On this day in Tudor history, 27th May 1537, news that Queen Jane Seymour had felt her baby move for the first time provoked celebrations in London, Calais, Oxford and York.
How did people celebrate?
In today’s video, I share what the contemporary sources say about this day and how the news was celebrated.
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On this day in Tudor history, 12th May 1521, reformer Martin Luther was proclaimed a heretic by Bishop John Fisher and Cardinal Thomas Wolsey at St Paul’s in London, and his works were burned.
Hear a contemporary account of what happened on this day in 1521 in today’s video:
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On this day in Tudor history, author John Clerk, who had served Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, as his secretary, avoided public shame with a very final act in the Tower of London.
What led Clerk to this end? How had he ended up in the Tower of London?
Find out more in today’s video.
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On this day in Tudor history, Queen Elizabeth I gave her approval to the Acts of Uniformity and Supremacy. The Act of Uniformity was incredibly important and it reflected the queen’s wish to follow a middle road where religion was concerned.
But what was this act? What did it establish? What did Elizabeth want for England and what happened?
I explain all in today’s video.
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On this day in Tudor history, 3rd May 1580, poet, farmer and agricultural writer Thomas Tusser died.
I mark the anniversary of his death by sharing with you his verses for the month of May.
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On this day in Tudor history, 2 May 1568, Mary, Queen of Scots, who had recently been forced to abdicate in favour of her son, King James VI, successfully escaped from Lochleven Castle.
How did she end up a prisoner at Lochleven? How did she escape? And what happened next?
Let me explain…
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On this day in history, 28th April 1603, the last Tudor monarch, Queen Elizabeth I, was laid to rest at Westminster Abbey in a lavish funeral.
In today’s video, I share an excerpt from my book “On This Day in Tudor History” about Elizabeth I’s burial and resting place.
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On this day in Tudor history, 26th April 1540, Catherine Carey, daughter of Mary Boleyn and niece of the late Queen Anne Boleyn, married Francis Knollys.
It is not known whether the marriage was a love match, but it appears to have been a very happy and successful marriage, and resulted in 14 children.
Find out more about this Tudor couple in today’s video.
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On this day in Tudor history, 24th April 1558, fifteen-year-old Mary, Queen of Scots, got married for the first time. The groom was fourteen-year-old Francis, the Dauphin of France.
Find out more about the bride and groom, their wedding and what happened to them in today’s video.
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Not only is today the anniversary of the birth of William Shakespeare in 1564, but it is also the anniversary of his death in 1616!
In today’s “on this day in Tudor history” video, I share some facts about the Bard, along with a few phrases from his works that have become part of common parlance.
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On this day in Tudor history, 22 April 1598, Justice Francis Beaumont died after contracting gaol fever at the Black Assizes of the Northern Circuit.
But what exactly was gaol fever?
Let me explain…
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On this day in Tudor history, 18th April 1587, the famous martyrologist John Foxe died at the age of around seventy.
In today’s video, I talk about this famous Tudor man and just how useful his work on Protestant martyrs is.
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What happens when a jury doesn’t find an alleged traitor guilty and, instead, acquits him? Well, the jurors get arrested and thrown into prison, of course!
I explain exactly what happened on this day in Tudor history, 17th April 1554, in the case of Sir Nicholas Throckmorton. I also give details on how the jurors finally got released and what happened to Throckmorton. Don’t you just love Tudor justice?!
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On this day in Tudor history, 11th April 1554, in the reign of the Catholic Queen Mary I, Sir Thomas Wyatt the Younger, son of poet and diplomat Sir Thomas Wyatt the Elder, was beheaded on Tower Hill after being found guilty of high treason.
Wyatt had led a rebellion which sought to depose the queen and to replace her with her half-sister Elizabeth, but he refused to implicate Elizabeth in the plot. He went to his death asserting her innocence.
Find out more about what happened and hear his final speech in today’s video.
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Today is the anniversary of the death of Sir Francis Walsingham on 6th April 1590. Walsingham had an amazing career, serving Elizabeth I as a diplomat, secretary, adviser and spymaster.
Find out more about the man Elizabeth I called her “Moor” in today’s video.
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On this day in Tudor history, 2nd April 1552, King Edward VI recorded in his diary “I fell sick of the measles and the smallpox”.
What do we know about his illness and subsequent recovery? What was smallpox like and how was it treated? Did this bout of illness have any bearing on his future health?
Find out, in today’s “on this day” video.
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On this day in Tudor history, Queen Mary I wrote her will. She did it because she believed that she was just about to give birth, and, obviously, childbirth was a risky processes.
Find out more about Mary’s will and what happened with this “pregnancy” in today’s “on this day” video.
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What a wonderful magazine we have for members this month. Packed with stunning photos, top class articles and much more under the topic “Remembering the Dead”.
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On this day in Tudor history, 26th March 1609, John Dee, astrologer, mathematician, alchemist, antiquary, spy, philosopher, geographer and adviser to Elizabeth I, died.
John Dee was a fascinating Tudor man and someone who narrowly missed getting into big trouble for his hobbies. Alchemy, talking with angels, mathematics… what wasn’t he into?
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On this day in Tudor history, 23rd March 1534, the Pope issued a bull proclaiming Catherine of Aragon to be England’s true queen and Mary the heir to the throne, while the English Parliament declared Anne Boleyn to be England’s rightful queen and her daughter, Elizabeth, the heir. Weird!
In today’s video, I explain what was going on and what the 1534 Act of Succession stated.
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On this day in Tudor history, 19th March 1563, Arthur Brooke, the man who wrote the very first version of the story of Romeo and Juliet in English, died in a shipwreck off the coast of Sussex.
Find out more about Arthur Brooke and his version of Romeo and Juliet in today’s video.
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