It reveals a man in his 20s or 30s, who stood over six feet tall. The archer may have been a captain: he was found with an ivory armguard, a silver ring, and a bag containing a pewter plate, all of which indicate he was of high status. Tests also revealed signs of repetitive stress injury, likely caused by working in a profession where one is pulling a longbow with a force of up to 90 kilograms.

The team at Swansea University’s College of Engineering analysed several skulls from the Mary Rose. They produced an exact 3D copy of one of them. Swedish expert Oscar Nilsson, who works with the police on reconstructing the faces of unidentified bodies, then used the copy to build up the man’s face muscle by muscle.

The work is part of a wider project involving Swansea University and the Mary Rose Trust. When the warship was raised from the Solent in 1982, 92 fairly complete skeletons of the crew were recovered. Ten skulls came to Swansea for analysis, including the skull of the man whose face has been reconstructed.

‌Nick Owen, a sport and exercise biomechanist from the A-STEM group at the College of Engineering, which has led the Swansea work on the project, said, “What’s so exciting is that we can reveal the face of a man who has been hidden from history. We wouldn’t have portraits of him, as we do for wealthy and powerful people from the past – for example we’d already seen the face of Richard III on paintings before his remains were discovered.

This is a face of an ordinary man, albeit in a crack regiment, and he hasn’t been seen for almost 500 years. Thanks to 21st century technology and expertise, we can bring him vividly back to life, and understand more about his world.”

The reconstructed face, along with many other artefacts from the Mary Rose, is on display in the new Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth.

See also The Mary Rose archers were among the elite soldiers of the 16th century, research reveals

See also Sports scientists examine the medieval archers of the Mary Rose

Source: Swansea University

Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scotland

By Susan Abernethy

Margaret Tudor was the eldest daughter of King Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York. She was the elder sister of Henry VIII and Mary Tudor, Queen of France and Duchess of Suffolk. Her marriage to the King of Scotland was to have repercussions for Scottish history down to this day.

Margaret was born November 28, 1489 and was named after her grandmother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, Henry VII’s mother. She grew up with her siblings at Eltham Palace under the guidance of their mother. She was educated by tutors and schoolmasters and excelled at music, an interest she shared with her mother. Talk of marriage to the King of Scotland began when she was six years old.

After numerous skirmishes with Scotland over the years, Henry VII negotiated a peace treaty with King James IV of Scotland in early 1502 and marriage with Margaret was the ultimate objective of the treaty. There was a marriage by proxy performed on January 25, 1503 at Richmond Palace followed by jousting and celebrations. From this point on Margaret was recognized as the rightful Queen of Scotland. In May, James gave her the castles of Methven, Sterling, Doune, Linlithgow and Newark along with all revenues from designated earldoms and lordships.

Margaret was not quite thirteen years old and James was thirty. After the proxy ceremony, on June 27th, Margaret began a state progress north, accompanied by her father part of the way. She crossed the border at Berwick-upon-Tweed on August 1 and spent her first night in Scotland. The official wedding rite was performed on August 8, 1503 at Holyrood Palace. A short coronation ceremony followed.

Historians have said the marriage of Margaret and James was one of strong affection. James was attentive and generous. The first three years of the marriage were pleasant and full of social engagements. Margaret then had her first child at age sixteen. The couple was to have six children of which only one survived infancy; James, born on April 10, 1512. Margaret was to become deathly ill after each pregnancy but her constitution was strong and she would survive the illnesses each time.

In 1513, Margaret’s brother Henry VIII decided he wanted to restore England’s right to the Angevin (Anjou) lands in France and went off to war. Margaret’s husband had peace treaties with England and with France so when Henry decided to invade; James was forced to choose which treaty to honor. Henry tried to extract a promise from James that he wouldn’t invade England while he was gone. James refused and backed the French. Plans were made to invade England. Margaret was torn between her brother and her husband. She had prophetic dreams and asked James not to go to war. James met the English at Flodden Field on September 9, 1513 where he lost his life along with the flower of the Scottish nobility.

Margaret and James’ seventeen month old son was crowned King James V on September 21, 1513. James IV had named Margaret as regent for the boy in his will as long as she remained a widow. In the beginning of her regency she acted with caution and political skill and managed to negotiate peace with her brother. But she soon made a fatal mistake.

Upon the death of his grandfather in March of 1514, Archibald Douglas became the Earl of Angus and joined the King’s Council. Margaret fell passionately in love with Angus. There was obviously a strong physical attraction between the two. Since her regency depended on her remaining a widow, her marriage gave the council a reason to depose her. Most of the council was against a woman ruler in Scotland anyway so this gave them a convenient excuse. They recalled John, Duke of Albany from France in May of 1515 to take over and on August 6th the council extracted the keys to Stirling Castle and took Margaret’s children.

Margaret was eight months pregnant by Angus and told the council she would retire to Linlithgow Palace for her confinement. While there she managed to escape across the border into England. In October she gave birth to a daughter, Lady Margaret Douglas. Her husband Angus would lose all his property and income if he left Scotland so he returned to make peace with Albany and the council to the consternation of Margaret.

Margaret went to London where Henry lodged her in Scotland Yard for a year. Henry and Wolsey brokered reconciliation with Albany and the council and Margaret returned to Scotland and her husband. Albany was in France and allowed Margaret to resume the regency. For the next three years, the tensions between Margaret and her husband and Angus’ feud with the Earl of Arran dominated politics. Albany returned in November 1521 and Angus went into exile while Margaret and Albany restored order in the kingdom. In 1524, Margaret managed to remove Albany from the regency and established herself as head of the government. She brought the twelve year old James to Edinburgh and Parliament declared the regency over, naming Margaret at the King’s chief councilor.

Angus returned to Scotland. Margaret was becoming obsessed with divorcing him. She wrote letters to her brother, complaining of his shabby treatment of her and how he was spending all her money. She was seeking permission from the Pope for divorce. At the same time, she had fallen in love with Henry Stewart, younger brother of Lord Avondale. She had alienated many members of the nobility and then she allowed Angus back on the council in February of 1525. It was all he needed to take custody of James and rule the government for three years. Margaret worked diligently to extricate herself from her marriage to Angus, even going so far as to trying to escape to England. Angus had her caught and brought back. Finally in December 1527, she received word the Pope had granted her a divorce. In March of 1528, she married Stewart.

In June of 1528, James freed himself of Angus and began to rule for himself. His mother and her new husband were invited to be his chief councilors. Margaret wanted to arrange a meeting between her son and her brother but it never happened. She worked for most of her life to improve relations between Scotland and England. In June of 1538, she welcomed Mary of Guise to court as the bride of her son James. The new Queen and her mother-in-law appeared to have a good relationship. The daughter of James V and Mary of Guise was Mary Queen of Scots.

Margaret was to die of a stroke on October 18, 1541 at Methven Castle. Her lasting legacy was that her daughter Lady Margaret Douglas married Matthew Stuart, fourth Earl of Lennox and had a son Henry, Lord Darnley. Darnley was to marry Margaret’s granddaughter, Mary Queen of Scots. Their son became James VI of Scotland and James I of England when Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603. Henry VIII named the heirs of his sister Mary in his will after his own children, rather than Margaret’s heirs. But Margaret’s great-grandchild ended up on the throne. Scotland and England were joined together into Great Britain.

Postscript: Lady Margaret Douglas was to have an affair with Sir Charles Howard, brother of Henry VIII’s fifth Queen, Catherine Howard before her marriage to Lennox.

Resources: “The Sisters of Henry VIII” by Maria Perry, “Henry VIII: The King and His Court” by Alison Weir

Susan Abernethy is the writer of The Freelance History Writer and a contributor to Saints, Sisters, and Sluts. You can follow both sites on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/thefreelancehistorywriter) and (http://www.facebook.com/saintssistersandsluts), as well on Medieval History Lovers. You can also follow Susan on Twitter @SusanAbernethy2

Each biography written by Susan Abernethy

Henry VIII, King of England, ruled his country from 1509 to 1537. His reign saw war with France, the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the break from Roman Catholicism and the establishment of the Church of England. However, Henry might be best known for his six wives. Two of these marriages ended with Henry beheading his wife, while two others were annulled. The stories of these episodes often show a Tudor court rife with intrigue.

Susan Abernethy has written a series of biographies on each of King Henry’s wives. She explains:

The story of King Henry VIII and his six wives has fascinated me since I was a teenager. Henry’s dynastic need for a son and for personal love drove him in a desperate search for the right woman creating a rich history with a panorama of interesting characters male and female. In researching these six women, I found Katherine Parr to be refined and elegant and mature enough to maneuver between the politics at court and Henry’s moods. But they are all interesting in their own way. This topic has been covered many times and in many ways. These posts give a concise description of each wife to review for those of you who know the story and pique your interest if you don’t.

The Wives of Henry VIII are:

Catherine of Aragon – married 11 June 1509 – 23 May 1533

Catherine came to England in November 1501 and met her groom for the first time. They were married 10 days later and immediately sent to live in Ludlow in Wales. In April of 1502, they both became ill, possibly of the sweating sickness. Arthur died and Catherine survived as a widow. Henry VII did not want to return Catherine’s dowry to her father so it was agreed Catherine would marry Arthur’s brother, Prince Henry when he was old enough.

Click here to read more about Catherine of Aragon

Anne Boleyn – married 28 May 1533 – 19 May 1536

Anne has the distinction of being the first Queen Consort to be beheaded and because of her, the course of ecclesiastical history in England changed forever.

Click here to read more about Anne Boleyn

Jane Seymour – married 30 May 1536 – 24 October 1537

After all the storm and drama of Henry VIII’s first two marriages, his third marriage to Jane Seymour seems almost serene.

Click here to read more about Jane Seymour

Anne of Cleves – married 6 January 1540 – 9 July 1540

Poor Anne of Cleves was sitting at the home of her brother the Duke of Cleves, minding her own business when who do you think came calling?

Click here to read more about Anne of Cleves

Catherine Howard – married 28 July 1540 – 13 February 1542

Of all of Henry VIII’s six wives, the most beautiful was probably the nubile Catherine Howard. Henry called her his ‘rose without a thorn’.

Click here to read more about Catherine Howard

Katherine Parr – married 12 July 1543 – 28 January 1547

After the disastrous marriage to Catherine Howard, Henry probably just wanted a wife who could nurse him through his various ailments and not cause him any trouble. Henry did not actively seek a wife at this time but he was soon to find the perfect match in Katherine Parr.

Click here to read more about Katherine Parr

Susan Abernethy is the writer of The Freelance History Writer and a contributor to Saints, Sisters, and Sluts. You can follow both sites on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/thefreelancehistorywriter) and (http://www.facebook.com/saintssistersandsluts), as well on Medieval History Lovers. You can also follow Susan on Twitter @SusanAbernethy2

Mary Tudor, Queen of France and Duchess of Suffolk

By Susan Abernethy

We would like to continue our series on Tudor queens by examining the life of Mary Tudor, the younger sister of King Henry VIII. She began as a victim of circumstances but ended up marrying the love of her life.

Mary was the fifth child of Henry VII, King of England and his wife Elizabeth of York. She was born on March 18, 1496 at Richmond Palace and was the youngest to survive infancy. Mary, along with her brothers Arthur and Henry and elder sister Margaret as well as other siblings who didn’t survive, all seemed to have delighted in an idyllic childhood under the guidance of their mother. They mostly grew up at Eltham Palace where they all had tutors and schoolmasters. Mary learned French from an early age. Mary and Henry were especially close as evidenced by Henry naming his first daughter after his sister. Mary was one of the most beautiful princesses in Europe at the time. There is a lock of her hair preserved in the museum at Bury St. Edmunds and the color is golden. She wore her lustrous long hair hanging down to her waist.

In 1507, Mary was betrothed to Charles of Castile, who would later become the Holy Roman Emperor. But political alliances were to change and the engagement was broken. In the meantime, Mary had fallen in love with Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, Henry VIII’s best friend. When Henry’s chief minister, Cardinal Wolsey negotiated a peace treaty with France in 1514, part of the conditions were that Mary become the wife of the French King Louis XII. Mary pleaded with her brother that if she agreed to this marriage for state reasons, she must be allowed to marry whomever she wished the second time. Mary was eighteen and Louis was fifty-two and she was not pleased with the age difference. It is believed Henry did agree she could marry again but he wanted to leave his options open if more lucrative alliances were to arise. So, Mary went off to France.

Louis and Mary were married on October 9, 1514 and she was immediately crowned Queen. One of the ladies-in-waiting who went with Mary to France was Anne Boleyn. Louis, who was quite ill at the time with many maladies, exhausted himself with all the wedding and coronation ceremonies and with escapades in the marriage bed, trying for an heir. He promptly died, three months after the wedding.

Henry sent his boon companion, the Duke of Suffolk to rescue Mary and bring her home, making him promise he wouldn’t marry her. Mary was required to remain in seclusion until it was determined if she was with child. While she was waiting, she seduced Suffolk into marrying her in March of 1515. Henry and Wolsey were furious. Marrying the blood relative of a King without permission was treason. Mary and Suffolk had put both their lives in jeopardy. Mary wrote to Henry giving him her dowry, trying to appease him. Henry extracted a promise from Suffolk that he would bring all of Mary’s plate, jewels and gold back from France and pay him 4000 pounds per year for life, an enormous sum. Henry’s council wanted Suffolk to be arrested but Wolsey calmed Henry down and all was forgiven. Mary and Suffolk were officially married in May of 1515 at Greenwich Palace.

Mary was Suffolk’s third wife. Due to the debt they owed Henry, they seemed to suffer financial problems throughout their married life. He had two daughters from his second marriage that Mary brought up as her own children. Together, Mary and Suffolk had four children. Henry Brandon was born in 1516 but died in 1522. They had another son, also named Henry born in 1523 and he also died in 1534. Their two daughters, Frances and Eleanor, born in 1517 and 1519, both survived and made successful marriages. Frances married Henry Grey, Marques of Dorset and had three daughters, Jane, Catherine and Mary. Lady Jane was to reign as Queen of England for nine days. We will visit her story later. Eleanor Brandon married Henry Clifford, Earl of Cumberland and had one daughter.

While Mary lived, she was never called the Duchess of Suffolk but “the French Queen”. She spent most of her time at her private home Westhorpe Hall in Suffolk. Mary’s relationship with King Henry was strained in the 1520’s because she didn’t support Henry’s efforts to divorce his first wife, Catherine of Aragon whom Mary had known for many years. She never liked Anne Boleyn. She basically lived a quiet life away from court.

When Mary died at Westhorpe on June 25, 1533, she was buried at the abbey in Bury St. Edmunds. The monastery was destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Thomas Cromwell and Henry VIII when Henry broke with the Catholic Church to marry Anne Boleyn. Mary’s body was then moved to St. Mary’s Church, Bury St. Edmunds.

Resources: “The Sisters of Henry VIII” by Maria Perry, “Henry VIII: The King and His Court” by Alison Weir

Susan Abernethy is the writer of The Freelance History Writer and a contributor to Saints, Sisters, and Sluts. You can follow both sites on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/thefreelancehistorywriter) and (http://www.facebook.com/saintssistersandsluts), as well on Medieval History Lovers. You can also follow Susan on Twitter @SusanAbernethy2

The Wives of King Henry VIII: Katherine Parr

By Susan Abernethy

After the disastrous marriage to Catherine Howard, Henry probably just wanted a wife who could nurse him through his various ailments and not cause him any trouble. Henry did not actively seek a wife at this time but he was soon to find the perfect match in Katherine Parr.

Katherine Parr was born in 1512 to a northern nobleman and his wife Thomas and Maud Parr. Her parents were close to Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. Katherine Parr may have been named after Queen Catherine. Her father died when she was young so she was very close to her mother. Her mother was a well educated woman and she saw that her children were educated. Katherine had a passion for learning and spoke French, Latin and Italian. She also was an advocate of the New Faith (the Episcopal Church). But she never did like embroidery.

In 1529, Katherine married Sir Edward Borough. They were both about the same age but her husband was in poor health. He died in 1533, leaving Katherine a widow at age twenty-one. She went to live with her Neville relatives in Cumbria and this is where she probably met her second husband, John Neville, 3rd Baron Latimer whom she married in the summer of 1534. Latimer was forty years old and had two children from a previous marriage so Katherine now had a husband, a home, two step-children and a title. It is said she had affection for her husband.

Latimer was a supporter of the old religion (Catholicism) and during some rebellions in the north of England, Katherine was held hostage in her family home and had to struggle to survive while her husband was off fighting. Her husband was in and out of trouble with Henry’s chief minister, Thomas Cromwell until Cromwell’s fall in 1540. Latimer was then elected to Parliament and he and Katherine lived in London where she was in contact with the court and the latest fashions, as well as the new religion.

By 1542, Latimer was ill. Katherine nursed him until his death in 1543. Through her earlier family connections with Catherine of Aragon, Katherine renewed her friendship with the Lady Mary, Henry VIII’s eldest daughter. While in Mary’s household, Katherine began a relationship with Thomas Seymour, the brother of Henry VIII’s third wife, Jane Seymour. But by now, Katherine had caught the eye of the King and she felt it was her duty to serve the King and become his wife.

Katherine and Henry were married at Hampton Court on July 12, 1543. Katherine immediately began to reconcile Henry with his daughters Mary and Elizabeth. Due to the divorces and annulments of his marriages to Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn, the girls had been declared bastards and were not treated well by their father. Katherine convinced Henry to let them live with them as a family along with their brother Edward. She supervised the children’s education and was instrumental in restoring the girls to the right of succession to the throne.

From July to September 1544, Henry went to war in France and left Katherine as Regent in England. During this period, she was an extremely competent ruler. She handled provision and finances for the French campaign and was in close contact with the commander in the North where the situation with Scotland was unstable. If something were to happen to Henry, Katherine was to be Regent to Prince Edward until he became of age. Henry clearly trusted her.

In 1546, Katherine’s religious beliefs came under suspicion by the pro-Catholic faction at court. An arrest warrant was actually drawn up and executed. The plotters convinced Henry that Katherine was trying to instruct him in religious matters. Katherine got wind of the plot to bring her down and went to Henry on bended knee, declaring she was only discussing religion with Henry to distract him while nursing his ulcerous legs. Henry was in no mood to execute another Queen and kissed his “Kate” and told her she was forgiven. Someone actually came to arrest Katherine because they had not heard about the reconciliation. Henry dismissed the arrestor and Katherine was more circumspect and cautious from then until Henry’s death.

In early December of 1546, Henry parted from Katherine and told her urgent business must be attended to. Katherine may not have realized just how ill Henry was. Henry’s ministers kept him in isolation until his death on January 28, 1547. Katherine sent many requests to see the King but she was not allowed. She had high hopes he would name her Regent to his young son, King Edward VI but the ministers had control of the King and refused to let this happen. However, she was named the guardian of the Princess Elizabeth. The King also provided a generous monetary settlement for Katherine and insisted she be treated as the Queen, even after his death.

Katherine was a widow once more. After a decorous period of mourning, she and Thomas Seymour were a couple once again and married in May of 1547 in secret. The council would not have approved of her marriage to Thomas and he had to go directly to the young King to get approval. After this the council lost all respect for Katherine and she was not treated well from then on. In November of 1547, Katherine published a book, “Lamentations of a Sinner” which proved to be very popular.

Katherine became pregnant in March 1548. The pregnancy was a surprise due to her age, 35, and the fact that in three marriages, she had never become pregnant. Her daughter, Mary Seymour, was born on August 30, 1548. Katherine died 6 days later, possibly of puerpual fever, the same ailment that killed Henry’s third wife, Jane Seymour. She was buried in the chapel at Sudeley Castle.

Resources:

Katherine the Queen: The Remarkable Life of the Last Wife of Henry VIII, by Linda Porter,

The Six Wives of Henry VIII, by Alison Weir

Susan Abernethy is the writer of The Freelance History Writer and a contributor to Saints, Sisters, and Sluts. You can follow both sites on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/thefreelancehistorywriter) and (http://www.facebook.com/saintssistersandsluts), as well on Medieval History Lovers. You can also follow Susan on Twitter @SusanAbernethy2

Dr Bart van Es of Oxford University’s Faculty of English Language and Literature argued that Shakespeare’s decision in 1594 to buy a one-eighth share in the Lord Chamberlain’s Men not only made him wealthy but meant that he got to know the actors he was writing for.

“Shakespeare is known as the first playwright with deep, distinctive characterisation and I believe he developed this because of his relationships with the company’s principal actors, which comes across in his plays after 1594,” explained Dr van Es.

He began like his literary contemporaries – writing for many different companies, often writings parts of plays, and living on a breadline type of existence. His early writing seems designed to achieve fame and to secure patronage by publishing poems like the Rape of Lucrece and Venus and Adonis.’

Dr van Es says that his decision to buy a share in the company not only freed Shakespeare financially – he soon bought the second biggest house in Stratford and even loaned money to his contemporaries – but brought him into close contact with the actors performing his plays.

Dr van Es notes that, “Shakespeare came to be in the unique position of working and socialising with the actors in Lord Chamberlain’s Men. He knew and understood their personalities, and this shaped the characters he wrote for them. A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Love’s Labour’s Lost even feature rehearsal scenes where a large number of characters (such as Flute, Snug, and Bottom) are physically distinct; this kind of writing had never been attempted before.

“This separated Shakespeare from the world of the jobbing playwright, whose plays would have been performed by different companies and frequently rewritten.”

Dr van Es has identified direct examples where Shakespeare’s relationships with his principal actors influenced his writing. In particular, his lead comic actor Robert Armin and lead tragic actor Richard Burbage.

He said, “Shakespeare writes roles as fools and jesters for Armin which directly reference Armin’s own life as a poet and pamphleteer. Then after Shakespeare takes shares in the Globe, which is half-owned by Richard Burbage and his brother, Shakespeare begins to write major tragic roles for Burbage – including Henry V, Hamlet and Lear.”

Dr van Es suggests that Shakespeare’s years of company-specific writing came to an end as the company changed its structure in 1608. He adds,  ”The company increased in size and only two of the original actors remained so Shakespeare became disconnected from the actors and began to mingle more with playwrights. This in turn influences is work as he takes part in more collaborations with other authors than previously.”

Dr van Es’ book, Shakespeare in Company, has recently been published by Oxford University Press.

(W)here Lies Arthur: The Curious Absence of the Figure of King Arthur from the Early Modern Stage

By Rachel Fitzhugh

M.Litt Thesis

Abstract: Ancient kings were a favorite subject of the playwrights of early modern England. There was, however, a conspicuous absence in this theatrical pageant of monarchy. No one seems to have been writing plays about King Arthur. His story was of great interest to everyone from ancient chroniclers to early modern English royalty. He is the subject of histories, chronicles, poetry, romances, ballads, and pageants. As he became increasingly politicized, however, his story became increasingly dangerous. Arthur, as an important part of Tudor and Stuart propaganda, was available for use in theatrical activities that upheld the regime, such as pageants and masques, but the royal propagandistic monopoly on his person made him unsuitable for use on the professional stage, which made do with the occasional reference and the portions of the Arthurian legend which did not include Arthur himself. This study will begin with a brief outline of the history of the Arthurian legend in England, then move into an exploration of the political, propagandistic, literary, and theatrical use of the legend in the Tudor and Stuart regimes.

Introduction: Ancient kings were a favorite subject of the playwrights of early modern England. William Shakespeare had his King Lear and his Cymbeline; Christopher Marlowe had his Tamburlaine; and everyone, it seemed, had a play about one of the Roman emperors. There was, however, a conspicuous absence in this theatrical pageant of monarchy. Despite this apparent fascination with ancient royalty, no one seems to have been writing plays about King Arthur.

Arthur was certainly not an unknown during the period. Raphael Hollinshed, in his chronicles, spoke of him at length. Edmund Spenser penned canto after canto of the godly Prince Arthur slaying recreant knights. Broadsides and ballads of the doings of Arthur and his knights were readily available to whet the popular imagination. Arthur’s story was clearly known and enjoyed by people of all walks of life during this period. Why, then, was he absent from the stage?

Click here to read this article from Academia.edu

See also Who gave King Arthur “a crippling blow”? It was St. George, argues scholar

The Wives of King Henry VIII: Catherine Howard

By Susan Abernethy

Of all of Henry VIII’s six wives, the most beautiful was probably the nubile Catherine Howard. Henry called her his “rose without a thorn”. But she was also a silly creature who had no idea how her behavior affected others and was easily manipulated by her family. Catherine managed to make a cuckold out of old Henry VIII and it did not end well for her.

By the time of his divorce from Anne of Cleves, Henry’s fourth wife, his health was in a terrible state. He was grossly overweight. He suffered debilitating headaches and his legs had thrombosis which caused ulcerous, open sores that created stabbing pain and oozed a malodorous stench. G.J. Meyer, in his book “The Tudors” has proposed that Henry’s myriad symptoms point to Cushing’s disease, an endocrine disorder that would also explain his increasingly unstable personality. Henry probably realized at this time there was no chance of him having any more children but he still held out hope of another child and didn’t want to be without a wife.

Catherine’s birth date is a matter of controversy but is estimated between 1518 and 1524. Her father was the son of Thomas Howard, the second Duke of Norfolk, making her the first cousin of Anne Boleyn. Because the Duke of Norfolk had many children, Catherine’s father literally had no inheritance and was reduced to begging for funds just to get by. It was a common practice at the time to send the children of noblemen to live in other noble homes. Catherine was placed under the supervision of her step-grandmother, the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, at Horsham and Lambeth, and given an education. She was not well educated but did learn to read and write. She also had music and dancing lessons along with all the other girls in the household.

It was during her time with her step-grandmother that Catherine had encounters with two young men. Henry Manox was summoned to Lambeth to teach the young ladies virginal and lute. He was immediately smitten with Catherine and probably wanted to marry her. Witnesses say they were seen in embraces and kisses. Eventually Manox got a teaching job in another household and the affair tapered off. She also met one of the gentlemen retainers of the household, Francis Dereham. This affair was more serious than the Manox incident. Other women in the dormitory where they slept witnessed Dereham in Catherine’s bed, having carnal relations. Catherine and Francis may have agreed to marry each other before her step-grandmother put a stop to the relationship in 1539.

Catherine’s uncle found her a position as lady-in-waiting to Anne of Cleves and this is when Henry noticed the beautiful young woman. The Howard family was actively advocating for Catherine to marry the King. By the time Henry had procured the amiable divorce with Anne on July 9, 1540, he had already decided Catherine would be his next wife. The marriage took place on July 28th. Catherine and her family were gaining influence and power and Henry showered them with gifts of land, money and jewels.

By early 1541, Catherine began a sexual relationship with Thomas Culpeper, a favorite courtier of Henry’s. She had become acquainted with Thomas while a lady-in-waiting for Queen Anne and may have considered marrying him before Henry took notice of her. In the summer of 1541, Henry and Catherine toured northern England. While on this tour, Catherine and Culpeper had secret assignations with the help of her lady-in-waiting, Jane Boleyn, the wife of Anne Boleyn’s brother, George. By the time the court returned to London, rumors of Catherine’s indiscretions prior to her marriage to the King were beginning to surface. Catherine’s adultery with Culpeper eventually came to light also and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, wrote a letter to Henry, telling him the truth about his Queen.

Henry was devastated. He asked Cranmer to investigate. Dereham and Culpeper were most likely tortured in the Tower of London and confessed to adultery with the Queen. Cranmer found a love letter from Catherine to Culpeper so they had definitive proof of her adultery. Catherine was charged with treason and she was confined. She confessed to not being worthy of being the King’s wife but never to being unfaithful to the King. She also denied any pre-contract of marriage with Dereham and insisted he had raped her.

The alleged pre-contract with Dereham allowed Archbishop Cranmer to annul her marriage to Henry and she was stripped of her title as Queen in November of 1541. Dereham and Culpeper were executed at Tyburn in December. She languished under arrest until Parliament passed a Bill of Attainder against her in February, 1542. This legislation declared Catherine guilty without benefit of a trial. She was found guilty of treason for not revealing her sexual relationships prior to her marriage to Henry.

The night before her execution, it is said Catherine practiced laying her head on the block. Although she was terrified and had to be helped up the scaffold, it is said she died with dignity. She was beheaded with one stroke on Tower Green at the Tower of London and buried in the chapel at St. Peter Ad Vincula.

Resources:

Catherine Howard: The Queen Whose Adulteries Made A Fool of Henry VIII, by Lacey Baldwin Smith

Henry VIII: The King and His Court, by Alison Weir

The Tudors: The Complete Story of England’s Most Notorious Dynasty, by G.J. Meyer

Susan Abernethy is the writer of The Freelance History Writer and a contributor to Saints, Sisters, and Sluts. You can follow both sites on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/thefreelancehistorywriter) and (http://www.facebook.com/saintssistersandsluts), as well on Medieval History Lovers. You can also follow Susan on Twitter @SusanAbernethy2

Farming – Early Modern

England

Leigh Shaw-Taylor

Economic History Review, Vol.65 (2012)

Abstract

Historians have documented rising farm sizes throughout the period 1450-1850. Existing studies have revealed much about the mechanisms underlying the development of agrarian capitalism. However, we currently lack any consensus as to when the critical developments occurred. This is largely due to the absence of sufficiently large and geographically wide-ranging datasets but is also attributable to conceptual weaknesses in much of the literature. This paper develops a new approach to the problem and argues that agrarian capitalism was dominant in southern and eastern England by 1700 but that in northern England the critical developments came later.

This article aims to document the timing of the shift to agrarian capitalism in England. By 1800 England’s agrarian social structure was very different from that which prevailed in most parts of Europe. The agrarian landscape was dominated by a tripartite social structure in which most of the land was owned by large landowners, rented to large-scale tenant capitalist farmers and worked by agricultural proletarians whereas small scale family or peasant farming generally predominated on the continent. English agriculture was also characterised by much higher levels of labour productivity than the rest of Europe. The high labour productivity of English agriculture is widely held to have been a consequence of its distinctive social structure. In two of the most influential recent accounts of the first industrial revolution both Tony Wrigley and Nick Crafts have attributed England’s precocious early industrialisation to the high labour productivity of its agriculture. More recently Crafts and Harley have explicitly argued that England’s agrarian capitalism is the key to understanding why England industrialised before other European countries.

Click here to read this article from the Economic History Review