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...
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...
I will never give him the satisfaction of knowing how much he has wounded and enraged me. In my silence lies my strength.
Henry VIII owned more than eight hundred carpets,
Clytemnestra,
Tudor historians were adept at rewriting history.
Shrovetide.
The weight of evidence ‘cannot convince those who do not wish to believe
Sycophancy
Attainder,
She had already decided that, when she grew up, she was going to do whatever she pleased and not let anyone order her about.
Assiduous
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...
Swearing, drunkenness, haunting bad houses, fighting, and drawing graffiti—hugh penises were a favourite—on the palace walls were all punishable by warnings,
Kat embraced her, concealing her dismay as best she could. For these few months, fraught as they were, Elizabeth had been entirely hers again.
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...
If only the Fates had granted him a longer stay in this
At six o'clok the young King's terrible sufferings finally ended. After his eyes had closed for the last time, the tempeste raged on. Later, superstitious folk claimed that Henry himself had sent it,...
A king was the Lord’s anointed, hallowed at his coronation with holy oil.