The Tudor Society

  • Informal live chat – Saturday 12 August

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    ugust’s informal live chat will take place in the chatroom this Saturday, 12th August. The topic is Tudor food and recipes.

    If you’ve never been to one of our informal live chats then let me explain… We all pile into the chatroom and then it’s a free-for-all. It’s an hour where we can discuss the chosen topic, share our thoughts, share book recommendations, pose questions…anything really. It’s always good fun and the hours flies by. So for this one, we can discuss the foods the Tudors ate, how they cooked it, how they preserved it, books about Tudor food and cookery, recipes we have tried etc. I do hope you can come along.

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  • This week in history 7 – 13 August

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in Tudor history…

    7th August:

    1485 – Henry Tudor (future Henry VII) dropped anchor at Mill Bay, Milford Haven, Wales. He had returned from exile to claim the crown of England. Click here to read more.
    1514 – Peace treaty signed between England and France, arranging the marriage of the widowed fifty-two-year-old Louis XII of France and the eighteen-year-old Princess Mary Tudor, sister of Henry VIII.
    1541 – Death of Sir Richard Weston, courtier and father of Sir Francis Weston who was executed in 1536 for alleged adultery with Queen Anne Boleyn. Richard served Henry VII as Groom of the Chamber and Henry VIII as an Esquire of the Body, Governor of Guernsey and treasurer of Calais. He was buried in Holy Trinity Church, Guildford.
    1549 – The five-year-old Mary, Queen of Scots set sail from Dumbarton, Scotland, for France. A marriage had been agreed between Mary and Francis, the Dauphin, so Mary was going to be brought up at the French court. Mary arrived at Saint-Pol-de-Léon, near Roscoff in Brittany, just over a week later.
    1574 – Sir Robert Dudley, mariner, cartographer and landowner, was born on this day in 1574 at Sheen House, Richmond. He was the illegitimate son of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester and favourite of Elizabeth I, and his lover Lady Douglas Sheffield, daughter of William Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Effingham, and widow of John Sheffield, 2nd Baron Sheffield.
    1600 – Burial of Sir Thomas Lucy in the parish church at Charlecote, Warwickshire. Lucy was a magistrate and member of Parliament, but is best known for his links with William Shakespeare. Tradition has it that Shakespeare wrote a satirical ballad about Lucy, or he made a caricature of him in the character of Judge Shallow, as revenge after he was judged too harshly for poaching on Lucy’s estate, Charlecote Park. There is no evidence to support this story.
    1613 – Death of Sir Thomas Fleming, Solicitor-General to Elizabeth I and James I, at Stoneham Park. He also served James I as Chief Justice of the King’s Bench. He was buried at North Stoneham Church.

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  • 7 August 1485 – Henry Tudor came unto Wales

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in history, Sunday 7th August 1485, Henry Tudor, son of Lady Margaret Beaufort and the late Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond, “came unto Wales”, returning from exile in Brittany to claim the throne of England from Richard III.

    Polydore Vergil records Henry’s return:

    “Than Henry, thinkinge yt nedefull to make haste, that his arrive the frinds showld not be any longer kept in perplexytie betwene hope and drede, uncertane what to do, after he had made hisprayers to God that he might have an happy and prosperousjourney, he lowsyd from the mowth of Seyne with two thousand onely of armyd men and a few shippes, the calends of August, and with a soft suthren wynde. The weather being very fayre he came unto Wales the 7th day after, a lyttle before soone set, wher, entring thaven caulyd Milford, and furthwith going a land, he took
    first a place the name wherof ys Dalley, wher he herd that certane companyes of his adversaryes had had ther stations the wynter by past to have kept him from landing. From thence departing in the breake of dav he went to Haverforde, which vs a towne not xne. myles from Dalley, wher he was receavyd with great goodwill of all men, and the same he dyd with suche celerytie as that he was present and spoken of all at once.”

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  • Margaret or Mary?

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Showtime’s “The Tudors” TV series caused all kinds of confusion by amalgamating Henry VIII’s two sisters in one character named Margaret, and throwing in lots of inaccuracies too! So, how much do you know about these two women and do you know which woman did what?

    Grab a drink and snack, sit comfortably and get those little grey cells working with today’s fun history quiz. Good luck!

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  • Anne Hathaway, wife of William Shakespeare

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Today is the anniversary of the death of Anne Hathaway, wife of William Shakespeare, the Bard, in 1623. She was laid to rest next to her husband in the Church of the Holy Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon.

    Anne married Shakespeare in November 1582 when she was twenty-six and he was eighteen. She was pregnant at the time and gave birth to their daughter, Susannah, in May 1583. The couple went on to have twins, Hamnet and Judith, in February 1585. Anne outlived her husband, who died on 23rd April 1616.

    Here is a video about Anne Hathaway:

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  • Anne of Cleves, fourth wife of Henry VIII

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Today is the anniversary of the death of Anne of Cleves and to mark the occasion Claire looks at some texts associated with her.

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  • 4 August 1540 – Executions and more executions

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On 4th August 1540, Brother William Horne, laybrother of the London Charterhouse, was executed. He was hanged, disembowelled and quartered at Tyburn and was the last of the Carthusian Martyrs to be killed. Between May 1535 and August 1540, eighteen members of the Carthusian order were put to death for refusing to accept King Henry VIII as the Supreme Head of the Church.

    You can read more about the Carthusian Martyrs in my article Henry VIII and the Carthusian Monks.

    Horne wasn’t the only one to be executed that day. Chronicler Charles Wriothesley records:

    “This yeare, the fowerth daie of Awgust, were drawen from the Tower of London to Tiburne, Giles Heron, gentleman, Clement Philpott, gentleman, late of Callis, and servant to the Lord Lile, Darbie Gynning, Edmonde Bryndholme, priest, William Horn, late a lay brother of the Charter Howse of London, and another, with six persons more, were there hanged drawen, and quartered, and one Charles Carow, gentleman, was that daie hanged for robbing of my Ladie Carowe, all which persons were attaynted by the whole Parliament for treason.”

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  • The Prayer Book Rebellion 1549

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    The Prayer Book Rebellion was a rebellion that took place in the south-west of England in the summer of 1549, in the reign of King Edward VI.

    Henry VIII, Edward VI’s father and the previous monarch, had broken with Rome in the 1530s and had been declared the Supreme Head of the Church in England. Although Henry had died a Catholic, the break had brought religious changes to the country and these had become more Protestant when his young son came to the throne.

    In 1549, the Book of Common Prayer, which had been composed mainly by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer and which was the official liturgy of Edward VI’s Protestant Church, was introduced into England. It was in English and it replaced the Catholic Mass that the English people were used to celebrating. You can read more about the Book of Common Prayer in Beth von Staats’ excellent article – click here. This change wasn’t embraced by all of the English people and in the summer of 1549, there was trouble in Devon and Cornwall. The rebels called for the rebuilding of abbeys, the restoration of the Six Articles, the restoration of prayers for souls in purgatory, the policy of only the bread being given to the laity and the use of Latin for the mass.

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  • 3 August 1553 – Mary I enters London

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On 2nd August 1553, Elizabeth, second daughter of King Henry VIII, greeted her half-sister Mary, the new queen, at Wanstead. The women then spent the night at Wanstead House, a royal hunting lodge. The following day, 3rd August, Mary and Elizabeth rode from Wanstead to Aldgate for Mary to be greeted by the city as its queen.

    Here are some primary source accounts of Mary I’s entry into London on 3rd August 1553…

    Henry Machyn, “citizen and merchant-taylor of London”, recorded in his diary:

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  • Expert Talk – Rivals and Mistresses, Part 1 – Lauren Browne

    6 years ago Author: ADMIN Tim
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    Lauren Brown starts a series on Rivals and Mistresses with this video talk.

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  • New Feast Days e-book now available!

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    The eighth book in our exclusive Tudor Society e-book series is now available and this one takes you through the calendar year one feast day at a time. Learn about how the religious calendar affected the daily lives of the Tudors in our Feast Days e-book.

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  • 2 August 1581 – Burning of Richard Atkins

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in history, 2nd August 1581, Protestant Richard Atkins was burned to death before St Peter’s in Rome. It is said that as he was taken to St Peter’s, his back and breast were burned by men holding torches and that his right hand was then cut off and his legs burned first to prolong his suffering.

    Why such an awful and prolonged death?

    Anthony Munday, in his 1582 book The English Romayne Lyfe, recounts Atkins’ ‘crimes’ in a chapter dedicated to him. He tells of how Atkins, a Hertfordshire man, travelled to Rome and went straight to the English College there, the Catholic seminary, and told the priests that he had come “to rebuke the great misorder of your lives” and he called their pope “the Antechrist”. They reported him to the Inquisition who examined him and then released him. But then:

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  • The Spanish raids on Cornwall 1595 (Battle of Cornwall)

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    As part of the Anglo-Spanish War of 1585-1604, four galleys containing somewhere between 200 and 400 Spanish soldiers landed at Mount’s Bay on the coast of western Cornwall on what the Spaniards called 2nd August 1595, but which was 23rd July in England (England was still using the Julian Calendar but Spain was using the Gregorian Calendar).

    The fleet was commanded by Captain Carlos de Amésquita and it had left Port Louis, Brittany, France, on 26th July (16th July English) to raid the south-west of England.

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  • The Loxwood Joust – 5 and 6, 12 and 13 August

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Those of you who can get to West Sussex, UK, in August may be interested to know about this event. It’s the Loxwood Joust and it’s taking place on two weekends in August, 5-6th and 12-13th, 10 am -6 pm on those dates.

    The website says: “STEP BACK IN TIME AND EXPERIENCE THE VERVE AND VIGOUR OF A WORLD WHERE LIVES WERE HARSH AND HEARTS WERE PASSIONATE AT THIS UNIQUE, FUN AND EDUCATIONAL DAY OUT FOR ALL THE FAMILY!”

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  • This week in history 31 July – 6 August

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in history…

    31 July:

    1544 – The future Elizabeth I wrote her earliest surviving letter to her stepmother, Catherine Parr. It was written in Italian and in a beautiful italic hand. Click here to read more about it.
    1549 – Death of Edmund Sheffield, 1st Baron Sheffield, in Norwich. It is said that he was killed by a butcher called Fulke, while serving in the royal army against the rebels of Kett’s Rebellion. Apparently, he stumbled into a ditch and then was killed by a blow from Fulke. Sheffield was buried in St Martin’s at the Palace, Norwich.
    1553 – Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk, “was discharged out of the Tower by the Earle of Arundell and had the Quenes pardon.”
    1574 – Death of John Douglas, Archbishop of St Andrews and educational reformer, in St Andrews. He was buried in the public cemetery. It is said that he died in the pulpit.

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  • Why were children set up in separate households?

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Thank you to Dora for asking the question “Why were children set up in separate households?” Historian and author Gareth Russell, who has done extensive research on royal households, is answering this question…

    The reasons for royal and aristocratic children being sent to their own establishments at very young ages were a mixture of pragmatism and tradition.

    It’s worth noting that many foreigner visitors to England did think it was odd that aristocratic children were habitually sent to other households to finish their education. In England, there was a school of thought that held parents would spoil their own children because they naturally loved them too much and that this would, literally, spoil the child’s education. So, a host family was sometimes considered better for the child’s long-term development and education. It also offered families, and the child, to establish a network of connections at an early age which would help them later in life.

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  • 30 July 1553 – Elizabeth rides to greet Mary

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in history, 30th July 1553, Mary I’s half-sister Elizabeth left her new home, Somerset House, to ride to Wanstead and greet Mary, who had been proclaimed queen on 19th July 1553 in place of Queen Jane.

    Elizabeth had been at her estate at Hatfield when she heard the news that Mary was queen and so had departed for London, entering the city on 29th July through Fleet Street. She had made her way to her new townhouse, or rather palace, Somerset House, a house just off The Strand, on the north bank of the River Thames.

    The contemporary source, “The chronicle of Queen Jane, and of two years of Queen Mary, and especially of the rebellion of Sir Thomas Wyat”, states:

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  • Tudor Executions Quiz

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    The Tudor period is known for its executions, it was a bloody time, but how much do you know about the people who were executed between 1485 and 1603? Well, grab your favourite beverage and test yourself with this fun little quiz. Keep your head!

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  • Livechat with Gareth Russell about the Howards

    6 years ago Author: ADMIN Tim
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    Here’s the transcript of our wonderful live chat with Gareth Russell, all about the Howard family. It was fast paced and very informative. Thanks to all who came along, and huge congratulations to Elizabeth, who won a copy of Gareth’s book!

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  • New e-book available now – The Spanish Armada

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
    2 Comments

    Today, the anniversary of the Battle of Gravelines in 1588, is the perfect day to launch our latest Tudor Society e-book because it’s on the Spanish Armada. The book gives details of the main events of summer 1588, and also what led to them.

    We hope you enjoy it!

    This is the latest e-book in our collection. At the moment, we have six others, one on each Tudor monarch, and we have another one (on feast days) coming soon.

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  • 29 July 1565 – The marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots, and Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On Sunday 29th July 1565, twenty-three-year-old Mary, Queen of Scots, married nineteen-year-old Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley.

    Mary, Queen of Scots, was queen regnant of Scotland and was the daughter of James V of Scotland (son of James IV and Margaret Tudor) and Mary of Guise. She had become queen when she was just six days old. The bridegroom was the son of Matthew Stuart, the 4th Earl of Lennox and Margaret Douglas (daughter of Margaret Tudor, Henry VIII’s sister). Mary and Darnley were related; they were half-cousins.

    The banns for the marriage had been read in St Giles’s Cathedral, High Kirk of Edinburgh, on Sunday 22nd July and in that afternoon Darnley was made Duke of Albany. On Saturday 28th July, heralds proclaimed the forthcoming marriage of Mary and Darnley at the Market Cross in Edinburgh and proclaimed that Darnley would be made king following the wedding.

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  • Thomas Cromwell’s Execution – His speech and prayer

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    As it is the anniversary of the execution of Thomas Cromwell today, in this week’s Claire Chats video talk Claire talks about the primary sources accounts of Cromwell’s execution, his scaffold speech and the prayer he said. She talks about the controversy over his speech and what his prayer said about his faith.

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  • August 2017 Tudor Life – Everyday People

    6 years ago Author: ADMIN Tim
    1 Comment

    Here’s the full edition of our 84-page August edition of Tudor Life Magazine. The focus of this magazine is “everyday life” and we have loads of articles for members to enjoy…

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  • Where is Anne Boleyn buried?

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
    3 Comments

    Thank you to Sandra for asking this question. In her email, Sandra said:

    “Where is Anne Boleyn buried? I had always believed that after the late 1870 restoration of the skeletons found in the Chapel of St. Peter Ad Vincula that Anne as with others, George Boleyn, Jane Rochford, John Dudley, etc. were re-buried in their individual caskets under the memorial tiles in the Chapel. Although I do appreciate that the individuals may not be buried under their named tile. However, I have read recently a couple of articles which claim that the caskets are buried in the crypt of the Chapel.

    Now, this may be one and the same e.g. underneath the memorial tiles this may lead to the crypt underneath.”

    I (Claire) can answer this as it’s something I’ve researched and I also have all of the minutes from the meetings of the Victorian restoration team who worked on the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula in 1876 and 1877.

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  • Members’ book recommendations

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Thank you so much to those of you who completed our recent survey about Tudor books.

    We already have recommended reading lists for Tudor monarchs and various Tudor topics – see the Recommended Reading category, but I thought it would be good to make a list of books that Tudor Society members would recommend, and here it is. Please do leave a comment if you’d like to recommend some books and I can then add them to the list – thank you!

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  • George Peele, poet and playwright

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Today is the anniversary of the baptism of poet and playwright George Peele on 25th July 1556 at St James Garlickhythe, London. As is the case with many Tudor people, his date of birth is unknown but it is likely to have been just a few days before his baptism.

    Peele was one of the younger sons of James Peele, who was the author of books on book-keeping and who also wrote and organised pageants for the City of London, and his first wife, Anne. James became clerk of Christ’s Hospital in November 1562 and the family moved there. Between 1562 and 1571, George Peele was educated at the petty school and grammar school of the hospital, and then in 1571 he went on to study at Oxford, first at Broadgates Hall (now Pembroke College) and then at Christ Church. He graduated BA in 1577 and MA in 1579, both from Christ Church. While he was at college, Peele translated Euripides’ “Iphigenia” and he also wrote his poem “The Tale of Troy”.

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  • Stephan Edwards talks about Lady Jane Grey

    6 years ago Author: ADMIN Tim
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    Dr. Stephan Edwards was interviewed on the radio all about Lady Jane Grey. Here’s the recording!

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  • Live chat reminder – 28 July with Gareth Russell

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Just a reminder that this month’s expert live chat is in the chatroom this Friday, 28th July. It’s with historian Gareth Russell and you can ask him about his recent talk on the Howards, his book on Catherine Howard, or anything you want about his research and work. We’ll be giving away one copy of Gareth’s book on Catherine Howard, Young and Damned and Fair, to one lucky chat participant.

    Here are the times in different time zones:

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  • 25 July 1554 – Mary I gets married

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
    2 Comments

    On this day in history, 25th July 1554, the feast day of St James, thirty-eight-year-old Queen Mary I married twenty-seven-year-old Philip of Spain, son of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, at Winchester Cathedral. Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester and Mary’s chancellor, officiated.

    There is an account of the wedding in Charles Wriothesley’s “A chronicle of England during the reigns of the Tudors, from A.D. 1485 to 1559”:

    “The 25 of Julie, beinge Weddensdaye and St. James daye, about xi of the clocke the Kinge and Queene came from their lodgings towardes the churche all the way on foote, verie richelye apparelled in gownes of cloth of golde sett with riche stones, he with his gentlemen and garde and she with hers, eche of them havinge a sworde borne before them, the Earle of Darbye bearinge the sworde before her Maiestie, and the Earle of Pembroke before the Kinge; and when they were come into the churche he went into one traveys and the Queen to another richlye hunge, where they were shriven. This done they came forth of their traveys to the place appoynted for the marriage, where the Lord Chauncellor, beinge before with 5 other bishops assistinge him, used all thinges, both in the banes-byddinge and otherwise, as hath bene in all marriages of olde tyme, and spake it both in Latin and in Englishe, her Grace on the right syde standinge and the King on the left syde. Her marriage ringe was a rownd hoope of gould without anye stone, which was her desire, for she sayde she would be married as maydens were in the olde tyme, and so she was.

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  • 24 July 1567 – Mary, Queen of Scots, is forced to abdicate

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    n this day in history 24th July 1567, twenty-four-year-old Mary, Queen of Scots, was forced to abdicate and the Scottish crown passed to her one-year-old son, James, who became King James VI of Scotland. James Stewart, Earl of Moray and Mary’s illegitimate half-brother, would act as regent for the boy king.

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