On 17th of November 1558, Queen Mary I of England, the only surviving daughter of King Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, breathed her last at St James’s Palace, London. Mary passed away childless at the age of 42, without her husband, Philip of Spain, by her...
The chronology of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn’s visit to Calais in October 1532
King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn sailed to Calais on the 11th of October 1532 after she had been elevated to Marquess of Pembroke in an elaborate ceremony on the 1st of September 1532. Some time passed before the monarch and the lady of his dreams met with his French...
Thomas Wyatt: an admirer of Anne Boleyn, an English literature genius
To my great grief, Sir Thomas Wyatt the Elder passed away on the 11th of October 1542 at Clifton Maybank House, Dorset, England. He breathed his last at the age of 38-39 – still young, capable of writing more beautiful sonnets which he introduced to the English literature. He is...
Fulke Greville: a somber poet of the Golden Elizabethan era
Fulke Greville, 1st Baron Brooke, was born into a rich noble family on the 3rd of October 1554 at Beauchamp Court, Warwickshire, England. He was the only son of Sir Fulke Greville and Anne Neville, the daughter of Ralph Neville, Earl of Westmorland. Fulke was de jure 13th Baron Latimer...
The Treaty of Arras of 1435: the end of the civil strife in France
The Treaty of Arras, signed on the 21st of September 1435, ended the enmity between King Charles VII of France and Philippe the Good, Duke of Burgundy. It was a huge diplomatic victory for Charles VII: his Burgundian cousin finally recognized him as the rightful French monarch. The alliance between...
Anne von Cleves: a victim of Henry VIII’s health issues on the wedding night
Anne von Cleves (Anna von Kleve) was born in Schloss Burg, near Düsseldorf, on the 22nd of September 1515. Her parents were John III, Duke of Cleves and Count of Mark, known as the Peaceful (der Friedfertige), and his wife, Maria of Jülich-Berg. Anne had 3 siblings: Sibylle, William, and...
Unfit to rule: the merry captivity of King Jean II of France after the 1356 Poitiers catastrophe
King Jean II of France, called the Good (le Bon), was the second Valois monarch, and, as some historians say, ‘The shame of France’. How could the ruler who also has the nickname ‘the Good’ deserve such an epithet? The clue to the understanding of this reasoning is in the...
Birth of the English Gloriana and Her Mother’s Miscarriages
On the 7th of September 1533, Anne Boleyn birthed a daughter – the future Queen Elizabeth I of England. It happened at Greenwich Palace, where Queen Elizabeth of York had given birth to King Henry VIII. At first, Anne’s pregnancy had been without any complications, and the proud mother coped...
The death of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and his last letter to Queen Elizabeth I
Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, passed away on the 4th of September 1588 at Cornbury Park in Oxfordshire while on his way to Buxton. Mere weeks ago, Leicester had ridden with Queen Elizabeth I of England, the legendary Gloriana, through the streets of London in the rays of glory after...
King William II of England: shot by an arrow while hunting
On the 2nd of August 1100, King William II of England, the second surviving son of William the Conqueror and his wife, Matilda of Flanders, passed away. Their two other surviving sons were Robert II Curthose, and Henry (the future King Henry I of England). William I was known as...
Marriage of Mary I of England and Philip II of Spain
On the 25th of July 1554, Queen Mary I of England married Philip II of Spain at Winchester Cathedral. Catherine of Aragon’s dream came true: at the age of 37, Mary Tudor became the first queen regnant in England and turned her attention to finding a husband. The match was...
Philippe II of France: a monarch rightfully deserving the epithet ‘Augustus’
Born on the 21st of August 1165, King Philippe II of France died on the 14th of July 1223 in Mantes-la-Jolie en route to Paris at the age of 58. When his father, Louis VII of France, fell ill, he had his only son crowned at Reims in 1179, making...
Cardinal Thomas Wolsey: in favor of the fickle Henry VIII for years
King Henry VIII’s ascension to the English throne was viewed by many people as the dawn of a new glorious era in England. Henry was perceived as a paragon of majesty, extravagance, culture, and Renaissance humanism, or it was how Henry positioned himself despite the fact that the Tudor court...
The End of the Tudor Dynasty: Death of Queen Elizabeth I
On the 24th March of 1603, Queen Elizabeth I, the daughter of King Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn, died at Richmond Palace. She ruled England for almost 45 years. Often called the Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the second queen regnant in England, one of England’s...