On this day in Tudor history, 12th June, Henry VIII’s first wife, Catherine of Aragon, got cross with him, telling him to abandon his “wicked life”; Richard Rich interviewed an imprisoned Sir Thomas More; and a newly imprisoned Thomas Cromwell pleaded his innocence and begged for mercy…
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On this day in Tudor history, 11th June, England’s new king, Henry VIII, married Catherine of Aragon; humanist and scholar Sir Anthony Cooke died; and the Feast of St Barnabas was celebrated…
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On this day in Tudor history, 10th June, two Carthusian monks died of starvation in prison; Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, was arrested; and Francis, Duke of Anjou and Alençon, former suitor of Elizabeth I and a man she dubbed her “Frog”, died in Paris…
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On this day in Tudor history, 9th June, William Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon, died; the Book of Common Prayer was used in English churches for the first time; and diplomat and administrator William Paget, 1st Baron Paget, died…
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On this day in Tudor history, Elizabeth Woodville, queen consort of Edward IV and mother of the Princes in the Tower, died; and Henry VIII’s Parliament passed the Second Act of Succession, removing Elizabeth, as well as Mary, from the line of succession…
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On this day in Tudor history, 7th June, the Field of Cloth of Gold meeting between Henry VIII and Francis I began; a water pageant was held in honour of Jane Seymour: and Elizabeth I’s former physician was hanged, drawn and quartered…
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On this day in Tudor history, 6th June, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V made a grand entry into London with Henry VIII; the Prayer Book rebels assembled at Bodmin; and musician and conspirator William Hunnis died…
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On this day in Tudor history, 5th June, Catherine of Aragon’s lady and good friend, Maria de Salinas, married William, 10th Lord Willoughby of Eresby; Elizabeth I’s favourite, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, was charged with insubordination; and physician and naturalist Thomas Moffet died…
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On this day in Tudor history, 4th June, Jane Seymour was proclaimed queen at Greenwich; Robert Dudley married Amy Robsart at Sheen with Edward VI in attendance; and the spire of St Paul’s Cathedral was struck by lightning…
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On this day in Tudor history, 3rd June, Sir Thomas More was interrogated in the Tower of London; bishops in England were ordered to preach in support of the royal supremacy; and John Aylmer, Bishop of London, died…
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On this day in Tudor history, 2nd June, Henry VIII’s third wife, Jane Seymour, made her first appearance as queen; rebels including Sir Francis Bigod were executed in the aftermath of the Pilgrimage of Grace; and Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, was executed…
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On this day in Tudor history, 1st June, a heavily pregnant Queen Anne Boleyn was crowned queen at Westminster Abbey; and an inquest into the death of playwright Christopher Marlowe ruled that he had been stabbed in self-defence…
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On this day in Tudor history, 31st May, the matriarch of the Tudor dynasty, Lady Margaret Beaufort, was born; the Legatine Court, whose purpose was to hear Henry VIII’s case for an annulment of his first marriage, opened at Blackfriars; and Queen Anne Boleyn’s coronation procession took place…
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On this day in Tudor history, 18 men were created Knights of the Bath during Anne Boleyn’s coronation celebrations; Henry VIII married Jane Seymour at Whitehall; and playwright and poet Christopher Marlowe was stabbed to death…
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On this day in Tudor history, 29th May, Queen Anne Boleyn’s coronation celebrations began with a huge river procession on the Thames, and religious controversialist John Penry was hanged after being linked to the Marprelate religious tracts…
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On this day in Tudor history, 28th May, Archbishop Cranmer, proclaimed the validity of Henry VIII’s marriage to Anne Boleyn; three Catholic priests were executed for a plot that may not have been real; and the Spanish Armada set sail from Lisbon in Portugal bound for the Spanish Netherlands…
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On this day in Tudor history, 27th May, Cardinal Pole sent Henry VIII a copy of his work, and in it, he criticised the king’s annulment; there were celebrations for the ‘quickening’ of Queen Jane Seymour’s baby; and Cardinal Pole’s mother, Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, was executed…
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On this day in Tudor history, 26th May, Henry VIII and Charles V met at Dover Castle; Henry VIII’s eldest daughter, Mary, wrote to Cromwell asking him to intercede with her father on her behalf; and Barbara Sidney (née Gamage), Countess of Leicester, was buried at Penshurst…
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On this day in Tudor history, an earthquake shook Croydon and neighbouring villages, and Lady Jane Grey married Lord Guildford Dudley, son of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, in a triple wedding at Durham Place…
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On this day in Tudor history, 24th May, Anne Askew and her husband were ordered to appear in front of the king’s council; a “monstrous child” was born in Chichester; and Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury and Elizabeth I’s former Secretary of State, died…
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As part of my forthcoming event, The Men Behind the Throne: Tudor Statesmen, I’m running a zoom video discussion on Archbishop Thomas Cranmer this Sunday. I love doing these informal discussions as they’re a great way to get to know each other before the event and an hour of Tudor talk with like-minded people is bliss.
There are still places left on The Men Behind the Throne, which is a completely online event and interactive too, and there’s an early bird discount until 31st May.
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On this day in Tudor history, 23rd May, Henry Grey was finally installed as a Knight of the Garter; Elizabeth (future Elizabeth I) arrived as Woodstock, where she was to be kept under house arrest; and Henry VIII’s first marriage was finally annulled…
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On This day in Tudor history, 22nd May, Edward Seymour, brother of Queen Jane Seymour, was sworn in as a privy councillor; Franciscan friar John Forest was burnt at the stake; and four men, including the Earls of Hertford and Surrey, were installed as Knights of the Garter…
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On this day in Tudor history, 21st May, courtier, magnate and soldier Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk, died; Philip II of Spain, consort of Mary I, was born in Valladolid, Spain; and Bible translator William Tyndale was arrested…
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On this day in Tudor history, 20th May, the pope made the imprisoned Bishop John Fisher a cardinal; Henry VIII and Jane Seymour became betrothed; and Matthew Hamont was burnt at the stake for heresy in Norwich…
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On this day in Tudor history, Queen Anne Boleyn was executed at the Tower of London; Henry VIII was issued a dispensation to marry wife number 3, the future Elizabeth I was released from the Tower of London into house arrest; and it’s the Feast of St Dunstan…
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On this day in Tudor history, 18th May, Catherine Woodville, Duchess of Buckingham and Bedford, sister of Elizabeth Woodville, died, and scholar William Thomas was executed for treason after being implicated in Wyatt’s Rebellion…
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On this day in Tudor history, 17th May, Edward Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, was executed for treason; five men were executed as traitors for their involvement with Queen Anne Boleyn; and Elizabethan spy Anthony Bacon was buried…
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