British History: Royals, Rebels, and Romantics

Whether you know me personally or not, if you’re listening to the podcast you’re probably not surprised to hear I LOVE the six wives! I loved seeing the new musical SIX in London and in New York. I love the television specials. I fell in love with history and the Tudors and began my obsession with Anne Boleyn watching the BBC production from back in the seventies (rebroadcast on PBS here in the US...

The so-called “Wars of the Roses” is one of the most fascinating periods of English history. There is the uber-king, Henry V, vanquishing the enemy in France and inspiring his troops (and Shakespeare!) to a stunning victory at Agincourt. There’s his son, the under-king, Henry VI. Crowed as a child, Henry VI never came anywhere near the ease or effectiveness on the throne his father had. There are...

She was the youngest woman to be crowned Queen of England. She was the second queen to marry while ruling, and the first to have children while on the throne. She oversaw extraordinary changes in the country, as well as the establishment of the British Empire. She became Empress of India. By the time of her death, she had ruled longer than any monarch. With such a long reign, covering decades of w...

While we all know that Elizabeth ended her reign peacefully, dying in her bed, that outcome was not guaranteed. From the beginning of her reign, Catholics in England and abroad questioned her right to rule.  When Mary Queen of Scots came to England in 1568, 10 years into Elizabeth's reign, there was a Catholic option right there! English Catholics, supported by France, Spain, and the Pope, re...

The Tudor dynasty changed England, Europe, and the world. And the scandals changed the dynasty! This week we’ll be looking at the top 10 scandals that plagued those who ruled England in the second half of the reign: a boy and two women. That reality was what the Tudors were so desperate to avoid: a child king had been at the heart of the troubles of the Wars of the Roses. Both Richard II and Henry...

The Tudor dynasty was NOT your average dynasty. For one thing, the so-called “dynasty” lasted just three generations and 118 years. It started with a power grab. It saw a staggering number of executions. It thrust England into years of religious chaos. The wars in France fought over this period were expensive and ultimately disastrous. There were periods of crop failure, economic collapse, poverty...

In September 2020, the government of the United Kingdom instituted the “rule of six” to attempt to mitigate the spread of Coronavirus. It means that, with a few specific exceptions, it is illegal to gather in groups larger than six. This created some wonderful memes featuring images of the Six Wives of Henry VIII, smiling happily, because when they gather there is no room for the King! It echoes t...

In early September 1533, Anne Boleyn was supposed to be getting ready to give the King a son. The birth of a son would justify the actions Henry VIII had taken—setting aside his first wife, going against the wishes of most of his ministers, breaking with the Pope, and establishing himself as Supreme Head of the Church of England. Henry believed God would reward these actions by giving him the son...

Queen Elizabeth I is regularly associated with her father, Henry VIII. The least likely heir became the most successful of his children and the longest-reigning Tudor monarch. Elizabeth is described as resembling her royal father, perhaps more than his other two children. And Elizabeth’s fiery temper certainly matched the historic temper of Henry VIII. Elizabeth I and Henry VIII are certainly the...

All that glisters is not gold…but some of it is! The elite in society, including and perhaps especially the royals, have always used jewels to sparkle and stand out in a crowd. Whether it’s Henry VIII adding cloth of gold and gold thread to his outfits and adding jewels to his chest and even his hat or Mary I wearing a legendary pearl or Victoria pinning a huge sapphire brooch to her wedding dress...

Today we’re looking at the history of underwear. The first question you might ask is…Why? Why spend time thinking about something so mundane, so personal, so domestic? Because something so personal and utilitarian can give us a real glimpse into the way people lived their most personal lives hundreds of years ago.  Throughout history, people responded to changes in climate and technology, to wars...

The story of royal fashion includes accessories, and that means the accessory we all take with us everywhere, every day: hair.  Life in Medieval England was heavily influenced by the Catholic Church. This extended to hairstyles. Around the 10th century, the Church began issuing statements about the appropriate length of men’s hair and the need for women to cover their heads and hair. In 1073, Pope...

To become a successful dynasty, the Tudors had to create an absolutely unassailable royal image. One of their primary tools was the royal wardrobe. With the numerous times the crown was seized in the 15th century, the notion of looking the part of King was incredibly important. Edward IV was determined to create an image that would reinforce his place on the English throne, wearing the finest clot...

Henry VIII was the only King of England to have all three of his children inherit the throne. Typically, all a King’s children would be in the succession until the King died. Not so if the King is Henry VIII!  Desperate for a son, Henry actually disinherited both of his daughters. He disinherited Mary when Elizabeth born (the First Succession Act was passed in 1534) because he claimed the marriage...

This week, we’re turning to family dramas between mothers and daughters. Playing the role of both is our friend Queen Victoria! As a daughter, she had a rebellious relationship against her mother, the Duchess of Kent. Becoming Queen meant Victoria was able to shake off her mother’s smothering influence—and she did. As a mother, Victoria had enough children to have all kinds of maternal relationshi...

Several questions will help us get to know the four King Georges (Kings George?) who ruled Britain from 1714 to 1830. Question 1: How did these guys come to rule England? Answer: Parliament insisted on a Protestant heir, and after the death of Queen Anne it turned out George of Hanover got the job. Question 2: What was George I like as a King of England? Answer: Not good! He preferred Hanover and...

In politics, being neighbors doesn’t mean being friends. The struggles between the Tudors of England and the Stuarts of Scotland shaped the power dynamic of the two countries and affected the politics of Europe as well. The inevitable mixture of power and personality with the key players in this group make their battles a struggle for personal as well as political survival. So choose your side—Tea...

As Henry made his way through years of various foreign alliances and diplomatic efforts, it was his marital merry-go-round that really shaped his reign. Various family members and wives filled the court and sounded the opposition. In addition to a succession of wives through his reign, Henry VIII also had a wide variety of in-laws. From Kings and Queens to rising courtiers, Henry's in-laws pr...

Like so many things, playmaking in Elizabethan England was more than it appeared. History plays could promote the message of the Queen’s reign and Tudor dynasty. But Shakespeare was more interested in breaking down leadership and all the expectations people had of leaders.  In Richard II, Shakespeare pulls the curtain back on Richard’s thinking. He brings us right into Richard’s mind and heart. We...

Victoria was the youngest Queen England has ever known. It had been more than 100 years since last a Queen had been ruler of the country. There was anticipation and speculation about how this young woman would manage her responsibilities.  As a single reigning Queen, Victoria was confident. She embraced her opportunity to serve her country, something she had been anticipating for years. She happil...

Eleanor of Aquitaine lived for 82 years, an extraordinary accomplishment for someone living in the 12th century. She was Queen of France, Queen of England, a great patroness of the arts, and instrumental in the legend and success of Richard the Lionheart. She wielded power in a time when most people thought women incapable of doing so. Her influence was felt throughout England and France, and thro...

The story of the York brothers is part of the story of the English throne. I’m so grateful to Thomas Penn for his wealth of research on the relationships of these brothers.  We typically think of the Wars of the Roses as a cousins’ war, which at times it was. We think of it as York versus Lancaster, which is part of it. But it’s also the story of the three York brothers, of York versus York, broth...

During the late 16th and early 17th centuries, while Shakespeare was writing his plays, the English language was undergoing many changes. Words were coming in from Greek and Roman texts, as well as words from other languages, came into the language. Exploration of the new world and new discoveries in science and astrology led to new ideas and new objects—all needing to be put into words. Shakespea...

More than 830,000 square feet of floor space, nearly 800 bedrooms, and 78 bathrooms; nearly 200 years of being the home of the Royal Family--is there more to the story for Buckingham Palace? Queen Victoria, the first British monarch to live in Buckingham Palace, moved in in 1837. The next year, she was the first sovereign to leave from the Palace to travel to Westminster Abbey for her coronation....

Travel back in time to the birthplace of modern espionage: the court of Queen Elizabeth I and sneak into the world of Tudor Spies! The chaos in religious policy and its political implications laid the foundation for treachery, betrayal, and deception. And one element made this time, particularly as we move into the reign of Elizabeth I, a hotbed of what was then called “spiery”: that element was l...