Above painting: Louis Jean Francois - Mars and Venus an Allegory of Peace

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Thursday, April 30, 2009

Tudor Fun Facts


Ready for some fun facts about the Tudors?



  • Elizabeth of York (mother of Henry VIII) had the good fortune to be the most royal English queen of all queen’s. How so? She was daughter to the King of England (Edward IV), sister to the King of England (Edward V), neice to the King of England (Richard III), wife to the King of England (Henry VII), and mother to the King of England (Henry VIII). It’s no wonder Henry didn’t want anyone to think he was only king by marrying her.

  • Before marrying Edmund Tudor at the age of 12, Margaret Beaufort, aged 7 married John de la Pole, the son of her guardian William de la Pole. The union was later dissolved when Henry VI deemed she should marry his half brother Edmund.

  • Despite being married four times (the first of which was never consummated) Margaret Beaufort only had one pregnancy and one child, Henry VII, who she bore at the tender age of 13.
    Prince Arthur was named after King Arthur of Camelot.
    To listen to a clip of Anne Boleyn’s song “Oh Death Rock Me Asleepe,” which she supposedly wrote while in the Tower of London, visit: http://www.nellgavin.com/boleyn_links/ODeath.htm

  • Despite the fact that Henry VIII was having Anne Boleyn executed, he did decide not to have her burnt at the stake, and instead of an axe allowed her to die by a sword, which she was also allowed to choose her own executioner.

  • Anyone who disobeyed the commands of Henry VIII was arrested for treason and executed…supposedly he executed 72,000 people during his reign. Yikes!

  • Henry VIII’s nickname was Sir Loyal Heart, which he came up with early in his marriage to Catherine of Aragon after she gave birth to their son who only lived a short time. He toted the name in tournaments.

  • Henry VIII was somewhat of a hypochondriac and extremely scared of contracting disease.

  • Henry’s waist went from a lean 32 inches in his prime to 54 inches at his death…He was weighing in at over 300 pounds.

  • In her late teens Mary I, was sent to attend her half sister, infant Elizabeth in her household.

  • Mary I did not want to execute Lady Jane Grey (nine days queen) and in fact refused to do so for about 7 months until her council pressed her hand.

  • Even though she never got married, Elizabeth I did have 26 different marriage proposals to consider (some were repeat offenders :)

If you love the Tudors and want to learn more about this epic dynasty, I am teaching a workshop beginning May 4th. The workshop runs for one month. Visit www.elizaknight.com/workshops.aspx to register.


Cheers!


Eliza

14 comments:

Lucy said...

I love the way you put all these facts in order for me! It's soo true about Elizabeth of YOrk!! We just don't automatically think about how she was...so well connected;) What an interesting post!

Eliza Knight said...

Thanks for your comment Lucy! It is amazing about her isn't it? You never think about stuff like that. Those are the fun things I like to hear about :)

Kirsten Steen said...

Love the historical info posts! And will have to make my way over to Seduced as I also love anything Medieval. And who doesn't love castles?!
Kirsten

Eliza Knight said...

Thank you for your comment Kirsten! You are so right, who doesn't love castles?

Cheers!

TheAnneBoleynFiles said...

I hope your workshop went well. Thanks for the link to the Anne Boleyn poem and song, I wonder if she did write it - it's beautiful.

Eliza Knight said...

Thank you Anne! The class will be going on until the end of this month.

It is beautiful isn't it? Fascinating how talented she and Henry both were.

Alexander said...

Just come across your blog and think it’s really good. I am interested in the Tudors. I work for a company that offers Tudor Tours and think that you maybe interested.

Eliza Knight said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Eliza Knight said...

Thanks Alexander. Where are the tours held?

Alexander said...

The tour is around the south of England. If you go to http://www.tudorhistorytours.com the website has more information.

Anonymous said...

its lovely the way uve put these down Eliza..wonderful.
the tudors according to me are THE MOST INTERESTING dynasty..
brilliant.

Anonymous said...

Good stuff Tudors are interesting! Don't you think?!

Anonymous said...

LOVING IT!!!

Anonymous said...

I really enjoy reading about the Tudors. Such an interesting family! I am not easily suprised but guess what? I was kind of disturbed when I found out that a royal had kids at 13. Weird... :P