Katheryn, during her rise to power, was referred to by the Spanish author of 'The Chronicle of Henry VIII', written some years after the events, as being the most beautiful woman in the kingdom, while the French ambassador initially described her as being a young woman of 'extraordinary', or 'great', beauty.
A once-happy couple. Henry married Katherine because he wanted to. Katherine, six years Henry's senior, was considered beautiful, and shared a love of display and finery with her husband. She and Henry rode and hunted together, and he trusted her completely.
Ideals of beauty in Tudor times came at a price and women risked their health to reach them. The Tudor view of pure beauty during the Elizabethan era was a woman with light hair, a very pale complexion and red cheeks and lips. This snow white complexion could only be achieved by a wealthy woman of the upper class.
Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last monarch of the House of Tudor and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".
Queen Elizabeth I
Elizabeth's reign is considered one of the most successful in English history. She is sometimes called 'The Virgin Queen' or 'Good Queen Bess'.
John Blanke was a royal trumpeter in the courts of Henry VII and Henry VIII, and remains the only black Tudor for whom we have an identifiable image. While serving two kings, he bore witness to some of the great moments in England's history and contributed to some of the greatest spectacles of the Tudor age.
Henry VIII (1509-1547)
The most famous of the Tudor monarchs, Henry VIII ruled from 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry VIII is most famous for his six wives and religious and social reform.
According to his account: Anne Boleyn was rather tall of stature, with black hair and an oval face of sallow complexion, as if troubled with jaundice. She had a projecting tooth under the upper lip, and on her right hand, six fingers.
Charles Brandon, the son of Henry VII's standard-bearer at the battle of Bosworth, was to be Henry VIII's closest friend and companion for his entire life. Brandon held a succession of important offices in Henry's royal household, and the king trusted him with some of the dirtiest jobs at the Tudor court.
She made Elizabeth promise that she would not immediately change the country's religion, and to pay the queen's debts. In the end, I truly believe that Mary loved Elizabeth – she was her kin and both were children of a king and his queen consorts. She never executed her sister, only threatened her harm to get her way.
Generally, the fashionable lady's look for the bulk of the medieval period was as follows- high forehead, plucked eyebrows, small even teeth, a fair complexion, long neck, narrow chest, low sloping shoulders, high small waist and in some cases, a prominent stomach.
The ideal Tudor girl would have had light hair, a snow white complexion, red cheeks and lips, and blue, green or grey eyes. Both of our future Queens fit this profile as girls. Bathing and makeup in Tudor England had not changed much since Medieval times.
Most Tudors did not marry at an early age. The average age for women was 25 to 26, and for men a little older. Ordinary women fed their own babies and often did not have enough to eat. As a result they had fewer children, perhaps three or four.
Anne became known as the 'Flanders Mare' only much later in the 17th century. Henry preferred to select his own wife and court them directly. Once the political motivation for marrying Anne had receded Henry began to look for reasons not to marry her. Her unattractiveness became one of them.
Although Mary was said to have been more attractive than her sister, Anne seems to have been more ambitious and intelligent. When the king took an interest in Anne, she refused to become his mistress. By the middle of 1526, Henry was determined to marry her.
The desperation of the king for a male heir saw Catherine treated cruelly. She was not just pushed aside for a younger woman of child-bearing age, she lost her status, her courtly comforts and was prevented from seeing her much loved daughter Mary, as she was shuttled between series of backwater houses and castles.
Henry waited a mere 11 days after Anne's death before marrying his third, and often described as his favourite wife, Jane Seymour. Jane was able to do what no other wife did for Henry - she gave him a male heir.
Edward VI. Edward VI, born 12 October 1537, was Henry VIII's first surviving and only legitimate son and the heir to the throne. Henry VIII described him as 'his most noble and most precious jewel.
Just good friends. Speculation began at once about who would be the king's next wife. Among the potential candidates was Anne of Cleves. She had been careful to remain on good terms with Henry after their annulment, and had shown no signs of resentment at being so humiliatingly rejected.
Indeed, Anne was admired not so much for her physical appearance, as for 'her excellent grace and behaviour'. In summary, Anne Boleyn may not have been conventionally beautiful. She had beautiful dark eyes, was of medium height, with a dark complexion, and small breasts.
Anne was the opposite of the pale, blonde-haired, blue-eyed image of beauty. She had dark, olive-colored skin, thick dark brown hair and dark brown eyes which often appeared black. Those large dark eyes were often singled out in descriptions of Anne.
From 1536 to present day, 2023. As we know there are no direct descendants of Anne Boleyn. However, research has shown that the Boleyn lineage can be traced to the present day royal family.
While there is no direct line between the two, the modern royals have a distant connection to the Tudors. They owe their existence to Queen Margaret of Scotland, grandmother of Mary Queen of Scots, and King Henry VIII's sister.
Sir Walter Raleigh is perhaps one of the best-known Tudor explorers. Born in Devon in 1554, Raleigh was a courtier (attendant to royalty) of Elizabeth I. During his lifetime, he made two trips to The Americas in search of the legendary city of gold: 'El Dorado'.
Bread was eaten at most meals. Three-quarters of the rich Tudor diet was made up of meat such as oxen, deer, calves, pigs, badger or wild boar. Birds were also eaten, such as chicken, pigeons, sparrows, heron, crane, pheasant, woodcock, partridge, blackbirds and peacocks.