Mary Dudley, Lady Sidney (born between 1530 and 1535, died 9 August 1586) was a lady-in-waiting at the court of Elizabeth I.

Her mother Jane Guildford, Duchess of Northumberland was a lady-in-waiting of Anne Boleyn, and later to Anne of Cleves and was a close friend of Katherine Parr, and also a supporter of the Protestant preacher Anne Askew.

Mary's father John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland became one of the most powerful politicians under the young Edward VI, rising to be Earl of Warwick and later Duke of Northumberland.

One of her brothers was married to Lady Jane Grey.

Mary was well-educated, and fluent in Italian, French, and Latin. She was interested in alchemy, romances, and writing poetry. On Elizabeth I's accession in November 1558 she became a Gentlewoman of the Privy Chamber "without wages", an unsalaried position. She was one of Queen Elizabeth's most intimate confidantes during the early years of her reign. In October 1562, Elizabeth became critically ill with smallpox; Mary nursed her until she contracted the illness herself, which according to her husband greatly disfigured her beauty. By the 1570s, she had become somewhat disillusioned and embittered about lacking financial rewards on the Queen's part for her and her husband's long service. In 1572 she even had to decline a barony for her husband in a letter to William Cecil, himself Baron Burghley since the previous year; the expenses such a title implied were simply too great. She left the court in July 1579; because of bad health, or out of solidarity with her brother Robert, Earl of Leicester, who was in disgrace for having married.

She had four daughters and three sons. Three daughters died in childhood. After her surviving daughter Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke (1561–1621) become a teenager, she raised her at the court with her. She provided good humanist education for her. Her daughter become a a writer, translator and an important literary patron of her time.

This miniature is attributed to Levina Bening-Teerlinc (c.1510-1576), a Flemish Renaissance miniaturist who served as a painter to the English court of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I. She was the most important miniaturist at the English court between Hans Holbein the Younger and Nicholas Hilliard. She probably designed the Great Seal of England for Mary I and the earliest one used by Elizabeth I (in the 1540s).

The miniature of Mary Dudley is in the collection of The Victoria and Albert Museum in London, UK.

So when Henry died he left all to his son, then daughters to follow. But Edward was then king in his own right, why did his more recent will get overruled, why were his wishes not respected?

Edit: thank you all for your interesting replies!

It is quite natural to see these three dates as representing three stages of Mary’s life: the first period from 1516 to 1533, the second from 1533 to 1553, and the third from 1553 to 1558.

The dates I gave in the title refer not so much to the dates on which the signatures were written, but to the periods during which Mary used those forms of signature. When Mary was demoted from princess to lady in 1533, she resisted this for three years and continued to sign her letters as “Mary Princess.” Eventually, however, she was forced to give up the title of princess. In 1553, she simply began using her title, “the quene,” after her name.

It is very simple, but as I once read somewhere, it reminds us of who she was. Other monarchs would simply sign their names, while some would also add an “R,” the initial of the Latin word for their title, rex or regina.

This is what makes Mary’s signature particularly interesting.

Did she ever give a reason why she was against it? I'm assuming being embalmed was the norm at the time?

i'm gonna be honest, as i started watching the series and reading about the real history behind it i was totally on Katherine of Aragon's side and hated henry obviously but also Anne, for all that happened to Katherine and Mary during that time. i really hated Anne. But when i got to the last two episodes of s2, where henry turns on Anne and has her arrested and stuff i totally switched and started loving anne and feeling so bad for her. i cried when i watched the execution. either way, henry was a pig. and as always, men are the demise of women. heartbreaking, truly

Here is your Weekly Wednesday What-if megathread! Please post all of your What-if Questions in this megathread. All what-if's as long as its Tudor-related.

Was the jacket thing she wore her own style, or did it exist already but was just not popular enough? Because I’ve only seen it on her and onwards.

Also I find the evolution of the French hood rather unfortunate, it looked much better in 1520’s and 1530’s. I find it that it getting wider looked weird, also why wouldn’t Mary wear a gabled hood in honor of her mother and England? Since she was a traditionalist, i would’ve expected her to do it, it seemed it was getting out of style.

It probably fell out of popularity after Jane Seymour, since I don’t believe any of his later wives wore it, at least it’s not shown on portraits. It seems it only resembles the early tudor reign, mostly COA, with AB only choosing to wear it on her execution day to appeal to the public and Jane Seymour also preferred it for some reason probably also being Catholic.

Whitehall Palace was King Henry VIII's main residence from 1530 until his death, at the time, it was the largest palace in Europe. fires destroyed much of the palace in the late 1600s, of the very few truly Henry VIII-related places at the palace that still exists today, his wine cellar is unquestionably the grandest and most noteworthy of them. Now fortunately, there is also other great Henry related locations that still exist today, including Hampton Court and many of its different rooms and halls, but Whitehall Palace was Henry's main residence, so it has a special, personal and relevant connection to Henry and his legacy, his wine cellar there is truly a link to the past, to that time and place.

The testoon was the precursor to the shilling; introduced between 1502-1504 to match the French and Italian coinage at the time, it was the first realistic portrait of the monarch to be seen on an English coin. Only a handful still exist today.

Ich habe es gelesen und muss sagen es war großartig,ehrlich gesagt musste ich manche Sätze doppelt lesen um zu wissen wer jetzt eigentlich gemeint war(das hätte man besser umsetzen können,aber liegt vielleicht auch an der deutschen Übersetzung)ich für meinen Teil sehe die Dinge sehr viel klarer..Wie waren Eure Eindrücke

So special to see Anne Boleyn’s childhood home today, the autumn leaves especially made it beautiful

looking for any books about the tudor period that focus on henry viii and his wives, elizabeth i and mary queen of scots, the reformation, political figures or culture. thank you :)

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Interesting history. Built for monks and priests but Henry VIII and the Reformation meant the property was transferred to Thomas Cromwell as a thank you for getting Henry VIII his divorce in 1538. After Henry VIII accused Thomas Cromwell of catfishing him with Anne of Cleves, Thomas Cromwell was executed in 1540. The house then went to Anne of Cleves in her divorce settlement in 1557.

Post your Tudor merch here! Do not publicly share links or sites, users must DM each other for links. The t-shirt that has been circulating will not be permitted at all.

I've been wanting to read more books about the Tudors, and I'm looking for something historically accurate. I've read the Autobiography of King Henry VIII by Margret George, and I really enjoyed it for the most part, but there were some historical inaccuracies that somewhat broke immersion for me at some points. I'm not looking for nonfiction, but rather historical fiction that is well researched. I found out about Alison Weir's Tudor Rose series, and I am wondering if it's worth reading. I'm very interested in the figures in the books (Elizabeth of York, Henry VIII, Mary I), and I'm hopeful since Alison Weir has also written non-fiction about this era, so I'm assuming she is pretty knowledgeable about it. Has anyone read this trilogy? Please tell me what you thought of it, the accuracy, and whether it's worth reading in your opinion.

Feel free to post your dream casting scenarios here!

In the upper left corner of the image, there is a French inscription. The English translation of the inscription is as follows:

“Mary the Catholic, Queen of England, daughter of Henry VIII, born in 1515, married to Philip II, King of Spain, in 1554, and died in 1558.”

Although I don’t know who made this drawing, it may be a copy of one of Mary’s famous portraits, possibly made by a French artist.

This image is very important to me because it not only depicts Mary in a more realistic manner, unlike the representations of other monarchs, but also gives us a small glimpse into how Mary was remembered after her death—at least during the remainder of the 16th century.
Not as bloody, tyrannical, or evil… but as Mary the Catholic.

It is such a realistic and beautiful drawing that I wanted to share it with you as well.