#OTD in Tudor history – 12 January

Today was a very busy day in Tudor times!

On this day in Tudor history, we have Henry VIII jousting as king for the first time, Elizabeth I travelling to the Tower of London, and the death of an important nobleman, soldier and naval commander...

• 1510 - Henry VIII jousted for the first time as king at a private joust at Richmond Park. His good friend William Compton was seriously hurt but survived. See the video below.
• 1519 – Death of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, in Wels, Upper Austria. He was buried in the Castle Chapel at Wiener Neustadt, but visitors to the Hofkirche Court Church in Innsbruck can see a cenotaph tomb for Maximilian there because the church was built in memory of Maximilian by his grandson, Ferdinand I.

• 1539 - Francis I of France and Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, signed the Peace of Toledo, agreeing to make no other alliances without the consent of the other.
• 1547 - Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, who was imprisoned in the Tower of London, tried to save himself from execution by signing a confession.
• 1559 – Elizabeth I travelled to the Tower of London to prepare for her coronation, which was scheduled for the 15th January. See video below.
• 1560 – Death of John White, Bishop of Winchester, in South Warnborough. He was buried in Winchester Cathedral. White was a Catholic, was imprisoned in the Tower of London and deprived of his bishopric after the accession of Elizabeth I.
• 1573 – Death of William Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Effingham, soldier and naval commander, at Hampton Court. He was buried at Reigate Church. Howard was the fourth son of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk, and his second wife, Agnes Tilney. Click here to find out more about him.
• 1577 – Death of Thomas Fisher (also known as Hawkins), landowner and MP. The first record of Fisher shows him serving John Dudley, who was then Viscount Lisle, but by 1544 he was working for Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford. In Mary I's reign, he served as a Justice of the Peace and member of Parliament. He was buried in St Mary's Church, Warwick, in a tomb with his first wife, Winifred.
• 1587 – Death of Matthew Godwin, Organist and Choirmaster at the Cathedral Churches of Canterbury, then Exeter.