The Tudor Society

  • November 3 – A man said to be Henry VIII’s illegitimate son dies in the Tower

    1 year ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in Tudor history, 3rd November 1592, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Sir John Perrot died at the Tower of London.

    Sir John Perrot, who was a privy councillor and former Lord Deputy of Ireland, is a fascinating Tudor character. He survived being a Protestant and protecting ‘heretics’ in Mary I’s reign, and he was saved six times from serious punishment by Queen Elizabeth I’s intercession.

    Was this favour due to him being the queen’s half-brother? Some people think so.

    You can find out more about Perrot and the arguments for and against him being Henry VIII’s son, in this video:

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  • 3 November – Henry VIII’s supremacy of the English church and the death of Sir John Perrot

    2 years ago Author: Joel Ridgway
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    On this day in Tudor history, 3rd November 1534, Parliament passed the First Act of Supremacy, establishing King Henry VIII’s supremacy of the English church and rejecting the authority of the pope.

    In today’s talk, historian Claire Ridgway shares what the act said and explains that it didn’t actually make him head of the church, just confirmed the fact, and goes on to share the oath that people had to take and what it meant if they refused.

    It was an important act in the break with Rome and the English Reformation.

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  • 3 November – Sir John Perrot, Henry VIII’s illegitimate son?

    4 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in Tudor history, 3rd November 1592, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, privy councillor and former Lord Deputy of Ireland, Sir John Perrot, died at the Tower of London. He’d been imprisoned there since March 1591.

    Perrot is a fascinating Tudor man who survived being a Protestant and protecting ‘heretics’ in Mary I’s reign, and who was saved six times from serious punishment by Queen Elizabeth I’s intercession. Some people believe that this favour, and a few other factors, point to him being King Henry VIII’s illegitimate son.

    Find out more about Sir John Perrot, his life and the arguments for and against him being Henry VIII’s son in today’s talk.

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  • Sir John Perrot (c1527/30 – 1592)

    5 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in 1592, Sir John Perrot, Privy Councillor and former Lord Deputy of Ireland, died at the Tower of London. He was buried in the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula at the Tower.

    John Perrot was born between 1527 and 1530 in Pembrokeshire, and was the son of Mary (Berkeley) and Sir Thomas Perrot, although some believe him to have been Henry VIII’s illegitimate son. John’s mother, the pretty Mary Berkeley, had served Henry VIII’s first wife, Catherine of Aragon. The King was a friend of her husband, Sir Thomas Perrot, a keen huntsman, and historian Philippa Jones believes that Henry VIII began an affair with Mary after noticing her when he came to visit and hunt.

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  • 3 November 1592 – Death of Sir John Perrot, a son of Henry VIII?

    7 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in history, 3rd November 1592, Sir John Perrot, Privy Councillor and former Lord Deputy of Ireland, died at the Tower of London from illness. He was buried in the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula at the Tower. He’d been tried for treason in April 1592 and later sentenced to death, but he died of natural causes.

    Philippa Jones (The Other Tudors) writes of how it was widely believed that he was actually the illegitimate son of Henry VIII by Mary Berkeley, who served Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s first wife, but others dispute this claim, saying that there is no evidence to support this.

    I did a Claire Chats video “Was Sir John Perrot Henry VIII’s son?” in which I look at Perrot’s life and the evidence regarding his parentage.

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  • Was Sir John Perrot Henry VIII’s son?

    8 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    In today’s Claire Chats video I start a series on the people who are rumoured to have been illegitimate children of Henry VIII. I’m starting with Sir John Perrot, looking at who he was, where the rumours come from and whether there’s any evidence to back them up.

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