On this day in Tudor history, 28th February, Gerald Fitzgerald, 11th Earl of Kildare and the fugitive "Wizard Earl", was born, Protestant Thomas Forret was burnt at the stake, and Protestant reformer Martin Bucer died...
- 1525 - Birth of Gerald Fitzgerald, 11th Earl of Kildare, eldest son of Gerald Fitzgerald, 9th Earl of Kildare, Lord Deputy of Ireland, and his second wife, Elizabeth Grey. See video below.
- 1540 – Execution of Thomas Forret, Protestant martyr. He was burned at the stake in Castle Hill in Edinburgh in front of King James V after being condemned as a heretic. John Knox and David Calderwood record the year of his execution as 1539, but John Foxe and George Buchanan, who had actually spent time with Forret, recorded it as 1540. See video below.
- 1551 – Death of theologian and Protestant reformer Martin Bucer during the night of 28th February/1st March in Cambridge. He was buried in Great St Mary's Church at a funeral attended by around 3,000 people. Click here to read more about Bucer.
- 1555 – Death of Sir Robert Bowes, lawyer, Master of the Rolls and Warden of the East and Middle Marches, at Berwick while organising the defences there. Bowes was a member of Edward VI's Privy Council, and was appointed Master of the Rolls in 1552. He was also a member of Lady Jane Grey's council.
- 1556 – Burial of Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, in a chantry tomb in Winchester Cathedral.
- 1577 – Death of Edmund Guest, Bishop of Salisbury, at Salisbury. He was buried in the cathedral choir.
- 1594 – Death of William Fleetwood, lawyer, antiquary and Queen's Serjeant, at his home in Aldersgate, London. He was buried on his estate in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire. Fleetwood was a Member of Parliament in the reigns of Mary I and Elizabeth I, Recorder of London from 1571-1591 and Queen's Serjeant from 1592 until his death.
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