Marguerite de Valois, Duchess de Berry, was born on the 5th of June 1523 at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye. She was the youngest daughter and child of King François I of France and his first wife – Queen Claude of France, Duchess de Bretagne. In a year after her birth,...
Birth of Charles de Bourbon, Duke de Vendôme – King Henri IV of France’s grandfather
Charles de Bourbon, Duke de Vendôme, was born on the 2nd of June 1489. He was a French noblewoman ranked as prince du sang – a person legitimately descended in dynastic line from any of a realm’s hereditary monarchs. Born at the Château de Vendôme, his birth brought a profound...
A New Tudor Royal Wedding less than two weeks after Anne Boleyn’s execution
On the 30th of May 1536, King Henry VIII of England and Lady Jane Seymour were married at Whitehall palace at the Queen’s Closet. Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, who had married Jane’s predecessor, now dead Anne Boleyn, and the Tudor monarch in the winter of 1533, conducted the quiet...
The visit of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V to England in 1522
On the 26th of May 1522, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V arrived at the English city-port of Dover. Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, Archbishop of York, as well as his entourage of approximately 300 Englishmen, specially selected for this occasion in advance, greeted the Habsburg emperor. At the time of the emperor’s...
Fra Girolamo Savonarola: execution of an unorthodox friar in Florence
On the 23th of May 1498, Fra Girolamo Savonarola and his two most fervent supporters – Fra Girolamo and Fra Domenico – were escorted out of their prison into the main Florentine square (Piazza della Signoria). They faced a high ecclesiastic tribunal, who condemned them as heretics and schismatics, having...
Marriage of François d’Angoulême and Claude of France
On the 18th of May 1514, François d’Angoulême, the future King François I of France, married his distant cousin Claude, the eldest of the two surviving daughters of Queen Anne and King Louis XII. The quiet ceremony took place in the atmosphere of lament in a chapel at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, which...
Golden Florentine Renaissance: Sandro Botticelli
Sandro Botticelli, born as Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi, lived at the time when all things intellectual, humanistic, and progressive flourished in the Florentine Republic. The city was truly the cradle of the new era dawning. The artist belonged to the Florentine School under the patronage of Lorenzo de’...
Day of mourning: executions of George Boleyn and the other men unjustly condemned
Today is a day of mourning for historians and Tudor enthusiasts. On the early morning of the 17th of May 1536, several men, among them the queen’s own brother, were escorted out of the western entrance of the Tower under heavy guard. They were George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford, as well...
The tragedy of Anne Boleyn: more arrests
The tragedy of Anne Boleyn was also connected with the tragedies of several other people – her alleged lovers, including her own brother – George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford. On 5th of May 1536, Sir Thomas Wyatt the Elder, who was a famed court poet, and Sir Richard Page, who was...
Leonardo Da Vinci: a genius’s life in Italy and his last years in France
Leonardo Da Vinci was born on the 14 or 15th of April 1452 in the Tuscan town of Vinci, in the Republic of Florence. He was undoubtedly the quintessential Renaissance man, one who spent most of his life in Italy and his last years in France. Leonardo’s areas of interest...
Thomas Cranmer’s letter to Henry VIII in Anne Boleyn’s defense
Ah, Anne Boleyn… Our Anne… Back then in May, she was deserted by everyone, even by her own father. However, she still had one friend – Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury. Cranmer adored and admired Anne, and he proclaimed King Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine of Aragon null and void. ...
The 2nd of May 1536: Anne Boleyn is apprehended
The second of May in the year 1536 began for Queen Anne Boleyn as any routine day. Accompanied by her inner circle, Anne watched a game of tennis at Greenwich Palace. Then the king’s messenger approached and apprised her of her husband’s order to present herself before the Privy Council....
Anne Boleyn: the beginning of her tragic May ordeal
On the 1st of May 1536, the tragic ordeal of Anne Boleyn commenced. Worms of uncertainty must have been crawling through her stomach as she saw her husband, King Henry VIII of England, depart abruptly from the May Day joust. Although Mayday originated as a pagan festive holy day celebrating...
Death of Queen Jane Seymour
On the 12th of October 1537, Queen Jane Seymour gave birth to the future King Edward VI at Hampton Court Palace. The ordeal was a horrendous one, for the birth had taken two days and three nights. Nevertheless, she must have been in an elated frame of mind because...
Princess Mary Tudor: biding her time after marrying Louis XII
On the 13th of August 1514, Princess Mary Tudor was married to King Louis XII of France by proxy at Greenwich Palace. A young and beautiful maid became the wife of an ailing and old monarch! Mary was eighteen, while Louis was fifty-two! However, the age difference did not matter...