Cut Down That Family Tree!

Online History groups are frequently visited by new members who excitedly tell tales of their illustrious ancestral history–Eleanor of Aquitaine is their x 20 gran, Richard III is a direct forebear along with Anne Boleyn, they have mysterious Dark Age chieftains, Roman generals like Magnus Maximus…even King Arthur has popped up from time to time.…

Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn really did sleep here….!

If you fancy staying in a Tudor castle, then Thornbury Castle in Gloucestershire is the place for you. It’s a beautiful castle that is now presented very much in the Tudor style. “….It was built in 1510 by Edward Stafford, the Duke of Buckingham, who had been given permission by the young King Henry VIII…

The Stanley who found religion – Sir John Stanley of Honford.

  Sir John Stanley was a grandson of Thomas Stanley, Earl of Derby and Eleanor Neville. His father was James Stanley (c 1465-1525) a cleric who eventually became Bishop of Ely. (He retained multiple benefices and seems to have been as often in Lancashire as in Ely. He is buried in what is now Manchester…

Richard III’s many daughters….

  Fake news. Ah yes. We regard this as a modern curse, but, of course, it goes back through the centuries. Probably ever since the humans in one cave fell out with the humans in another. Lies…erm, fake news…soon circulated. And if there was one King of England about whom there is fake news in…

The Wandering Butler: John, 6th Earl of Ormond

FAMILY BACKGROUND The Lancastrian leader who faced – or failed to face – Thomas, Earl of Desmond, at the Battle of Piltown in 1462 was the fourth of the five children born to James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond (otherwise known as the White Earl), and his countess Joan Beauchamp, daughter of William Beauchamp, Lord…

Lady Mary Howard married the bastard son of Henry VIII….

    I found the article below at this site where the numerous posts are Tudor-oriented (Henry VIII), but very interesting and informative. The article is given in full to tempt you into visiting the site to read all the others:- “….On November 25th or 26th, 1533, Henry FitzRoy married Lady Mary Howard. “….Mary Howard…

The house owned by Sir Thomas Wyatt, the man accused of being Anne Boleyn’s lover….

Here is another fine old house for sale, although way out of my price bracket. I’ve learned of it courtesy of Country Life magazine. Hunton Court, formerly Court Lodge, is tucked away near Maidstone in Kent and you can read about it here. There is a link to the estate agent’s details of the property,…

Borman on Thomas Cromwell

This two part series was originally shown on 5Select during December 2021, presented by Tracy Borman from the Tower of London. It went beyond the cliched story of: the brewery in Putney, service to Wolsey, surviving him, the Dissolution, outmanoeuvring Anne Boleyn, setting up the Cleves “marriage” and being sent to the block to encounter…

Religion can be the death of us….

    Oh, the perils of religion. It seems to turn up behind most things throughout history. Certainly it prompted More and Fawkes, and was used quite shamelessly by Henry VIII so he could have Anne Boleyn. And even today it’s still the reason for most conflicts around the world. This article only deals with…

Calais – a bed of Tudor roses for Anne Boleyn….?

  Calais was at one time English territory, and Richard III made his son John of Gloucester the Captain of Calais. John was as ill-fated as his father. Further back, Warwick (the “Kingmaker”) was another Captain, and in 1469 his elder daughter Isabel was married there to Richard’s older brother George, Duke of Clarence. The…