The Tudor Society
  • #OTD in Tudor history – 21 February

    Engravings of Ambrose Dudley and martyr Robert Southwell

    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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  • 21 February – The death of Ambrose Dudley, Earl of Warwick and The Execution of St Robert Southwell

    On this day in Tudor history, 21st February 1590, Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick, Master of the Ordnance and Privy Councillor, died at Bedford House on the Strand.

    Ambrose had been a loyal royal servant and was a member of that famous Tudor family, the Dudleys, with his father being John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, and his brother being Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester.

    Find out more about Ambrose Dudley’s life and career in this talk…

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  • 21 February – Ambrose Dudley, Earl of Warwick

    On this day in Tudor history, 21st February 1590, Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick, Master of the Ordnance and Privy Councillor, died at Bedford House on the Strand.

    Ambrose had been a loyal royal servant and was a member of that famous Tudor family, the Dudleys, with his father being John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, and his brother being Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester.

    Find out more about Ambrose Dudley’s life and career in today’s talk.

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  • The Dudley Family Quiz

    A portrait of John Dudley from the collection at Knole in Kent.

    This week’s Sunday quiz tests your knowledge of one of my very favourite Tudor families, the Dudleys.

    How much do you know about them?

    Find out in this fun quiz!

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  • Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick c.1530-1590

    Ambrose Dudley was born the fourth son of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, and his wife, Lady Jane Guildford. Ambrose came from an exceptionally large family; he had twelve siblings. The family were renowned for their Protestant zeal: Ambrose’s sister, the Countess of Huntingdon, promoted her Protestantism by opening a school in the north of England for young gentry women. Among her pupils was Lady Margaret Hoby, a noted diarist whose pious daily accounts survive to this day. Much of her diary reflected her strict, daily, religious observances, with little information regarding her personal life. Similarly, Ambrose’s father was a prominent reformer during the reign of Edward VI. He was ultimately executed for his involvement with promoting Lady Jane Grey as queen through lobbying the ailing king Edward VI for support; in violation of the former king Henry VIII’s decreed will.

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  • Anne Dudley (née Russell), Countess of Warwick (1548/1549-1604)

    Lady Anne Russell was born the eldest of three daughters of Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford, and his first wife, Margaret St John. Anne’s father was an English nobleman and soldier who had a successful career at both the Henrician and Elizabethan courts. However, he came to significant attention during the reign of Elizabeth I; a monarch renowned for her taste in dashing, exciting and reliable men. Through this relationship with the queen, Francis was able to rise in status to the office of privy councillor. He also carried out diplomatic missions on the continent. Very little is known of Anne’s childhood, as much of the Russell family papers, for the sixteenth-century, are lost. When compared to other families, such as the Cecils, there is substantially more information on the education of William Cecil’s daughters than the Russell children. Any information regarding the Russell daughters’ education, including Anne’s sister Margaret, is practically unknown.

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  • 21 February 1590 – The death of Ambrose Dudley, Earl of Warwick

    Today is the anniversary of the death of Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick, Master of the Ordnance, Privy Councillor and fourth son of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, at Bedford House on the Strand in 1590. He was laid to rest in the Beauchamp Chapel of the Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick. You can read more about Ambrose in my bio of him – Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick.

    I have a real fondness for the Dudley family and was very moved when I visited the tombs of Ambrose, his brother Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and Robert’s wife, Lettice, and Robert’s little boy, Robert Dudley, Lord Denbigh, “the noble imp” as his tomb says.

    Here are some photos I took at the church in Warwick. By the way, the crowns are earls’ coronets rather than royal crowns.

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