13 December – A lawyer thrown into prison for refusing to do a favour and Sir Francis Drake sets off on his circumnavigation of the Globe

On this day in Tudor history, 13th December 1558, civil lawyer and dean of Chester, William Clyffe died.

Clyffe was one of the authors of the 1537 “Bishops' Book”, and he was consulted by convocation during Henry VIII’s Great Matter. He was thrown into prison for a time for refusing to do a favour for one of the king's servants - oh dear!

Find out more about William Clyffe's life and career in this talk...

Also on this day in Tudor history, 13th December 1577, pirate, sea captain, and explorer Sir Francis Drake finally left the port of Plymouth on his circumnavigation of the Globe.

In this video, I shared a wonderful letter written by Drake.

You can hear it in this video...