Anne of Cleves’ House

Here it is, the house in Haverhill that the “sister” of Henry VIII lived in for a few years, as part of their non-consummation annulment settlement, only six months after the “marriage” in Greenwich to follow a betrothal at Rochester. She outlived Henry, Holbein who painted her, Cromwell who arranged the wedding, Cranmer who presided…

Forget Richard III cartoons – Henry VIII wins by a mile….!

  Long live the new king? Ye gods. Henry VII may have been an unpleasant, money-grubbing, paranoid gargoyle, but his son was a true MONSTER. Forget about falls on the head changing his character, the fact is that he’s remembered for his marriages and the way he executed two of his unfortunate queens, Anne Boleyn…

A recently identified book …

… by the sixteenth century spokesman for the Marriage Guidance Council. After all, he had experience of six marriage ceremonies, even if he subsequently annulled four of them. Two of his “wives” didn’t have to waste time and money on their hairstyle or headdress – how thoughtful of him.

CICELY PLANTAGENET – NOT SO FORTUNATE AS FAIR.

Reblogged from A Medieval Potpourri sparkypus.com Stained glass portrait of Cicely.  Formerly in Canterbury Cathedral now in the Burrell Collection, Glasgow. Cicely Plantagenet (b.1469 d.1507) daughter and niece to kings, and a prime example of a medieval noblewoman who endured and in this case survived the turmoil of the Wars of the Roses.    Oh how that…

Not just another Anne Boleyn series

This was shown on BBC2 during August and the subject has been covered several times in recent years, not least with our old friend Dr. Starkey. However, I am pleased I watched it for two reasons. The first is that The Boleyns: A scandalous family discussed the situation from the perspective of Thomas Boleyn seeking…

What really happened with Princess Cecily’s first two marriages….?

The following extract is from Not So Fortunate As Fair’: The Life of Princess Cecily Plantagenet by Sharon Champion:- “….At the age of five, she [Cecily] was betrothed to James, the infant son and heir of James III of Scotland. John 5th Baron Scrope of Bolton was sent as commissioner to negotiate a contract of…

Eleanor the Crusader

My next book – due for release in October, all being well – is about Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. They were one of Europe’s most fabulous power couples, ruling lands that spread from the North Sea to the Mediterranean. Eleanor was nine years Henry’s senior. When they married in 1152, he was a…

Was the Black Prince a control freak where his wife was concerned….?

Before I start, I must apologise for the decidedly uncontemporary illustrations. They are an indulgence, I fear. The one above, of the Prince of Wales (known to posterity as the Black Prince) in armour at an army camp, his hands clasped behind his back, seems to me to probably capture him exactly as he was…all…

Princess Cecily of York, a very daring lady….

  Some of you will know that in the 1970s I wrote a trilogy about Cicely/Cecily, daughter of Edward IV. I called her Cicely back then, and have stuck with it, but now she is generally known as Cecily. She had been the third daughter, but on the death of her sister Mary, because second…

So wrong he could be right?

This article, by the former MP Norman Baker, appeared in the Mail on Sunday. Actually, the original version was much longer and referred to Elizabeth II as a descendant of Henry VIII. This is an egregious howler, surely, because all of his actual descendants died by 1603 (or the last day of 1602/3 in the…