On 10th October 1562, twenty-nine year-old Queen Elizabeth I was taken ill at Hampton Court Palace, with what was thought to be a bad cold. However, the cold developed into a violent fever, and it became clear that the young queen actually had smallpox. Just seven days later, it was feared that the Queen would die.
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In today’s Claire Chats, I talk about how children were taught to read in the medieval and Tudor periods.
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Lady Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox, was born on 8th October 1515. Margaret was the daughter of Margaret Tudor, Queen Dowager of Scotland and sister of Henry VIII, and Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus. She was born at Harbottle Castle in Northumberland, home of Thomas, 2nd Lord Dacre, because her mother went into labour as she fled Scotland to go to Henry VIII’s court in London. Margaret was baptised on 9th October, but her mother was ill after the birth and wasn’t well enough to travel onward to London until spring 1516. Mother and baby stayed in England until June 1517, when Henry VIII sent his sister and niece back to Scotland.
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As today is the anniversary of the execution of reformer, scholar and Bible translator, William Tyndale, Sarah Bryson has written an article on this fascinating man.
William Tyndale was born in Gloucestershire in 1494 to parents who worked in the cloth trade. Tyndale was born into a Catholic dominated England under the rule of Henry VII. He was brought up a strict and devout Catholic being taught the importance of mass and good works which would help him gain access to heaven. He would have participated in regular confession and penance and his daily life would have been dominated by Saints’ days and following the Catholic faith. The Bible that Tyndale would have known growing up would have been written in Latin, the holy language. Meanwhile the common people would have spoken English, a rough language which was not considered suitable for the holiness of the Church.
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A documentary on reformer, scholar and Bible translator, William Tyndale, who was executed on 6th October 1536.
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On Wednesday 4th October 1536, there was trouble in Horncastle, Lincolnshire. This was part of what we know as the Lincolnshire Rising which, in turn, was part of the Pilgrimage of Grace rebellion.
Dr Raynes, the chancellor of the Bishop of Lincoln, who was staying nearby at Bolingbroke, after having held a session of the commissionary’s court there, was dragged from his sickbed and taken to Horncastle. Francis Aidan Gasquet, the 19th century Benedictine monk and historical scholar, describes what happened next in his book “Henry VIII and the English Monasteries”:
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How much do you know about 15th and 16th century explorers and navigators? Test your knowledge with this fun quiz.
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Here’s this month’s expert talk, a wonderful description of the times just before the battle of Bosworth, when the houses of Lancaster and York were both trying to win the support of Rhys ap Thomas and Wales.
Susan Fern, author of “The Man Who Killed Richard III: Rhys ap Thomas” takes us step by step through these turbulent times and helps us to understand who Rhys was, and why he was to change the course of history.
This is PART ONE of a two part talk recorded exclusively for the Tudor Society. Susan will be joining us live in the chatroom on 14th October, 10pm UK time.
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In today’s Claire Chats I give an overview of education in the medieval and Tudor eras – what age it began, what it was like for boys and girls, who they were taught by, Tudor schools etc. I do hope you find it useful.
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On Sunday 1st October 1553, Mary I was crowned queen at Westminster Abbey by Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester. She was the first crowned queen regnant of England.
Here is a primary source account of the coronation ceremony from The chronicle of Queen Jane, and of two years of Queen Mary, and especially of the rebellion of Sir Thomas Wyat
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On the afternoon of Saturday 30th September 1553, Queen Mary I left the Tower of London to process to Westminster, where she would spend the night at Whitehall preparing for her coronation at Westminster Abbey the following day.
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I’ve just had an email from Uxbridge Library to let me know that Hillingdon Borough, London, is holding a festival called Culture Bite next month and three of their events will be of great interest to members of the Tudor Society.
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On 29th September 1553, Michaelmas or the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels, Mary I created fifteen1 Knights of the Bath as part of her coronation celebrations.
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On 27th or 28th September 1553 (sources differ regarding the date), Mary I travelled in a decorated barge to the Tower of London to prepare for her coronation. She was accompanied by her half-sister, Elizabeth, and as they pulled up to Tower Wharf, they were greeted by music and cannons firing. It was traditional for monarchs to go to the Tower before their coronations and process from there to Westminster.
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You may know all about the Tudor dynasty, but how much do you know about the monarchs and popes of 15th and 16th century Europe?
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>On 3rd October at 4pm at the Friends’ Meeting House, Warwick, Elizabeth Goldring, author of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and the World of Elizabethan Art: Painting and Patronage at the Court of Elizabeth I (which has recently been long-listed for the William M. B. Berger Prize for British Art History) will be talking about about Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and the World of Elizabethan Art as part of the Autumn Warwick Words Festival.
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In today’s Claire Chats video I discuss bringing up children in the Medieval and Tudor periods – the advice given to parents and the parental/educational treatises of the day.
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This October we have asked a wide range of Tudor historians to focus on what happened during the reformation. It was a time of great upheaval in our great history and as you’ll discover, the effects of the reformation are still being felt today in many areas.
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Those of you who live in the UK, or who are visiting the UK this autumn, may be interested in seeing Renaissance music group Piva perform their popular “Measure for Measure” programme. The five members of Piva have a huge knowledge of renaissance music and instruments, and are all multi-instrumentalists – playing up to 40 different instruments at a gig! They really are worth seeing if you can get to any of their performances.
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Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum 500ten Geburtstag, Anna! Anna von Kleve, most widely known as Anne of Cleves or Henry VIII’s fourth wife, was born on either 201 or 22 September 1515. Anna was born in Düsseldorf, the second daughter out of four children. She lived at her father’s court until late 1539, when Anna moved to England to become Henry VIII’s fourth queen.
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Regular contributor to the Tudor Society, Toni Mount will be speaking about Medieval medicine on the 26th September at the Sittingbourne Medieval Fair (fair starts 11am) – pop on your Tudor Society T-Shirt and go and meet her!
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Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV, got pregnant straight after her marriage to Henry VII in January 1486 and the news of her pregnancy was celebrated throughout England. Henry VII, was ecstatic at the news and decided that the birth of his first-born would take place at Winchester, the place believed to have been the capital of the legendary Camelot and the site of King Arthur’s castle, and that the child would be called Arthur. Henry was convinced that Arthur’s birth would bring about a new golden age.
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Here is the transcript of our chat session with Gareth Russell on Friday. The session was very wide ranging in its topics and I think we all learned a lot from Gareth’s knowledge.
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Born on the 22nd March 1519, Katherine Willoughby was the daughter of William, 11th Baron Willoughby, and his wife Maria De Salinis, one of Queen Katherine of Aragon’s ladies. When Katherine was just seven years old. her father died and with no male son surviving Katherine was his heir. In March 1528 Charles Brandon bought the wardship of Katherine from the King for a staggering £2,266 13s 4d with the intention of marrying Katherine to his son Henry. Katherine then came to live with the Brandons to be raised.
Charles Brandon’s third wife, Mary Tudor, Queen of France, died between seven and eight o’clock in the morning on the 25th June 1533. Her funeral was held on the 20th July 1533 at Bury St Edmunds. Katherine attended the funeral and she and her mother brought forward palls of cloth of gold to the altar.
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In today’s Claire Chats I discuss the royal progress undertaken by King Henry VIII and his fifth wife, Catherine Howard.
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