Question from William - Shakespeare's role in Tudor times

Hi, I was wondering about William Shakespeare's role in the Tudor times. Did he really do anything?

Question from Alison - Quote at arrest of Earl of Essex

When the Earl of Essex is arrested by Queen Elizabeth I - the mob cry "Saw, Saw, Saw. Tray" What does this mean.

It also appears in the Benjamin Britten opera.

Question from Roger - Tudor word "Yonker"

I am researching some tudor era words associated with the crew of the Mary Rose warship and found one "Yonker" which I think may refer to a boy sailor who has a specific job e.g. a Gromet who is a boy tasked with turning the ships time keeping sand glass. Is there a definition of what a Yonker is? Many Thanks

Site slow or completely down for some viewers

Again, I'm thankful that I keep this blog on a separate service, since I know it's one of the most popular parts of my site! So my webhost is having issues - again - and the rest of my site (which I was planning to do some work on today!) is down. I've been pretty loyal to my webhost for several years now but I'm starting to think about shopping around for a new one. Moving sites is a huge pain but I might have to seriously consider it if this continues. *sigh*

Question from Shahzeb - How the Tudors influence us today

I was wondering if you could help me with an assignment. I want to present The Tudors in a less traditional way. So I'm looking for some information about The Tudors, today. What have they done in the past that's had an effect on us today? From litterature to technology.

I'm looking forward to your reply :-)

Question from Katie - Sources for research on Tudor women

Hi, I'm doing a dissertation on Tudor Women - could anyone recommend any useful archives, or general places/books/etc. for primary sources they've found useufl?

Site slowness issues...

... and this is why I keep this blog on a separate service from the news blog and website! My webhost is having issues so a lot of sites, including mine, are slow or are having their connections dropped. If you try to go to pages on the rest of the site (i.e. other than queryblog.tudorhistory.org pages) they may be slow, not appear correctly, or won't even come up at all. I know they are working on it so hopefully everything will be back to normal soon.

Question from Dale Rice - Prince Henry William Tudor

We are awaiting the DNA confirmation that our Father is descended from one John Rice 1624...Who is believed to be the son of Perrott ap Rice son of John Rice II and Katherine Perrott. John Rice II is the son of William ap Rice 1521 and Elizabeth Lattimer. William ap Rice aka known as Henry of Newton is according to my father who was 94 at his passing the Son of Beatrice Tudor Gardiner, Rice and Henry VIII. She was the laundress of Field of Cloth of Gold fame and was herself the grandaughter of Jasper Tudor making she and Henry VIII 2nd cousins. Her husband was Groom Daffid ap Rice of Carew fame and both were assigned to the household of Princess Mary Tudor 1519 until her death 1558. While Queen, Mary Granted little Henry William 1521/22 a coat of Arms with the Pommegranite upon the standard acknowledging his birth by her FATHER Henry. The Pomegranite with a cut revealing multiple seeds being the symbole of Katrin of Castile.

All that to say, is it possible that Henry VIII was kept in the dark of Prince Henry William Tudor as punnishment from both Katherine Queen and Mary's Dynastic plans? The DNA we have in hand is quite clearly a TUDOR match for John Rice 1625, and should have my brother's DNA for comparrison by mid June at the latest. Thankyou. 14 GGrandson of Henry William ap Rice son of Beatrice and Henry Tudor King.

Question from Mary Kate - Character of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York

I keep hearing conflicting reports regarding the marriage of Elizabeth of York and Henry Tudor and also regarding their characters. I am very confused. Things really do not add up. I am sorry if this is long, but bear in mind I am very, very mixed up.

One source I have read, Bacon, says he was not "uxorious" towards his wife (uxor in Latin I know means wife, but I do not know if the source means he was not particularly deferential toward her and rightfully asserted his authority over her as husband, or if he genuinely just didn't give a damn what she thought, or if he just wishes to infer Henry was Mama Margaret Beaufort's boy and hers alone.)


Another source I have read states that Henry was just a mean, miserly, and nasty personality who spent the remainder of his life post-1485 killing off members of the House of York, and his meanness extended to his wife, using her as a baby factory while he and Mama Beaufort ruled England. And still other historians, some just after mentioning the above, emphasize them clinging to each other when Arthur died. I have even read one account where Henry VII is alleged to have had very low near asexual desire, something about low testosterone or some psychiatric disorder....and the man somehow managed to father many children (how did any historian come to this conclusion?!)


So, what gives?!! Was Henry Tudor really so vicious of an SOB that nobody liked him while he was alive, not a single friend; was he basically so foul that even his pet monkey had to be kept on a chain to keep from running away from him if afforded the opportunity?! ( I ask this in part because the curious thing is that pet monkeys require a lot of attention and fail to thrive without affection, yet no historian looks to this as potential evidence that there might be more to the popular image of Henry as a latter day Ebenezer Scrooge.) Did Henry have any redeeming qualities? ( I keep hearing lots of reports of there being much music at his court and we know his son and both daughters had some skill in this area. No report of Elizabeth of York ever playing a note-did they inherit the gift from dear old Dad's side of the family?) It is true he would have had a very busy schedule-did he ever get time away long enough to be with the rest of his family?

It is clear that Elizabeth and he were married for dynastic reasons, but even the wikipedia article says it is presumed that she had a happy marriage with Henry. She is also said to have had a sweet temperament. Question-how does a sweet tempered lady like that manage to have a good relationship with a sour ill tempered old goat and why is it that historians presume such an outcome is feasible?

Question from Ryan - Prince Arthur and archery

I've read online (on google books) that Prince Arthur was an expert at archery, that whenever he was in London he would join the archers on Mile End and practice with them. He came to be so good, that whenever there was a great archer he was nicknamed "Prince Arthur" the book I read was over a hundred and fifty years old, and I've never come across this in any modern biography, I was just wondering if anyone had come across this and if it was true? Or it was mistake from the Victorian age? I was under the impression Arthur was no athletic and that he was weak

Question from GregP - Greenwich Palace waterfront

I am a lover of late medieval and Tudor architecture, though by no means any kind of expert.

For years I had thought that the odd appendage jutting out from the Thameside facade of Greenwich, was some sort of watergate, as was used at Westminster, Whitehall, Hampton Court, and others.

Now as I have been looking closer at numerous prints, it definitely seems to have been more of a porte-cochère.

From what I have been able to determine, it sat right in front of the Sovereign's bedchamber and privy chamber on the second floor. On the ground floor there seems to have been a small doorway into a wardrobe (guardroom?) Then adjacent to that on the NW tower of the Donjon was spiral to second floor privy chambers.

Then supposedly on the second floor above the porte-cochere, was our royale privye closet. Apparently Henry wanted his best view of the Thames to be the view from the "throne"

Interesting thing is that the porte-cochere is offset from the Donjon. It half overlaps the privy chamber and half the privy bedroom.

Does anyone know if there is history of the Donjon predating the rest of the architecture?

Thurley says that H7 left nothing of Gloucester's Bella Courte when he rebuilt Greenwich in 1501. But the central Donjon seems to be significantly medieval, with towers, turrets and crenelation. The "towers" of the rest of the facade are faux fascia, bay windows on the interior, as had been becoming common. The York's had done the same at Nottingham lower ward.

Also, if everything was rebuilt in 1501, the odd angularity of the different ranges seems odd to me. Richmond was extremely rectilinear. With the Burgundian sensibilities taking such currency, it seems odd for 1501 to have such angularity, if it was built from ground up.

Rambling.... babbling...... Comment as you will.

Question from Madison - Henry VIII's spare time activities

Hello. I'm Maddie, a year 8/ 13 year old student at Guernsey Grammar School. Recently, in history, we were set the task of writing an essay on How the Royal Job Description changed between the 1500s and the 1800s. We were told that we had to compare a monarchs reign, so I chose three different monarchs. The monarch from the Tudor period that I chose was Henry VIII, as I thought that there would be a lot to find out about him. I was wondering if you could give me any pointers as to what he did in his spare time or possible links to good websites for information? Thanks.

Question from Laura - Impact of Katherine Parr on Henrician court

I'm a second year history student at University and I am starting to think about my third year dissertation. My question for my dissertation is "What impact did Katherine Parr have on religion and politics in the Henrican court?" But I seem to have hit a stumbling block.

The sources about Katherine Parr seem limited compared to the other tudor Queens and I was wondering if someone could suggest good books, articles, primary sources I could use.

I thought the Act of Six Articles was useful to look at but my tutor said it wasn't.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Question from J - English in the Tudor era

I've always been interested - how exactly did language work in the Tudor era? I know a few - "prithee" meant "pray thee", people used thou, spelled "queen" as "quene" and "king" as "kyng", but I don't know much more than that. Thanks for any help on old(...er) English spellings!

I'd like to use this information for a story I'm writing, to have the language somewhat accurate as the characters speak.

Question from Marilyn R - 1509 portrait of Henry VIII

I am fascinated by the painting in the collection of the Denver Museum said to be of Henry VIII at the time of his coronation in 1509. Can this long-faced, slim and dark-haired youth really be Henry at 18? I seem to remember that David Starkey says it is, but I have always thought the ‘1509’ portrait was probably of Henry VII as a young man.

Compare the painting at Wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_VIII_of_England with the NPG portrait (on this site) of Henry VIII from about 1520 painted by an unknown artist.

They can’t both be of Henry VIII – can they?

Question from Anne - Evidence of Shelton mistress of Henry VIII

Can anyone help answer this question:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Margaret_and_Mary_Shelton

"King's mistress: evidence please" section.

Thankyou

Question from Katie - Dissertation ideas

Hi, I've recently had to decide in a dissertation topic for my third year at university. I've come up with two final ideas.

The first is important aristocratic women, how important were they, did they have any influence in politics etc? But I need to find someone to focus on, someone who isn't too generic or obvious. Any ideas?

My other idea is looking at Elizabeth I being the Virgin queen, why didn't she take a husband, when was the term "Virgin Queen" coined, was it a good choice to not choose a husband etc.

Which idea do you think would be more interesting or easier to do in terms of primary sources?

Katie :)

Question from Mark - Thomas Cromwell's remains

Hi,

Looking for the history on the remains of Lord Thomas Cromwell, (post London Bridge). Was he returned to Launde Abbey? A relation in an Upton family was buried in the Chapel there.

Thanks!

Mark

Question from Kay - 16th century travel times in England

I'm interested in figuring out how long it would travel various distances within England during the late 16th-century. Are there any good sources for this?

Question from DC - Asians in London in 1509

Did people of East Indian, South East Asian or Oriental descent exist in London at the time of the death of Henry VII in 1509?

Just some background to this question. I am no historian or student. I am an Australian male of Asian descent and my partner is English. I am attending a renaissance festival and was hoping to have a believable character. You may now see where my question arises from!

I know by 1506, the Portuguese 7th Armada had returned from South East Asia with the news that Francisco de Alameida was the new made Viceroy of the Indies as well as transporting a baby elephant. Knowing that England and Portugal had an ongoing treaty of cooperation, would it be conceivable that someone of Asian background could have found himself on English soil by 1509? Transporting a person must surely be easier than a baby elephant!

I hope that this question, somewhere out of left field, piques someone who has the resources to answer and stimulates further discussion.

Question from Aoife - Signature of an heir apparent

Hello, how would an heir apparent sign his signature in a letter, like for Henry VIII, his signature would have been "Henry R", and for his son Henry FitzRoy as the duke of Richmond, he wrote his signature as "H Richmond". Would Arthur have written his signature as "A Wales" or would it have been "Arthur W" or would he and Edward VI have written their signatures another way as their father's heir apparents?

Question from GregP - Guests at St Thomas' Day banquet

Been puzzling over the guests at the St Thomas’ Day banquet for the Emperor’s Ambassadors at Greenwich.

To the King’s left, between M. Daucye and the Knt of Toyson, is a “Lady Eliz Stafford”. Obviously a lady of note, to be seated so close, and between 2 of the guests of honour.

The Countess of Surrey is seated opposite, and would not have been called Lady Stafford. The Countess’ aunt was already Lady FitzWalter by then (not yet Countess of Sussex), but that Elizabeth Stafford, I think, was in disgrace from the court at that time.

Am guessing by how she is notated that she is either in the Queen’s or the Duchess of Suffolk’s household.

Pardons if this is a question that has been addressed.

Question from D.J. Loftis - Cranmer's recantation and execution

I'm writing a screenplay about Mary I, and in my research there is something I haven't been able to figure out.

When Thomas Cranmer recanted his Protestantism, under Papal Law, Mary was supposed to spare him, but didn't.

Had Cranmer not taken it back, what would the papal repercussions for this have been for Mary? Would she have been risking excommunication?

Question from Kay - Penshurst Place parks hunting lodge

Do you know how likely it would be that Penshurst Place would have a hunting lodge or some other kind of summer house in its parks around 1600? I've been looking into it, but so far I haven't found a lot about what was in the parks surrounding the estate itself during that time (as opposed to what's in the estate now), or what such buildngs would look like. Thanks for any help you can give me!

Question from Jemma - Promiscuous women and crime in London

Hi there,

I am a second year history student at Canterbury Christ Church Uni in the UK and am planning my dissertation on the study of promiscuous women and their relation to crime in Early Modern London (1450-1750.

I need some suggestions for primary and secondary sources, I have found a few in the National Archives at Kew - court records and defamation cases etc. Does anyone have any ideas please? I'd be very grateful :)

Regards,

Jemma