On this day in Tudor history, 5th October 1518, two-year-old Princess Mary, daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, became betrothed to François, the Dauphin of France, who was just a few months old.
This betrothal was part of a treaty agreed between England and France, Henry VIII and Francis I.
In today's talk, I share details of what happened at the betrothal ceremony at Greenwich Palace, as well as explaining what else the treaty involved, and what happened to this betrothal in the end.
Also on this day in history:
- 1528 – Death of Richard Foxe, Bishop of Winchester, founder of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and Lord Privy Seal in the reign of Henry VII and at the beginning of Henry VIII's.
- 1549 – Edward Seymour, Protector Somerset, ordered a gathering of men at Hampton Court Palace, where he was lodged with the young Edward VI due to tensions mounting between Somerset and John Dudley, Earl of Warwick.
- 1553 – Parliament met in Mary I’s reign – It repealed the “treason act” of Edward VI’s reign, passed an act declaring the legitimacy of Mary I, reinstated the Mass in Latin, celibacy of the clergy and ritual worship. It was as if the reformation of Edward’s reign had never happened.
- 1555 – Death of Edward Wotton, physician and naturalist. He was buried in St Alban Church, Cheapside, London. Wotton is known for starting the study of zoology and his works included De differentiis animalium libri decem which he dedicated to Edward VI.
- 1598 – Burial of Thomas Crooke, Church of England clergyman, at St Mary Woolchurch in the chancel.
- 1605 – Death of Sir Edward Lewkenor, politician and Puritan patron, at Denham Hall from smallpox. He was laid to rest at Denham church.