Category Archives: Ambrose Dudley

My Interview on the Dudley Family

Posted on August 15, 2023 by Christine Hartweg

I am very happy to tell you that Jessica Faulkner of TikTok, Youtube, and Twitter (X) interviewed me about the Dudley family, and especially Robert Dudley, on her blog Unholytudor. Please go here …

Posted in Ambrose Dudley, Amy Robsart, Elizabeth I, guest posts, my books, Robert Dudley, Sir Robert Dudley | Leave a comment

Some Portraits of Robert Dudley’s Siblings

Posted on April 26, 2020 by Christine Hartweg

While Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, was the second most painted person of Elizabethan England after the queen (and a corresponding number of portraits of him survive), we do not have very many portraits of his brother, Ambrose, and his … Continue reading →

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Robert Dudley in Quarantine

Posted on March 17, 2020 by Christine Hartweg

In August 1563, Robert Dudley found himself in quarantine. In theory this meant he had to stay away from court (and in his case, from home) for at least 40 days. The word “quarantine” originated in Venice, from the Italian … Continue reading →

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Robert Dudley’s Health

Posted on January 11, 2015 by Christine Hartweg

Robert Dudley was a fit man – an excellent dancer and horseman of athletic built. Even his diet was (according to our standards) reasonably healthy: He abhorred the heavy drinking habits of his time and had a taste for salads … Continue reading →

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Dudley – A Name Hated?

Posted on September 1, 2014 by Christine Hartweg

It is a widespread cliché that the Dudleys were a very unpopular family and that, accordingly, Robert Dudley was an unpopular man. One can even read that the project of putting Lady Jane Grey on the English throne failed because … Continue reading →

Posted in Ambrose Dudley, Elizabeth I, errors & myths, John Dudley, Robert Dudley, sources & historians | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

1560 and 1588 – Two Funerals

Posted on September 29, 2013 by Christine Hartweg

On 22 September 1560 Lady Amy Dudley was laid to rest at St. Mary’s Church, Oxford. After her sudden death on 8 September the court had gone into mourning for the wife of the queen’s favourite, Hampton Court being “stuffed … Continue reading →

Posted in Ambrose Dudley, Amy Robsart, Elizabeth I, friends & foes, Lettice Knollys, Robert Dudley, Sir Robert Dudley | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Robert Dudley The Ladies’ Man?

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Christine Hartweg

Robert Dudley, the ladies’ man? “Aliquando mulierosus, demum supra modum uxorius”, the historian William Camden described him – “much given to women and, finally, a good husband in excess”.1 He certainly always married for love: Amy Robsart on 4 June … Continue reading →

Posted in Ambrose Dudley, Douglas Sheffield, Elizabeth I, family & marriage, Netherlands, Robert Dudley, sources & historians | Tagged | Leave a comment

A Duke Undressed – John Dudley in August and September 1553

Posted on September 15, 2012 by Christine Hartweg

Though on his way to the Tower the Duke preserved tint bonne myne [a quite good countenance], when he reached his prison they say … his remorse and evil conscience were astonishing. His younger son wept when he was near … Continue reading →

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“If I Were As You”: Robert Dudley and His Siblings

Posted on September 7, 2012 by Christine Hartweg

On 18 December 1553 Lord Robert and Lord Guildford were granted liberty to take the air on the leads of the Bell Tower. Imprisoned after their father’s unsuccessful attempt at queenmaking, Robert Dudley was 21, Guildford perhaps 17. On 12 … Continue reading →

Posted in Ambrose Dudley, Elizabeth I, family & marriage, Jane Dudley, letters, Robert Dudley | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Royal Blood! So What?

Posted on May 12, 2012 by Christine Hartweg

Ambrose, Robert Dudley’s elder brother, may have been married to secret royal blood, we learn in a new book, Bessie Blount, by Elizabeth Norton. In recent years it has become fashionable to enlarge Henry VIII’s family of illegitimate children, Elizabeth … Continue reading →

Posted in 1553, Ambrose Dudley, Andrew Dudley, Elizabeth I, errors & myths, family & marriage, Guildford Dudley, Henry VIII, John Dudley, Lettice Knollys, Robert Dudley | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments