Early Modern
Henry VIII could be called England’s most memorable king. Everyone has seen his image: tall, imposing, and rotund. Likewise, everyone knows that he had six wives, and that he divorced two of them, and executed a further two. He brought the…
30 January 1649 was bitterly cold. It was enough to make Charles I, King of England, don two shirts: he didn't want the crowd to see him shivering as he was led to his place of execution. Charles' downfall had come about through unsuitable…
On the night of 26 November 1703, what has been described as the worst storm in the history of the country hit Britain. Over the next eight hours, it reaped terrible damage across Wales and the south of England, and in its wake were thousands of…
Anne Boleyn was executed on 19 May 1536, just three years after becoming King Henry VIII's second wife. She has gone down in history as an adulteress and as someone who looked somewhat odd: legend says that she had six fingers and a wen, or…
On 9 July 1540, Henry VIII had his marriage to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, annulled after just six months of marriage. Following the death of his favourite wife Jane Seymour,and under the advice of Thomas Cromwell, Henry had set about finding a…
On 10 July 1553, four days after the death of her cousin Edward VI, Lady Jane Grey became queen of England. It would be short lived: within nine days, she would step down and be placed in the Tower under charges of treason. History has painted Jane…
Thomas Cromwell was the infamous adviser to Henry VIII. Born around 1485, he was executed without trial on 28 July 1540 for heresy and treason. Down through history, he has been viewed as a cynical, Machiavellian upstart, who drove through reform…
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