I am thrilled to announce that my conversation with the wonderful Natalie Grueninger at Talking Tudors is now available .
Natalie runs the popular Talking Tudors and On the Tudor Trail , Facebook and social media accounts, podcasts and web pages. Our conversation is on the Carey-Knolly kinship clan.
Talking Tudors is a wonderful podcast for indulging your inner Tudor geek. Book authors, academics, heritage trust experts, archaeologists, and just about anyone with an intriguing take on the Tudor period.
We talked about the Knollys monument in St Nicolas Parish in Rotherfield Greys near the Knollys family estate Greys Court, Westminster Abbey, and the close relationship between Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester and the Carey-Knollys clan. A number of Carey-Knollys sons got their military training under Robert Dudley. The Carey-Knollys clan were also the largest family block in Parliament.
The infant effigy of Dudley Knollys, a girl, on the Knollys funeral monument in Rotherfield Greys, Oxfordshire
This is an extreme close up of the infant effigy on the Knollys funeral monument of the child Dudley Knollys, a daughter who only lived for a month. For centuries, this child was presumed to be a boy because of the first name. The placement of the effigy next to its mother was viewed through sentimental eyes. ‘Ah the poor thing, well at least he’s close to his nurturing mother’.
However, many elite Elizabethan women had family last names for first names. Naming privileges were often within the gift of a god parent which leads to the inevitable conclusion that a member of the Dudley family was godparent to this child. My money is on Anne Russell Dudley, Countess of Warwick who was married to Ambrose Dudley, Robert Dudley’s brother as the name-giver in this instance.
Katherine Carey Knollys ‘pregnancy portrait’ held at the Yale Center for British Art in Connecticut.
This is the painting we spoke about of a pregnant Katherine Carey. The necklace she is wearing is the same one on her effigy on the Knollys funeral monument in Rotherfield Greys. This seems to be confirmation of the sitter’s identity in this painting officially titled “A Portrait of a Woman, Probably Catherine Carey, Lady Knollys”. It is currently in the collection of the Yale Center for British Art where it has been undergoing extensive restoration.
I had a great time speaking with Natalie about the Carey-Knollys clan. There are 45+ podcasts available on her site and, having listened to almost half of them so far, I can strongly recommend them for anyone interested in the Tudor period.