On this day in Tudor history, 10th November 1536 (some sources say 1537), Sir Henry Wyatt of Allington Castle, politician, courtier, Privy Councillor and father of poet Sir Thomas Wyatt the Elder, died.

Sir Heny Wyatt was an important man, but rather than tell you about his career, Claire Ridgway, author of “On This Day in Tudor History”, thought she’d share with you two interesting stories concerning this Tudor man and cats, pigeons and a lion.

On this day in 1485, just over two months after King Henry VII’s forces had defeated those of King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field, Henry VII’s first parliament attainted Richard and his supporters.

Here is an account from Rapahel Holinshed’s chronicle. I have altered the spelling to make it easier to read:

“For the establishing of all things, as well touching the preservation of his own estate, as the commendable administration of justice and preferment of the common wealth of his realme, he called his high court of parliament at Westminster the seventh day of November, wherein was attainted Richard late duke of Gloucester, calling and naming himself by usurpation, king Richard the third.

On this day in Tudor history, 4th November 1530, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, Henry VIII’s former Lord Chancellor, was arrested at his home of Cawood Castle in Yorkshire.

Wolsey was accused of high treason, but why? And what happened when his former servant, Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, arrived with orders to arrest him?

I explain all in today’s talk, including how Wolsey ‘cheated’ the axeman.

On this day in Tudor history, 3rd November 1592, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, privy councillor and former Lord Deputy of Ireland, Sir John Perrot, died at the Tower of London. He’d been imprisoned there since March 1591.

Perrot is a fascinating Tudor man who survived being a Protestant and protecting ‘heretics’ in Mary I’s reign, and who was saved six times from serious punishment by Queen Elizabeth I’s intercession. Some people believe that this favour, and a few other factors, point to him being King Henry VIII’s illegitimate son.

Find out more about Sir John Perrot, his life and the arguments for and against him being Henry VIII’s son in today’s talk.

On this day in Tudor history, 1 November 1456, Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond, died from the plague at Carmarthen Castle in Wales.

Edmund Tudor was, of course, husband of Lady Margaret Beaufort and father of King Henry VII, the first of the Tudor monarchs, but who was he and how did he end up dying of the plague at Carmarthen? Find out more about Edmund in today’s talk.

On this day in history, 29th October 1618, in the reign of King James I, Elizabethan courtier, explorer, author and soldier, Sir Walter Ralegh (Raleigh, Rawley, Ralagh, Rawleigh) was executed in the Old Palace Yard at Westminster Palace.

Ralegh had led an eventful life. He’d been a favourite of Elizabeth I – except when he secretly married her lady, Bess Throckmorton – but had been imprisoned in the Tower of London on several occasions, he’d been accused of atheism at one point, had sailed to America and tried to establish a colony, he was knighted for his service in Ireland, and he was a poet too!

Find out all about Sir Walter Ralegh’s colourful life in today’s talk.