The Tudor Society

31 July – A butcher kills a baron

On this day in Tudor history, 31st July 1549, Edmund Sheffield, 1st Baron Sheffield, was killed by a butcher during Kett's Rebellion in East Anglia.

What happened?

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On this day in Tudor history, 31st July 1553, Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk, was “discharged out of the Tower by the Earle of Arundell and had the Quenes pardon.”

Suffolk had, of course, been imprisoned after Mary I had overthrown his daughter, Queen Jane, or Lady Jane Grey, and his release was down to his wife, Frances, interceding with the queen and begging for mercy.

But who was Henry Grey and how did he go from being pardoned to being executed in 1554?

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Henry Grey's execution and the story regarding his head:

Also, on this day in Tudor history, 31st July 1544 and 1548, the future Queen Elizabeth I wrote letters to her stepmother, Catherine Parr.

The letters were written at very different times in Elizabeth's life, the first when Catherine was queen and Elizabeth had been separated from her for a while, and the second after Catherine had actually removed Elizabeth from her and Thomas Seymour's household.

Find out more about these letters and their context in this video:

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31 July – A butcher kills a baron