Category: Tudor Period

Death of John Morton

15/9/2019

Today in 1500 the death of John Morton, Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Chancellor of England and Cardinal.

Morton passed through the Wars of the Roses unscathed whereas those of whom he was of service and were of a higher rank perished, those such as Margaret of Anjou, Richard Neville, Edward IV and Richard III.

Morton encouraged Buckingham in his rebellion against the Richard, and it is he who is considered to be the source of much of what was written about the king - the murder of his brother George, Duke of Clarence and the murder of the Princes in the Tower are but two. Thomas More's 'History of Richard III' was based on Morton's account of the time.

However, Morton was a survivor who knew how to take care of himself, he died an old man at Knole House in Kent, a property that had been granted to the See of Canterbury on the death of Thomas Bourchier in 1486, his political machinations continuing under the new Tudor king.

He was buried at Canterbury Cathedral.

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1536 - A Jousting Accident

24/1/2019

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The Henry VIII of his younger days was physically handsome in body and well as in face, he was intelligent and affable. He was described by Erasmus as being

“a man of gentle friendliness, and gentle in debate” and that he “he acts more like a companion than a king.”

These traits are often forgotten, overshadowed by the Henry of later years. The change in Henry, a physical and mental decline, is attributed to a riding accident, a fall from his horse during a joust on the 24th of January of 1536. The king was unconsciousness for two hours and his courtiers thought him dead.

At the time there was no mention of any obvious injury, however, today some historians think that Henry received a blow to the front part of his head which changed his personality which in turn led to an increased tendency to be irritable and quick to temper, it also led to weight gain and ulcerated legs.

Can we judge Henry on this, can we say that man he became was purely the result of this awful accident and therefore was not wholly responsible for the tyrannical actions of his later life?

Remember though, Henry started his reign with the execution of Edmund Dudley and Richard Epsom and he had Thomas More put to death just the year before.

In the image above you can see Henry jousting in a tournament at Westminster in celebration of the birth of his son in 1511.

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Lace-making

17/9/2014

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Tudor and Elizabethan Ruffs

Lace-making is an ancient craft but it was not made in its true form until the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. A true lace is created when a thread is looped, twisted, or braided to other threads independently and originally made out of linen, silk, gold and silver threads. Today it is often made from cotton thread or synthetic fibre.

During the Tudor era, the ruff was the single largest user of lace, and the wearing of a ruff defines the Elizabethan age. We did see ruffs during Elizabeth's father's time, but they were just small frills that surrounded a tall collar. In the 1560s the ruff had evolved into a large separate article of clothing tied on by strings that were introduced to England from France.

Ruffs started out as starched linen edged with lace, but by the end of the 1500s ruffs were almost entirely of lace, and because it came in narrow strips several had to be sewn together to form the nine inches it usually took to make a large ruff which had to be supported by both starch and wireframes. Ruffs, on the whole, were white but could be coloured with vegetable dye and were either pink, yellow or sometimes mauve. A pale blue colour was popular but the Elizabeth disliked it and issued a statement which stated:

"Her Majesty's pleasure is that no blue starch shall be used or worn by any of her Majesty's subjects, since blue
was the colour of the flag of Scotland "

The year 1615 saw the beginning of the end of the large starched ruff and by 1640 it was the falling ruff that was
becoming more popular.

Interestingly, between 1570 and 1625 the fan-shaped ruff with an open neck was only worn by unmarried women.

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Death of John Morton

1536 - A Jousting Accident

Lace-making

Tudor and Elizabethan Ruffs

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