The Tudor Society

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  • This week in history 15 – 21 February

    15 February

    Galileo Galilei

    Galileo Galilei

    1499 – Death of James Goldwell, Bishop of Norwich, at the bishop's palace in Hoxne, Suffolk. He was buried in Norwich Cathedral, in the chantry chapel.
    1503 – Death of Henry Deane, administrator and Archbishop of Canterbury. As well as serving Henry VII as Archbishop, Deane also served as Chancellor of Ireland, Deputy Governor for Prince Henry and Keeper of the Great Seal. He died at Lambeth Palace and was buried at Canterbury Cathedral at a lavish funeral.
    1536 – Death of Richard Rawlins, Bishop of St David's and former warden of Merton College.
    1551 - Thomas Arden, businessman and inspiration for the 1592 Elizabethan play, “The Tragedie of Arden of Feversham and Blackwill”, was murdered by his wife, Alice, and her lover, Thomas Morsby, and conspirators.
    1564 – Birth of Galileo Galilei, the Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher, in Pisa, Italy. He was one of the central figures of the Scientific Revolution and supported Copernicanism (the heliocentric model). He has been referred to as “the Father of Modern Science”, “the Father of Modern Physics” and “the father of modern observational astronomy”. He is also known for his discovery of the Galilean Moons (Jupiter's satellites), his improved military compass and his work on the telescope.
    1571 – Death of Sir Adrian Poynings, soldier. He served as a soldier in Boulogne from 1546 to 1550, when he was made Lieutenant of Calais Castle, then in the St Quentin campaign of 1557 and in Le Havre in 1562.
    1598 – Death of John May, Bishop of Carlisle, at Rose Castle, his episcopal residence. He was buried in Carlisle Cathedral.
    1616 – Death of Sir George Carey, Lord Deputy of Ireland. He was buried at Cockington, Devon.
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  • This week in history 8 – 14 February

    On this day in history events for 8-14 February.

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  • This week in history 1 – 7 February

    On this day in history events for 1-7 February.

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  • Thomas Tallis, Tudor composer, by Heather R. Darsie

    It is thought that Thomas Tallis, alternatively spelled “Tallys,” could have been born on 30 January 1505, though it is not known for certain. What is known is that Tallis did not die until 1585, and that he contributed greatly to the development and composition of English choral music. Not much is known about Tallis’s early life. There are no records of his education or really of his whereabouts until Tallis is well into his 20s. There is also no contemporary portrait of him, with the only existing portrait having been executed sometime after his death.

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  • This week in history 25 – 31 January

    On this day in history events for 25-31 January.

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  • 22 January – Execution and Rebellion

    On 22nd January 1552, between 8 and 9 o’clock in the morning, Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, former Lord Protector and brother of the late Queen Jane Seymour, was executed on Tower Hill. He was laid to rest in the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula at the Tower of London and records show that he was buried next to Queen Anne Boleyn in the chancel area.

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  • This week in history 18 – 24 January

    On this day in history events for 18 – 24 January.

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  • 14 January 1559 – Elizabeth I’s Coronation Procession

    On 14th January 1559, the eve of her coronation, Queen Elizabeth I processed from the Tower of London to Westminster in a cloth of gold covered litter carried by two mules.

    Here are the main parts and pageants of the procession from Fenchurch onwards:

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  • This week in history 11 – 17 January

    On this day in history events for 11 – 17 January.

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  • This week in history 4 – 10 January

    On this day in history events for 4 – 10 January.

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  • Lettice Knollys by Adrienne Dillard

    Author Adrienne Dillard, who has done extensive research on Lettice’s family, the Careys and Knollys, has written this excellent bio of Lettice. Thank you so much to Adrienne.

    Per Francis Knollys’ Latin Dictionary entry,* Lettice Knollys was born in 1543 on the Tuesday present after All Hallows’ Day, or November 8, 1543, most likely at the Knollys’ family home at Rotherfield Greys in Oxfordshire. Lettice’s brilliant red hair and pale complexion may have come from her close connections to the royal family. Her mother, Catherine Carey, was Anne Boleyn’s niece and Elizabeth I’s cousin. Some historians have debated whether Catherine was the product of Mary Boleyn’s affair with King Henry VIII, but it has never been proven and rests only on circumstantial evidence. Lettice was the third child and second daughter born out of a possible sixteen, but more likely fourteen, children born to Catherine and Francis.

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  • This week in history 21 – 27 December

    On this day in history events for week 21-27 December.

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  • 15 December 1558 – The burial of Cardinal Reginald Pole

    A portrait of Cardinal Reginald Pole by Sebastiano del Piombo

    Cardinal Pole

    Cardinal Pole

    On this day in history, 15th December 1558, Cardinal Reginald Pole, Mary I's Archbishop of Canterbury, was buried at Canterbury Cathedral. His rather plain tomb can be found on the north side of the Corona (or Becket's Crown) in the cathedral. Pole was the last prelate to be buried in the cathedral.

    Cardinal Pole died on the very same day as his beloved queen, Mary I. Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles record his death:

    Leauing queene Marie being dead & gone, you are to vnderstand and note, that the same euening, or (as some haue written) the next daie after the said queens death,The death of [...]rdinall Poole. Cardinall Poole the bishop of Romes legat departed out of this life, hauing beene not long afore made archbishop of Canturburie: he died at his house ouer against Westminster commonlie called Lambe [...]h, and was buried in Christs church at Can|turburie.

    The Chronicles go on to give a not so flattering account of Cardinal Pole's life, accusing him of "barbarous" behaviour and blemishing "the honour of his descent. You can read this account in the 1587 version of The Chronicles at The Holinshed Project.

    Diarist and merchant Henry Machyn records how Cardinal Pole's remains were taken on 10th December from Lambeth to Canterbury in preparation for his burial:

    The sam mornyng my lord cardenall was [removed from] Lambeth, and cared toward Canturbery with grett [company in] blake; and he was cared in a charett with [banner-]rolles wroth [wrought] with fyne gold and grett baners [of arms,] and iiij baners of santes in owllo [oil].

    In Ecclesiastical Memorials, John Strype writes:

    Cardinal Pole died the same day that Queen Mary did; and not many hours after her. His last will may be seen in Holinshed's History. Therein he desired his successor would not sue his executors for dilapidations, seeing he had bestowed more than a thousand pounds within these few years in repairing and making such houses as belonged to the see, since he came to it. The overseers of his will were Nicholas Archbishop of York, lord chancellor; Thomas Bishop of Ely; Ed. Lord Hastings, lord chamberlain; Sir John Boxal, the Queen's secretary; Sir Edward Cordal, master of the rolls; Henry Cole, vicar general of the spiritualities.

    Strype goes on to describe how there was "a secret report among Papists, abroad soon after, that both Queen Mary and Cardinal Pole, came to their ends by poison but that Dr. Haddon, "a knowing man", put their deaths down to "an infectious fever that the nation then laboured under [...] an outrageous burning fever [...]".

    Tomb_of_Reginald_Pole

    Notes and Sources

    Images: Cardinal Reginald Pole, Archbishop of Canterbury, by Sebastian del Piombo, and tomb of Cardinal Reginald Pole from Wikimedia Commons.

    • Britton, John (1836) Cathedral Antiquities: Historical and Descriptive Accounts, with 311 Illustration, of the Following English Cathedrals...
    • Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 1587 edition, The Holinshed Project.
    • 'Diary: 1558 (Aug - Dec)', in The Diary of Henry Machyn Citizen and Merchant-Taylor of London (1550-1563), ed. J G Nichols (London, 1848), pp. 169-184 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/camden-record-soc/vol42/pp169-184 [accessed 10 December 2015].
    • Strype, John (1822) Ecclesiastical memorials; relating chiefly to religion, and the reformation of it..., p. 143. This can be read on Google Books.
  • This week in history 14 – 20 December

    On this day in history events for week 14-20 December.

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  • This week in history 30 November – 6 December

    On this day in history events for week 30 November to 6 December.

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  • Thomas Tallis c.1505 – 1585

    Today is the anniversary of the death of Thomas Tallis, musician and composer, on 23rd November 1585 at his home in Greenwich. Greenwich. He was buried in St Alfege’s Church, Greenwich, in the chancel and the text on the brass memorial which once marked his tomb read:

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  • This week in history 23 – 29 November

    On this day in history events for week 23 – 29 November.

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  • This week in history 16 – 22 November

    On this day in history events for 16-22 November.

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  • This week in history 9 – 15 November

    On this day in history events for 9 – 15 November.

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  • The Pregnancies of Katherine of Aragon by Sarah Bryson

    Sadly, on this day in history, on the 9th of November 1518, Katherine of Aragon, first wife of King Henry VIII, gave birth to a stillborn girl.

    There are very few surviving details of Katherine’s pregnancy but Venetian Ambassador Sebastian Giustinian wrote that “This night the Queen was delivered of a daughter, to the vexation of as many as know it;—the entire nation looked for a prince.” A later report in the Venetian archives stated that: “The Queen had been delivered in her eighth month of a stillborn daughter, to the great sorrow of the nation at large”.

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  • Sir Walter Ralegh

    Here is a brief bio or factfile of Sir Walter Ralegh, the famous Elizabethan explorer:

    Birth – c1552, perhaps 22nd January, in East Budleigh, Devon, England.

    Parents – Walter Ralegh and Catherine Champernowne, niece of Kat Ashley, governess and friend of Elizabeth I. Catherine was married twice and Ralegh’s father (also Walter) was her second husband.

    Siblings – Ralegh’s mother had sons from her first marriage and from her second marriage, a total of five. Three of Ralegh’s half-brothers were prominent at the Elizabethan and Stuart Court – John, Humphrey and Adrian Gilbert. His brother, Carew Ralegh, was also prominent.

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  • This week in history 26 October – 1 November

    On this day in history dates for 26th October to 1st November.

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  • This week in history 19 – 25 October

    On this day in history events for week 19-25 October.

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  • This week in history 12 – 18 October

    On this day in history events for 12-18 October.

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  • Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox

    Lady Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox, was born on 8th October 1515. Margaret was the daughter of Margaret Tudor, Queen Dowager of Scotland and sister of Henry VIII, and Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus. She was born at Harbottle Castle in Northumberland, home of Thomas, 2nd Lord Dacre, because her mother went into labour as she fled Scotland to go to Henry VIII’s court in London. Margaret was baptised on 9th October, but her mother was ill after the birth and wasn’t well enough to travel onward to London until spring 1516. Mother and baby stayed in England until June 1517, when Henry VIII sent his sister and niece back to Scotland.

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  • This week in history 5 – 11 October

    On this day in history events for 5 – 11 October.

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  • This week in history 28 September – 4 October

    28 September

    Robert Devereux

    Robert Devereux

    1502 – Death of Robert Willoughby, 1st Baron Willoughby de Broke, at Callington, Cornwall. He was buried at Callington Church. Willoughby had been in exile in Brittany with Henry Tudor and fought with him at the Battle of Bosworth. He served Henry VII as Lord Steward and was made a Knight of the Garter in 1489.
    1553 - Mary I travelled in a decorated barge to the Tower of London to prepare for her coronation. She was accompanied by her half-sister, Elizabeth.
    1558 (28th or 29th) – Death of Sir Robert Acton, Royal Saddler and member of Parliament. He was buried in Elmley Lovett church. Acton also served as a Justice of the Peace and Sheriff during Henry VIII's reign, as well as being on the council in the marches of Wales. As Royal Saddler, he went with the King to Boulogne in 1544.
    1560 – Death of Francis Talbot, 5th Earl of Shrewsbury, at Sheffield. He was buried at St Peter's Church, Sheffield, which is now the cathedral.
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  • This week in history 21 – 27 September

    A miniature of Edward Seymour, Viscount Beauchamp, as a child with his mother Lady Katherine Grey

    On this day in history events for week 21-27 September.

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  • Arthur, Prince of Wales

    Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV, got pregnant straight after her marriage to Henry VII in January 1486 and the news of her pregnancy was celebrated throughout England. Henry VII, was ecstatic at the news and decided that the birth of his first-born would take place at Winchester, the place believed to have been the capital of the legendary Camelot and the site of King Arthur’s castle, and that the child would be called Arthur. Henry was convinced that Arthur’s birth would bring about a new golden age.

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  • Katherine Willoughby, Duchess of Suffolk by Sarah Bryson

    Born on the 22nd March 1519, Katherine Willoughby was the daughter of William, 11th Baron Willoughby, and his wife Maria De Salinis, one of Queen Katherine of Aragon’s ladies. When Katherine was just seven years old. her father died and with no male son surviving Katherine was his heir. In March 1528 Charles Brandon bought the wardship of Katherine from the King for a staggering £2,266 13s 4d with the intention of marrying Katherine to his son Henry. Katherine then came to live with the Brandons to be raised.

    Charles Brandon’s third wife, Mary Tudor, Queen of France, died between seven and eight o’clock in the morning on the 25th June 1533. Her funeral was held on the 20th July 1533 at Bury St Edmunds. Katherine attended the funeral and she and her mother brought forward palls of cloth of gold to the altar.

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