Question from Hannah - Widows of executed noblemen

What was the fate of widows of noblemen, who had been executed - assuming that widow had been deemed innocent of whatever crime her husband had been condemned? Were treatment and customs much different from normal?

[Similar question from 2011 linked below. - Lara]

http://queryblog.tudorhistory.org/2011/06/question-from-gill-families-of-peers.html

Question from Em - Jacobean lace

Was jacobean lace made of silk, linen, or all three? Does it make a difference if the lace was used on the neck, the cuff or elsewhere?

Any idea of the relative cost of a great lace neckpiece?
Thanks.

Question from Peter - City Bars and Gates

Dear Tudor Q&As

Query re City Bars & Gates.

I have a reference to a house that was the last before the city Bar (also written as Barre sometimes). The implication is that the Bar marked the limit of the city boundary. But what exactly was the Bar. Was it an actual structure or a notional boundary?

Could you confirm that the word "Gate" meant road or street as well as gate as we understand it today?

Very many thanks for your help.
Peter

Question from Stephanie - Elizabeth I's possible marriage to Philip of Spain

How likely did people think it was that Elizabeth would marry Philip of Spain when she ascended the throne? Did she immediately reject him, or did she keep him hanging on like she did with later suitors? I'm thinking that that would have been a worry for English Protestants.

Question from JenGin - Mary Boleyn at court in during Anne's queenship

Hello everyone,

I'm currently reading Alison Weir's bio of Mary Boleyn and there is something that I'm curious about. Weir says:

"In April 1535, as we have seen, John Hale mentioned that 'the Queen's Grace might not suffer her sister to be in the court', and so it is unlikely that Anne and Mary were ever reconciled".

Is it true that Anne couldn't "suffer" her sister to be at court? Is this John Hale the same person who claimed that Mary Boleyn's son was Henry VIII's child? I'm very curious. Thank you in advance.

Question from Annette - Gertrude Blount and Jane Seymour

To question about Gertrude Blount,lady Exeter, I have just been reading david starkys six wives of Henry viii and he says that she and sir Nicholas Carew were sponsors to jane Seymour , what did sponsors do for their sponsees? and does anyone know what she looked like..apparently she was supposed to be attractive.

Question from Jane - Executions of husbands and wives

If both husband and wife were to be executed by beheading, would they be executed at the same time or not? Would it be up to King to decide that?

Question from Peter - Abbreviation in Yorkshire Deeds

Please could you or your readers advise what the abbreviation 'clk' found in the Yorkshire Archaeological Society, Record Series, Yorkshire Deeds, for the 15th Century means?

Eg;

'to Robert Frost, clk., chancellor of the lord Prince, Thomas Pek, clk.,'

Many thanks.
Peter