The Tudor Society
  • #OTD in Tudor history – 23 February

    A photo of Henry Grey's head

    On this day in Tudor history, 23rd February, Elizabeth of York, wife of Henry VII and mother of Henry VIII, was buried at Westminster Abbey, Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk, was executed on Tower Hill following the failed Wyatt’s Rebellion, and religious pamphleteer Job Throckmorton was buried…

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  • May 29 – The hanging of John Penry, and a fire-breathing dragon on the Thames

    On this day in Tudor history, 29th May 1593, Welsh religious controversialist, and a man regarded by Welsh historians as the pioneer of Welsh nonconformity, John Penry was hanged at St Thomas-a-Watering in Surrey.

    John Penry was linked to the Martin Marprelate tracts and the resulting Marprelate Controversy, not for writing them, but for helping to run the secret press that printed them.

    Find out more about Penry, his life and his work, and his involvement with these tracts, and how appealing to William Cecil didn’t save him from the hangman’s noose…

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  • 29 May – John Penry and his scandalous writings

    On this day in Tudor history, 29th May 1593, Welsh religious controversialist, and a man regarded by Welsh historians as the pioneer of Welsh nonconformity, John Penry was hanged at St Thomas-a-Watering in Surrey.

    John Penry was linked to the Martin Marprelate tracts and the resulting Marprelate Controversy, not for writing them, but for helping to run the secret press that printed them.

    Find out more about Penry, his life and his work, and his involvement with these tracts, and how appealing to William Cecil didn’t save him from the hangman’s noose, in today’s talk.

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  • 23 February – Job Throckmorton, a colourful and lucky character

    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 today’s talk.

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  • The Marprelate Controversy

    On this day in history, 23rd February 1601, Job Throckmorton, religious pamphleteer and Member of Parliament, was buried at Haseley in Warwickshire.

    It is believed that Throckmorton was one of the men responsible for the “Martin Marprelate tracts”. These religious tracts, which attacked the established church, were written under the pseudonym Martin Marprelate (and his sons) and published in 1588 and 1589 by John Penry and Robert Waldegrave.

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