On this day in Tudor history, 2nd April, Henry VII’s eldest son, Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales, died at Ludlow Castle; Anne Boleyn’s almoner, John Skip, preached a controversial sermon; and fourteen-year-old Edward VI fell ill with measles and smallpox…
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On this day in Tudor history, 31st March, the dying Henry VII made his will; Friar William Peto compared Henry VIII to Ahab and Anne Boleyn to Jezebel; and metaphysical poet and satirist John Donne died…
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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 March, soldier, translator and diplomat John Bourchier, 2nd Baron Berners, died; priests Robert Dalby and John Amias were executed at York as traitors; and actor Richard Burbage was buried…
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On this day in Tudor history, 8th March, Henry VIII was sent a leopard as a gift, Sir Nicholas Carew was executed for treason for allegedly plotting with Cardinal Pole, and outspoken reformer Richard Tracy died…
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On this day in Tudor history, 3rd March, Charles Brandon and Mary Tudor may have got married in France, Margaret Tudor, former Queen of Scotland, married for the third time, and Edward IV’s illegitimate son, Arthur Plantagenet, Lord Lisle, died in the Tower of London…
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On this day in Tudor history, 21st February, Pope Julius II died; Katherine Seymour (née Grey), Countess of Hertford, was buried; Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick, died, and Jesuit priest Robert Southwell was hanged, drawn and quartered…
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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, 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, 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, Henry VIII’s first wife, Catherine of Aragon, was laid to rest as Dowager Princess of Wales, and, on the very same day, his second wife, Anne Boleyn, experienced a tragic miscarriage…
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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, 21st January, a bill of attainder was passed against Queen Catherine Howard, the Earl of Surrey and friends went on the rampage in London, and Eustace Chapuys, the imperial ambassador, was laid to rest…
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On this day in Tudor history, 15th January, Elizabeth I was crowned queen at Westminster Abbey, the Duchess of Northumberland died, and Elizabeth I’s cousin, Catherine Carey, died…
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On this day in Tudor history, 11th January, the first recorded lottery was drawn at St Paul’s, a printer was hanged drawn and quartered, and a Lord of Misrule was buried…
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What happened on this day in Tudor history, 5th January, in Tudor times?
Let me share with you some events from 5th January during the reigns of the Tudor kings and queens…
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On this day in Tudor history, 3rd October 1559, Sir William Fitzwilliam, gentleman of King Edward VI’s privy chamber, died.
Fitzwilliam was a member of Parliament, a favourite of both the Duke of Somerset and Duke of Northumberland, and served Mary I as deputy chancellor in Ireland.
Here are a few facts about Sir William Fitzwilliam…
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On this day in Tudor history, 1st October 1526, in the reign of King Henry VIII, Dorothy Stafford, Lady Stafford, was born.
Dorothy was the daughter of Henry Stafford, 10th Baron Stafford, and his wife, Ursula (née Pole, and she was married to Sir William Stafford, widower of Mary Boleyn. Dorothy served Queen Elizabeth I as a gentlewoman of the privy chamber and was one of her favourite sleeping companions.
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On this day in Tudor history, 28th September 1502, in the reign of King Henry VII, Robert Willoughby, 1st Baron Willoughby de Broke, died 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.
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On this day in Tudor history, 25th September 1586, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Mary, Queen of Scots, was moved to Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire, and Elizabeth finally backed down and agreed to the appointing of 36 commissioners to act as judges in her trial. Mary would never leave the castle.
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On this day in Tudor history, 19th September 1580, Katherine Bertie (née Willoughby) died after a long illness. She was buried in Spilsby church, Lincolnshire.
Katherine was known for her Protestant faith and her patronage of Protestant scholars and clergymen, and also for her marriage to Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 18th September 1535, in the reign of King Henry VIII, Henry Brandon, 2nd Duke of Suffolk, was born.
Henry would not have a long life, dying at the age of fifteen from sweating sickness.
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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 Tudor history, 5th (or 6th) September 1558, in the reign of Queen Mary I, judge, legal writer and Speaker of the House of Commons Sir Robert Broke died at a friend’s house in Patshull, Staffordshire.
Broke was buried in Claverley Church, Shropshire.
Broke’s other offices included Deputy Chief Steward for the Duchy of Lancaster, Serjeant-at-Law and Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.
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On this day in Tudor history, 17th August 1498, soldier and royal councillor John Scrope, 5th Baron Scrope of Bolton, died.
the Yorkist Scrope was lucky to die a natural death. It is likely that he fought on King Richard III’s side at the Battle of Bosworth against Henry Tudor in 1485, but escaped punishment by Henry, who won the battle and was crowned King Henry VII. Scrope was imprisoned two years later after supporting the pretender Lambert Simnel. However, he was released and went on to prove his loyalty to Henry VII.
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On this day in Tudor history, 11th August 1556, politician Sir John Kingsmill, a man who had been close to Thomas Cromwell and Thomas Wriothesley, died.
He served as a sheriff in the reign of Henry VIII and as a commissioner for the dissolution of chantries in 1548 to Edward VI.
Here are some more facts about Sir John Kingsmill:
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As yesterday was the anniversary of the martyrdom of Catholic Thomas Abell, on 30th July 1540, I thought he could be this week’s #MondayMartyr.
Here are some facts about this Henrician martyr:
– Thomas Abell’s birthdate is unknown but he’d been ordained as a Catholic priest by 1513.
– He studied at the University of Oxford, attaining a BA in 1514 and an MA in 1518.
– In 1522, Abell became rector at Great Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire…
On this day in history, 22nd July 1437 (or 1438), soldier and royal councillor John Scrope, 5th Baron Scrope of Bolton, was born.
During the Wars of the Roses, Scrope was seriously injured at the Battle of Towton fighting on Edward IV’s side and in 1469 he sided with the Earl of Warwick against Edward, but was fortunately forgiven, even though he did that twice.
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This week’s Monday Martyr is John Lascelles (Lassells, Lacels), a courtier who was burnt at the stake for his Protestant faith at Smithfield on 16th July 1546 with priest Nicholas Belenian, tailor John Adams, and famous Protestant martyr Anne Askew.
Here are some facts about this Henrician Protestant martyr
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