When one of the most commonly cited life achievements of a man is the illegal torture of a defenceless, young woman, you know that you must have met one of the most wretchedly cruel villains of Tudor history. However, this man was no shady character of the streets; not a heinous criminal bent on breaking …
When Katherine Howard stepped upon the scaffold at The Tower of London to make her final speech of contrition, all the shocking details of the young queen’s earlier, scandalous life had been laid bare for all to see. Much of the evidence that came to light in her indictment was given in evidence by friends …
The 30 November (2020) sees the 490th anniversary of the sad demise and death of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey at Leicester Abbey. This followed his arrest for treason at Cawood Castle in North Yorkshire earlier that month. To commemorate this event, The Tudor Travel Guide team are holding a virtual summit over the weekend of the …
If you want to explore a Tudor ‘house of secrets’ then the subject of today’s blog, Harvington Hall in Worcestershire, is going to be right up your street. As you will hear, this incredibly raw and authentic Elizabethan moated manor house was designed with the utmost subterfuge in mind. In exploring the history of the …
Thomas Cromwell is one of the most interesting, complex and reviled characters in Tudor history, mainly on account of his seemingly ruthless destruction of the Boleyn faction in May 1536. Despite his character flaws, his genius and astonishing talents are as apparent now as they were to the two men who would spot, nurture and …
Gainsborough Old Hall, in Lincolnshire, has been described by the renowned architectural historian, Anthony Emery, as the most complete courtier house of the period in England. It is a splendid monument to one man’s ambitions and accomplishment, across one of the most turbulent periods of English history. Furthermore, it became the home of Katherine Parr …