On this day in Tudor history, 6th April, Henry Stafford, Earl of Wiltshire and a favourite of Henry VIII, died; Sir Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth I’s principal secretary and spymaster, died; and Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford and son of Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, died…
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On this day in Tudor history, Bishop Fisher’s cook was boiled to death as a poisoner; Convocation ruled on the case of Henry VIII’s annulment; and the new King of England left Edinburgh to travel to London, he was now King of England, Ireland and Scotland…
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On this day in Tudor history, 4th April, writer William Strachey, whose account of a shipwreck inspired Shakespeare, was born; Francis Drakes was knighted by Elizabeth I; and noblewoman and scholar Mildred Cecil, Lady Burghley, died…
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On this day in Tudor history, 3rd April, Elizabeth Boleyn, Countess of Wiltshire and Ormond and Anne Boleyn’s mother, died; the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis was signed; and Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox and daughter of Margaret Tudor, was buried…
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On this day in Tudor history, 2nd April, Henry VII’s eldest son, Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales, died at Ludlow Castle; Anne Boleyn’s almoner, John Skip, preached a controversial sermon; and fourteen-year-old Edward VI fell ill with measles and smallpox…
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On this day in Tudor history, 1st April, Chapuys, the imperial ambassador, reported that Henry VIII had sent Jane Seymour a purse of money; physician William Harvey, who discovered the circulation of blood, was born; and author and soldier Thomas Churchyard died…
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On this day in Tudor history, 31st March, the dying Henry VII made his will; Friar William Peto compared Henry VIII to Ahab and Anne Boleyn to Jezebel; and metaphysical poet and satirist John Donne died…
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On this day in Tudor history, 30th March, Thomas Cranmer was consecrated as Archbishop of Canterbury; Robert Ferrar, Bishop of St David’s, was burnt to death; Mary I made her will, believing she was pregnant; and administrator Sir Ralph Sadler died…
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Join me for “The Everyday Tudor Woman” event from April 25th to April 30th! Dive into the fascinating world of Tudor history as we explore the lives of everyday women from the 16th century.
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Today, it’s Good Friday – in the Western Calendar anyway – so I wanted to share with you how this feast day was marked in medieval and Tudor times.
Here’s a talk I did a few years ago about the medieval and Tudor traditions associated with Good Friday.
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On this day in Tudor history, 29th March, Mary Dudley, who would later make a great sacrifice in nursing Elizabeth I through smallpox, married Henry Sidney; Protestant John Laurence was burnt at the stake in Colchester; and playwright and clergyman William Wager was buried…
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In 1561, Elizabeth I received a rather unusual New Year’s gift. It wasn’t the normal gilt plate, it wasn’t even jewellery or a piece of clothing, it was a girl…
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On this day in Tudor history, 28th March, the Renaissance artist Raphael was born; Anne Boleyn’s former chaplain and almoner John Skip, Bishop of Hereford, died; and five Protestants were burnt at the stake for heresy…
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On this day in Tudor history, a treaty arranged the marriage of Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales, and Catherine of Aragon; a young apprentice was burnt to death for reading the Bible; and George Talbot, 4th Earl of Shrewsbury, was buried…
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I’ve been lucky enough to see historian and actress play Mary, Queen of Scots, at Tutbury Castle, where Lesley is custodian, so I’m very disappointed that I can’t make this event. I know she’ll do a terrific job portraying Anne Boleyn in her last 45 minutes on earth.
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On this day in Tudor history, 26th March, the Vestments Controversy of Elizabeth I’s reign was started; Sir Robert Carey arrived at Holyrood to inform King James VI of Scotland that he was now King of England; and John Dee, astrologer, mathematician, alchemist, antiquary, spy, philosopher, geographer and adviser to Elizabeth I, died..
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On this day in Tudor history, 25th March, Lady Day was celebrated and the calendar new year began, and Catholic martyr Margaret Clitherow, the Pearl of York, was pressed to death for harbouring Catholic priests…
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Yesterday, Palm Sunday, was the start of Holy Week, the week leading up to Easter Sunday, or Resurrection Sunday, which, of course, commemorates the resurrection of Christ.
It was an important time in Tudor England, as it still is in many countries and communities today. You can find out more about how Easter was celebrated in Tudor times
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On this day in Tudor history, 24th March, judge and Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir James Dyer, died; Queen Elizabeth I died at Richmond Palace; and Robert Rich, Earl of Warwick, died…
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On this day in Tudor history, 23rd March, while the pope proclaimed Catherine of Aragon to be England’s true queen and Mary the heir to the throne, Parliament declared Anne Boleyn to be the rightful queen and her daughter, Elizabeth, the heir; Waltham Abbey was dissolved; and soldier, MP and diplomat Sir Henry Unton died…
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Following the death of her husband, Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset, Mary Howard’s father, Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, put forward the idea that his daughter should marry the up and coming Thomas Seymour, but Mary wasn’t keen. In hindsight she had a rather lucky escape.
Let me tell you more…
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On this day in Tudor history, 22nd March, patroness of Reform Katherine Willoughby, Duchess of Suffolk, was born; Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, replaced the out of favour Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, as lieutenant general in Calais; and gunner and mathematician William Bourne was buried…
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On this day in Tudor history, 21st March, Puritan Sir John Leveson, a man who helped put down Essex’s Rebellion, was born; Archbishop Cranmer was burnt at the stake in Oxford for heresy; and a dying Elizabeth I took to her bed…
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On this day in Tudor history, 20th March, Catholic priest and martyr Cuthbert Mayne was baptised; Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley and Edward VI’s uncle, was executed for treason; and Mary Bassett, translator and granddaughter of Sir Thomas More, died…
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On this day in Tudor history, 19th March, Arthur Brooke, who wrote the first version of the story of Romeo and Juliet in English, died in a shipwreck; Elizabeth Seymour, Lady Cromwell, died; and Henry VIII’s barber, Edmund harman, died…
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On this day in Tudor history, 18th March, Mary Tudor, Queen of France, was born; Lady Elizabeth (Elizabeth I) was arrested and taken to the Tower of London; and Sir Christopher Blount was executed for his part in the rebellion of his son-in-law, the Earl of Essex…
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On this day in Tudor history, 17th March, the Lady Elizabeth (Elizabeth I) delayed her arrest by writing her famous Tide Letter to her half-sister Mary I; theologian Alexander Alesius died in Edinburgh; and soldier and courtier William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke, died at Hampton Court Palace…
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On this day in Tudor history, 16th March, soldier, translator and diplomat John Bourchier, 2nd Baron Berners, died; priests Robert Dalby and John Amias were executed at York as traitors; and actor Richard Burbage was buried…
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On this day in Tudor history, 15th March, Archbishop William Warham criticised Henry VIII in Parliament and was rewarded with foul language from the king; the Lady Mary (Mary I) publicly defied her half-brother Edward VI; and the imprisoned John Hooper was deprived of his bishopric…
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