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The fabric at St Faith's Church in Bacton has been identified by experts as a piece of a 16th Century dress. An examination by Historic Royal Palaces curators has strengthened a theory it formed part of a court dress. The Queen is depicted in the Rainbow Portrait wearing a similar fabric, but no documentary evidence has been found to suggest the dress was worn by her. Historians believe the monarch could have gifted the garment to one of her servants, Blanche Parry. Dating back to the last decades of the 16th Century, the altar cloth that hung in a glass...

1 Henry VIII was slim and athletic for most of his life At six feet two inches tall, Henry VIII stood head and shoulders above most of his court. He had an athletic physique and excelled at sports, regularly showing off his prowess in the jousting arena. Having inherited the good looks of his grandfather, Edward IV, in 1515 Henry was described as “the handsomest potentate I have ever set eyes on…” and later an “Adonis”, “with an extremely fine calf to his leg, his complexion very fair…and a round face so very beautiful, that it would become a pretty...

Did Henry VIII suffer same brain injury as some NFL players? February 3, 2016 by Bill Hathaway Henry VIII may have suffered repeated traumatic brain injuries similar to those experienced by football players and others who receive repeated blows to the head, according to research by a Yale University expert in cognitive neurology. Traumatic brain injury explains the memory problems, explosive anger, inability to control impulses, headaches, insomnia—and maybe even impotence--that afflicted Henry during the decade before his death in 1547, according to a paper published online the week of Feb. 1."It is intriguing to think that modern European history...

The bones of Elizabeth I, Good Queen Bess, lie mingled with those of her sister, Bloody Mary, in a single tomb at Westminster Abbey. But are they really royal remains — or evidence of the greatest conspiracy in English history? If that is not the skeleton of Elizabeth Tudor, the past four centuries of British history have been founded on a lie. And according to a controversial new book, the lie began on an autumn morning 470 years ago, when panic swept through a little group of courtiers in a manor house in the Cotswold village of Bisley in Gloucestershire.The...

'The bones of Elizabeth I, Good Queen Bess, lie mingled with those of her sister, Bloody Mary, in a single tomb at Westminster Abbey. But are they really royal remains — or evidence of the greatest conspiracy in English history?. If that is not the skeleton of Elizabeth Tudor, the past four centuries of British history have been founded on a lie.'

RJ Balson and Sons, a butchers based in Bridport, Dorset, boasts an astonishing history that is almost 500 years old. Experts have traced the businesses roots back through 25 generations to when founder John Balson opened a stall in the town's market on South Street in 1535. Since then dozens of family members have worked as butchers in the market town, passing their skills down the generations. And 476 years later, the shop remains a thriving business and has been named Britain's oldest family run retailer. At that time Henry VIII was still married to Anne Boleyn, the first complete...

Could blood group anomaly explain Tudor king's reproductive problems and tyrannical behavior?DALLAS (SMU) – Blood group incompatibility between Henry VIII and his wives could have driven the Tudor king's reproductive woes, and a genetic condition related to his suspected blood group could also explain Henry's dramatic mid-life transformation into a physically and mentally-impaired tyrant who executed two of his wives. Research conducted by bioarchaeologist Catrina Banks Whitley while she was a graduate student at SMU (Southern Methodist University) and anthropologist Kyra Kramer shows that the numerous miscarriages suffered by Henry's wives could be explained if the king's blood carried the...

The Vatican has opened its secret archives, the repository of centuries worth of documents pertaining to the Holy See, to let the world get a closer look at a document presaging England’s split from the Church of Rome. Dated July 13, 1530, and addressed to Pope Clement VII, the letter, right, asks for the annulment of Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon and includes the seals of dozens of peers of England who concurred with the request.

... Every half-millennium or so an event occurs in our history that changes the basis of society. The Romans come, the Romans go. The Normans come; and between their arrival in 1066 and the outbreak of the Great War in 1914 there is one seismic event after which society sets off (after a false start or two) on an entirely new course: the Reformation in England. When the Convocation of Canterbury of the Church in England agreed in March 1531 to accede to Henry's demands about church governance that included the clergy's recognition of him as head of the English...

War, hunger and extremist violence around the world will intensify next year, a Geneva-based think-tank predicted in a new report. The report published Thursday by ACAPS, a nonprofit that supports the global humanitarian sector with daily monitoring and analysis of 150 nations, examined the current humanitarian crises in 18 countries and the anticipated corresponding needs for 2018. The findings were grim. "If 2017 did not look good, predictions for 2018 are no better: violence and insecurity are likely to deteriorate in Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Libya, Ethiopia, Mali, Somalia and Syria next year," ACAPS director Lars Peter Nissen wrote...

Westminster Abbey was stolen! As is the case with all ancient English churches, monasteries, or convents presently in the hands of the Anglicans, the famed Abbey where English monarchs are crowned and buried, was once the property of a Catholic institution. Westminister Abbey was a Benedictine monastery. While the Catholic origin of the Abbey may be well-known, especially in England, many people are unaware of who the Abbey’s heavenly patron.The Abbey dates back at least to the eighth century, but possibly before. During the time of King Saint Edward the Confessor (1003-1066), it had already been in existence as a...

These saints were killed for their faith during a dark time in England's history. After King Henry VIII proclaimed himself supreme head of the Church in England and Wales, a violent wave of anti-Catholic persecution began — and lasted over a century. It started with the executions of Sts. Thomas More and John Fisher, but didn’t end there. Hundreds were killed between 1535 and 1679; the Church recognized the heroism of 40 martyrs from England and Wales in a canonization ceremony on October 25, 1970. (Later, a separate feast on May 4 was created to recognize the 284 canonized or beatified...

It's been 500 years since Martin Luther pointed out the errors being made by the Papacy, claiming to be the One True Church. Now, despite the protests to the errant teaching of the Catholic Church, the "movers and shakers" in the charismatic movement are guiding their flocks toward a reunification with Rome, who continues to mislead many. God warns us to ready to rebuke false teachings...yet so many are now embracing it in the spirit of "unity." Likes lambs to the slaughter, the spiritually unaware are potentially fulfilling the predicted one-world religion that will manifest in the end time. John...

Revisiting one of the unintended consequences of the Protestant Reformation. Five-hundred years ago yesterday, on October 31, 1517, a Catholic monk named Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of a German church, thereby launching what would come to be known as the Protestant Reformation.  Whatever else can be said of him, Luther unwittingly initiated something else that is often overlooked.  “The Reformation produced one logical if unexpected result,” explains European historian Franco Cardini: “a definite boost to the positive evaluation of Islam, and therefore to the birth and development of an often conventional and mannered pro-Islamic stance”...

Tuesday marks the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther nailing the 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. While Martin Luther deserves special recognition on this Reformation Day, the Protestant Reformation involved many more great pastors and thinkers. It would be unfair to them to focus all attention on Luther. Below is PJ Media's list of ten lesser-known but vitally important Reformation figures. There are hundreds of men and women who led the charge to return to a Bible-based Christianity following the five "Solas" (Sola Fide or Faith Alone, Sola Scriptura or the Bible Alone, Sola...

On Oct. 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his now world-famous 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. Luther’s complaints about the Roman Catholic practice of selling indulgences (the forgiving of sins) launched the Protestant Reformation, forever altering the cultural, political, religious and artistic landscape of Europe and the world. As we approach the five-hundredth anniversary of this earth-shaking event, there’s no better place to explore Luther and the Reformation than his native Germany.

ROME, October 31, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) — The Vatican today announced it will be issuing a special postage stamp depicting Luther at the foot of the Cross, to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. The 1.00 euro postage stamp issued by the Holy See’s Philatelic Office depicts in the foreground Jesus Crucified, and in the background “a golden and timeless view of the city of Wittenberg,” the Vatican’s description read. It continued: “With a penitential disposition, kneeling respectively on the left and right of the cross, Martin Luther holds the Bible, source and destination of his doctrine, while...

<p>Western Civilization in the 21st century is marked by religious pluralism, where people from all over the world have been able to come to various nations in Europe and North America to freely exercise their religious beliefs. That religious pluralism has also manifested within Christianity itself over the past five centuries.</p>

It has been 500 years since Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. And with that simple act on October 31, 1517, the Protestant Reformation was off and running.Luther's righteous act led to the birth of Lutheranism and Calvinism as two major branches on the tree of Christianity. The good news of the Gospel once again became front and center, just as it had been when Jesus got the ball rolling 1500 years earlier. And this Gospel renewal was sorely needed. But as with every period of spiritual awakening, it was...