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The Tudor Society

  • 5 November – The discovery of the Gunpowder Plot and Mary Tudor was crowned Queen of France

    1 year ago Author: Joel Ridgway
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    Today is the anniversary of the discovery of Gunpowder Plot conspirator, Guy Fawkes, and 36 barrels of gunpowder in a cellar beneath the Palace of Westminster on the night of 4th/5th November 1605. The plotters were planning to blow up the Houses of Parliament on the opening of Parliament and assassinate the king, his government and leading bishops and nobles.

    But why and what has this event in James I’s reign got to do with Tudor history?

    Well, a lot, because the Gunpowder Plot had its roots in Elizabeth I’s reign.

    Find out more about the Gunpowder Plot, and those involved, in this talk…

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  • 13 August – Irish friars come to a sad end and a proxy wedding for Mary Tudor

    1 year ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in Tudor history, 13th August 1579, Roman Catholics Friar Conn, or Connatius, O’Rourke and Patrick O’Healy, Bishop of Mayo, were hanged just outside Kilmallock, co. Limerick.

    So desperate was Sir William Drury, Lord President of Munster, to get rid of these two Catholics, that he used martial law to find them guilty of treason, rather than giving them a trial.

    Find out why, what Drury did to poor Bishop O’Healey, and what happened to their remains afterwards, in this video…

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  • 9 October – Mary Tudor and Louis XII get married

    3 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in Tudor history, 9th October 1514, eighteen-year-old Mary Tudor, sister of Henry VIII and daughter of the late Henry VII, married fifty-two year-old King Louis XII of France at Abbeville in France.

    In today’s talk, I share contemporary accounts of Mary’s lavish entry into Abbeville on 8th October and the wedding on 9th October, including descriptions of Mary and her apparel.

    Of course, Mary wasn’t married to Louis for long as he died on 1st January 1515.

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