On this day in Tudor history, 1st March, Scottish evangelical preacher George Wishart was hanged and burnt, conspirator William Stafford was born, Grand Prior Sir Thomas Tresham died, and physician, poet and musician Thomas Campion died…
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On this day in Tudor history, 22nd February, little Henry Duke of Cornwall, son of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, died suddenly, and Marie de Guise was crowned Queen of Scotland, rather than England, which had apparently been an option for her…
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On this day in Tudor history, 17th February, Edward Seymour, King Edward VI’s uncle, was made Duke of Somerset, Mary, Queen of Scots, met and fell in love with Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, and Henry Radcliffe, 2nd Earl of Essex, died…
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In this second part of “Marriage Melancholy”, I’m exploring the unhappy union of Penelope Devereux, a poet’s muse trapped in an unhappy marriage; the tragic union of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, and Elizabeth Stafford, marred by accusations and domestic turmoil; the intriguing story of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, and Anne Cecil, as their seemingly orchestrated marriage gives way to strained relations and unexpected alliances; the complexities of Mary, Queen of Scots, as she navigates through two ill-fated marriages, each marked by betrayal, conspiracy, and tragic consequences, and the mysterious death of Amy Robsart, wife of Robert Dudley, and the scandalous affair between Dudley and Douglas Sheffield, shrouded in secrets and dark rumours.
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On this day in Tudor history, 10th February, Catherine Howard was escorted to the Tower of London to prepare for her execution, Henry Neville, 5th Earl of Westmorland, died, and Mary, Queen of Scots’ second husband, Lord Darnley, was murdered…
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On this day in Tudor history, 8th February, Mary, Queen of Scots was executed in a rather botched beheading, and Elizabeth I’s favourite, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, launched a rebellion, which did not go well…
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On this day in Tudor history, 7th February, Sir Thomas More, Henry VIII’s famous Lord Chancellor, was born, Mary, Queen of Scots was informed she’d be executed the next day, and Henry VIII took part in the Shrovetide joust with the motto “Declare I dare not”…
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On this day in Tudor history, Anne of York married the Earl of Surrey, Mary Boleyn married William Carey, and there was the first Protestant burning of Mary I’s reign…
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On this day in Tudor history, 3rd February, Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, was born, Silken Thomas was executed, and Elizabeth I’s privy council met and agreed to send Mary, Queen of Scot’s death warrant to Fotheringhay without Elizabeth’s knowledge…
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On this day in Tudor history, 1st February, earldoms were granted by Henry VIII, including to his friend Charles Brandon; an alchemist was born; Mary I gave a rousing speech to the citizens of London, and Elizabeth I signed the warrant for the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots…
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On this day in Tudor history, 23rd January, King Ferdinand II of Aragon died, the half-brother of Mary, Queen of Scots, was assassinated, and Elizabeth I opened the Royal Exchange in London…
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On this day in Tudor history, 22nd January, war was declared, a Lord Protector was beheaded, Wyatt’s Rebellion was planned, and Francis Bacon, a lord chancellor and famous philosopher, author and scientist, was born…
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Today’s on this day in Tudor history events include Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, being sentenced to death, the death of famous Elizabethan poet Edmund Spenser, and the death of a groom of Sir Henry Neville…
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What happened on this day in history, 8th January, in Tudor times?
Let me share with you some of the events that took place on this day in the reigns of the Tudor kings and queens…
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What happened on this day in Tudor history? Let me share with you some events from 3rd January during the reigns of the Tudor monarchs…
1521 – Pope Leo X issued the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem excommunicating reformer, German priest and professor of theology Martin Luther from the Catholic Church. See below.
1540 – Official reception of Anne of Cleves at Greenwich Palace. See below.
1541 – Anne of Cleves visited Hampton Court Palace to greet her former husband, Henry VIII, and his new wife, Catherine Howard, and to exchange New Year’s gifts.
On this day in Tudor history, 14th October 1593, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, soldier and Lord Deputy of Ireland, Arthur Grey, 14th Baron Grey of Wilton, died at his home of Whaddon in Buckinghamshire. He was buried there.
Grey had a reputation for radical Protestantism.
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On this day in Tudor history, 16th September 1539, in the reign of King Henry VIII, nobleman, soldier and adventurer Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex, was born at Chartley in Staffordshire.
Devereux was the eldest son of Sir Richard Devereux and Dorothy Hastings, and the father of Elizabeth I’s favourite Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex.
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On this day in history, 8th September 1603, in the reign of King James I and just a few months after the death of Elizabeth I, courtier George Carey, 2nd Baron Hunsdon, died.
Carey was the son of Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hundson, and grandson of Mary Carey (née Boleyn).
He served Elizabeth I as Marshal of the Household, Justice of the Peace, Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire, Captain of the Isle of Wight, member of Parliament, Captain of the Gentlemen Pensioners, Lord Chamberlain and Privy Councillor.
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On this day in Tudor history, 7th September 1571, Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, was arrested for his part in the Ridolfi Plot.
This plot aimed to assassinate the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I and replace her with Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots.
Norfolk confessed to corresponding with Mary’s supporters and was taken to the Tower of London. He was executed on 2nd June 1572 after being found guilty of high treason.
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On this day in Tudor history, 20th August 1580, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, soldier and administrator Sir George Bowes died at Streatlam, County Durham.
Bowes was buried in the family vault at Barnard Castle Church.
Bowes had served Elizabeth I as a member of the Council of the North and the Ecclesiastical High Commission for York, a Justice of the Peace and sheriff, and as the Earl of Sussex’s Deputy in Co. Durham and Richmondshire, and Provost Marshal.
Bowes had also been chosen to escort Mary, Queen of Scots from Carlisle to Bolton Castle in 1568.
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On this day in Tudor history, 8th August 1503, King Henry VII’s eldest daughter, Princess Margaret Tudor, married King James IV of Scotland at Holyrood Abbey.
Margaret was just thirteen years old and James was thirty, and their marriage had been arranged by the 1502 Treaty of Perpetual Peace between England and Scotland.
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On this day in Tudor history, 2nd July 1594, in the reign of Elizabeth I, Robert Scarlett (Old Scarlett), sexton at Peterborough Cathedral, was buried at the cathedral, apparently aged 98, although another source states that he was a bit younger.
A verse accompanying his portrait in the cathedral states that Scarlett buried two queens, Catherine of Aragon and Mary, Queen of Scots , but it is not known whether this is true. He is also said to have buried a court fool known as Edward the Fool.
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On this day in Tudor history, the night of 20th/21st June 1585, Henry Percy, 8th Earl of Northumberland, died at the Tower of London.
Northumberland was found dead in bed with a gunshot wound and on 23rd June an inquest in the Star Chamber ruled that he had committed suicide. However, it was rumoured by Catholics that he had been murdered by Sir Christopher Hatton on the orders of Elizabeth I’s government. They claimed that he had been shot in the chest three times, which was not consistent with suicide.
Northumberland had been imprisoned in the Tower in January 1584 for his Catholic beliefs and his involvement in plots to do with Mary, Queen of Scots. He was laid to rest in the chapel of St Peter ad Vincula at the Tower.
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On this day in history, 24th May 1612, courtier and statesman, Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, died at Marlborough in Wiltshire. He had been diagnosed with two large tumours in August 1611 and was on his way home from taking the waters at Bath when he died.
Robert Cecil served Queen Elizabeth I as Secretary of State from 1596 and was retained in that office by James I. He also served James as Lord High Treasurer from 1608. He was still serving in both those offices at his death.
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On this day in Tudor history, 14th May 1571, Matthew Stewart, Earl of Lennox and regent to the young King James VI of Scotland, held the “Creeping Parliament” in Edinburgh.
It was called the Creeping parliament because members had to crawl on their hands and knees into the Canongate to avoid being shot by the supporters of the abdicated Mary, Queen of Scots, who held Edinburgh Castle.
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On this day in Tudor history, 9th May 1538, King James V of Scotland married Marie de Guise, or Mary of Guise, by proxy.
James V was the son of King James IV of Scotland and Margaret Tudor, eldest daughter of King Henry VII, and Marie was the daughter of Claude, Duke of Guise, and Antoinette of Bourbon. They’d both been married before. Marie had been married to Louis II of Orléans, Duke of Longueville, who died after less than 3 years of marriage, and James had been widowed just months after his marriage to Madeleine of France.
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On this day in Tudor history, 5th May 1586, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, fifty-six-year-old Sir Henry Sidney died. His body was buried in the Sidney Chapel at Penshurst and his heart in Ludlow, where he lived as President of the Council in the Marches of Wales.
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On this day in history, 11th April 1609, in the reign of King James I, conspirator, patron and collector, John Lumley, 1st Baron Lumley, died at his London home.
Lumley made a garden in honour of Elizabeth I, as an apology to her, and is known to have possessed a full-length portrait of Anne Boleyn.
Here are a few more facts about this Tudor baron…
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On this day in history, 5th April 1603, twelve days after the death of Queen Elizabeth I, the last Tudor monarch, King James VI of Scotland left Edinburgh, bound for London. He was now King of Ireland and England, as King James I, as well as being King of Scotland.
Thirty-seven-year-old James, who was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and her second husband, Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley, had received news of Elizabeth’s death late on 26th March, when an exhausted Sir Robert Carey had arrived at Holyrood. James had been in bed, but Carey was escorted to his chamber, where he knelt by him, and as Carey recorded, “saluted him by his title of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland”. In reply, James said, “I know you have lost a near kinswoman, and a loving mistress: but take here my hand, I will be as good a master to you, and will requite this service with honour and reward.”
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On this day in Tudor history, 30th March 1587, in the reign of Elizabeth I, Sir Ralph Sadler died. He was in his 80th year.
Sadler was a diplomat and administrator who worked as Thomas Cromwell's secretary before being noticed by Henry VIII.
At his death, he was one of the richest men in England.
Here are a few more facts about him…
