Blog 2

A visit to Burton Agnes Hall in East Yorkshire inspired me to write the scene of a royal summer progress in “The Tudor Fool.” It is a well-preserved example of an Elizabethan house which was built between 1598 and 1610 by Sir Henry Griffith. It has a striking red-brick exterior with large windows and tall chimneys surrounded by extensive gardens. Inside it features an entrance hall adorned with intricate carvings, a splendid newel-post staircase and a long gallery on the top floor.

My vote would have to go to Anne Boleyn – was she really so fascinating a person as history makes her sound? Certainly, she persuaded King Henry to risk his kingdom for her sake! But who would be next on the list?

The Welbeck Portrait of Elizabeth I (1585) inspired me to write the scene of Queen Elizabeth commissioning a new royal dress from her dressmaker in “The Tudor Maid.”

One of the most interesting features of the Tudor court was the summer progresses. At the time of the “grass season” from July to October the nobles and gentry would take leave from court to visit their country estates and supervise the harvest. Henry VIII would leave his palaces in London to go on tours and visit the houses of favoured courtiers where he would be entertained and go hunting with the local gentry.