Historyland Ferdaws

  On 12 July 1543, as plague began to take hold in London, two dozen guests crammed into a small chapel at Hampton Court to see Henry VIII marry for the sixth time. The wedding, a low-key affair, took the diplomatic community in London by surprise. It was noted that “the king espoused the queen privately and without ceremony”. The bridegroom was, however, enthusiastic as he took his vows “with a joyful countenance”. Henry was 52 years old and ailing. His new wife, Katherine Parr, was not quite 31, twice-widowed and an experienced stepmother. Surely this was a marriage born of common sense, where passion would play little part? The Victorians depicted it as the union of an irascible tyrant with a worthy matron. The truth, however, was very different. Henry was looking for a wife, not a nurse or homemaker. He wanted a companion for his bed who might provide further heirs and could carry the role of queen consort impressively. Katherine, who had given up another man to marry the king,...

  From the poetry of Sir Thomas Wyatt in the 16th century to the sexed-up TV series  The Tudors , there have been no shortage of representations of Anne Boleyn in books and on the screen.  Anne Boleyn’s story has beguiled audiences for centuries. From the poetry of Sir Thomas Wyatt in the 16th century to the sexed-up Showtime series  The Tudors  (2007–10), there has been no shortage of representations of  Anne Boleyn  in books and on the screen. Our desire to see dramatisations of one of history’s most infamous queens seems inexhaustible. Historical fiction latches onto the gaps in history and fills them with the imagination. Anne Boleyn was so controversial in her own time that it is difficult to know much about her character with any certainty. We know dates and events, but we don’t know exactly how she felt or what her motivations might have been. That provides a nice gap for the historical novelist, who can imagine how she might have felt about...

  The sixth and last wife of Henry VIII, Katherine Parr (1512–48) has gone down in history as the wife who 'survived'. But despite the common misconception that she was a middle-aged, pious 'frump', Katherine Parr was in fact the cleverest and most passionate of Henry VIII's six wives Of all the wives of Henry VIII, the one most often misunderstood, if not largely ignored, is Katherine Parr. Her story, as usually told – when told at all – lacks the romance of ‘sex-bombs’ Anne Boleyn or Catherine Howard; the heroic fortitude of Catherine of Aragon; the political intrigue surrounding the lives of Jane Seymour and Anne of Cleves. Wife number six is famous for ‘surviving’. She was the twice-widowed, matronly bluestocking who patiently, submissively (and boringly?) tended the sick, aged, irascible king through the painful last years of his life and then disappeared from the ‘front page’ of history. The truth, however, is much more complicated. For my money Katherine was ...

  In February 1546, the imperial ambassador François van der Delft wrote to his master, Holy Roman emperor Charles V, to acquaint him with a story he had heard circulating in aristocratic and diplomatic circles. “Sire, I am confused and apprehensive to inform your majesty,” he began apologetically, “that there are rumours here of a new queen, although I do not know why, or how true it may be. Some people attribute it to the sterility of the present queen [Katherine Parr] whilst others say that there will be no change whilst the present war [with France] lasts. Madame Suffolk is much talked about, and is in great favour; but the king shows no alteration in his demeanour towards the queen, though the latter, as I am informed, is somewhat annoyed at the rumours.” The speculation had reached Europe by early March when Stephen Vaughan, the king’s agent in Antwerp, advised lord chancellor Thomas Wriothesley and diplomat William Paget that: “This day came to my lodging a… merchant of...

  Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) is considered to be one of history's greatest military leaders. He rose to prominence during the French Revolution (1787–99) and served as emperor of France from 1804 to 1814, and again in 1815. Napoleon is remembered today for his role in the Napoleonic Wars (1803–15), and his defeat at the battle of Waterloo on 18 June 1815. But how much do you know about him? What is Napoleon remembered for? Many things, but in particular his roles, which included Emperor of the French, during the Napoleonic Wars (1803–15), and his defeat at the battle of Waterloo on 18 June 1815. Who were his family? Napoleon was the second of eight surviving children born to Carlo Maria Buonaparte (1746–85), a lawyer, and Letizia Ramolino Buonaparte (1750–1836). The Buonapartes were minor Corsican nobility. Napoleon was twice married: to Joséphine de Beauharnais, from 1796–1810, and Marie Louise, from 1810–1821. His second wife bore him a son, Napoleon II. Napoleon ac...

  During her years as queen of England, Scotland and Ireland, Henrietta Maria attracted vicious Puritan abuse – and occasional volleys of cannon fire. Based on new archival research, Leanda de Lisle profiles a queen who sacrificed her reputation – and, very nearly, her life – fighting her husband’s cause in the Civil War Her Roman Catholicism made her unpopular in England,and also prohibited her from being crowned in a Church of England service; therefore she never had a coronation. She immersed herself in national affairs as civil war loomed, and was compelled to seek refuge in France in 1644, following the birth of her youngest daughter, Henrietta, during the height of the First English Civil War. The execution of Charles  in 1649 left her impoverished. She settled in Paris, and returned to England after the Restoration of Charles II to the throne. In 1665, she moved back to Paris, where she died four years later. The No...