Mary I successfully overthrew Jane Grey, Edward VI’s legitimate and legal heir, and was officially declared queen of England on July 19, 1553. This is my article in this month’s Tudor Society Magazine (which you should totally subscribe to) about the historical rewriting of the legitimacy of Jane Grey’s reign. Sometime during the life… Read more Mary I, Usurper and Queen
Amy Licence and I invite proposals for papers to be included in a multidisciplinary edited volume entitled Envisioning the Tudor Woman: Historical and Modern Representations of Women from the Tudor Era. Please submit a proposal before July 1 2015; the final deadline for complete essays will be December 1, 2015. Papers must be between 4000… Read more Submissions for Envisioning the Tudor Woman
*SPOILERS for Game of Thrones* Today is Henry Fitzroy’s birthday, and if he were alive he’d be 496 years young. Sadly, the king’s baseborn child with Bessie Blount passed away at the tender age of 17. Fitzroy was actually being eyed as a potential heir to the throne, illegitimate or not. Henry had recently declared… Read more Happy Birthday to Henry Fitzroy
I published this last year, but it bears repeating. Her murder was one of the worst acts in Tudor history. On this day in 1541 the Countess of Salisbury, Lady Margaret Pole, was executed by order of Henry VIII. This was shocking, even for a populace who had become accustomed to the murder of famous… Read more Remembering Margaret Pole
*NB – this was supposed to go out yesterday but Fun With Kids happened instead* On the last week in May of 1553 Lady Jane Grey married Lord Guilford Dudley, the fourth son of the duke of Northumberland (John Dudley), at the urging of the increasingly ill King Edward VI. Contrary to myth, there is… Read more Lady Jane Grey Marries
In case you weren’t on the planet and hadn’t heard about it yet, the Duchess of Cambridge has given birth to a daughter named Charlotte Elizabeth Diana. The little girl is fourth in line to the throne of England, and unlike heirs of the past has no need to worry about the violent and murderous… Read more Royal Babies and Remembrances
One of the things I discuss in my book on Edward VI is whether or not there was likelihood that Arthur, Fitzroy, and Edward all received a mutated CRFT gene (inherited an atypical cystic fibrosis) from both parents. After a quick romp in the genealogy I am slightly surprised that royal babies weren’t born three… Read more Was everyone an offshoot of the Plantagenets??
I have great news! (At least, it is great from my perspective. Y’all just jump on my train, okay?) I have a release date for my second non-fiction book, The Jezebel Effect: Why the slut shaming of famous queens still matters. It will be officially released into the wild on February 27, 2015. That’s right!… Read more Release Date for The Jezebel Effect!!
Today is Epiphany, AKA Three King’s Day, AKA Twelfth Night. In the Tudor era this was an important night of feasting, merry-making, and often gift giving. My gift for you all is the gift of accurate historical knowledge, per your request. Thus, here is a truth-telling guest post by Kathryn Warner, author of Edward II:… Read more Isabella of France And Edward II: Reality Is Far More Interesting Than Myth
Edward II was a deeply flawed king. In her book Edward II: The Unconventional King, Kathryn Warner doesn’t attempt to hide that fact. However, she also uses meticulous research to debunk myriad myths about Edward II, including the malarkey that he was killed via a hot poker in the rectum. Edward II had a rough… Read more Review of Edward II: The Unconventional King