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Pilgrimage of Grace
Merry old England wasn’t very merry under Henry VIII, especially if you didn’t agree with the king on religion. The problem was Henry’s mind changed based on what his desires were and who was standing next to him at the time. By 1536, the average Englishman didn’t know what to believe nor who to ask because the wrong question to the wrong person and you got burned at the stake. Because of the King’s Great Matter, England had broken with the Roman Catholic Church so Henry could divorce Katherine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn. Reformers began dismantling the abbeys and taking the spoils for their own. However, the rank…
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Search for the Tomb of Boudicca
After Richard III was found in a parking lot, there has been a bonanza for finding the final resting places of the monarchs of Britain. To round out the series on Boudicca, it seems a natural progression to discuss where her tomb is located. (For more on Boudicca, please see this post: http://www.historynaked.com/boudiccas-revolt/ ) Reports are mixed as to whether Boudicca left the battlefield alive. Roman historian Tacitus said she and her daughters escaped and took poison. Greek historian Cassius Dio recorderded that she died from illness. No matter how she died, Boudicca would have been given a burial befitting her high status. Legend give many places for her possible burial-…
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Bess of Hardwick
In a time rife with powerful women, Elizabeth Talbot or Bess of Hardwick as she was known is often overlooked. She rose through advantageous marriages and careful planning from gentile poverty to a woman whose wealth rivaled Elizabeth I. Her home, Hardwick Hall, became a byword for wealth. Robert Cecil notably quipped, “Hardwick Hall? More window than wall.” That probably pleased Bess to no end. However, Hardwick was not always the sumptuous palace she created. When Elizabeth Hardwick was born in 1527 to John Hardwick and his wife, the family was quite poor. Not much is known about the early years, except that her father died young leaving her a…
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Boudicca’s Revolt
Things seemed to be going well in Britain after the conquest, for the Romans that is. However, if you were a member of a native tribe, things could be tricky indeed, even if you promised to play ball with the invaders. (For more on the invasion, please see this post: http://www.historynaked.com/claudian-invasion-britain/ ) The king of the Iceni tribe, Prasutagus, had done just that. He had taken over the Iceni after some bumps with a policy of conciliation towards Rome. When he died in 60 CE, he left as his heirs his two daughters as well as Emperor Nero. Prasutagus was hoping this act of submission to Rome would keep his family…
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Loss of the Angevin Empire
John was the youngest son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, and arguably the least impressive. Nicknamed sanz Terre, or Lackland, by his doting father was never thought to inherit significant portions of land. Henry named him the Lord of Ireland, but Ireland was half conquered at best. After his brothers’ rebelled, John cemented his place in his father’s affection, but broke his heart when he joined in the rebellion. His brothers died in turn with only Geoffrey leaving children. Young Arthur arguably had the better claim and was supported by the French King Philip Augustus, but John seized the treasury and the crown followed. John Lackland was crowned…
