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...

Also 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 this video...