aka The John Dee Chronicles
J.A. Downes 
Introduction Picture this: it’s 1544, and England’s most infamous monarch, Henry VIII, is personally leading over 40,000 troops across the Channel into France. At 53 years old, overweight, and struggling with painful leg ulcers, the aging king still insisted on commanding what would become one of the largest English armies ever assembled during the Tudor … Read more
From Proclamation: Poetry will be the death of me: “Thirty riders cantered along the bank beside the ditch, their horses’ breath hanging heavy in the chill air before it gradually dissipated into the never-ending mist. Their short capes fluttered behind them, but all else was still. As still as death. Even the trees hung limply, … Read more
Introduction In the annals of British history, few events carry the dramatic weight and lasting consequences of the Battle of Flodden, fought on 9th September 1513. This wasn’t merely another medieval skirmish, but a catastrophic turning point that would see Scotland’s King James IV become the last reigning monarch to die in battle on British … Read more
Introduction On a fateful August morning in 1485, the course of English history turned on a single moment of betrayal that would echo through the centuries. At the Battle of Bosworth Field, as King Richard III charged desperately towards his rival Henry Tudor, Lord Stanley made a decision that would topple a dynasty that had … Read more
Introduction In the dead of night at Hampton Court Palace, a desperate man crept through the royal apartments with kidnap on his mind. The year was 1549, and that man was Thomas Seymour, Baron Seymour of Sudeley, uncle to the boy king Edward VI and one of the most ambitious men in Tudor England. His … Read more
Introduction In the summer of 1545, whilst England trembled under the iron rule of King Henry VIII, something unprecedented occurred in the Tudor court. Catherine Parr, the king’s sixth and final wife, achieved what no English queen had dared before: she published a book under her own name whilst still married to the monarch. Prayers … Read more
Introduction In the summer of 1554, Queen Mary I of England made one of the most controversial decisions of her five-year reign. Her marriage to Philip II of Spain on 25th July would spark unprecedented civil unrest, fundamentally alter England’s position in European politics, and create tensions that would persist long after both monarchs had … Read more
Introduction In the dramatic saga of Henry VIII’s six wives, one woman achieved something none of the others managed: she survived her marriage to England’s most notorious monarch and thrived long after. Anne of Cleves, often dismissed as Henry’s ‘ugly fourth wife’, not only outlived all her fellow queens but secured the most generous divorce … Read more
Introduction When we think of Henry VIII’s marriages, the dramatic stories of Anne Boleyn’s execution or Catherine Howard’s downfall often capture our imagination. Yet the most remarkable statistic about the Tudor king’s matrimonial history is surprisingly overlooked: his first marriage to Catherine of Aragon lasted an extraordinary 24 years, from 1509 to 1533. This union … Read more
Introduction In the shadow of her infamous brother Henry VIII’s six marriages lies a lesser-known but equally dramatic tale of royal matrimony that would reshape British history forever. Margaret Tudor, Henry’s elder sister, wielded her romantic choices like political weapons, creating a succession crisis that would ultimately unite the English and Scottish crowns under a … Read more