Reader Questions

Hello again readers!

This week we had some really great question submissions, many that I had to some research on to be able to accurately answer. Thank you for your questions and keep them coming!

Q: Does any of Anne's jewelry survive?

A: This is a great question, but one with a sadly disappointing answer. Most of Anne's jewels would have been seized upon her arrest because they would've been property of the crown. It is very likely that they would've been reset and worked to fit the style of Jane Seymour and her predecessors as was customary. However, there is one happy bit of news. In a portrait of the Tudor family which Henry VIII had commissioned, Elizabeth can be seen wearing the A necklace that Anne was known for. Anne had a B necklace which is commonly depicted in portraits of her but also an A which she wore often after her coronation. It is said by several historians that she started the trend of monogram jewelry in her time. Here is the portrait of Elizabeth so you can see the necklace yourself.

The Full portrait

Close-up of Elizabeth

Q: How did Mary Stafford [sister to Anne Boleyn] die?

A: Mary died July 19, 1543 at her home in Essex. The cause of her death is unknown, so more than likely it was of natural causes indiscernible by medicine and technology of the period. Her burial place is also unknown though Alison Wier believes it to be the Church of St. Andrew near Rochford. Despite the fact that we do not know much about her death, we do know thanks to genealogical records that Mary is an ancestor to many great and influential people including Charles Darwin and Princess Catherine Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge.

Q: I [the sender] read somewhere that Elizabeth contracted small pox during her reign. Is that true?

A: Yes! This is true. On October 10, 1562 Elizabeth came down with what her doctors thought was a cold. However, the illness quickly escalated with high fevers and it was thought that she would die. She recovered thanks to the special care of one of her devoted ladies, Mary Sidney. Unfortunately the woman caught the disease herself and was badly scarred the rest of her life. Elizabeth did not suffer from major disfigurement but afterward did begin to use white makeup to cover the blemishes on her face and neck.

Q: Did Elizabeth of York [mother to Henry VIII] have an affair with her own uncle?

A: Great question, there is no question that Elizabeth and her paternal uncle Richard III had some type of relationship. She had written to her mother Elizabeth Woodville, former Queen of Edward IV to explain the relationship. Elizabeth the elder also corresponded with Richard himself regarding his desire to marry his niece following the sure death of his sickly wife Anne. Although this seems taboo according to our modern standards the union would have made a lot of sense during the time. Richard was faced with continual uprising of those who believed he was not the true heir to the throne because he had seized it from his nephew Edward V (Elizabeth's younger brother) following the death of the boy's father Edward IV. By this point most of England had accepted that Edward and his younger brother Richard were dead. Marrying Elizabeth would have united those who believed in the legitimacy of Edward IV's line with his own supporters bringing peace to a fractured England. Now, while they may have had a relationship; it is doubtful that they were engaging in sex. Firstly, because Richard and Elizabeth were both very religious and it would have been unseemly. Secondly, there was no effective means of birth control so if Elizabeth were to become pregnant she would have been scorned and not considered a viable candidate for queen. Regardless of whether or not there was a sexual relationship, it is accurate to say that Elizabeth was a favorite of Richard and that he intended on marrying her and making her queen following his wife's death.

Read of the Week

Hey readers,
This week I enjoyed a really great book entitled The Women of the Cousins' War: The Duchess, The Queen and the King's Mother by Philipa Gregory, David Baldwin and Michael Jones. This book is interesting because each author tackles one of the major matriarchs of the period in a series of essays. The essays cover Jacquetta, dowager duchess of Bedford, her daughter Elizabeth Woodville who would become queen of Edward IV and Margaret Beaufort, mother to Henry Tudor (Henry VII) Each "short story" covers the womens' early lives including their birth and childhood, early marriages and eventual rise to power. The stories overlap nicely, painting a very well written, comprehensible picture of the time period. One complaint I might have is that the authors took some liberties when speculating how each character might have felt in certain situations. Despite this, the book is extremely well-written and fun to read. If you are a fan of Gregory's historical fiction novels, this is a must read!

Elizabeth I Documentary

Hello All,
Today I enjoyed this short documentary entitled Elizabeth: From Prison to Palace narrated by renowned Tudor historian David Starkey. It was recently produced by BBC History. I hope you enjoy it!

Richard III Remains Confirmed!

Early this morning, scientists at the University of Leicester confirmed that the remains of a man found at the Grey Friars' Abbey archaeological site are indeed that of King Richard III, the last Plantagenet king of England. The DNA testing, which was performed to compare material from the skeleton and a known living descendant of Richard's sister Anne, was a nearly perfect match through the maternal line. The remains were located late last summer after a brief, successful search for the monarch's bones. The find is a great advance for English history and archaeology as facial reconstructions as well confirmations of Richard's fatal wounds and scoliosis can now be performed. I am enclosing the link here so you may read more on the topic!

This Day in Tudor History

On this day in history, 1520 Mary Boleyn, sister to Anne and future mistress to King Henry married William Carey. Contrary to popular belief, Carey was quite a catch. He was in favor with the King and had already amassed some wealth. There is no evidence to suggest that she was married off quickly, to the first man who came along in order to cover up her affairs in France. Sometime shortly after her marriage, probably in around 1521 Mary began an affair with King Henry VIII. Over the next several years, she would birth two children, Catherine and Henry named in honor of the reigning monarchs. There were some rumors that the children were actually Henry's and not sired by her husband William, however no contemporary evidence exists to suggest that this Henry was not a Carey by blood, although Catherine's paternity has been questioned. William died of the Sweating Sickness in 1528. Upon the death of her husband, Mary was left with substantial debt and little to no income. As a result, the King granted wardship of her son Henry to Anne. Mary would remarry in 1534 without permission of her father or the King, causing great turmoil between Mary and her family. The man, William Stafford, was a relatively poor landowner from Essex. His meager means support the theory that this marriage was a love match; quite uncommon during the time period especially for the high ranking nobility. She seemed happy finally, unlike her sister who would meet her demise just two short years later.