20 July – Philip of Spain prepares to marry Mary I

On this day in Tudor history, 20th July 1554, Philip of Spain, son of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, arrived in England to prepare for his marriage to Queen Mary I.

Find out more in this edition of #TudorHistoryShorts...

Here's my video on their marriage:

On this day in history, 20th July 1524, Queen Claude of France, consort of Francis I, died at the age of just twenty-four at the Royal Chateau of Blois. She was temporarily laid to rest there and then later moved to the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Denis just outside Paris.

Brantôme declared that Claude’s husband, Francis I, gave her “the pox, which shortened her days”, meaning syphilis, but the cause of her death is not known for certain.

In this video, I give an overview of Queen Claude's life, as well as sharing the theories regarding her death.

Also on this day in Tudor history, 20th July 1554, John Knox, theologian and a leader of the Protestant Reformation in Scotland, published a pamphlet attacking the Catholic Queen Mary I, her religious measures and her persecution of Protestants.

Find out what he said...