WITH GRADUATE HISTORIAN JESSICA CAREY-BUNNING
This portrait of Richard II is believed to have been painted in the 1390s. Though Richard’s coronation took place some 20 years earlier, on the 16th July, 1377, it shows Richard as he would have appeared that day, in his crimson and ermine coronation robes on the Coronation Chair, holding the orb and sceptre. As far as we know, it has been displayed in Westminster Abbey since its creation
The first use in the English language of ‘reformation’ to specifically refer to the religious reform movement beginning in the sixteenth century was in 1531 by William Barlow, bishop of Chichester, a supporter of the Reformation, who wrote: ‘Martyn Luther was iugged to be syngulerly chosen of god…for a dew reformacion of the hole worlde.’
Many writers of history – factual and fictional – have weighed in on the case and character of Richard III, and the fate of the Princes in the Tower. None have approached the task with their tongue placed quite so far in their cheek as the famous Jane Austen. Here is Jane Austen’s whimsical take on the highly divisive Richard III:
This bust, which has been in the Royal Collection since its creation, has been identified as a young Henry VIII. Analysis of the style and dating of the paint has revealed that it was created c.1498, when Henry would have been only 7 years old
Above: Portrait Jane Seymour by Hans Holbein the Younger, c.1536-37Jane is portrayed here wearing the English gable hood she also insisted her ladies wear Both …
‘Blynd Dyk’ was an harpist at Henry VIII’s court. Very little is known about this man, other than he was an harpist who began serving at Henry VIII’s court some time prior to 1511, and ended his employment in September, 1516. From his name, we can surmise that he was blind and that his Christian name was Richard. Here is a summary of his appearances in Henry VIII’s accounts:
Henry VII was also worried about his daughter, Margaret Tudor, marrying James IV of Scotland too young; it was not just the concerns of his wife, Elizabeth of York, and mother, Margaret Beaufort, that made him hesitate and delay.
‘Lady Sussex desires you to return her the ring she sent you with a wreath of gold, for it is the Queen of Hungary’s, “who would not lose it for a king’s ransom, but maketh much ado for it. The owner is kin to my lady Pawlet. Mrs. Polle knoweth who oweth it.’
There are only two letters amongst the Paston collection which were written within a year of Richard III’s death and Henry VII’s victory at the Battle of Bosworth Field on the 22nd of August, 1485. The beginning of a new regime is acknowledged in both of these letters; in the sign-off, both authors state that they were written in the first year of Henry VII’s reign.
The Royal Collection Trust holds the Anne Boleyn Clock. Its value goes far beyond its ornate decoration and fine craftsmanship; it is believed to have been a wedding-day present from Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn.
