Today is the anniversary of the death of sixty-six-year-old Lady Margaret Beaufort on 29th June 1509, just four days after she enjoyed the coronation celebrations of her grandson King Henry VIII and his queen consort. Catherine of Aragon.
Margaret Beaufort was the matriarch of the Tudor dynasty and was an amazing woman, in many ways, yet she is surrounded by myth and it seems fashionable to see her as a religious zealot. But who was this influential Tudor lady? What did she do?
In today's video, I flesh out Margaret Beaufort with a few facts about her and her life.
Also on this day in history:
- 1536 – Thomas Boleyn, Earl of Wiltshire, was stripped of his office of Lord Privy Seal.
- 1537 – Death of Henry Algernon Percy, 6th Earl of Northumberland. He was buried at Hackney parish church, and his will appointed the King as Supervisor and Edward Fox, Bishop of Hereford, and Thomas Cromwell as executors.
Percy is known for his romance with Anne Boleyn when he was part of Cardinal Wolsey's household and she was serving Catherine of Aragon. The romance was broken up by Wolsey and Percy's father, and he was forced to marry Mary Talbot. Percy served Henry VIII as warden of the east and middle marches, and was one of the peers appointed to judge George and Anne Boleyn in May 1536. He collapsed after Anne's death sentence was pronounced, and his illness prevented him from taking an active role on the Pilgrimage of Grace, which may have been fortunate, since his brothers, Thomas and Ingram, were arrested for their involvement, and Thomas was executed. - 1537 – Execution of John Hussey, Baron Hussey and Chief Butler of England, by beheading at Lincoln after he was accused of conspiring with Lord Darcy during the Pilgrimage of Grace.
- 1540 – Bill of attainder passed against Thomas Cromwell for the crimes of corruption, heresy and treason, stripping him of his honours and condemning him to death.
- 1541 – Hanging of Thomas Fiennes, 9th Baron Dacre, at Tyburn. He was hanged after he and his companions murdered a servant of Nicholas Pelham while poaching on Pelham's estate in April 1541. He was buried in the church of St Selpulchre.
- 1552 – Birth of Elizabeth Carew (née Spencer), Lady Hunsdon, literary patron, at Althorp, Northamptonshire. Elizabeth was the sixth child of Sir John Spencer of Wormleighton and Althorp, and his wife, Katherine. Elizabeth was married first to Sir George Carey, 2nd Baron Hunsdon and grandson of Mary Boleyn, and then, after his death, to Ralph Eure, 3rd Baron Eure. Edmund Spenser's “The Faerie Queene” was addressed to “the most vertuous, and beautifull Lady, the Lady Carew” and men such as Thomas Churchyard, Thomas Nashe, Abraham Fleming, Thomas Playfere, Henry Lok and John Dowland also dedicated works to her.
- 1613 – The Globe Theatre burned to the ground after catching fire during a performance of Shakespeare's “Henry VIII”. Sparks from a cannon fired during the play ignited the thatched roof.