Question from Heather - Online Tudor History courses

I love Tudor history! I am wondering if anyone knows of a University that offers classes online that you can take on this subject or Early British History? I have found the University of Exeter but wondering if there are others? (The online Tudor class is full this term).
Thanks!

1000th post

Wow - 1000 posts since November 2005!

Thanks again to everyone for the interesting questions and informative answers. You guys made this blog the success I hoped it would be when I started it. Here's to the next 1000!

Question from Livvie - Sign or marker at Tilbury

I'm very curious - is the place at Tilbury where Elizabeth I made her famous Armada Speech marked in any way?

Are there commeratative markers, interpretive signs, etc.?

Question from Jacque - Pregnant ladies in waiting

I was wondering, when a lady-in-waiting was pregnant, what did she do? I mean, did she continue to serve the queen the whole time and give birth at court or did she leave court temporarily and go to her husband's country estate or...?

Question from Annabel - Possible Tudor building ritual

Whilst replacing the original front door of our 16c house, the builder found small bones (possibly cat) embedded in the door surround. Could this be some sort of ritual during the building of houses in tudor times?

Question from Nicole - Horse breeds

I was wondering what horse breeds were commonly used during Tudor times. I know that Henry VIII was fond of Brabs, but what horses did other people use for pleasure riding and hunting?

Question from Chuck - Identification of signature

Hello and thanks in advance for a minute of your time! I have a very old vellum signature which, to me, seems to be penned "Pax la Royne, Regina". Does any one have any suggestions on which Queen this may be? I am happy to provide a scan.

Chuck

Question from Jacque - Amelia of Cleves

Does anyone know anything about Amelia of Cleves (Anne's older sister)? I know she also sat for Holbein and that she never married, but is anything else known about her? It seems strange to me that she never married because on Wikipedia (I am well aware that Wikipedia should not be taken at its word) it says she was 68 when she died, so if that's true she would have had plenty of time to get married, and being a Duke's daughter, it seems strange that she didn't.
REMOTE_HOST: 207.6.158.144

Question from Kathy - Enclosure of Greenwich Park

With what was the Greenwich Park enclosure enclosed during Henry VIII's day: hedgerows, wooden fences, stone walls, polite notices?

Question from Colleen - Layouts of castles and palaces

I am looking for information on the layout of Tudor homes - specifically castles, but anything the nobility might have lived in would be great. I did Google as many different terms as I could but came up with far too many links to floor plans for Tudor Revival houses, which is NOT what I'm looking for. If anyone knows of any books, websites or even has the ability to explain things to me (like where the Great Hall was exactly, lol) I would greatly appreciate it!

Question from TudorFan - Barons vs. Earls

I was wondering what is the difference between a baron or an earl? I was also wondering which title would have been more likey NOT to have to court but could just stay on thier estate.

The reason that I am asking is that I'm writing a story for a fiction writing class. I want the main character to be a nobleman in the Elizabethan era, but I don't want to write about court life...the reason mainly being that I don't care for historical fiction novels with "real" people in them. If my character was at court, it would be reasonable that he would meet up historical figures and I feel like my writing skills aren't up to the task of protraying historical figures at this moment.

Question from Manon - Source for statement by Francis I

Hello Lara and all Tudor History blog contributors! I have a primary sources question for Foose, or anyone else here, who has done research on King Francis. I am curious about the background of an apparently disparaging statement he made to the Duke of Norfolk about Anne Boleyn's time in France. I have seen it quoted most recently in the "Six Wives" by Weir (p. 154), but her bibliography simply lists all her primary sources together and doesn't include foot or endnotes. Did it possibly come from Francis' interaction with the Bishop of Faenza?

I have been able to track down primary sources for his statements on Queen Katherine, Thomas and Mary Boleyn, but not this particular one. Thanks in advance.

http://tudorhistory.org/queryblog/2009/01/question-from-erin-mary-and-anne-at.html

Question from Jill - The two Henry Brandons

First Lara, I want to thank you for this forum. I find the Tudors endlessly fascinating and it's nice to see that I'm far from alone!

My question regards Henry Brandon, the son of Mary Tudor Brandon. I just finished reading Maria Perry's biography of the Tudor sisters, and was surprised to see that she listed 2 sons with this name belonging to Mary. Unfortunately Ms. Perry did not elaborate on this, which would have been helpful as every other biography I've seen on Mary Rose lists only one Henry (1516-1534), the earl of Lincoln. I'm surprised that there could be confusion on this issue, since Tudor males were in such short supply and I would think that it would be well documented! What are some other people's thoughts on this?


[Note from Lara - You're welcome!!]

Question from Emilia - Normal day for a Queen

I´ve previously sent in a question and was very pleased by the answers i recieved, so i thought why not ask another one that has been occupying my thoughts..
I would like to know how a completely normal day could look like for Henry and his wife´s (im perticularly interested in Anne B)?
I can only imagine how completely different their everyday lives must have been compared to our modern living!
When did they get up in the morning?
What did they have for breakfest, dinner, snacks and so forth?
How about hygine (toothbrushing, bathing, make-up etc)?
How did the queen(s) interact with her ladies in waiting?
(feel free to add to my questions)
I basically want to know everything that a normal day included..
Thank you in advance!

Question from Denise - Google books recommendations

I am curious whether anybody has looked at the free Google books that are available electronically. There are now free ereaders from Sony and Barnes & Noble.

Are there any Tudor nuggets here - history or fiction? I am even interested in reading "bad" history if it is culturally relevant to the time period it was written in.

I was happy to finally find Agnes Strickland who was a reference to many books I read as a child, but unavailable in our old library :-)

Question from Lovey - Documentation on Elizabeth Boleyn

I thought it was awful that Thomas Boleyn have never said anything in defense of his children Anne and George Boleyn. But neither did their mother Elizabeth. But the it dawn on me, that I haven't came across one single quote from Elizabeth Boleyn in regards to Anne and Henry VIII's relationship. In the ten years that Anne and Henry VIII were together, has there been any documentation of Elizabeth Boleyn's feeling towards Anne &Henry? Mary Boleyn? Anne's beheading? Has anyone came across one single quote from Elizabeth Boleyn?

Question from Alex - Tudors use of "France" in their titles

I've read in difference places the Tudor's being referenced as King/Queen of England, Ireland, Wales, and France. Why were they considered monarchs of France when there were already French kings and queens? Thank you.

Question from Jacque - How common was it for husbands to beat their wives

I know that Elizabeth Stafford said her husband, Thomas Howard the 3rd Duke of Norfolk, savagely beat her when she complained about his mistress, Bess Holland, but was it the norm for most husbands to beat their wives? I am assuming there was nothing legally wrong with this at the time, but as this particular incident is the only one I have heard of, I was wondering if it was indeed a common occurrence?

Question from Loretta - Portraits of unknown ladies in Queen Claude's court

There are many portraits of unknown ladies that date from the time of Queen Claude of France.
These portraits are very realistic, being of the school of Clouet. Are any of them suspected of being Anne Boleyn? I suspect that Anne might have been painted by Hans Holbein, and that any portrait of her was destroyed after her beheading. Henry seemed to hate her as much as he loved her and tried to erase her from his past life.

Why hasn't someone unearthed the bodies buried under the floor of St Peter ad Vincula? Forensic reconstruction of Catherine Howard, Jane Grey and Anne would be a wonderful boon to Tudor history fanatics around the world.

[Note from Lara - many discussions about the burials in St. Peter ad Vincula has already occurred in past threads, so I would just refer you all to the search box to the left for more on that topic.]

Question from TudorRose - Queens' surnames

What was Catherine of Aragon's surname?

I would like to know the Surnames for Catherine of Aragon Anne of Cleves and Christina of Milan.Does anyone know? If so I would appreciate that you tell me.As someone who has long been interested in Tudor history but does not know the surnames to theese foreign princesses.For example Elizabeth of York is Elizabeth Plantagenate.Elizabeth Plantagenate of York.

[Note from Lara - this was mostly answered in the thread linked below, but I don't think Christina of Milan was discussed before.]

http://tudorhistory.org/queryblog/2008/02/question-from-patricia-wives-last-names.html

Question from Tudorfan - Edward VI and secrets from his sister Mary

Hello! I have been a big fan of your site for some time. I love Tudor history and I think that this is a fabulous site that gives people so much information on Tudor history.

I've learn so much reading other people's posts, I wanted to write my own. Anways, I was reading Alison Weir's Children of Henry VIII and states that Edward wrote to is sister Mary that he would keep any secrets she wished to confide to him. Does anyone have any speculations to what kind of secrets Edward would wish to hear from his older sister?


[Note from Lara - Thanks for the kind words!!]

Question from Liz - Elizabeth mentioning her siblings after becoming Queen

As Queen, did Elizabeth ever mention her brother or sister again? Or did she forget them when she rose to fame?

Question from Diane - Serious requests for marriage to Mary after the divorce

Were there any serious requests for Mary's hand in marriage after her father repudiated Catherine of Aragon and declared their daughter illigitimate? I know Henry and later Edward's Council would have rejected most, if not all, unless it served their own interests: and Mary herself would never have considered marriage with a "heretic," but did any serious offers come before she became Queen?

Question from Jacque - Katherine Parr's first husband

I've noticed that on lots of Internet sites it says that Katherine Parr's first husband, Edward Borough, was a man in his sixties when they were married. However, I recently read in Antonia Fraser's "The Wives of Henry VIII" that Edward Borough was really only a few years older than Katherine (who was seventeen, I believe) when they were married. The book says this confusion is due to the fact that Katherine's husband's grandfather was also called Edward Borough and at the time his grandson and Katherine were married, he was in his sixties. Is this true? Does anyone know the approximate year of birth for Katherine's first husband if he wasn't in his sixties?

Question from Esther - Elizabeth I's health issues and Elizabeth's Christmas Court

Hi there,

I seem to remember reading somewhere that Elizabeth Tudor had problems with painful menses and also had pain in her face and jaw sometimes, which made me think of TMJ. I really wish I had written down WHERE I had read that, as it may have been a completely unreliable source, but I didn't, and now I can't find any information about these health issues Elizabeth may or may not have had.

Would you happen to have any idea if this is accurate information, or if I was just reading something utterly fabricated?

I'm also trying to find descriptions of Christmas celebrations at Elizabeth's court.

Thank you so much for your time!

Esther in L.A.

Question from Erin - Court and Boleyn book recommendations

In short I guess you could say that I've found other things to do than read my most favorite novels. I can't wait to find more to read about Henry VIII, Anne and Mary Boleyn, and Catharine of Aragon. Each time I buy a book I find myself diving head-first into the text. Each story captures my mind and heart-it's an addiction!
Unfortunately, I've been neglecting my hobby. I was wondering a few moments ago where Henry VIII kept his court at. That is to say, which castle? I'm sure it's an elementary question, but I've fallen out of my routine readings, and I just can't remember!
It would help me know this so that I don't feel so crazy anymore!
Oh, and if you could recommend books on the Boleyns, or suggest some that you especially liked, please do!