Question from M.G. - Katherine Parr's writings

Please pardon if this has already been asked, but where (online or otherwise) can I find a copy of Katherine Parr's "The Lamentations of a Sinner" or "Prayers and Meditations"? Thank you.

Question from Kelly - Climbing the social ladder

How easy was it to move up the social ladder (i.e to be born poor but to become wealthy)?

Question from Elizabeth - Jane Seymour c-section

Is there any knowledge out there that Jane Seymour ever had a c-section? If so then how did she manage to live for 2 weeks?

Question from Paige - Hair color etc. of Henry's wives

hi there,
i modify dolls and have decided to make all six of henry's wives. from what i can gather with descriptions and pictures is that anne boleyn had dark brown hair and eyebrows with big black eyes. common sense and science tells me jane seymour was a red head, as her son edward had red hair, as did henry. had she had dark hair, that would have been the prominent gene.
unfortunately in all the pictures of the other wives, they are wearing lovely headdresses (which i will also include in the costumes of my dolls) but i cannot tell their hair and eye colors.
if anyone can help me, id be very grateful :)

thanks!
paige.

Question from Lisa - Early Tudor education

I am interested in education in Tudor England, particularly during the reign of Henry VII and Henry VIII. Education does appear to have been very limited but at least some members of the aristocracy were educated. Why were some members of the aristocracy educated while some were not? Wealth seems to have been a factor but was social standing (i.e. titles such as Baron, Earl, Duke, etc.) a factor as well? Also, what subjects did their education consist of? Were a majority educated in schools or tutored privately at home?

Both Oxford and Cambridge existed during that time period but who went there to be educated?

While women were not typically educated, there were exceptions such as Anne Boleyn. Were most aristocratic women educated? If not, does anyone know the reasons why some women (such as Anne Boleyn) were and others weren't?

Lastly, does anyone know if education was more, less, or just as common in other areas of western Europe, particularly France, Spain, and Italy during this time period? Were there some places where women were more likely to be educated?

Question from Lisa - Nobles and marriage

I had some questions about marriage and nobility. I know that most marriages among the upper class were arranged but there were at least a few exceptions (some with and some without their family's blessings.) Specifically, I would like to know what circumstances/situations would have led two nobles to meet and fall in love with people of the opposite sex. I know that sometimes they would meet at court but what specific activities would have got them interacting with each other? Were there any other places they could have met? In Romeo & Juliet (which I know is fictional and based in Italy) the title characters met at a party. Did nobles ever throw parties in Tudor England and was this a possible way of meeting someone of the opposite sex? Were there any other situations which would have allowed the nobility to meet?

Also, there are a couple examples I've run across where nobles married commoners such as Mary Boleyn's marriage to William Stafford. Under what circumstances might a noble meet and fall in love with a commoner? Every source I've found just states that she married him but does not mention how they would have met and I'm curious, not just about her but how any noble could have had enough interaction with a commoner to fall in love with them since it seems like, at least from my limited research, that they didn't spend much time together.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Question from Elizabeth - Questions on Henry VIII's personal life

1. Is there any approximate number of how many illegitimate children Henry VIII had?
2. Was there even time for Henry VIII to take a mistress when he was married to Anne of Cleves? Since they were only married about six months.
3. Was Catherine Parr ever Henry's mistress or considered to be? Or were they just married shortly after Catherine Howard's execution?

Question from Lyra - Henry VIII's children all virgins?

Elizabeth was known as the Virgin queen and never married, Edward died in adolescence, and Mary didn't get married until she was 37 and her husband didnt find her very attractive. So my question is, is it possible that all of Henry VIII children were virgins?

Question from Chad - Elizabeth of York's relatives

Whatever happened to the relatives of Henry VIII'S mother, Elizabeth of York? I know her brothers were the ill fated Princes in the tower, but what of the other family?

ed. note - This question was basically covered in the question about the remaining children of Elizabeth Woodville, who of course, was Elizabeth of York's mother, so we're basically talking about the same people. You can see that post and answers here:
http://tudorhistory.org/queryblog/2007/09/question-from-gordy-elizabeth-woodville.html

If anyone has anyone else to add, feel free to post it to this or the other thread.

Catching up on last week's posts shortly

Sorry to those who submitted questions over the past few days. I've been feeling totally rotten and the fog is just now lifting enough from my brain to try to catch up.

I couple of recent questions that have shown up have at least partially already been answered, so I'd like to remind folks about the search bar at the top of the page. Also, at least one of the questions that had already been asked came in from someone who didn't leave an email address, so I'd also like to remind folks that while I don't *require* people to leave an email address, it really is helpful when you do! Thanks!

Question from Margaret - Anne and Mary Boleyn's grandmother

I just finished reading The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory. I know it is fiction, and not that historically accurate but one of the characters caught my eye. Anne and Mary Boleyn's grandmother. Did she really exist? Did she play a major part in Anne's life or was she just a silent witness to Anne's rise and fall? Did she die during Anne's reign or afterward?

Question from Callum - Tudor sweets

I'm doing a project on Tudor food and want to find out about sweets that would have been eaten. There's lots of info on the net saying that sweets were eaten but not what sort of sweets. Can anyone help?
I do know that marizpan (marchpane) was used a lot though.

Yr 5
Callum aged 9

Question from Helena - Henry VIII and his children

Henry VIII sounded like a pretty mean guy. But did he ever beat his children? Or did he not see them often enough to display his bad temper?

Question from Helen - Henry VIII's mistresses

[I think we've had questions about several of Henry's mistresses, but I thought it might be nice to compile everything in one post/thread -- Lara]

How many mistresses did Henry VIII have? And how long of a period did he have each one?

Question from Leigh - Any read "A Tudor Story"?

Hi, I was wondering whether anyone had read the book 'A Tudor Story' by W.S. Pakenham-Walsh? If so, what was your take on it?

Question from Karen - Dress/costume for poor Tudor children

Good Morning,

My 8 year old daughter Eleanor (Year 4) is studying the Tudors. She has made a hobby horse and this Thursday she is required to dress as a Tudor child. The children will be supplied with cheese and fruit punch and play tudor games. (Hextable Primary School).

She wishes to dress as a poor tudor child. Can you advise what I should put together for her to wear or maybe hire a costume from?

The letter came home yesterday and I've only jusr read it.

Kind Regards,
Karen.

Question from Leigh - Bond between Anne Boleyn and her daughter

Hi there,

I'm interested to know about the 'bond' (if there was such a thing) between Anne Boleyn and her daughter, Elizabeth. Did Anne love her daughter? Or did she resent her for not being born a boy? Was there ever any evidence of a maternal bond between the two?

Many thanks!

Question from Leigh - Jane Seymour was Henry VIII's only love?

Hi, I've heard many times now that Jane Seymour was the only wife whom Henry VIII really loved. I've been unable to find any evidence to support this, but I've always been under the impression that Henry didn't even bat an eyelid when Jane died. Is it true or false? Or was it simply because they weren't married long enough for him to tire/get bored of her?

Many thanks!

Question from Sara - Jane Rochford apologizing at execution

I read online somewhere that in Jane Parker-Rotchford's last speech, she apologized for her part in her husband George Boleyn's execution and admitted she had lied. Is this true? I had never heard about it in any other place, and I'm not sure whether the site is trustworthy or not.

Catching up, finally!

Okay, my laptop and I both seem to be functioning close to normal (except for some continuing coughing. Me, not the laptop.) I have a few questions that came in over the past week or so that I'll be posting shortly.

And to answer the questions about what the Tudors did at Christmas, my quick answer is to search on "Christmas" at this blog (see the search bar at the top of the page), since there have been a few other questions about that.