BURIALS of the Tudors
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Tudor Burial Sites Where are the graves of the Tudors & their courtiers? See also The Tudors Historical Locations Want to add to this page? Click EasyEdit to update this page! (Don't see the EasyEdit button above? <a href="/#signin" target="_self">Sign in</a> or <a href="/accountnew" target="_self">Sign up</a> |
Character | Location |
Queen Jane Seymour | in the centre of the aisle at St.George's Chapel, The site was intended as a temporary grave until the opulent tomb Henry requested was completed. It was never constructed and the grave in St. George's Chapel became his permanent resting place Windsor Castle <a class="external" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAenNzP9Y-k" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Click this link for a clip about Henry's grave">Click this link for a clip about Henry's grave</a> |
Peterborough Cathedral which is still often adorned with flowers & pomegranates (Katherine's heraldic symbol), each year there is a service in her memory at Peterbourgh catherdral, in which children attending bring with banners they made, on the 450th anniversary the Spanish Ambassador attended. | |
Queen Anne Boleyn | Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula The Tower of London Roses are regularly left on her grave and the memorial on the anniversary of her death. Originally buried in an elm arrow chest within the Chapel of St. Peter-ad-Vincula within the confines of the Tower of London. In the 1870s, the chapel went under extensive renovations, and many bones were disturbed. In Doyne C. Bell’s work, “Notices of the Historic Persons Buried in the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula in the Tower of London”, he mentions that in the nineteenth century (at the time the chapel was renovated and the remains examined): “the grave into which, at on the 19th May, the old elm-chest containing the remains of his sister Anne was cast, was dug by the side of him [ George Boleyn].” The body of Anne Boleyn was one supposedly identified by a Dr. Mouat due to her slender neck and long fingers (only 5 on each hand). However, it must be said that forensic science was not as sophisticated as today.Many of the bones buried beneath the chapel floor, including those of Anne Boleyn and Jane Grey, were exhumed and moved. They now lie as a co-mingled group under a wall and unrelated monument to the left of the altar (as you face the altar). There is a plaque nearby on the floor noting the relocation of the bones. |
Queen Anne of Cleves | Tomb of Queen Anne of Cleves in Westminster Abbey [a hard to find grave at the Abbey Entombed behind a wall of chairs] |
Queen Katherine Howard | Grave marker of Katherine Howard in St. Peter ad Vincula Chapel within The Tower of London |
Queen Catherine Parr | The tomb of Queen Catherine Parr, St. Mary's, Sudeley Castle. Queen Catherine was buried in the Chapel next to Sudeley Castle where she died shortly after giving birth to her only child. Her tomb is a marble effigy which features the coat of arms of all of her husband impaled with her family's coats. From left to right: Sir Edward Borough; John Neville, 3rd Lord Latimer of Snape; King Henry VIII; and Sir Thomas Seymour. Her tomb reads "Hear lyethe quene Kateryn wife to Kyng Henry the VIII and last the wife of Thomas, Lord of Sudeley, high admyrall of England and unkle to Kyng Edward the VI." Photo courtesy of Keith Featherstone |
Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex Margaret Pole, Lady Salisbury also known as Margaret of Clarence, Countess of Salisbury Thomas Seymour | Others buried in St. Peter ad Vincula Plaque in the chapel at St. Peter ad Vincula in the Tower of London showing the names of all those interred there who were executed at the Tower Tower Hill Memorials |
Behind this grillework in the Roper family vault in St. Dunstan's Church, Canterbury, repose the crumbling remains of the skull of Thomas More. The skull had originally been buried with his daughter Margaret in the More Family vault at Chelsea. Her bones and her father's skull were disinterred by the Ropers' son, Thomas to be reburied with William Roper in the Roper Family vault under the Roper Chapel at St. Dunstan's , Canterbury. More's skull was placed behind this grille at that time. | |
Henry Fitzroy, Illegitimate son of King Henry VIII with Elizabeth (Bessie) Blount | Tomb of Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond Originally buried in Thetford Priory - later transferred to St. Michael's Church, Framlingham, Suffolk |
| Tomb of Edward VI, Westminster Abbey |
The plaster head of the funeral effigy of Queen Mary I. It is currently displayed in the museum | Queen Elizabeth's tomb in Westminster Abbey. Around the top of the elaborate tomb is the coat of arms of her royal family [[[King Henry VIII]]'s mother] and that of her mother's [[[Anne Boleyn]]'s Howard pedigree is featured on the other pillars in the back round]. She is buried with her half-sister, Queen Mary I. Plaque by the tomb (built by James I) of Mary and Elizabeth in Westminster. It reads: "Partners both in throne and grave, here rests we two sisters, Elizabeth and Mary, in hope of one Resurrection" Elizabeth gave Mary a royal funeral and interred her in the chapel their grandfather Henry VII had built in the Abbey, where they are now buried together. Another plaque on the west side of the monument reads: "Near the tomb of Mary and Elizabeth remember before God all those who divided at the Reformation by different convictions laid down their lives for Christ and conscience’ sake”. |
Wolsey's Grave at Abbey Park, Leicestershire, England | |
This illustration is from a Brass Rubbing from the tomb and is the Only authenticated likeness of Sir Thomas Boleyn, Earl of Wiltshire and Ormond Father of Queen Anne Boleyn and grandfather of Queen Elizabeth I (Holbein drawing of man with a red cap, labelled, 'Ormonde', is no longer believed to be of Sir Thomas Boleyn) | Thomas Boleyn's tomb in St. Peter's Church in Hever, close to Hever Castle . |
Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, Uncle of Queen Anne Boleyn | |
Charles Brandon 1st Duke of Suffolk | Brandon was buried in St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle at the King's expense. His gravestone can be found near the south door of the choir. Effigy of both Charles & Mary Tudor Originally there was a marble tablet with this inscription:
Nothing now remains to distinguish the grave of this noble duke but a black marble grave-stone, with this simple inscription - Charles Brandon - Married Mary daughter of Henry VII, Widow of Louis XII King of France |
Princess Mary Tudor, Dowager Queen of France (in the series, this character is called Princess Margaret Tudor) Younger Sister of King Henry VIII | |
| This cross in Broad Street in Oxford marks the site of the bishops' execution |
Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey Beheaded the day before King Henry VIII died | The tomb of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, and his wife Frances at Framlimgham Church |
King Francis I of France & Claude of France | Tomb of Francis I and Claude of France in the Basilica of Saint Denis, Paris The Funerary Urn of Francis I. Resting place of his heart. |
Other Important Tudor Figures |
Henry VII | |
Arthur, Prince of Wales, eldest son of King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, brother of King Henry VIII, and first husband of Queen Katherine of Aragon | |
Lady Margaret Beaufort (31 May 1443 - 29 Jun 1509), mother of King Henry VII and grandmother of King Henry VIII. | Her fine tomb is by Italian sculptor Pietro Torrigiano, with a portrait effigy in gilt bronze of the Countess in her old age, wearing a widow’s dress with a hood and long mantle. Her head rests on two pillows with Tudor badges and the delicate and characteristic wrinkled hands are raised in prayer. At her feet is the yale (a mythical beast with swivel horns), family crest of the Beaufort’s. The tomb chest is of black marble with sculpted bronze shields of arms around the base. More info: <a class="external" href="http://www.westminster-abbey.org/our-history/people/margaret-beaufort" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Westminster page </a> |
Edmund Tudor, eldest son of Owen Tudor and Queen Catherine de Valois, widow of Henry V. Father of Henry VII and grandfather of Henry VIII. | The tomb of Edmund Tudor in St. David's Cathedral, Pembrokeshire, Wales. |
Mary, Queen of Scots was the mother of King James I of England and was executed by Queen Elizabeth I. | Tomb and effigy of Mary of Scots in Westminster Abbey. Mary, Queen of Scots Wax Mask Taken at her Death |
Lady Margaret Douglas (8 October 1515 – 7 March 1578) was the daughter of Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus, and Margaret Tudor, Dowager Queen of Scotland. In her youth she was high in the favour of her uncle, King Henry VIII, but was twice incurred the King's anger, first for her unauthorized engagement to Lord Thomas Howard, who died in the Tower of London in 1537 because of his misalliance with her, and again in 1540 for an affair with Thomas Howard's nephew Charles Howard, the brother of Queen Katherine Howard. Lady Margaret was one of the few present at the wedding of King Henry and Catherine Parr in 1543. On 6 July 1544, she married Matthew Stuart, 4th Earl of Lennox, one of Scotland's leading noblemen. Her son Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, married Mary, Queen of Scots and was the father of James I of England. | Tomb of Margaret Douglas, Westminster Abbey. Her grandson, James I of England, is said to have erected the fine monument, which was in place by 1600. Her recumbent effigy, made of alabaster, wears a French cap and ruff with a red fur-lined cloak, over a dress of blue and gold. On either side of the tomb chest are weepers (small kneeling statues) of her four sons (Charles and Henry and two whodied young) and four daughters (all died young). More info: <a class="external" href="http://www.westminster-abbey.org/our-history/people/margaret-douglas,-countess-of-lennox" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Margaret Douglas, Westminster</a> |
Lady Frances Brandon, Duchess of Suffolk (16 July 1517 – 20 November 1559) was the mother of Lady Jane Grey. Lady Frances was the daughter of Mary Tudor and Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk. Her tomb and effigy are in Westminster Abbey. More info: <a class="external" href="http://www.westminster-abbey.org/our-history/people/frances-brandon" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Westminster page for Frances Brandon</a> | |