The Tudor Society
  • April 22 – Gaol fever hits, an interesting Earl of Cumberland, and a Spanish queen

    On this day in Tudor history, 22 April 1598, Justice Francis Beaumont died after contracting gaol fever at the Black Assizes of the Northern Circuit.

    But what exactly was gaol fever?

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  • 19 October – The Catholic Monarchs and the Pilgrimage of Grace

    On this day in history, 19th October 1469, an event took place in Spain that was not only important in Spanish history, but which had an impact on Europe and which has links with the Tudors.

    The event was the marriage of an eighteen-year-old woman called Isabella and a seventeen-year-old man called Ferdinand.

    They’d become the famous Reyes Catolicos, the Catholic monarchs, Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, and would bring together two powerful kingdoms, which comprised most of what is modern-day Spain.

    In this talk, I tell you more about this powerful couple, their reigns and their legacy.

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  • Isabella of Castile – new book!

    I’ve just received an email from Giles Tremlett about his latest book Isabella of Castile: Europe’s First Great Queen, which I know many of you will be interested in. His book on Catherine of Aragon was excellent.

    Here’s what Giles says about his book:

    “This week my latest book, a 625-page biography of Isabella of Castile, is published by Bloomsbury in the United Kingdom. It will be out in the United States on March 7 and will be available in Spanish and Chinese before year’s end. Early reviews from the US specialist book trade magazines are promising: “Magisterial… sublime presentation of facts and interpretation,” (Booklist); “highly readable, engrossing biography” (Library Journal) etc… Reviews will begin to appear in major UK papers next week.

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  • 2 January 1492 – King Boabdil surrenders Granada to Ferdinand and Isabella

    On 2nd January 1492, King Boabdil (or Abu `Abdallah Muhammad XII), Sultan of Granada, surrendered Granada, Spain, to the forces of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile following months of siege.

    Granada had been the last outpost of Al-Andalus, the parts of the Iberian peninsula governed by the Moors, but now it had been conquered by the Catholic monarchs as the final act of the “Reconquista”, which had been a campaign running since the 1200s to kick the Moors out of Spain.

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