The Tudor Family

House of Tudor Family Tree

Scarlett Johansson as Guinevere

The painting to the right is a very interesting artifact of the Tudor era. According to the Latin inscription in the upper right corner, it's a portrait of Cornelia Burch, age two months. It was painted in 1581 by an unknown artist. We don't know who Cornelia was. It's been theorized that she was the daughter of Thomas, Lord Burgh, who was the English ambassador to Scotland, but there's no proof of it. The painting is interesting for several reasons. Relatively few Tudor era infant portraits…

Tudor Family Tree

Princess Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn and half-sister to Mary I. The painting is attributed to William Scrots and was painted in the last years of Henry’s reign. This was painted at a time when Elizabeth and her sister enjoyed a friendly relationship, prior the days when it would become incredibly strained on grounds of religion and politics (and to some degree parentage).

King Henry VIII throne room

Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Henry VIII, Annabelle Wallis as Jane Seymour, Sarah Bolger as Mary I

In Nicholas Orme's snapshot of Tudor children in his new book on the subject, we see 1500s illustrations of toddlers in their wheeled walking frames, and they all look like little wizened old men.

Sylvia's latest book seeks to identify the women who served Anne Boleyn and investigate what roles ladies-in-waiting played in her household.

The House of Tudors is one without shortage of fascinating stories that never ceases to captivate history buffs. See our list here of the best books about Tudor history.