Question from Abby - Joan v. Jane

I love Tudor history and love to look at the picture galleries on this site. While browsing through pictures of Jane Seymour, I came across a sketch of her with her name given as "Iohanna." (it is the bottom picture in her gallery.) I know from studying latin myself that the letter I is often used instead of the letter J, but using the J instead so the name reads Johanna sounds more like the name Joan instead of Jane. Were the names Joan and Jane interchangeable or am I interpreting the name wrong?

Question from Sharon - Websites with photos of Tudor artifacts

I have not yet been to England but when i go I plan on visiting historic Tudor sites. In the meantime, I have been trying to find websites that have photos of Tudor artifacts (jewels, clothing, writing) much like what is included in this site. The only thing I have found so far is the Showtime Series "The Tudors" website. Does anyone know of any other sites?

Question from Jean (Anne's Fan) - Comments on the Bell "St. Peter ad Vincula" book

I have been reading the Bell book about the chapel of St Peter Ad Vincula, in the Tower of London. I understand that while the bones of several people were not able to be identified were co-mingled for re-burial. Some remains were found buried where it was said they were. Among those identified were those of Anne Boleyn. The bones that were identified were put in their own containers with their name on it and reburied where they were found.
Therefore not co-mingled.

It is also interesting to note that there appeared to be evidence of the "extra" nail, that Anne was supposed to have had.

Question from Gervase - Princess Diana's vs Prince Charles' royal blood

Can anyone tell me how Princess Diana had more royal blood than Prince Charles. I had read and heard that many times. I am curious as to the bloodline she had from the royals.

Question from Diane - Darnley's claim to the English throne

I'd like to learn more about Lord Darnley's claim to the English throne. I know his ties to Scotland's throne were much stronger but he was also a grandson of Margaret Tudor through her second marriage to Archibald Douglas. Thus he was descended from Henry VII and after the death of Edward VI was, to the best of my knowledge, the sole legitimate male relative on the Tudor side to Queens Mary and Elizabeth. With Darnley also being a Catholic did Queen Mary ever consider making him her heir? He would have been 13 in 1558.

Question from Nikki - Location of Jane Grey's execution scaffold

Another question from my David Starkey book from the previous post.

In Chapter 21, Retribution, Starkey states that the scaffold on which Lady Jane Grey would die upon was in front of the Chapel St. Peter ad Vincula.

"The scaffold on which she would die had been built on Tower Green, within the walls and directly in front of the chapel."

I thought in a previous post it was determined that the scaffold was in a different spot? If it was built in front of the chapel as Starkey states, then the memorial might be in the right place. I am so confused!!

Question from Nikki - Elizabeth's arrival at the Tower in Mary's reign

I am reading, "Elizabeth: The Struggle For The Throne," by David Starkey. In Chapter 22, The Tower, he claims that Elizabeth did not arrive through Traitor's Gate, as is famously proclaimed.

"Bearing in mind the lowness of the tide, it would anyway have been impossible, since Traitor's Gate was a water-gate. Instead, Elizabeth landed at Tower Wharf and entered the Tower across the drawbridge, to the west of the fortress."

Is this true?

Question from Catharine - Choice of Edward VI's name

Hello

I have a personal question that has always puzzled me. I hope you can give me an answer.
Why did Henry VIII and Jane Seymour name their legitimate son Edward, when his (supposed) two illegitimate sons (with Bessie Blount and Mary Boleyn)were named Henry?
I know this question may be asked on hearsay that I have read but I hope you can enlighten me one way or another.

Catharine Gauden

Question from Paula - Mary Queen of Scots' accent

Hi – any linguistics experts here?

I wonder what Mary Queen of Scots’ spoken English was actually like after she learned the language while in prison in England? I noticed that in ‘Elizabeth I’ (with Helen Mirren) Mary speaks with a French accent. In ‘Elizabeth – The Golden Age’, she speaks with a Scottish accent. Which do you think is more historically accurate?

Mary did spend her formative years in France, so her English was probably ‘very French’, but on the other hand, one of the English ambassadors who met Mary as an adult, said she had a ‘pretty Scots’ accent. (By the way, how close was the 16th century Scottish language to their neighbors in the south)?

Of course, we’ll never really know how Mary spoke, but I would be interested in others’ opinions nonetheless.

Question from Stephanie - Infant buried with Henry VIII

I always thought the infant son of Queen Anne buried with Henry VIII was that of Anne Boleyn, not Anne Stuart. Which is it? And if it is Anne Stuart- Why buried with Henry?

Question from Nikki - Alison Weir's new book and tour

Any thoughts on Alison Weir's new book launch? To launch her new book, The Lady in The Tower about Anne Boleyn, Weir is kicking off a Tudor tour! The dates are April 6 - 16, 2010. It leaves from the US and tours The Tower, The Abbey, Hampton Court, Windsor Castle, Winchester Cathedral and other places. Total price is just under $5700! Here's the link. http://alisonweir.org.uk/news/index.asp

I know some of you aren't Weir fans, so I am anxious to see if you think this would be worth it to hear her lecture on Tudor history at each stop.

Question from Kristian - Jane Seymour's heart

Combining two topics recently posted, I have a question about removal and burial of Jane Seymour's heart.
When I visited the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace last month, I saw a plaque near the altar (facing the altar - it was free-standing on the floor to the right) that said Jane's heart was removed and buried there at Hampton while her body was, of course, buried with Henry.

I can find nothing else written to verify or contradict this.
Does anyone know more?
Has anyone else seen/read that plaque?

Bell book on St. Peter ad Vincula

A few months ago I went looking at the various book scanning efforts by Google and others to see if the Bell book that has been discussed here often was available yet and didn't find it. So, I requested it though Interlibrary Loan and scanned the first part (with the actual notes from the restoration) to make a PDF for you all. And, of course, now that I've almost finished cleaning up my scans, it shows up at Google Books! Oh well, I guess it is the thought that counts. :)

For those of you who want to read the book, you can get it here.

Question from Nikki - Mary I's heart and burial

I just finished reading "Bloody Mary," by Carolly Erickson. Not a bad book, actually. I was suprised that the book didn't focus much on the Protestant burnings since that's what she's most remembered for. (But then again, English history isn't kind to Catholicism!)

My question is this. The end of the book states that Mary's body was buried in the Henry VII chapel in Westminster Abbey, in a grave on the north side. "Her heart, 'being severally enclosed in a coffin covered with velvet bound with silver,' was separately interred."

I had no idea that this was where her body was originally buried. When was it moved to the current spot, with Elizabeth? Also, where is her heart?

Question from Annina - Political impact of Henry's wives

hello, i need your help!

for my oral exam i need informations about the political impact of the first two wives of Henry VIII! i hope you can help me!

THX

Question from Antonia - Henry's burial with Jane, etc.

Hello all,

The recent question regarding the burial of Henry VIII has got me thinking...

Is there any particular reason Henry was buried with Jane Seymour? I remember being told this as a child, and believing it because he "loved her most" as it were. Having since learnt more, I can't believe that was necessarily true, though she was perhaps the one he was most satisfied with at the time of her death.

Did Henry stipulate he wanted to be buried with Jane, and if so, is there evidence of this? On the flip side, if he did not say so and the decision was therefore made for him, does anyone know on what basis this might have been on?

Also, why was Katherine Parr not interred with Henry upon her death? (Perhaps the marriage to Seymour?) She was his last wife and (by Henry's standards) it was a fairly good union, so I've always wondered how she felt about him being buried with Jane.

And finally (yes, I am coming to an end...), PhD Historian mentioned in the same thread I mentioned above that the bones of (I believe) Anne Boleyn, Lady Jane Grey and Katherine Howard were discovered at St. Peter's in the 19th century. These were then put together in one container and reburied. I've heard this before but it's always seemed odd to me - why mix them together? Why not separate them and bury them accordingly? While they were all technically executed criminals, it nevertheless seems extremely disrespectful.

I have perhaps focused on these burial quibbles too much over recent days, to the extent where I am becoming macabre, so any final thoughts would be useful!

{PS from Lara - you're welcome re: the RSS feed!)

Question from Kristian - Queen's Apartments at the Tower

I am curious (and confused) about the Tudor half-timber apartments at the Tower of London. In my reading, they have been variously identified as the Queen's Apartments (built by Henry VIII for Anne Boleyn's coronation), the Lieutenant's Lodgings and the Governor's Quarters.
I have also read in a couple of books that these are not the queens apartments and that the real apartments were destroyed.
Even after visiting in person, I am confused (that may just be my personal issue :o)
Can anyone shed some light on this?

Question from Beryl - Anne's influence on Henry's religious beliefs

I am wondering what evidence there is for the ammount of influence Anne Bolyen may or may not have had on Henry's religious beleifs?
I have to do a university assignment about it
Thank you
Beryl Martyn

Question from Entspinster - Other crimes Anne may have been guilty of

Bouncing off a previous question-- Anne the Queen was charged with specific acts many of which, as she herself pointed out, could not have taken place at the time and places given. She was demonstratably elsewhere. The only actual confession of intercourse with her was Smeaton's, and he was surely at least threatened with torture. And her marriage to Henry was declared (retroactively)invalid, not dissolved. No marriage, no adultery.

But because a person was not guilty of the specific crimes for which she (in the case of Anne B.) was tried and sent to execution does not mean that she was not guilty of other things. Reports of Anne's last speech say, very plausibly, that she confessed to treating Henry with less love than she should have, and to being jealous. (It would not matter that Henry was, to our eyes, was being unlovable and giving her cause for jealousy.) The reports that she and her circle joked and gossiped about Henry's failings and the possibility of Anne outliving him are very believable. Can anyone coment on disrespect toward the King being a capital crime? Would "lese majestie" be the right term?

She certainly threatened both Katherine of Aragon and Mary the future Queen with execution, and tried to get Henry to carry this out. Incitement to murder?

Is St. Peter's not consecrated ground? There is no record of a funeral at the time, but does the COE consider a funeral a sacrament in any case? And could one not have been held for her (in absentia, so to speak) in secret by those who cared for her? Elizabeth her daughter did not pursue the matter in public. Perhaps she was privately satisfied that what needed to be done had been done.

Question from Joanna M - If Jane Seymour had lived

Just out of curiosity really and i know difficult to answer but.... How do you think the course of history and the life, actions and personality of Henry VIII would have differed (if at all) had Jane Seymour lived?

Question from tudorfanatic - Photos of Henry VIII's vault, parts of surviving palaces, etc.

1)I would like to know if there are any photographs of inside the vault where king henry and queen jane are resting, Ive seen the sketch but ide like to know if theres a modern photograph?

2) I would also like to know if there is anything at hampton court/st james palace today that would of been there in king henrys reign and what he would of seen that we see today? I know he built it but theres been alot of alterations havent there?

3) How many palaces,Castles,Houses is there that were built in the time of king henrys reign is there today that are of its origanal form that it/they were back then?

4) Is there anything on for publuc viewing that would of personaly belonged to king henry or any other tudor monarch?

5) Is it possible that anne boleyns body and the other bodys that are in st peters be removed and exhumed and be given a proper burial?

[Note - #5 edited slightly at the request of the submitter]

Question from Janet - Women and the Oath of Succession

Hello, I am very curious, when Henry VIII enacted the 'oath of succession' where people had to swear to be loyal to Anne Boleyn and her heirs, instead of Catherine of Aragon and Princess Mary, were women required to take the oath as well? Or was it just men?

Since women weren't even allowed to vote (members into Parliament that is), were they excused from swearing?

Question from Elizabeth M - Reversal of Anne's attainder

I am not sure if this has been answered before. Has there ever been any talk about legally reversing the attainder on Anne Boleyn? True, a lot of the evidence used at her trial is long gone, there is still the evidence that her supposed trysts on certain dates and places were completely fabricated, as she was not at those places on the times given. In today's legal system, she would be acquitted on that fact alone, due to reasonable doubt. Based on just that, could she have her attainder and conviction reversed legally, and has there ever been a thought to doing so? Would it go through Parliament, or would the Queen have a say?

Question from Kathy - Requests from England

Does anybody want anything from England? I am leaving on June 22 for three weeks there. My main purpose is to go to as many of the Henry VIII exhibits that I can make in London and day trips to Greenwich, Portsmouth, Canterbury, Windsor, Hampton Court, and especially Lincoln/Gainsborough to attend Steven Gunn's lecture on Charles Brandon at Gainsborough Old Hall on July 10.

I have already promised Lara that I would take a picture of the plaque on the model of the Tower of London that is on display in the White Tower so we can see what date they say it represents as well as to take copious notes on the description of the wall mural in the Vistors' Center at the Maritime Museum in Greenwich that I got a picture of the last time I was there. (I also plan to harass them them to make that mural available as a wall poster. I've never wanted a poster of anything more than I want that one!)

Does anybody else have any requests as far as pictures/brochures/information or anything else I can reasonably get? I'll be more than happy to try to help. This includes postcards. If anybody wants a specific postcard from anywhere (including the National Portrait Gallery) ask Lara for email addy and tell me what you want. I'll try my best to get it for you.

Question from Diane - Jane Grey and royal rituals

If Jane Grey had lived and remained Queen, would she have participated in traditional royal rites such as the blessing of the cramp rings on Good Friday, the King's Evil ceremony and the washing of the feet of the poor? Obviously, washing the feet of the poor is following Jesus's example, but would she, as a Protestant, consider the other rites superstitious?