On the 11th of July 1533, Pope Clement VII declared that Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon was valid and legal. Effectively, it meant that the King of England’s marriage to Anne Boleyn was declared null and void. This is the excerpt from Letters and Papers (the source is...
A fatal love triangle: King Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, and Jane Seymour (part 5)
the links to part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4 of the series “A fatal love triangle: King Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, and Jane Seymour On the 15th of May 1536, a fatal love triangle was finally untangled. To end Anne Boleyn’s marriage to King Henry quickly, only a legal solution would suffice. Henry...
A fatal love triangle: King Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, and Jane Seymour (part 4)
the links to part 1, part 2, and part 3 of the series “A fatal love triangle: King Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, and Jane Seymour After the arrests of Anne and George Boleyn, and her other alleged paramours, tension was rising in the air, and the royal court froze in anticipation of the appalling...
AU: Queen Elizabeth I marries Robert Dudley
First of all, we need to determine whether Queen Elizabeth I could have married Robert Dudley. Is the alternate history scenario of her marriage to Dudley probable? Robert Dudley married his first wife, Amy Robsart, in 1550, three days before her 18th birthday. At that time, the seventeen-year-old Elizabeth was a...
A fatal love triangle: King Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, and Jane Seymour (part 2)
the link to part 1 of the series “A fatal love triangle: King Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, and Jane Seymour” is here The fatal love triangle of Henry VIII, Anne, and Jane Seymour was at the centre of the grisly murder of Queen Anne Boleyn. In April 1536, stormy clouds were...
What would have happened if Queen Mary I had a reason to execute her younger sister, Elizabeth?
One of my readers asked me what would of happened if Queen Mary I had a reason to execute her younger sister, Elizabeth? Could Mary send her sister to the block? Would she have named Mary Stuart as her heir? Mary and Elizabeth had a very strained relationship after Mary’s...
Another Boleyn woman: Elizabeth Howard Boleyn
Lady Elizabeth Boleyn née Howard, Countess of Wiltshire and of Ormond, and the wife of Thomas Boleyn, died on the 3rd of April 1538. It happened somewhere near Baynard’s Castle, the home of the Abbot of Reading. Elizabeth was a member of one of the highest-ranking noble families in England:...
An AU scenario: Spanish invasion in England
One of my readers asked me the question what would have happened if Holy Roman Emperor Charles V had invaded England and had dethroned King Henry VIII. First of all, I want to say that it is highly unlikely that the emperor would have decided to invade England. The Imperial ambassador Eustace Chapuys, who was...
The tragic end of some Januaries for Anne Boleyn and Catherine of Aragon
In various years of the 16th century, the end of January was quite a tragic time for Henry VIII’s two wives – Anne Boleyn and Catherine of Aragon. It was a time of unhappiness, distress, loss, and tragedy for both Catherine and Anne. The end of January 1535 was the official...
The Doomed Romance of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII
My dear friends and readers! I am delighted to inform you that I’m currently having a book tour, in which I’m visiting various blogs and discussing Anne Boleyn for my new book Between Two Kings. Today, this new article was published in Kyra Kramer’s research blog “Through the Eyes of Anne...
Henry VIII’s meeting with Anne of Cleves
On the 1st of January 1540, King Henry VIII met Anne of Cleves for the first time in Rochester, where she was having a short rest during her journey to Greenwich. Henry wanted to surprise his wife-to-be, not knowing how negatively surprised he himself would be after this meeting. After...
Henry VIII’s last appearance before Parliament
On 24th December 1545, Henry VIII appeared before Parliament and made his final speech, where Henry mixes threats and flattery as he chastises the Lords and the Commons for the absence of religious unity in England and for some other things. Henry comes across as a belligerent and absolute monarch, who...