A husband or wife did not have the right either to demand sex from his or her spouse or to refuse it, and there was a catalogue of forbidden sexual practices, notably homosexuality, bestiality, certai...
The weight of evidence ‘cannot convince those who do not wish to believe
Masques
Katherine of Aragon was a staunch but misguided woman of principle; Anne Boleyn an ambitious adventuress with a penchant for vengeance; Jane Seymour a strong-minded matriarch in the making; Anne of Cl...
Allayed,
She had already decided that, when she grew up, she was going to do whatever she pleased and not let anyone order her about.
Attainder,
Tudor historians were adept at rewriting history.
Swearing, drunkenness, haunting bad houses, fighting, and drawing graffiti—hugh penises were a favourite—on the palace walls were all punishable by warnings,
Islamic lands did not emigrate willingly to Israel. In order to force them to leave, Giladi writes, Jews killed Jews. He goes on to say that in an effort to buy time to confiscate ever more Arab lands...
Clytemnestra,
Crack of
Tudor historians were fond of reminding their readers of the horrors of the Wars of the Roses, recounting how the realm had been plunged into the vicious civil war over a disputed crown that lasted mo...
The Burgundian chronicler Philippe de Commines thought the English a choleric, earthy, and volatile people, who nevertheless made good, brave soldiers. In fact he regarded their warlike inclinations a...
Shrovetide.
A king was the Lord’s anointed, hallowed at his coronation with holy oil.
War was a dangerous business, and those who escaped death at the hands of the enemy often perished as a result of the dysentery and disease that could decimate armies.
Sycophancy
Face that journey again in the winter. Arthur did not answer, and when she turned to look at him, she saw that
Who does not tremble when he considers how to deal with his wife?’ asked Henry VIII in his treatise A Defence of the Seven Sacraments; ‘for not only is he bound to love her, but so to live with her th...