At two o’clock in the morning on Friday 12th October 1537, St Edward’s Day, Jane Seymour finally gave birth to the future King Edward VI after a long and tiring thirty-hour labour. Henry VIII had a legitimate son and heir at long last!
Chronicler Charles Wriothesley recorded the good news and the subsequent celebrations:
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Gloriana, Elizabeth I, is the famous Virgin Queen of England. She never took a husband. Much speculation has swirled around Elizabeth’s decision to remain single. Several tragic, if not traumatic, events are cited as reasons why Elizabeth chose not to marry.
Elizabeth was born on 7 September 1533. On 19 May 1536, when Elizabeth was not quite three years of age, her mother, Anne Boleyn, was beheaded by order of her father. Elizabeth, a precocious child, asked following the fall of her mother, “how haps it governor, yesterday my Lady Princess, today but my Lady Elizabeth?”. Elizabeth’s first step-mother, Jane Seymour, died of puerperal fever in 1537 only days after giving birth to Elizabeth’s little half-brother. Elizabeth was four years old. Katherine Howard, a cousin of Elizabeth’s on her mother’s side and Elizabeth’s third step-mother, was beheaded for high treason for her “dissolute life previous to her marriage” in February 1542. Elizabeth was eight years old.
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Edward VI was born on 12 October 1537 at Hampton Court Palace. He was the son of Henry VIII and his third wife Jane Seymour, who died twelve days after giving birth to him, probably of puerperal fever. He was tutored by scholars such as John Cheke, Richard Cox, Roger Ascham and Jean Belmain, and it appears that he was an intelligent child. By the age of twelve he was undertaking work on religious issues and controversies and had written a treatise about the Pope being the Antichrist.
Henry VIII, died on 28th January 1547, making Edward King Edward VI of England. Edward was only nine years old and far too young to rule over the country himself so a Council of Regency was set up, according to Henry VIII’s will. Sixteen executors had been named by Henry to act as a regency council until Edward came of age. The council members had been appointed as equals, but Edward’s uncle, Edward Seymour, took the lead and became Lord Protector of the Realm. Seymour was not content with just being Lord Protector, by 1547 he had convinced the young King to sign letters patent giving him the right to appoint members of his choosing to the Privy Council and to only consult them when he himself chose to.
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On this day in Tudor history, 20th March, Catholic priest and martyr Cuthbert Mayne was baptised; Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley and Edward VI’s uncle, was executed for treason; and Mary Bassett, translator and granddaughter of Sir Thomas More, died…
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On this day in Tudor history, 16th February, Sir William Stanley, was executed for treason, the German humanist reformer and scholar, Philipp Melancthon was born, and Henry VIII was buried in St George’s Chapel, Windsor…
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On this day in Tudor history, 13th August 1566, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Sir Humphrey Radcliffe died at his manor of Elstow. He was buried at Elstow Abbey.
Radcliffe served as a Member of Parliament during the reigns of Mary I and Elizabeth I, and then as a Justice of the Peace and Sheriff in Elizabeth I’s reign.
Here are some more facts about Sir Humphrey Radcliffe…
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Fans of all things Tudor will be thrilled to know that a weekend conference dedicated to the late Dame Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall Trilogy will be held next summer
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On this day in Tudor history, 1st July 1536, Parliament gave the Second Act of Succession its first reading.
This act superseded the 1534 Act of Succession, which had made Mary, Henry VIII’s daughter by Catherine of Aragon, illegitimate and had appointed Elizabeth, his daughter by Anne Boleyn, as heir to the throne.
The new act declared the illegitimacy of both of Henry’s daughters. Both girls were now barred from the line of succession and, Elizabeth, like Mary, now lost her title of “princess”.
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This week’s Monday Martyr is Blessed Hugh Faringdon, born Hugh Cook, Abbot of Reading, who was hanged at the gate of his abbey on 14th November 1539 for treason, for allegedly upholding the supremacy of the pope. He was beatified by Pope Leo XIII on 13th May 1895.
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On this day in Tudor history, 13th May 1536, in the reign of King Henry VIII, Queen Anne Boleyn’s royal household was broken up and her staff discharged.
The king’s second wife, who was imprisoned in the Tower of London at the time, hadn’t even been tried yet. However, Sir Francis Weston, William Brereton, Sir Henry Norris and Mark Smeaton had been found guilty of high treason, for sleeping with her and conspiring to kill the king with her, so she had no chance of being found innocent.
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On 8th January 1570, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Henry Clifford, 2nd Earl of Cumberland, died at his home, Brougham Castle. He was buried at Holy Trinity Church, Skipton.
According to a family story, Clifford was so devastated at the death of his first wife, Lady Eleanor Brandon, that he could only be brought back from a certain death by suckling from a woman’s breasts!
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On this day in Tudor history, 24th October 1590, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, the governor of the Roanoke Colony, John White, returned to England after failing to find the lost Roanoke colonists.
The lost colonists included his daughter Ellinor (Elenora), his son-in-law Ananias Dare, and his granddaughter Virginia Dare.
What happened to the Roanoke colonists and what did the word CROATOAN carved onto a post mean?
Find out all about the lost Roanoke Colony and the theories regarding the disappearance of all 115 people, including the very latest research…
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On this day in Tudor history, 12th October 1555, in the reign of Mary I, Lewis Owen, member of Parliament and administrator in Wales, was assassinated.
Owen was murdered on Dugoed Mawddwy, a mountain pass, by a group of bandits as revenge for his campaign against them, which had led to around 80 hangings.
Find out more about Lewis Owen, his life and what happened…
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I’ve received quite a few questions recently regarding the practice of heart burial in Tudor times, so I thought I’d share these talks on heart burial, and burial in general, from our archives…
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People all over the world have tuned in to watch the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II today, a queen who reigned for over 70 years and who was descended from Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scotland, and, therefore, King Henry VII, as well as having Boleyn blood.
The funeral procession and ceremony were full of tradition and ritual, and our Tudor ancestors would recognise much of it, so I thought I’d share with you some information on Tudor royal funerals.
[Read More...]On this day in Tudor history, 20th May 1535, Pope Paul III made John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, Cardinal-Priest of San Vitale, and arranged to have his cardinal’s hat sent to him.
The pope hoped that this would save Fisher, who was imprisoned at the time, from further punishment, but it made the king even more determined to behead Bishop Fisher. Oh dear!
Find out more about what happened…
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As yesterday was the anniversary of the burial of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603, I thought I’d share these two talks on Tudor burial from the Tudor Society archives.
In this two-part series on burial in Tudor times, I discussed how the remains of a commoner were prepared for burial, then those of the wealthier classes, with real examples from the records, and I also discussed the subjects of embalming, and heart and entrails burial.
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The second month of the year was one filled with love and a historic twosday (2/22/22). However, February was also a month in which we got a preview of a new Tudor series and a book about Thomas Cranmer was published.
On this day in Tudor history, 19th February 1592, the Rose Theatre, an Elizabethan play house built by Philip Henslowe, was opened on Bankside in London.
Plays performed at the theatre included Shakespeare’s “Henry VI Part 1” and “Titus Andronicus”, Kyd’s “Spanish Tragedy”, and Marlowe’s “Doctor Faustus”, “The Jew of Malta” and “Tamburlaine the Great”. But, unfortunately, the Rose Theatre was abandoned by 1605.
Find out more about the Rose Theatre in this talk…
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At the end of last year we started something new on the website: a blog. Each month we will look back on exciting discoveries, new books, exhibitions, and lots more. In addition to that, we will mention what you may have missed on the Tudor Society website and look ahead to upcoming events. Today’s blog focuses on the first month of 2022!
As it is the end of 2021, we will look back at all the months and highlight the most exciting event, release, article or video. But we will also look forward to next year and update you on all the new things coming.
From books to exhibitions, to new discoveries and more. Every month we (Merel and Emma) will give you an update on all things new and exciting in the Tudor world. Starting with the first blog in which we look back on what has happened in November.
What a wonderfully interesting magazine we have for you this cold winter month. Hopefully, you’re able to stay wrapped up warm while you enjoy the latest copy of Tudor Life Magazine
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On this day in Tudor history, 15th October 1584, schoolteacher and poet Richard Gwyn (Richard White), was hanged, drawn and quartered for high treason at Wrexham in Wales due to his Catholic faith.
Find out about Richard Gwyn’s life, how an attack by crows and kites made him steadfast in his faith, his arrest and downfall, his works, and the legends associated with his death…
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On this day in Tudor history, 12th October 1555, Lewis Owen, member of Parliament and administrator in Wales, was assassinated on Dugoed Mawddwy, a mountain pass.
Owen was murdered by a group of bandits as revenge for his campaign against them, which had led to around 80 hangings.
Find out more about Lewis Owen, his life and what happened…
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This month’s bumper-sized Tudor Life magazine is packed with articles about some of the interesting Tudor noblewomen.
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A big thank you to our resident art historian, Roland Hui, for this excellent article on a Tudor miniature by Hans Holbein the Younger which is causing controversy at the moment.
Over to Roland…
In an essay on the portraiture of Henry VIII’s six wives, art historian Brett Dolman offered the depressing, but sobering, opinion that pictures of one of them, Catherine Howard, may not even exist:
“Catherine left no documentary proof that her portrait was ever painted during her lifetime, and perhaps, we are searching for the impossible.”…
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On this day in Tudor history, 7th June 1594, Elizabeth I’s physician, Roderigo Lopez, was hanged, drawn and quartered after being accused of plotting to poison the queen.
On this day in Tudor history, 2nd June 1537, in the reign of King Henry VIII, Sir Francis Bigod and two of his fellow rebels were executed at Tyburn.
Why had this reformer rebelled against the king and what had happened?
Find out in this #TudorHistoryShorts video:
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On this day in Tudor history, 30th May 1593, Christopher Marlowe, the famous Elizabethan playwright, was stabbed to death.
Find out what happened in this #TudorHistoryshorts video…
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