April 29 – From prisoner to Lieutenant of the Tower, Bothwell prepares to marry Mary, Queen of Scots, and Anne Boleyn, Henry Norris and Mark Smeaton

On this day in history, 29th April 1617, Sir Dru Drury died at the age of around 85 at his home, Riddlesworth Hall in Norfolk.

Drury may have died in the Stuart period, but he was a prominent Elizabethan. And he's a man that went from being a prisoner to being Lieutenant of the Tower of London! Find out more about him in this video...

And on 29th April 1567 (some sources suggest 26th), James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, who had recently abducted and allegedly "ravished" Mary, Queen of Scots, had a suit of divorce made against him by his wife, Lady Jean Gordon.

This wasn't a surprise to Bothwell as he'd actually persuaded his wife to make this divorce suit as he was planning to marry Mary, Queen of Scots, which he did on 15th May 1567.

I explain what led up to this day, what happened next, and also what a truly horrible man Bothwell was...

Here are links to the videos mentioned in the talk:

• James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell - https://youtu.be/XRU_nEsUxFw
• Marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots and the Earl of Bothwell - https://youtu.be/7keV_p9U7JM

And on this day in 1536, Queen Anne Boleyn had encounters with two courtiers who would eventually be executed for allegedly sleeping with her and plotting with her to kill King Henry VIII.

Find out about Sir Henry Norris and Mark Smeaton, and what happened when Anne encountered them on 29th April 1536...