Tag: Tudor Era

I was one of those brainy girls in school who loved the subject of history, and I explore many periods as a writer still, a favorite the Tudor Era.

It has become quite surprising to me how many different angles a design and architecture writer can explore a time-frame in history. I’ve studied so many aspects of the Tudor Era and there are still so many more to explore! In the diary entry Furnishing the Pastimes of Henry VIII, for example, I can’t help but want to place interior design elements in the cavernous halls and empty corridors of castles like Hampton Court Palace. Though I know there was little in the way of refinement in what would have been a cold, drafty hulk of a building back then, it just doesn’t seem right that they remain so bare today.

I decided on a handful of pieces from Lorfords Antiques to add a bit of panache to a number of the rooms, imagining how the King, Anne Boleyn, his mistress at the time; and her purported lover Sir Thomas Wyatt would use the pieces as they played out a drama I set them on. Wyatt, Boleyn and Henry VIII are so perfect for my frivolity because their entire courtly lives were centered around the codes and conventions that make the era so fascinating from such a distance. I threw Thomas Cranmer into the charade for good measure, as he built the case for the annulment that allowed the King to marry Boleyn (and essentially ushered in the advent of the Anglican church in the process). It was a fun piece to write so I hope you’ll stop by the blog for a read!