The Tudor Society

13 June – Actor William Knell gets into a fight

On this day in Tudor history, 13th June 1587, William Knell, an actor in "The Queen's Men" company of players, got into a fight with a fellow actor in Thame, Oxfordshire.

In today's video, I flesh out this Tudor man a bit more and tell of his sad and rather violent end. I also about a story concerning this man and the famous Elizabethan actor and playwright, William Shakespeare.

Also on this day in history:

  • 1535 – Death of George Neville, 3rd Baron Bergavenny, on 13th or 14th June at his home in Sussex. He was buried at Birling. Neville was a member of Henry VII's council and a Garter knight, but his career was adversely affected when his father-in-law, Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, fell in 1521. Neville was imprisoned for a year in the Tower of London, and although he was pardoned, he lost his offices and was forced to sell his home, Birling, to the King. He bought back his home in 1530, when he had once again risen in favour.
  • 1574 – Baptism of Richard Barnfield, poet, at the parish church of Norbury, Shropshire. Barnfield published various works in the 1590s, including “The Affectionate Shepheard: Containing ‘The Complaint of Daphnis for the Love of Ganymede’”.
  • 1592 – Death of Henry Scrope, 9th Baron Scrope of Bolton, soldier and warden of the west marches, in Carlisle. He was buried in Carlisle Cathedral.
  • 1595 – Burial of William Wickham, Bishop of Winchester, in Southwark Cathedral.
  • 1596 – Death of Hugh Bellot, Bishop of Bangor and Chester, at Tŷ Bellot, Denbighshire. His funeral was at Chester Cathedral, but he was buried in the parish church at Wrexham.

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13 June – Actor William Knell gets into a fight