Issue 8

The Battle of Bosworth was a defining moment in English history, marking the end of three hundred years of Plantagenet rule and, some argue, the end of the medieval period. Julian Humphrys discusses the battle that saw the death of the last Plantagenet king and the establishment of the Tudor dynasty.

By the time twenty-eight-year-old Henry Tudor landed at Mill Bay in Wales in 1485, on the way to claim the English crown, he had spent half his life in exile in Brittany. Nathen Amin explores the places in Brittany which shaped the young Henry VII, founder of the Tudor dynasty.

Built as a London residence for Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, and his new bride, Mary Tudor, sister of Henry VIII, Suffolk Place was briefly one of the most magnificent houses in the city. Dr Elizabeth Norton looks at this splendid, short-lived palace, of which nothing now remains.

Henry VIII had ambitious plans for a magnificent funerary monument, larger and even more grand than that of his parents, to be a fitting display of his status, in death as in life, but all came to naught. Dr Emma J. Wells investigates Henry VIII’s surprisingly humble burial site and the story of his ill-fated tomb.

Dr Michael Carter is Senior Properties Historian at English Heritage. A historian and art historian, he specialises in monastic art and architecture, especially in the late Middle Ages. He has worked on major interpretation projects at several English Heritage sites, including Battle, Hailes, Rievaulx and Whitby Abbeys.

Sarah Morris, The Tudor Travel Guide, takes us on a tour of six fabulous historic locations associated with England’s most famous playwright, William Shakespeare. With Sarah’s help, we are going to follow the Bard from cradle to grave, mapping the chronology of his life through some iconic Tudor places.