The Tudor Society
  • April 6 – A spymaster and a serial secret husband

    On this day in history, 6th April 1621, in the Stuart period, Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford, died at around the age of 81.

    Now, Hertford is known for his secret marriage to Lady Katherine Grey, sister of Lady Jane Grey, and their conjugal visits in the Tower of London, but Hertford had a thing for secret marriages, and his son and grandson followed in his footsteps!

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  • 6 April – Sir Francis Walsingham: The Queen’s spymaster

    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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  • Sir Francis Walsingham

    On this day in history, 6th April 1590, Elizabeth I’s principal secretary, Sir Francis Walsingham, died at around the age of fifty-eight. Although he had served the queen for many years, he died in debt, as he had underwritten the debts of Sir Philip Sidney, his son-in-law.

    Walsingham was an incredibly important man during Elizabeth I’s reign, being a statesman, private secretary, adviser, diplomat and spymaster, and he probably saved the queen’s life many times by uncovering various plots against her. Elizabeth called him her “Moor”.

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  • Elizabeth I and the fall of Mary, Queen of Scots Part 2

    In today’s Claire chats I continue my examination of the fall of Mary, Queen of Scots, by looking at the controversy surrounding the death warrant and examining the Bond of Association and the Act for the Queen’s Safety.

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