The White Rose murders

Paul Doherty
Historical Personages Mentioned in this Text

Richard III – The last Yorkist king, called the Usurper or Pretender. He was defeated by Henry Tudor at Market Bosworth in August 1485. He was the wearer of the White Rose, his personal emblem being Le Blanc Sanglier -the White Boar.

The Princes in the Tower – Nephews of Richard III, allegedly murdered by their uncle in 1484.

Henry Tudor – The Welshman. The victor of Bosworth, founder of the Tudor dynasty and father of Henry VIII and Margaret of Scotland. He died in 1509.

Henry VIII – Bluff King Hal or the Great Killer, he had six wives and a string of mistresses. He is the Mouldwarp or the Dark One as prophesied by Merlin.

Catherine of Aragon – A Spanish princess, Henry VIII's first wife and mother of Mary Tudor.

Anne Boleyn – Daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn: 'A truly wicked man'. Second wife of Henry VIII and mother of

Elizabeth Tudor.

Mary Boleyn – Anne's sister, nicknamed the English Mare at the French court, she had so many lovers.

Bessie Blount – One of the more dazzling of Henry VIII's mistresses.

Margaret Tudor – Henry VIII's sister, married to King James IV of Scotland and later to Gavin Douglas, Earl of Angus: 'Trouble in petticoats'.

Mary Tudor – Daughter of Catherine of Aragon and Henry VIII, nicknamed Bloody Mary because of her persecution of Protestants.

Elizabeth I – Queen of England, daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, nicknamed the Virgin Queen though Shallot claims to have had a son by her.

Catherine Howard – Henry VIII's fourth wife. Executed for her extra-marital affairs.

Francis I, King of France – Brilliant, dazzling and sex mad.

Will Shakespeare – English playwright.

Ben Jonson – English playwright.

Christopher Marlowe – English playwright and spy killed in a tavern brawl.

Jamss IV of Scotland – First husband of Margaret Tudor.

Suleiman the Magnificent – Turkish Emperor.

Thomas Wolsey – Son of an Ipswich butcher, he went to Oxford and embarked upon a brilliant career. He became Cardinal, Archbishop and First Minister of Henry VIII.

Mary, Queen of Scots – Granddaughter of Margaret Tudor and mother of James I of England and Scotland.

Darnley – Husband of Mary, Queen of Scots.

Bothwell – Lover of Mary, Queen of Scots.

Thomas More – Humanist, scholar. Minister of Henry VIII, later executed for opposing Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon.

Edward VI – Son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, a sickly boy who died young.

The Earl of Surrey – One of the Howard clan. He fought for Richard III, was pardoned and proved to be Henry VIII’s most capable general.