Tudor Times

PERSON OF THE MONTH

Katherine Parr

Queen of England from 1543 until 1547, the last of the six wives of King Henry VIII.

On This Day 4th March 1522

On 4th March 1522, which was Shrove Tuesday, Cardinal Wolsey entertained the King and Court at his palace at York Place. This was part of a series of entertainments given for the Imperial Ambassadors: jousting, banquets, plays and masques. The masque held on the 4th, which was performed by the ladies and gentlemen of the court, featured a fortress, the Chateau Verte, which contained eight beautiful ladies, named Kindness, Beauty, Perseverance, Bounty, Mercy, Pity, Constancy and Honour.

The ladies were held prisoner by another seven, with less attractive characteristics – Danger, Disdain, Jealousy, Unkindness, Scorn, Strangeness and Malbouche (Sharp-Tongue). It was the role of the gentlemen to rescue the fair ones. Unsurprisingly, as the heroes were led by the King himself, they were successful. This was the first recorded appearance of Anne Boleyn at the English court playing the part of Perseverance.
On This Day 3rd March 1528

On 3rd March 1528 Margaret, Dowager Queen of Scots, married Henry Stewart, Lord Methven as her third husband, despite the disapproval of her son, James V. Margaret had first been married, aged nearly fourteen in 1503, to James IV of Scotland, in fulfilment of the Treaty of Perpetual Peace between the two countries. Widowed when the king was killed at the Battle of Flodden on 9th September 1513, she had married, to the displeasure of the vast majority of the Scots nobles, her second husband, Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus, by whom she had one daughter, Lady Margaret Douglas.The marriage to Angus quickly broke down, and was annulled in 1527. However, her third husband treated her no better than Angus had. The couple were based at Methven Castle.

Picture is of Methven Castle
On This Day 2nd March 1619

On 2nd March 1619, Anna of Denmark, Queen of Scots and Queen of England, died at her favourite palace of Hampton Court. Anna was a cultured and educated woman, particularly fond of drama and the arts flourished at her court. Before they were married. her husband, James VI of Scotland, had travelled to Denmark himself to fetch her, leading to the witch hunts of the late 16th century.

Queen Anna by Marcus Gheerhaerts the Younger

Ferdinando Stanley, Earl of Derby: Villain or Victim?

In this Guest Article, Isolde Martyn, author of The April King, looks at the strange death of Shakespeare's patron, Ferdinando Stanley, 5th Earl of Derby.

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