FeaturesHistory

A Calendar of Kings: January

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1st January 2020
Each monarch leaves their mark, placing their personality on the fabric of history. And charting those footprints tells a story all of its own. From births to weddings, coronations to the passing of power, the major moments in a monarch’s life have an impact far beyond palace walls. Here, we look at the stand out kingly events that fell in the first month of the year. A Calendar of Kings…
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FeaturesHistory

The hunt is on for the powerbase of a Tudor legend

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15th February 2019
She wasn’t just the power behind the throne, she was the force that helped create the throne and now one of the grand houses she called home is in the sight of modern historians. Archaeologists have begun a hunt for the Northamptonshire residence of Margaret Beaufort, mother of King Henry VII and the woman who helped establish the Tudor dynasty. Lady Margaret, whose determination to put her…
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FeaturesHistory

History's Royal Kates: Katherine of Valois

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17th June 2018
For a woman who founded one of the most famous royal dynasties in British history, she is surpisingly enigmatic. Katherine of Valois was the first Kate to be Queen of England and yet much of the modern imagining of her comes from her fleeting appearance in the works of Shakespeare. But what little we do know seems to indicate that the ‘fair Kate’ of Henry V was every bit as ambitious…
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FeaturesHistoryInsight

The duties of an Elizabethan Lady-in-Waiting

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13th February 2017
In the early modern period, the allure of court life was more than desirable, which caused families to seek positions that were in service of the crown. It has been said that to be around a king and his court was like being next to the sun, but when away it was only darkness. For daughters of wealthy nobles, an appointment as a lady-in-waiting was highly sought after, with service to the queen…
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