On this day in Tudor history, 19th September 1555, in the reign of the Catholic Queen Mary I, Protestants Robert Glover and Cornelius Bungey, were burned at the stake for heresy at a site in Little Park Street, Coventry. They were two of twelve martyrs burned in the city between 1511 and 1555.
Find out more about them and Glover's experience as he was taken to the site of execution in today's talk from Claire Ridgway, founder of the Tudor Society.
Also on this day in history:
- 1551 – Birth of Henry III of France (pictured, portrait by François Clouet). He was born at the Château de Fontainebleau, and was the fourth son of King Henry II and Catherine de' Medici. He was King of France from 1574 to 1589, succeeding his brother, Charles IX.
- 1560 – Baptism of Thomas Cavendish, explorer, navigator and privateer, at St Martin's Church, Trimley St Martin, Suffolk. Cavendish is known for his imitation of Sir Francis Drake's circumnavigation of the globe, which he undertook in 1586, and for being the first Englishman to explore the island of St Helena, in the mid-Atlantic.
- 1580 - Catherine Bertie (née Willoughby and previous married name Brandon) died after a long illness. She was buried in Spilsby church, Lincolnshire. See my video below for more on Catherine, a fascinating Tudor lady.
