6 MIN READ ·
Alice Chaucer: Three Husbands Claimed by the Same War
She was ten years old when she became a widow for the first time. Her next two husbands would also be claimed by the same war.
ON THIS DAY THIS HAPPENED · THE ARTICLE COLLECTION
History worth reading.
Royal scandals, forgotten lives and moments that changed everything. Take a little longer with the stories behind them.
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74 articles
4 MIN READ ·
Anna of Saxony: "Mother Anna" and the Fall of Caspar Peucer
Anna of Saxony gave birth fifteen times. She also helped bring down her husband's favourite doctor.
5 MIN READ ·
Dorothy Stafford: From a Family the Tudors Broke to Elizabeth I's Bedchamber
She was born into a family the Tudors had broken twice. Then she took Mary Boleyn's husband for herself.
7 MIN READ ·
Mary Tudor's Coronation, 1 October 1553: Crowning a Woman Who Ruled in Her Own Right
Two illegitimate daughters and an ex-wife arrived at the abbey to do something that had never been done before: crown a woman who would rule in her own right.
5 MIN READ ·
Margaret Tudor at Harbottle: A Queen Gives Birth in Exile
Margaret Tudor reached her brother's border heavily pregnant and was told to wait. The queen of Scotland could not step into England until Henry VIII said she could.
8 MIN READ ·
Edward of Woodstock, the Black Prince: The Funeral He Planned for Canterbury
He was born heir to the throne and died at forty-five, still waiting. The day before, he planned his own funeral. A nine-year-old boy took his place.
5 MIN READ ·
The Faversham Witch Trial of 1645: Joane Williford and a Dog Named Bunne
Joane Williford confessed that the Devil had come to her as a little dog named Bunne. Three women were hanged in Faversham for it.
4 MIN READ ·
Robert Dudley Made Earl of Leicester, 29 September 1564: The Husband Elizabeth Offered to Mary
Elizabeth was handing Robert Dudley to another queen. Halfway through the ceremony, she couldn't keep her hands off him.
4 MIN READ ·
Cymburgis of Masovia and the Habsburg Jaw
For three hundred years, Habsburg royals were painted with the same unmistakable jaw. Legend blames one woman for it. Her own statue doesn't have it.
7 MIN READ ·
Elizabeth Woodville and Edward IV at Canterbury, 28 September 1471
Less than a year earlier, Elizabeth Woodville had entered a great church as the pregnant wife of a deposed king seeking sanctuary. On 28 September 1471, the monks of Canterbury Cathedral came to the door to receive her as queen.
7 MIN READ ·
Essex Bursts into Elizabeth I's Bedchamber at Nonsuch, 28 September 1599
Queen Elizabeth I had not even got dressed when he burst into her bedchamber. Robert Devereux believed that if he could reach Elizabeth I before his enemies did, she would save him. For a few hours on 28 September 1599, he thought it had worked.
7 MIN READ ·
Catherine of Aragon Sails from Laredo, 27 September 1501
The first time Catherine of Aragon sailed for England, the sea returned her to Spain. On 27 September 1501, she tried again. This time it took her away forever. The journey would be no less perilous.