.

Tower of London Slideshow

I traveled to England last month and I'm finally getting around to organizing the photos. Here's a slideshow from the Tower of London...