On this day in Tudor history, the future Elizabeth I wrote her earliest surviving letter. It was to her stepmother, Queen Catherine Parr; Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk and father of Lady Jane Grey, was released from the Tower of London; and Edmund Sheffield, 1st Baron Sheffield, was killed by a butcher during Kett’s Rebellion…
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On this day in Tudor history, 23rd May, Henry Grey was finally installed as a Knight of the Garter; Elizabeth (future Elizabeth I) arrived as Woodstock, where she was to be kept under house arrest; and Henry VIII’s first marriage was finally annulled…
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On this day in Tudor history, 23rd May 1547, in the reign of King Edward VI, Henry Grey, 3rd Marquis of Dorset was installed as a Knight of the Garter.
Grey had longed to be a garter knight for years, but even though his father-in-law, Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, nominated him annually, he was not elected. Things changed in Grey’s favour when Edward VI became king.
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On this day in Tudor history, 31st July 1553, in the reign of Queen Mary I, Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk, was “discharged out of the Tower by the Earle of Arundell and had the Quenes pardon.”
Suffolk had been imprisoned after Mary I had overthrown his daughter, Queen Jane, or Lady Jane Grey, and been proclaimed queen on 19th July 1553. Suffolk’s release was down to his wife, Frances, interceding with her cousin the queen and begging for mercy.
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On this day in Tudor history, 23rd May 1554, Elizabeth, daughter of King Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn, arrived at the Palace of Woodstock in Oxfordshire, where she was placed under house arrest.
Elizabeth remained under house arrest there for just under a year, and she didn’t make it easy for her gaoler, Sir Henry Bedingfield, and neither did her servants.
Find out why Elizabeth was under house arrest and what happened…
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On this day in Tudor history, 23rd February 1601, religious pamphleteer and Member of Parliament, Job Throckmorton, was buried at Haseley in Warwickshire.
Job was known for his alleged involvement in the “Marprelate Controversy”, a pamphlet war, and also for his colourful Parliamentary speeches, which nearly got him into trouble. He was lucky to escape imprisonment and worse!
Find out more about Job Throckmorton in this talk…
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On this day in Tudor history, 23rd May 1547, in the reign of King Edward VI, Henry Grey, 3rd Marquis of Dorset, was finally installed as a Knight of the Garter.
Grey had wanted this honour for years and had been nominated many times, so what had changed? How did he end up joining the Order of the Garter.
Find out in this video…
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On this day in Tudor history, 19th November 1564, Lord John Grey, youngest son of Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset, died.
He’s not the Lord John Grey of the wonderful Outlander series, but he is just as interesting.
In Mary I’s reign, he was involved in a rebellion with his brothers, Lord Thomas Grey and Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk, but unlike them was not executed.
How did Lord John Grey escape execution? And why did he get into trouble again in Elizabeth I’s reign.
Find out all about this Tudor lord 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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Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk, father of Lady Jane Grey, was beheaded on this day in 1554 after being found guilty of treason. I explain how he went from being pardoned to being condemned to death and executed in just a few months, and also share his execution speech.
I also share a story regarding his alleged mummified head!
[Read More...]As today is the anniversary of the execution of Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk and father of Lady Jane Grey, I thought I’d talk about his execution and a mummified head discovered in the 19th century that is said to be the duke’s.
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Henry Grey was born on 17th January 1517 at Bradgate in Leicestershire. He was the eldest son of Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset, and the marquess’s second wife, Margaret Wotton, who was the widow of William Medley. Henry’s father was the grandson of Sir John Grey of Groby, Leicestershire, and Elizabeth Woodville, who went on to marry King Edward IV.
After his father’s death in 1530, thirteen-year-old Henry became Marquess of Dorset and also the ward of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk and a close friend of King Henry VIII. Henry had been betrothed to Katherine Fitzalan, daughter of the Earl of Arundel, but in May 1533 Henry married Frances Brandon, daughter of Suffolk by his first wife, Mary Tudor, Queen of France. Frances’ mother died in June 1533 and her father went on to marry his other ward, Katherine Willoughby, in September 1533. Suffolk supported Henry and Frances financially until Henry reached his majority. The couple went on to have five children, but the first two, a son and daughter, died in infancy. Their eldest surviving daughter, Jane, the future Lady Jane Grey or Queen Jane, was born in 1537, followed by Katherine in 1540 and Mary in 1545.
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On this day in history, 23rd February 1554, at nine o’clock in the morning, Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk, was led out onto the scaffold on Tower Hill and beheaded. His daughter, Lady Jane Grey, or Queen Jane as I like to call her, had been executed eleven days earlier, along with her husband, Lord Guildford Dudley.
Suffolk’s execution was down to his involvement in Wyatt’s Rebellion, a rebellion which sought to depose Mary I and replace her with her half-sister Elizabeth. The rebellion failed and Suffolk was arrested as he attempted to flee the country in disguise. He was tried for high treason on 17th February at Westminster Hall, having been charged with inciting war in the county of Leicester, posting proclamations against the Spanish marriage, and plotting the death of the queen. He was condemned to death.
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