We're talking about some interesting tidbits I stumbled across with gifts exchanged between Bloody Mary and Elizabeth Tudor on the HHHistory blog. Here's a preview of the article.    Mary and Elizabeth Tudor are a fascinating pair of sisters. Same father, but rival mothers and seventeen years apart, it is surprising how affectionate the two were throughout most of their lives. One of the main ways that the sisters expressed their affection was through gifts exchanged. We can learn a lot about their situation and relationship from each of these.  Mary, as the elder sister, often sent Elizabeth spending money and cloth for making clothes since King Henry often neglected attention to such details. She also gave Elizabeth many pieces of jewelry, some of these pieces can be found in museums today. Her gift giving became so much of a custom, that when the relationship between Mary and Elizabeth turned hostile, Mary’s councilors told her she should send Eliza...

Why Did Queen Elizabeth I Never Marry? Elizabeth I Darnley Portrait This a question has fascinated people since Elizabeth the Great was alive. Considered one of the greatest monarchs in English history, an intelligent and pleasing woman, deemed a beauty during her time with a knack for fascinating men, it is a true curiosity. She had at least half a dozen men fall in love with her and had many offers of marriage from English poets to monarchs from allied countries, so a lack of suitors was certainly not the culprit. Why then did this woman choose to rule alone during a time when that was unthinkable? Elizabeth intentionally left a lot of ambiguity on this subject, never admitting a hard answer, but there are three main theories.  Read the entire article on HHHistory.com here.