historicall.y

1) In Tudor England if you were found guilty of "vagrancy" (being a tramp) twice, there would be a hole burned through your ear - a third time and you would be executed! 2) In 1764 Mozart composed his first symphony at the age of eightIn  3) In 931 a farmer killed King Theinhko of Burma for eating his cucumbers without asking. The farmer then had himself crowend King Nyanng-u Sawrahan and became known as the "Cucumber King"  4) On 28th April, 1978 the president of Afghanistan Mohammed Daoud Khan was shot dead in a coup. The new government said he had resigned for health reasons. 5) The  Anglo-Zanzibar War was the shortest war in recorded history lasting for 45 minutes on 27th August 1896. 6) On the other hand, the longest war in history was the Dutch-Scilly War, lasting from 1651-1986; 335 years.      7) Queen Elizabeth I, owned a total of 3000 dresses! 8) Most Roman gladiators ate a vegetarian diet consisting of grains, beans, dried frui...

Katherine Parr By the time Henry VIII married his sixth and final wife- Katherine Parr, he had been previously married five times and she had been married two previous times. When the king married Katherine, he didn't really need a wife. The majority of his court, they knew that he was nearing the end of his life, but to say it publicly, was treason and you could even die for suggesting the death of a monarch! To be absolutely honest, he needed a nurse. However the royal couple did grow to love each other, and Katherine was a wonderful stepmother to Henry's three children: Mary, Elizabeth and Edward.  Katherine was the daughter of the Tudor knight Sir Thomas Parr and his wife Maud Green . She was the eldest surviving child of Thomas and Maud and she was born in the year of 1512, probably in August. Katherine had two little siblings- William and Anne. In 1517, her father died, more than likely due to the sweating sickness. With their mother in charge of the royal ed...

Sources: ~ Six Wives Info: Tudor Ruff Think of Tudor dress. Do you think of the famous ruffs? Many people do, and I can tell you they are very impressive! One of the Kentwell gentlemen walks around in a slashed doublets, hose complete with a giant ruff! The ruffs were made famous by the Elizabethans but they were still fashionable in the Stuart era. Originally designed for practical use by the Spanish, the garment soon became a fashion statement, the bigger the ruff, the better the man/ woman! They were designed to stop the expensive fabrics of the clothing from getting spoilt.  Made out of starched linen, ruffs were pinned up to ears or held up by wire! Ruffs were crafted for the rich as the poor could not afford such fine linen and garments. The most exquisite and finest ruffs, like the ones worn by Elizabeth I, were created out of expensive lace. The slightly cheaper ones were made out of fine linen.  Here are some images of ruffs:

For a few months of his life, King Henry VIII of England was married to two women! The first was his original wife of twenty- four years: Catherine of Aragon; the second was a lady- in- waiting of Catherine: Anne Boleyn.  Henry was desperate for a male heir to keep the Tudor dynasty going, and when Catherine of Aragon grew to old to provide her impatient husband a new baby (she had been through six pregnancies, sadly only one child survived- Mary). Meanwhile one of the queen's ladies had caught the eye of Henry. This lady was the charismatic, intelligent and genteel Anne Boleyn. With this woman, the king was willing to go to great lengths to ensure he married her because, unlike poor Catherine, she was young and, Henry thought, would be able to have lots of lovely sons for him!  We do not know exactly what the new woman in Henry's life looked like, and there is a lot of debate about it bouncing between historians. However, we can take an educated guess about what Ann...

In this image of Queen Elizabeth I of England, painted in celebration of English victory against the Spanish Armada, her hand is elegantly resting on a globe. This could be translated that she is the most powerful monarch in the world at that time. There is also a crown which is probably ensuring that anyone looking at this portrait, that they know that this woman rules England. The images of a fleet of ships being destroyed is probably there to show that this is celebrating Elizabeth's victory. Her dress is embellished with small flowers. These could be Tudor roses reminding people of her powerful heritage. She wears her hair up to tell people that she may not be a man but she is as good as any man could be on the throne of England! The vast amount of pearls represents her chastity and early portraits show here with a necklace with an 'A' on it. Historians believe that it could have belonged to her doomed mother. Sir Francis Bacon did make a rather rude and unkind rem...