Today, 25th October, is a feast day which was celebrated in medieval and Tudor times – the feast of Saints Crispin and Crispinian, martyrs of the Early Church and the patron saints of cobblers.
Find out more about these saints, how their feast day became linked to an important English victory over the French, how it was marked, and why these saints are linked to Faversham in Kent, in today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 24th October 1590, John White, the governor of the Roanoke Colony, returned to England after failing to find the lost colonists, which included his daughter, Ellinor (Elenora), his son-in-law, Ananias Dare, and his granddaughter, Virginia Dare.
But what happened to these colonists and what did the word CROATOAN carved onto a post mean?
Find out all about the Roanoke Colony and the theories regarding the disappearance of all 115 people, including the very latest research, in today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 20th October 1557, or possibly 21st, courtier Mary Arundell died at Bath Place in London.
Mary is an interesting Tudor lady. Not only did she serve at least two of Henry VIII’s wives, but she was a countess twice over, having been married to both the Earls of Sussex and Arundel. She has also been confused with two other Tudor ladies, and we don’t know whether the portrait you see in the thumbnail is really her.
Find out more about Mary Arundell’s life, court career and those of her husbands, in today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 15th October 1584, schoolteacher and poet 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, in today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 14th October 1565, diplomat and poet, Sir Thomas Chaloner the Elder, died at his home in Clerkenwell, London. He was just forty-four years old. He’d served four Tudor monarchs as a diplomat, but he also wrote English and Latin works.
Find out more about Thomas Chaloner, his life, his career, and how his teeth saved him from death, in today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 13th October 1553, Queen Mary I wrote a very interesting letter to the imperial ambassador, Simon Renard. In it, she asked the ambassador to meet with her secretly, and she’d encouraged him previously to come to her secretly and in disguise.
Why? What was going on? And why did Mary seem to trust the emperor and his ambassadors more than her own council?
Find out more about the situation in today’s talk.
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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, in today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 10th October 1588, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, was buried in the Beauchamp Chapel of the Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick, according to his instructions.
His funeral was well-attended and his widow, Lettice, a woman known by Elizabeth I as “the she-wolf”, erected a monument to “her best and dearest husband” in the chapel, which was also the resting place of the couple’s young son, Robert, “the noble impe”.
Find out more about Leicester’s funeral and resting place, and see some photos of his tomb, in today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 9th October 1547, Miguel de Cervantes, author of the famous classic “Don Quixote”, a book known as “the first modern novel”, was baptised in Alcalá de Henares, Spain. His actual birthdate is unknown.
Now, this event didn’t happen in Tudor England, but it did happen in the Tudor period, and Cervantes is known the world over. Let me share with you some facts about this man, his rather interesting life, which including being held to ransom by pirates, and his works.
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On this day in Tudor history, 3rd October 1536, imperial ambassador Eustace Chapuys wrote to Emperor Charles V informing him that Jane Seymour’s coronation was being postponed.
Several dates for Henry VIII’s third wife’s coronation are mentioned in the contemporary sources, but they all passed by without the coronation taking place, and building work on Westminster Palace in preparation for the coronation came to a halt.
Why wasn’t Jane Seymour crowned when her predecessor, Anne Boleyn, had been given a lavish coronation?
Find out more about what happened in 1536 and 1537 in today’s talk.
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On this day in history, 23rd September 1605, in the reign of King James I, Tudor pamphleteer William Averell was buried at St Peter upon Cornhill.
Averell’s first work was about two Welsh star-crossed lovers, Charles and Julia, and he also wrote a Protestant work about it raining wheat in Suffolk and Essex, an event which he saw as presaging the end of the world.
Averell was an interesting character and you can find out more about him and his work in today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 21st September 1557, Henry Pendleton, theologian, chaplain and friend of Bishop Bonner, was buried at St Stephen’s, Walbrook, London.
Pendleton is known not only for his strong preaching, which led to him being shot at once, but also for his changing religious faith. He went from staunch Catholic to zealous Protestant to staunch Catholic, even taking part in disputations with his former friends and seeing them imprisoned and burnt.
Find out more about Henry Pendleton, his life, career and changing religious beliefs, in today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 13th September 1503, poet and antiquary John Leland was born. Leland is known for his Latin poems and his antiquarian writings which included a defence of the history of King Arthur, which he presented to Henry VIII and his notes on his travels around England and Wales.
Leland also wrote verses for Queen Anne Boleyn’s coronation procession and was a royal chaplain. He had a very sad end, though, suffering some kind of mental breakdown and going mad.
Find out more about John Leland, his life and works, in today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 7th September 1533, just over two months after the death of his previous wife, Mary Tudor. Queen of France, forty-nine-year-old Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, married his ward, fourteen-year-old Catherine Willoughby.
Find out more about this Tudor couple, how they came to be married, what their marriage was like, and what happened to them, in today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 6th September 1520, the famous reformer Martin Luther sent his pamphlet “On the Freedom of a Christian” (also known as “A Treatise on Christian Liberty”) to Pope Leo X. In the pamphlet, he emphasised the “two-fold nature” of Christians as saints and sinners, flesh and spirit.
Luther is, of course, seen as the catalyst of the European Reformation, and in today’s talk, I explain why, what he believed, how he ended up being excommunicated and made an outlaw, and what happened to him.
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On this day in Tudor history, 5th September 1569, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Edmund Bonner, Bishop of London and a man nicknamed “Bloody Bonner”, died in Marshalsea Prison. He had started his career in Henry VIII’s reign and was not just a churchman, he was also a diplomat.
In today’s talk, I flesh out this Tudor bishop who got his nickname from being in charge of burning reformers in London. Find out about his life, career and how he ended up dying in prison.
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On this day in Tudor history, 28th August 1588, an ailing Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, wrote his final letter to his queen and childhood friend, Elizabeth I. He wrote it while on his way to Buxton, in Derbyshire, to take the waters for his health.
The letter is very special because Elizabeth labelled it “His Last Letter” and kept it close by her until her own death in 1603.
In today’s talk, I share a transcript of Robert Dudley’s last letter, and talk about Elizabeth I’s reaction to his subsequent death.
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On this day in history, 25th August 1554, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, magnate, soldier and uncle of Queens Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, died of natural causes at his home of Kenninghall in Norfolk. He was laid to rest in St Michael’s Church, Framlingham, Suffolk.
Find out more about this important Tudor man, and how he escaped the axe-man and died at a good age in his bed, in this talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 23rd August 1548, Francis Talbot, 5th Earl of Shrewsbury, arrived at the Siege of Haddington, in East Lothian, Scotland, with a large army. This siege was part of the Anglo-Scottish war known as the War of the Rough Wooing between England and Scotland., regarding Henry VIII’s desire to marry his son, Edward, off to Mary, Queen of Scots.
What happened at this siege and to Haddington after it?
Find out in today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 22nd August 1553, John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, was beheaded on Tower Hill for his part in putting his daughter-in-law, Lady Jane Grey, on the throne. Northumberland’s friends and supporters, Sir John Gates and Sir Thomas Palmer, were also executed.
Northumberland was actually scheduled to die the previous day and the crowd turned up to see, the scaffold was prepared and even the executioner was ready… but, instead, the duke was taken to church.
Why?
Find out why and also hear a contemporary account of the duke’s execution in today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 21st August 1536, two months after he was forced to resign his bishopric, Robert Sherborne (Sherborn), former Bishop of Chichester, died at Chichester. He was buried in the cathedral there.
He was around 82 years of age and it seems a sad end to a man who had done his best to keep his bishopric in order and to serve his king and country.
Find out more about Robert Sherborne, Bishop of Chichester, and what led to his forced resignation, in today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 18th August 1553, less than a month after his daughter-in-law, Lady Jane Grey or Queen Jane, had been overthrown by Queen Mary I, John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, was tried for treason at Westminster Hall in London.
During his trial, Northumberland pointed out that it couldn’t be treason to be acting by royal warrant and that some of those judging him had acted under the same warrant, but it did him no good.
Find out what happened at his trial, what his reaction was to his sentence, and what happened to William Parr, Marquess of Northampton, and John Dudley, Earl of Warwick, who were tried with him, in today’s talk.
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On his day in Tudor history, 15th August 1588, Catholics Robert Wilcox, Edward Campion, Christopher Buxton and Robert Widmerpool were examined while imprisoned in the Marshalsea prison in Southwark, London.
These men ended up being executed, three of them for being Catholic priests and one for giving aid to priests, at t. All four died with courage and in 1929 were beatified.
Find out more about these men and how they came to be executed in today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 9th August 1561, while on a visit to Ipswich, in Suffolk, Queen Elizabeth I issued a royal mandate forbidding women to reside in cathedrals and colleges.
Although she wasn’t going as far as banning clerical marriage, her mandate caused concern, and even horror, among her clergy, particularly her married Archbishop of Canterbury, who was a huge supporter of clerical marriage.
Find out more about what Elizabeth I ordered, the reactions of William Cecil, Matthew Parker and Richard Cox, and why the Protestant Elizabeth may have issued this mandate, in today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 7th August 1548, five-year-old Mary, Queen of Scots set sail from Dumbarton in Scotland bound for France.
A marriage had been agreed between Mary and Francis, the Dauphin, so Mary was going to be brought up at the French court. Mary travelled with her maids of honour, the Four Marys, or the Queen’s Maries: Mary Fleming, Mary Beaton, Mary Seton and Mary Livingston.
Find out more in today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 5th August 1600, John Ruthven, 3rd Earl of Gowrie, and his brother, Alexander Ruthven, Master of Ruthven, were killed in mysterious circumstances at Gowrie House near Perth in Scotland.
Why am I talking about a Scottish event? Well, because the brothers were killed as they allegedly tried to kidnap, King James VI of Scotland, who, in 1603, inherited the English throne from Queen Elizabeth I.
But what happened? Did these men really try to kidnap the king or was there more to the story?
Find out in today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 3rd August 1562, Essex magnate and notorious rake, John de Vere, 16th Earl of Oxford, died at his home, Hedingham Castle in Essex.
Oxford served four Tudor monarchs and was great chamberlain at the height of his career, but he had a rather colourful reputation. Find out more about the life of this Earl of Oxford and what gave him his reputation in today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 1st August 1556, a blind woman named Joan Waste was burnt in Derby for heresy after she refused to recant her Protestant faith.
Joan was just twenty-two when she died and had learnt the New Testament by having people read it to her.
Find out more about Protestant martyr, Joan Waste, her short life and her sad end, in today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 31st July 1553, Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk, was “discharged out of the Tower by the Earle of Arundell and had the Quenes pardon.”
Suffolk had, of course, been imprisoned after Mary I had overthrown his daughter, Queen Jane, or Lady Jane Grey, and his release was down to his wife, Frances, interceding with the queen and begging for mercy.
But who was Henry Grey and how did he go from being pardoned to being executed in 1554?
Find out in today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 30th July 1553, Elizabeth, daughter of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, left her new home, Somerset House, to ride to Wanstead and greet her half-sister, Mary, who’d been officially proclaimed queen on 19th July.
Somerset House was Elizabeth’s new London residence and you can find out more about how Elizabeth acquired it and who built it originally in today’s talk.
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