15 June – Mary is bullied

On this day in Tudor history, 15th June 1536, Mary, daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, was bullied and threatened by members of her father's council.

It must have been a truly shocking event for the twenty-year-old princess, who was now known as "Lady Mary".

In today's video, I give a contemporary account of what happened on this day and why, and explain how Mary did end up reconciling with her father the king.

Here are the other videos I did on Mary in 1536:

Also on this day in history:

• 1519 – Date traditionally given for the birth of Henry Fitzroy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset, at the priory of St Lawrence in Blackmore, Essex. Fitzroy was the illegitimate son of King Henry VIII by his mistress, Elizabeth (Bessie Blount). Henry VIII recognised Fitzroy as his son and gave him a double dukedom in June 1525, making his son the highest ranking peer in the country. Unfortunately, Fitzroy died young in July 1526.
• 1547 – Baptism of Peter Bales, calligrapher, schoolmaster and master of micrography, at St Michael Cornhill in London. His micrographical work included a hand-written Bible which could fit into a walnut shell and a ring, which he presented to Elizabeth I, containing a collection of devotional texts. Bales also wrote the copybook “The Writing Schoolemaster”.
• 1559 – Death of William Somer (Sommers), court fool to Henry VIII, Edward VI and Mary I. Somer had had a narrow escape in July 1535 when Henry VIII threatened to kill him because he praised Catherine of Aragon and Mary, but called Anne Boleyn “ribald” and her daughter, Elizabeth, a “bastard”. Somer's last public appearance seems to have been Elizabeth I's coronation in January 1559. Somer was buried at St Leonard, Shoreditch, London.
• 1567 – Battle of Carberry Hill, near Edinburgh, between the Protestant nobles and the army of Mary, Queen of Scots and her husband, the Earl of Bothwell. Mary surrendered and was imprisoned. It was the end of her relationship with Bothwell.
• 1596 – Death of Richard Fletcher, Bishop of London, at his house in Chelsea. He was buried in St Paul's. Fletcher fell out of favour with Elizabeth I and was temporarily suspended of his episcopal duties in 1595 after his marriage, which Elizabeth had warned against.