Luminarium: Encyclopedia Project Tudor Rose England under the Tudors

Luminarium | Encyclopedia | What's New | Letter from the Editor | Bookstore | Poster Store | Discussion Forums | Search


 
Portrait of Katherine Parr

Katherine Parr (c.1512-1548)

Katherine Parr,1 the last of the six wives of Henry VIII, was born around 1512, three years into the reign of King Henry VIII, who had succeeded his father, King Henry VII, to the throne of England in 1509. She was the first child of Sir Thomas Parr, of Kendal, and Maud, daughter of Sir Thomas Green, who was then seventeen years of age. Lady Parr next had a son, William, and a second daughter, Anne, but the family's happiness was short-lived. Sir Thomas Parr died in 1517, when Katherine was but five years of age, and Lady Parr was left to raise three small children alone.

Lady Parr, despite her years, was a formidably determined woman, who devoted herself to bringing her children up well. She was deeply religious and taught her children to have the same reverence for God. The children grew up under a strict discipline, and were well educated in scripture and languages. The daughters were also taught the skills needed to run a noble household, and the traditionally feminine arts of music and dance. Katherine was groomed to be an exemplary noblewoman, with a love of learning and a modest demeanor, which were to serve her well throughout her life.

Around 1524, Lady Parr began a negotiation with Lord Dacre for a match between Katherine and Henry Scrope. An agreement was not reached, however, due to a disagreement over the dowry. This was fortuitous, because Henry Scrope died the following year. Out of the many suitors for Katherine's hand, Lady Parr finally chose Edward de Burgh, or Borough, grandson of 2nd Baron Burgh, whom Katherine married by 1529.2 The marriage was not long; Edward died a few years later, leaving Katherine a young widow. Lady Parr herself had passed away in 1531, leaving a considerable fortune to Katherine. In 1534, Katherine married John Neville, Lord Latimer. He had been twice married; first to Dorothy de Vere, grand-daughter to the 12th Earl of Oxford, with whom he had two children, and afterwards to Elizabeth Musgrave who had died soon after the marriage. As Lady Latimer, Katherine moved to her husband's household at Snape Castle in Yorkshire. The couple took frequent trips to London, and were well-received at court.

From the autumn of 1542, Lord Latimer's health began to fail. In early 1543, when Latimer's impending demise became apparent, King Henry VIII began to court Katharine. In February, he gave her a gift of clothes, an improper gesture to a married woman; this distressed her, but who dared return a King's gift, especially when the King in question was the irascible Henry VIII?  After Lord Latimer's death in March, 1543, Katherine inherited the estates of Nunkmonton and Hamerton, provided she take care of the bringing up of her stepdaughter, Margaret. Her husband's bequest, combined with the inheritance from her mother, made her a woman of great means.

Katherine Parr stayed on at court, not for Henry, but because of a flirtation with the dashing Sir Thomas Seymour. He was thirty-seven to her thirty-one, brother of the late Queen Jane, and uncle to Prince Edward. They were mutually attracted and began to discuss marriage. The King, however, wanted Katherine for himself and was jealous. Katherine was not interested; she was in love with Seymour, and had no interest in becoming Queen, or indeed wife number six to a man of questionable track record. In May 1543, King Henry, customarily ruthless, sent Seymour to Brussels on a permanent embassy, and began his advances in earnest. Around July, the King proposed to Katharine. Feeling she hadn't much choice, she finally acquiesced. The marriage took place in a private ceremony on July 12, 1543, at Hampton Court.

Queen Katharine was nearly universally liked. She was learned, with a keen intellect; she was virtuous, a great conversationalist, and she treated everyone with respect and warmth, regardless of station. Katharine was determined to reunite King Henry with his children, who lived far removed from court, and to be a good stepmother to them. She persuaded the King to have the children visit. Lady Elizabeth, who was ten, took to her immediately—here at last was a mother-figure who was offering a warm and loving presence, and who appreciated and encouraged the intelligence and education of the bright girl. Elizabeth was already well-versed in the classics and spoke several languages—impressive not only for her age, but for her sex, who were not usually afforded the same rigorous curricula as their male counterparts. Queen Katharine took it upon herself to oversee the child's education and was, in turn, rewarded with unqualified admiration by the precocious princess. Elizabeth would write Katharine many warm letters, from 'Your Majesty's very dear Elizabeth,' and there seems to have been genuine fondness on both sides. At the end of 1544, when Elizabeth was only eleven, she sent Queen Katherine her translation of Queen Marguerite of Navarre's "Mirror of the Sinful Soul." In covers beautifully embroidered by the young princess, it was accompanied by a thoughtful letter.

Queen Katherine and the Lady Mary were near in age, and Katherine never attempted to mother her. Instead, she befriended her and treated her as a princess—not something Mary had experienced in a long while, since she and her mother, Catharine of Aragón, had been effectively banished from court during the divorce proceedings. Queen Katherine's gentle manner did much to banish some of the resentment Mary must have harbored toward her father. It was probably thanks to Queen Katherine that Mary and Elizabeth were again added to the line of succession in the new Act of Succession of 1544. The heir was still Prince Edward, after whom were to come any children by the King and Queen Katherine, followed by children from marriages after Katherine, should they take place, then Lady Mary, and finally little Lady Elizabeth. It is known that Queen Katherine had pleaded for Lady Mary to follow in succession to Edward, but Henry could only be budged so much.

In July, 1544, Henry set to invade France. In an unprecedented display of trust, he appointed Queen Katherine regent in his absence. The King, whose leg and overweight had been troubling him greatly since the previous Christmas, was much improved by the physical activity of war. London, however, was not faring as well. Queen Katherine and the children had to set out in August for a progress to the countryside to avoid the plague which ravaged London that summer. On September 14, 1544, the city of Boulogne fell to the English siege. At the end of September, King Henry returned in triumph and all was well for a time. In October, Thomas Seymour's embassy ended, and he returned to court. Taking no chances, Henry appointed him Lord High Admiral of England; a post that would keep him safely away from the court, and thus the Queen.

The Queen had been charged by the King to supervise the education of Elizabeth and Edward, a responsibility she acquitted admirably. The children had a strict and extensive course of studies, not only in the letters, but also in religion and music, needlepoint and dance for Elizabeth, and swordsmanship for Edward. The Queen herself also never ceased to study. With the King's permission, she published Prayers and meditations, which she had collected and edited, in November, 1545. The book was applauded by both the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and she was petitioned to become their patroness. The Queen accepted both requests, and also patronized poor students by paying their tuition at Stoke College. She further made sure all the children of her tenant farmers were schooled, at her own personal expense.
Katherine Parr discussing theology with the King
On Christmas, 1545, the King was ailing. Henry had long been grossly overweight, and an old wound in his leg had never healed, causing infection upon infection, which in turn caused him great pain. The Queen tried to take the King's mind off his aches with lively debates over theology, a pastime the King greatly enjoyed. Katherine by this time almost certainly held some protestant views but, for all his renouncing of the Pope's powers, Henry could not stand Lutherans. The Queen had to tread carefully, for there were those at court who bore enmity towards her, namely the new Lord Chancellor Wriothesley and Bishop Gardiner, who would do their best to eradicate her, should she slip. The Queen was then writing her second book, The Lamentations of a Sinner, and the King was equal parts proud and jealous of her erudition.

In February, 1546, the King was told that a Protestant woman, Anne Askew, had named the Queen as a protestant. The King ordered Anne Askew questioned again, and she was savagely racked and tortured by Wriothesley, personally, in the Tower. She would not, however, renounce her Protestant faith, nor implicate anyone else. In June, she was sentenced to death and burned at the stake. Her death was relatively quick compared to most—someone had paid the executioner to hang a bag of gunpowder at her neck, so she could die of the explosion, instead of waiting to die by suffocation or the boiling of one's own blood. Wriothesley was ready to attack.

Katherine Parr - Philip Mould, Ltd. During the summer of 1546, after one particularly heated argument on theological matters between the King and Queen, Gardiner caught the King's ear and suggested that the King should look beware cherishing "a serpent within his own bosom."3 Gardiner did his best to persuade the King that the Queen was a heretic, and the King agreed to draw up a warrant for her arrest, should proof arise. He continued to have debates with the Queen over matters of religion, and Katherine, suspecting nothing, obliged. Eventually, the King did indeed sign the warrant, but the Queen received word from a servant. The night before her impending arrest, the King again tried to bait her into a conversation on religion. Katherine played the modest wife, and responded that the only reason she ever discussed such matters was that it seemed to alleviate the King's pains, but that she would always refer herself to his better judgement, as her lord and head. The King, hearing this, was mollified. He realized what Gardiner and Wriothesley were doing and aimed to shame them for it.

Next day, the King invited the Queen to the garden, and as Wriothesley approached with a contingent of the guard, intent on arresting the Queen, the King called him "knave, fool, and beast," and ordered him "to get out of his presence."4 When the Queen, feigning innocence of the Chancellor's duplicity, tried to excuse his behavior, Henry replied, "Ah! Poor soul! thou little knowest, Kate, how little he deserveth this grace at thy hands."5  Little the King knew, how much she indeed knew of how close she had come to following the fates of his previous wives.

In the fall of 1546, King Henry grew steadily worse. It became apparent, even to Henry himself, that the end was near. In December, he dictated his will. The kingdom was to go to Edward, and a generous amount of money and goods to the Queen. He wished to be buried next to Queen Jane at Windsor. The King improved somewhat in the beginning of January, 1547, but on the eve of the 28th of January, he called his family to his side for a final goodbye. King Henry VIII, aged fifty-five, died at two a.m., most likely of a blood clot that had travelled from his leg to his heart.

Edward was crowned King Edward VI, on January 31, 1547. Since he was a minor, he was under the control of his regency Council. Neither the Dowager Queen Katherine, nor his sisters, were permitted to visit the King. This grieved both Katharine and the young King, but there was little to be done. Katherine announced that she would retire from the court to her house, Old Manor, at Chelsea. Meanwhile, Seymour returned to court. He was created Baron Seymour of Sudeley Castle in Gloucestershire, and confirmed in his post as Lord High Admiral for life, as well as admitted into the Order of the Garter. His aggravation over not being allowed into the regency Council was alleviated only somewhat by the new title granted to him; he had hopes of even higher. He secretly began to court the thirteen year-old Lady Elizabeth, thinking to advance himself by that means. Elizabeth, though perhaps flattered, turned him down. Seymour, bemused, set his sights on his Katharine Parr.

The Dowager Queen, Katharine Parr, still harbored feelings for the man she had once thought to marry, and when he renewed his suit, she accepted. The Council would be unlikely to grant a petition for the Dowager to marry so soon after Henry's death, so Seymour went straight to King Edward. The young King, who was fond of both his uncle Thomas and, naturally, of the Queen, consented. The couple married in secret some time by the end of April, 1547, most likely at the Queens estates at Chelsea. The King and Council were not told of the marriage until the end of May. The Council were livid and censured Lord Sudeley. The King, despite exhortations to the contrary by his Council, wrote to the Queen. He concluded the letter with, "I do love and admire you with my whole heart. Wherefore, if there be anything wherein I may do you a kindness, either in word or deed, I will do it willingly."6 After such words, what could the Council do?

The reception from the Lady Mary was quite the opposite. Seymour had written to Mary, hoping Mary could help further his cause with the Council. Mary was outraged at his forwardness and lack of taste and sent back an acerbic reply saying she would not intervene. Mary, who once had born such respect for her father's wife, now thought that by marrying improperly soon after the passing of Henry, and to a man of such character, Katherine would not be a good moral example for Elizabeth. She asked Elizabeth to cease contact with Katherine, but Elizabeth sent a lukewarm reply; she had after all long loved Katherine almost as a mother. In November, 1547, Katherine published her second book, The Lamentations of a Sinner. It was an enormous success, widely praised. At this time, she invited Elizabeth to come stay with her, which she did in early 1548, enough time having passed for their renewed closeness not to elicit mutters.

Unfortunately, Katherine knew nothing of her husband's past courting of Elizabeth. The situation was tricky: Elizabeth was all of fourteen, and Seymour, who styled himself her "stepfather," began once again to pay attention to her. Katherine suspected nothing, and Seymour was very good at keeping what he did not wish known secret. Elizabeth also let on nothing, for fear of hurting Katherine, who was so happy in her new marriage and her country life.

Lady Jane Grey, Elizabeth's cousin, also joined the household in January, 1548. Queen Katherine had promised to provide for her education, and it would be good for Elizabeth to have company her own age. Elizabeth requested to have Roger Ascham as tutor to her and Jane, and Queen Katherine, who had corresponded with Ascham since the publication of her first book, heartily approved. Ascham was a famed scholar, and a magnificent teacher—he polished the already well-learned, intelligent girls into brilliance. Ascham's tutelage was rigorous and exacting. Elizabeth, later as Queen, would never forget to extol the virtues of her old tutor. Queen Katherine's house came to be known as a respected place of learning for young women.

In March, 1548, Katherine Parr was finally pregnant with her own child. All the years of caring for others' children, she was going to have one with the man she loved. In the midst of all the preparations for the baby and the exuding happiness, Katherine had no idea that her husband was meeting with Elizabeth clandestinely. Elizabeth's governess later testified in front of the Privy Council that the Admiral would enter Elizabeth's chamber some mornings, wearing nothing but a nightshirt. On occasion he would climb in with her and tickle her. Mrs. Ashley, her lady in waiting, was scandalized and resolved not to leave her alone with the Admiral.

Katherine finally started suspecting something out of the ordinary was going on. In April, she walked in on Elizabeth and the Admiral embracing. Instead of confronting them, she walked out. In May, Elizabeth was sent away to one of her own estates. Before leaving, Elizabeth was summoned to Katherine who was very cold towards her. Tradition has it that she told Elizabeth, "God has given you great qualities. Cultivate them always, and labour to improve them, for I believe you are destined by Heaven to be Queen of England."7 Elizabeth left in shame and wrote an apologetic letter in June. Katherine Parr had always been a gentle person, and she wrote a kind letter of reply, even though she was in considerable pain, having hurt her wrist. Elizabeth in turn wrote a relieved letter of thanks. At this time, Katherine also reconciled with Mary, who wrote Katherine a letter of congratulations on her impending motherhood.

On August 30, 1548, Katherine gave birth to a daughter whom she named Mary, after the Lady Mary. Katherine, however, had puerperal fever; infection of the uterus after childbirth, which most often led to death. The Queen was delirious with a fever for a week, until it became apparent she would not recover. She wrote a dying will leaving everything to her husband. The Queen died on September 7, 1548. She was buried at Chelsea. Queen Katherine Parr was mourned by her stepchildren, by Lady Jane Grey, and all who had known her. When Lord High Admiral Thomas Seymour was executed for treason in 1549, baby Mary was taken in by her mother's friend, Lady Suffolk. She is thought to have died in childhood.

Queen Katherine Parr was the only one of Henry VIII's wives to have survived him. She also has the questionable distinction of being England's most-married Queen. All who knew her praised her for her learning, her character, her godliness, gentleness and charity. She had great talent as a writer, and had she lived two hundred years later, she may have been a formidable presence. Yet perhaps her most lasting legacy was her shaping and nurturing of the learning and character of the little girl who would bring England to another Golden Age: the girl who would become Queen Elizabeth I.




Notes:

1 Her name has, alternately, been spelled Catharine, Catherine, Katharine, Kateryn, or Katherine,
the last being the strongest contender. In her mother's will, (Testamenta Vetusta, v.2, p651),
her name is spelled "Katherine".

2 Starkey, 697; Porter, 49-59; [Thanks to Meg McGath]

3 Reported by John Foxe as said by Gardiner. Quoted
in Weir, 519.

4 Memoirs of the Court of Henry the Eighth, Vol II,
by Mrs. A. T. Thomson. London: Longman, Rees, &c., 1826. 570.

5 Memoirs of Henry the Eighth of England by
H. W. Herbert. New York: Miller, Orton & Mulligan, 1856. 440.

6 Letters of the Kings of England, Vol II,
by J. O. Halliwell-Phillipps. London: Henry Colburn, 1848. 34.

7 Weir, 554.



Article Citation:

Jokinen, Anniina. “Katherine Parr.” Luminarium.
                16 Jun 2011. [Date when you accessed the page].
                <http://www.luminarium.org/encyclopedia/katherineparr.htm>




Other Local Resources:




Books for further study: Elton, G. R. England Under the Tudors.
           London: Routledge, 1991.

Fraser, Antonia. The Wives of Henry VIII. Reissue.
           London: Orion Books, 2002.

James, Susan E. Kateryn Parr: The Making of a Queen.
           London: Ashgate Publishing, 1999.

Matzat, Don. Katherine Parr: Opportunist, Queen, Reformer.
           Stroud, Gloucestershire: Amberley Publishing, 2021.

Norton, Elizabeth. Catherine Parr: Wife, Widow, Mother, Survivor.
           Stroud, Gloucestershire: Amberley Publishing, 2011.

Porter, Linda. Katherine, the Queen.
New Yorkl: St. Martin's Press, 2010.

Starkey, David. Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII.
           New York: Harper Perennial, 2004.

Weir, Alison. The Six Wives of Henry VIII.
           New York: Grove Press, 1991.





Katherine Parr on the Web:


Backto King Henry VIII
Backto Queen Elizabeth I
Backto Renaissance English Literature
Backto Luminarium Encyclopedia


Copyright ©1996-2012 Anniina Jokinen. All rights reserved.
Page created on 12 Sep 2006. Last updated 26 February 2012.






Index of Encyclopedia Entries:

Medieval Cosmology
Prices of Items in Medieval England

Edward II
Isabella of France, Queen of England
Piers Gaveston
Thomas of Brotherton, E. of Norfolk
Edmund of Woodstock, E. of Kent
Thomas, Earl of Lancaster
Henry of Lancaster, Earl of Lancaster
Henry of Grosmont, Duke of Lancaster
Roger Mortimer, Earl of March
Hugh le Despenser the Younger
Bartholomew, Lord Burghersh, elder

Hundred Years' War (1337-1453)

Edward III
Philippa of Hainault, Queen of England
Edward, Black Prince of Wales
John of Eltham, Earl of Cornwall
The Battle of Crécy, 1346
The Siege of Calais, 1346-7
The Battle of Poitiers, 1356
Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence
John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster
Edmund of Langley, Duke of York
Thomas of Woodstock, Gloucester
Richard of York, E. of Cambridge
Richard Fitzalan, 3. Earl of Arundel
Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March
The Good Parliament, 1376
Richard II
The Peasants' Revolt, 1381
Lords Appellant, 1388
Richard Fitzalan, 4. Earl of Arundel
Archbishop Thomas Arundel
Thomas de Beauchamp, E. Warwick
Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford
Ralph Neville, E. of Westmorland
Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk
Edmund Mortimer, 3. Earl of March
Roger Mortimer, 4. Earl of March
John Holland, Duke of Exeter
Michael de la Pole, E. Suffolk
Hugh de Stafford, 2. E. Stafford
Henry IV
Edward, Duke of York
Edmund Mortimer, 5. Earl of March
Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland
Sir Henry Percy, "Harry Hotspur"
Thomas Percy, Earl of Worcester
Owen Glendower
The Battle of Shrewsbury, 1403
Archbishop Richard Scrope
Thomas Mowbray, 3. E. Nottingham
John Mowbray, 2. Duke of Norfolk
Thomas Fitzalan, 5. Earl of Arundel
Henry V
Thomas, Duke of Clarence
John, Duke of Bedford
Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester
John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury
Richard, Earl of Cambridge
Henry, Baron Scrope of Masham
William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk
Thomas Montacute, E. Salisbury
Richard Beauchamp, E. of Warwick
Henry Beauchamp, Duke of Warwick
Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter
Cardinal Henry Beaufort
John Beaufort, Earl of Somerset
Sir John Fastolf
John Holland, 2. Duke of Exeter
Archbishop John Stafford
Archbishop John Kemp
Catherine of Valois
Owen Tudor
John Fitzalan, 7. Earl of Arundel
John, Lord Tiptoft

Charles VII, King of France
Joan of Arc
Louis XI, King of France
Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy
The Battle of Agincourt, 1415
The Battle of Castillon, 1453



The Wars of the Roses 1455-1485
Causes of the Wars of the Roses
The House of Lancaster
The House of York
The House of Beaufort
The House of Neville

The First Battle of St. Albans, 1455
The Battle of Blore Heath, 1459
The Rout of Ludford, 1459
The Battle of Northampton, 1460
The Battle of Wakefield, 1460
The Battle of Mortimer's Cross, 1461
The 2nd Battle of St. Albans, 1461
The Battle of Towton, 1461
The Battle of Hedgeley Moor, 1464
The Battle of Hexham, 1464
The Battle of Edgecote, 1469
The Battle of Losecoat Field, 1470
The Battle of Barnet, 1471
The Battle of Tewkesbury, 1471
The Treaty of Pecquigny, 1475
The Battle of Bosworth Field, 1485
The Battle of Stoke Field, 1487

Henry VI
Margaret of Anjou
Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York
Edward IV
Elizabeth Woodville
Richard Woodville, 1. Earl Rivers
Anthony Woodville, 2. Earl Rivers
Jane Shore
Edward V
Richard III
George, Duke of Clarence

Ralph Neville, 2. Earl of Westmorland
Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury
Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick
Edward Neville, Baron Bergavenny
William Neville, Lord Fauconberg
Robert Neville, Bishop of Salisbury
John Neville, Marquis of Montagu
George Neville, Archbishop of York
John Beaufort, 1. Duke Somerset
Edmund Beaufort, 2. Duke Somerset
Henry Beaufort, 3. Duke of Somerset
Edmund Beaufort, 4. Duke Somerset
Margaret Beaufort
Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond
Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke
Humphrey Stafford, D. Buckingham
Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham
Humphrey Stafford, E. of Devon
Thomas, Lord Stanley, Earl of Derby
Sir William Stanley
Archbishop Thomas Bourchier
Henry Bourchier, Earl of Essex
John Mowbray, 3. Duke of Norfolk
John Mowbray, 4. Duke of Norfolk
John Howard, Duke of Norfolk
Henry Percy, 2. E. Northumberland
Henry Percy, 3. E. Northumberland
Henry Percy, 4. E. Northumberland
William, Lord Hastings
Henry Holland, Duke of Exeter
William Fitzalan, Earl of Arundel
William Herbert, 1. Earl of Pembroke
John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford
John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford
Thomas de Clifford, 8. Baron Clifford
John de Clifford, 9. Baron Clifford
John Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester
Thomas Grey, 1. Marquis Dorset
Sir Andrew Trollop
Archbishop John Morton
Edward Plantagenet, E. of Warwick
John Talbot, 2. E. Shrewsbury
John Talbot, 3. E. Shrewsbury
John de la Pole, 2. Duke of Suffolk
John de la Pole, E. of Lincoln
Edmund de la Pole, E. of Suffolk
Richard de la Pole
John Sutton, Baron Dudley
James Butler, 5. Earl of Ormonde
Sir James Tyrell
Edmund Grey, first Earl of Kent
George Grey, 2nd Earl of Kent
John, 5th Baron Scrope of Bolton
James Touchet, 7th Baron Audley
Walter Blount, Lord Mountjoy
Robert Hungerford, Lord Moleyns
Thomas, Lord Scales
John, Lord Lovel and Holand
Francis Lovell, Viscount Lovell
Sir Richard Ratcliffe
William Catesby
Ralph, 4th Lord Cromwell
Jack Cade's Rebellion, 1450


Tudor Period

King Henry VII
Queen Elizabeth of York
Arthur, Prince of Wales
Lambert Simnel
Perkin Warbeck
The Battle of Blackheath, 1497

King Ferdinand II of Aragon
Queen Isabella of Castile
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor

King Henry VIII
Queen Catherine of Aragon
Queen Anne Boleyn
Queen Jane Seymour
Queen Anne of Cleves
Queen Catherine Howard
Queen Katherine Parr

King Edward VI
Queen Mary I
Queen Elizabeth I
Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond

Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scotland
James IV, King of Scotland
The Battle of Flodden Field, 1513
James V, King of Scotland
Mary of Guise, Queen of Scotland

Mary Tudor, Queen of France
Louis XII, King of France
Francis I, King of France
The Battle of the Spurs, 1513
Field of the Cloth of Gold, 1520
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Eustace Chapuys, Imperial Ambassador
The Siege of Boulogne, 1544

Cardinal Thomas Wolsey
Archbishop Thomas Cranmer
Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex
Thomas, Lord Audley
Thomas Wriothesley, E. Southampton
Sir Richard Rich

Edward Stafford, D. of Buckingham
Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk
Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk
John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland
Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk
Thomas Boleyn, Earl of Wiltshire
George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford
John Russell, Earl of Bedford
Thomas Grey, 2. Marquis of Dorset
Henry Grey, D. of Suffolk
Charles Somerset, Earl of Worcester
George Talbot, 4. E. Shrewsbury
Francis Talbot, 5. E. Shrewsbury
Henry Algernon Percy,
     5th Earl of Northumberland
Henry Algernon Percy,
     6th Earl of Northumberland
Ralph Neville, 4. E. Westmorland
Henry Neville, 5. E. Westmorland
William Paulet, Marquis of Winchester
Sir Francis Bryan
Sir Nicholas Carew
John de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford
John de Vere, 16th Earl of Oxford
Thomas Seymour, Lord Admiral
Edward Seymour, Protector Somerset
Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury
Henry Pole, Lord Montague
Sir Geoffrey Pole
Thomas Manners, Earl of Rutland
Henry Manners, Earl of Rutland
Henry Bourchier, 2. Earl of Essex
Robert Radcliffe, 1. Earl of Sussex
Henry Radcliffe, 2. Earl of Sussex
George Hastings, Earl of Huntingdon
Henry Courtenay, Marquis of Exeter
George Neville, Baron Bergavenny
Sir Edward Neville
William, Lord Paget
William Sandys, Baron Sandys
William Fitzwilliam, E. Southampton
Sir Anthony Browne
Sir Thomas Wriothesley
Sir William Kingston
George Brooke, Lord Cobham
Sir Richard Southwell
Thomas Fiennes, 9th Lord Dacre
Sir Francis Weston
Henry Norris
Lady Jane Grey
Sir Thomas Arundel
Sir Richard Sackville
Sir William Petre
Sir John Cheke
Walter Haddon, L.L.D
Sir Peter Carew
Sir John Mason
Nicholas Wotton
John Taylor
Sir Thomas Wyatt, the Younger

Cardinal Lorenzo Campeggio
Cardinal Reginald Pole
Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester
Edmund Bonner, Bishop of London
Nicholas Ridley, Bishop of London
John Hooper, Bishop of Gloucester
John Aylmer, Bishop of London
Thomas Linacre
William Grocyn
Archbishop William Warham
Cuthbert Tunstall, Bishop of Durham
Richard Fox, Bishop of Winchester
Edward Fox, Bishop of Hereford

Pope Julius II
Pope Leo X
Pope Clement VII
Pope Paul III
Pope Pius V

Pico della Mirandola
Desiderius Erasmus
Martin Bucer
Richard Pace
Christopher Saint-German
Thomas Tallis
Elizabeth Barton, the Nun of Kent
Hans Holbein, the Younger
The Sweating Sickness

Dissolution of the Monasteries
Pilgrimage of Grace, 1536
Robert Aske
Anne Askew
Lord Thomas Darcy
Sir Robert Constable

Oath of Supremacy
The Act of Supremacy, 1534
The First Act of Succession, 1534
The Third Act of Succession, 1544
The Ten Articles, 1536
The Six Articles, 1539
The Second Statute of Repeal, 1555
The Act of Supremacy, 1559
Articles Touching Preachers, 1583

Queen Elizabeth I
William Cecil, Lord Burghley
Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury
Sir Francis Walsingham
Sir Nicholas Bacon
Sir Thomas Bromley

Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester
Ambrose Dudley, Earl of Warwick
Henry Carey, Lord Hunsdon
Sir Thomas Egerton, Viscount Brackley
Sir Francis Knollys
Katherine "Kat" Ashley
Lettice Knollys, Countess of Leicester
George Talbot, 6. E. of Shrewsbury
Elizabeth, Countess of Shrewsbury
Gilbert Talbot, 7. E. of Shrewsbury
Sir Henry Sidney
Sir Robert Sidney
Archbishop Matthew Parker
Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex
Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex
Penelope Devereux, Lady Rich
Sir Christopher Hatton
Edward Courtenay, E. Devonshire
Edward Manners, 3rd Earl of Rutland
Thomas Radcliffe, 3. Earl of Sussex
Henry Radcliffe, 4. Earl of Sussex
Robert Radcliffe, 5. Earl of Sussex
William Parr, Marquis of Northampton
Henry Wriothesley, 2. Southampton
Henry Wriothesley, 3. Southampton
Charles Neville, 6. E. Westmorland
Thomas Percy, 7. E. Northumberland
Henry Percy, 8. E. Northumberland
Henry Percy, 9. E. Nothumberland
William Herbert, 1. Earl of Pembroke
Charles, Lord Howard of Effingham
Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk
Henry Howard, 1. Earl of Northampton
Thomas Howard, 1. Earl of Suffolk
Henry Hastings, 3. E. of Huntingdon
Edward Manners, 3rd Earl of Rutland
Roger Manners, 5th Earl of Rutland
Francis Manners, 6th Earl of Rutland
Henry FitzAlan, 12. Earl of Arundel
Thomas, Earl Arundell of Wardour
Edward Somerset, E. of Worcester
William Davison
Sir Walter Mildmay
Sir Ralph Sadler
Sir Amyas Paulet
Gilbert Gifford
Anthony Browne, Viscount Montague
François, Duke of Alençon & Anjou

Mary, Queen of Scots
Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley
James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell
Anthony Babington and the Babington Plot
John Knox

Philip II of Spain
The Spanish Armada, 1588
Sir Francis Drake
Sir John Hawkins

William Camden
Archbishop Whitgift
Martin Marprelate Controversy
John Penry (Martin Marprelate)
Richard Bancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury
John Dee, Alchemist

Philip Henslowe
Edward Alleyn
The Blackfriars Theatre
The Fortune Theatre
The Rose Theatre
The Swan Theatre
Children's Companies
The Admiral's Men
The Lord Chamberlain's Men
Citizen Comedy
The Isle of Dogs, 1597

Common Law
Court of Common Pleas
Court of King's Bench
Court of Star Chamber
Council of the North
Fleet Prison
Assize
Attainder
First Fruits & Tenths
Livery and Maintenance
Oyer and terminer
Praemunire


The Stuarts

King James I of England
Anne of Denmark
Henry, Prince of Wales
The Gunpowder Plot, 1605
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham
Robert Carr, Earl of Somerset
Arabella Stuart, Lady Lennox

William Alabaster
Bishop Hall
Bishop Thomas Morton
Archbishop William Laud
John Selden
Lucy Harington, Countess of Bedford
Henry Lawes

King Charles I
Queen Henrietta Maria

Long Parliament
Rump Parliament
Kentish Petition, 1642

Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford
John Digby, Earl of Bristol
George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol
Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax
Robert Devereux, 3rd E. of Essex
Robert Sidney, 2. E. of Leicester
Algernon Percy, E. of Northumberland
Henry Montagu, Earl of Manchester
Edward Montagu, 2. Earl of Manchester

The Restoration

King Charles II
King James II
Test Acts

Greenwich Palace
Hatfield House
Richmond Palace
Windsor Palace
Woodstock Manor

The Cinque Ports
Mermaid Tavern
Malmsey Wine
Great Fire of London, 1666
Merchant Taylors' School
Westminster School
The Sanctuary at Westminster
"Sanctuary"


Images:

Chart of the English Succession from William I through Henry VII

Medieval English Drama

London c1480, MS Royal 16
London, 1510, the earliest view in print
Map of England from Saxton's Descriptio Angliae, 1579
London in late 16th century
Location Map of Elizabethan London
Plan of the Bankside, Southwark, in Shakespeare's time
Detail of Norden's Map of the Bankside, 1593
Bull and Bear Baiting Rings from the Agas Map (1569-1590, pub. 1631)
Sketch of the Swan Theatre, c. 1596
Westminster in the Seventeenth Century, by Hollar
Visscher's View of London, 1616
Larger Visscher's View in Sections
c. 1690. View of London Churches, after the Great Fire
The Yard of the Tabard Inn from Thornbury, Old and New London




Site copyright ©1996-2023 Anniina Jokinen. All Rights Reserved.