The Tudor Society
  • #OTD in Tudor history – 22 March

    A sketch of Katherine Willoughby by Holbein

    On this day in Tudor history, 22nd March, patroness of Reform Katherine Willoughby, Duchess of Suffolk, was born; Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, replaced the out of favour Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, as lieutenant general in Calais; and gunner and mathematician William Bourne was buried…

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  • #OTD in Tudor history – 19 January

    Portraits of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, and Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke

    On this day in Tudor history, 19th January, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, was executed as Henry VIII became more paranoid in his dying days, an important diplomat died in Rome, and the Earl of Pembroke, a patron of the theatre, died…

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  • #OTD in Tudor history – 13 January

    Portraits of Edmund Spenser and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey

    Today’s on this day in Tudor history events include Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, being sentenced to death, the death of famous Elizabethan poet Edmund Spenser, and the death of a groom of Sir Henry Neville…

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  • June 16 – Henry Howard, Earl of Northampton

    On this day in history, 16th June 1614, author, courtier and administrator Henry Howard, Earl of Northampton, died at his house in Charing Cross. He died of gangrene after an operation on a tumour on his thigh.

    Northampton, who was the son of poet and courtier Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, and grandson of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, is known for his learning and intelligence, but also for his alleged involvement in the Overbury scandal.

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  • March 22 – Edward Seymour is in and Henry Howard is out

    Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, by Hans Holbein the Younger

    On this day in Tudor history, 22nd March 1546, Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, landed in Calais to relieve the out of favour Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, in his military duties as lieutenant general there.

    Hertford had been officially appointed the previous day “as the King’s lieutenant in the parts beyond sea, and commander in chief of the army and armada now about to be sent thither; with authority to invade France at discretion, and to order all admirals, vice-admirals and shipmasters there.” The privy council also wrote to Surrey recalling him to England.

    But what had happened? Why was Surrey being replaced with Hertford?

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  • 21 January – Henry Howard’s madding time and the Act of Attainder against Catherine Howard and Jane Boleyn

    On the night of this day in Tudor history, 21st January 1543, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, Thomas Wyatt the Younger and several other youths went on a five-hour rampage in London.

    Surrey regretted his actions, calling that night “a madding time”, but the king and the privy council took it seriously.

    Find out what happened to Surrey and his fellow vandals in this talk…

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  • 19 January – Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke and Execution of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey

    On this day in Tudor history, 19th January 1601, Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, died at Wilton, the family home near Salisbury.

    Who was Henry Herbert?

    I tell you about this interesting Tudor man in this talk…

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  • Henry Howard Word Search

    This week sees the anniversary of the execution of soldier and courtier, Henry Howard, son of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, and a man viewed as one of the founders of English Renaissance poetry and “Father of the English Sonnet”. To mark the occasion, I thought I’d test your knowledge of this Tudor man.

    How much do you know about the life of Henry Howard?

    Find out with this fun word search puzzle.

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  • 13 January – The Prince of Poets and Henry Howard is tried for treason

    On this day in Tudor history, 13th January 1599, Elizabethan poet and administrator in Ireland, Edmund Spenser, died in Westminster. He was described as “the prince of poets in his time” and is best known for his allegorical poem in praise of Elizabeth I, “The Faerie Queene”.

    But, did you know that he also upset William Cecil twice and that his most famous work is actually unfinished?

    Find out more about Edmund Spenser in this talk…

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  • 12 December – A soldier who had to hide from Elizabeth I and London sympathises with the Earl of Surrey

    On this day in Tudor history, 12th December 1595, Protestant Welsh soldier and author, Sir Roger Williams, died from a fever with his patron, Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, at his side. He was buried at St Paul’s Cathedral.

    Williams served as a soldier in the Low Countries and France and was second in command of the cavalry under Essex at Tilbury Fort in 1588. He also wrote the 1590 “A Briefe Discourse of Warre”.
    At one point he incurred Queen Elizabeth I’s wrath and had to go into hiding for a time.

    Find out all about Sir Roger Williams’ life, career and works in this talk…

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  • 2 December – Elizabeth I finally agreed to sentence Mary, Queen of Scots; to death and Henry Howard was arrested

    On this day in Tudor history, 2nd December 1586, following a joint petition from the Houses of Lords and Commons, Elizabeth I finally agreed to a public proclamation of sentence against Mary, Queen of Scots: death.

    Mary had been found guilty of high treason back in October 1586, but Elizabeth had not wanted to contemplate regicide. However, Parliament believed that if Mary, Queen of Scots, was not executed, that she’d continue to plot against Elizabeth and would utterly “ruinate and overthrow the happy State and Common Weal of this most Noble Realm”. She was too much of a danger and needed dealing with once and for all.

    Find out what Parliament said and what happened next in this talk…

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  • Henry Howard loses favour, purple fever takes an ambassador, and a Tudor judge and law reporter

    In this first part of This Week in Tudor History, I talk about Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey’s loss of royal favour after the English defeat in France, but his children’s joy at the news of him returning home; ambassador Sir Henry Unton (or Umpton) who was killed in France by the “purple fever”, and Sir James Dyer, a Chief Justice who has gone down in history as the first law reporter.

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  • Broken leg kills translator, Elizabeth of York’s funeral, and an earl implicated in murder

    In the first part of This Week in Tudor history for the week beginning 22nd February, historian and author Claire Ridgway talks about a translator killed by a broken leg, the lavish funeral of Elizabeth of York, and an earl who rose in the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I, but who was implicated in a murder in his final days.

    22nd February 1571, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I – The death of translator John Bury after breaking his leg in a fall from his horse….

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  • Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey

    As it was the anniversary of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey’s execution this week, I thought I’d pay tribute to this Tudor man by giving you an overview of his life and sharing some of his works.

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  • 21 January – Henry Howard’s madding time

    On the night of this day in Tudor history, 21st January 1543, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, Thomas Wyatt the Younger and several other youths went on a five-hour rampage in London.

    Surrey regretted his actions, calling that night “a madding time”, but the king and the privy council took it seriously.

    Find out what happened to Surrey and his fellow vandals in today’s talk.

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  • 12 December – London sympathises with the Earl of Surrey

    On this day in Tudor history, 12th December 1546, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, son of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, was led through the streets of London from Ely Place, where he had been held since his arrest on 2nd December, to the Tower of London.

    It was meant to be a humiliating walk for the earl, but it seems that the citizens of London were actually sympathetic to his plight, and didn’t boo him.

    Find out what happened on this day, and also what happened to his father, who had also been arrested, in today’s talk.

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  • 2 December – Henry Howard is arrested

    On this day in Tudor history, 2nd December 1546, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, poet, courtier, soldier and the eldest son of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, was arrested after Richard Southwell, his former friend, gave evidence against him.

    King Henry VIII had just weeks to live and was increasingly paranoid, so Southwell’s ‘evidence’ was just what Surrey’s enemies needed to bring the earl down.

    Find out more about the Earl of Surrey’s downfall, and how his father managed to keep his head, in today’s talk.

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  • 19 January

    In today’s “on this day in Tudor history” video, we go back in time to 19th January 1547 and Henry Howard’s end on the scaffold.

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  • 13 January

    It was risky being close to an increasingly paranoid king and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, paid for it with his life. In today’s video, I talk about Surrey’s trial which took place on this day in 1547.

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  • Henry Howard Quiz

    Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, was the cousin of Queens Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, a famous Tudor poet and a man who managed to end up in prison a few times, but how much do you know about this Tudor courtier? Find out with this fun quiz. Good luck!

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  • March 2016 Tudor Life Magazine

    Packed with a wide range of articles about Tudor personalities like the Dudleys, Elizabeth of York, Mary I, Isabella of Spain and Henry Howard. There is part one of an insider’s guide to the Tower of London, a detailed article about Greenwich Palace and Wroxhall Abbey, an article about some bizarre Tudor foods and lots more! It’s our best magazine yet!

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