On this day in Tudor history, 25th June 1503, seventeen-year old Catherine of Aragon became betrothed to the nearly twelve-year old Prince Henry, second son of King Henry VII.
Catherine had been widowed in April 1502 when her husband, Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales, eldest son of Henry VII, died. The king was keen to keep hold of her dowry so negotiated with her parents, Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, for her to marry his second son.
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On this day in history, 24th June 1604, in the reign of King James I, courtier and poet, Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, died at the age of 54.
Here are a few facts about Oxford, and you can view my video on him below:
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On this day in Tudor history, 23rd June 1556, mathematician and physician Thomas Hood was baptised at St Leonard Eastcheap.
In 1588, Hood was invited to become Mathematical Lecturer to the City of London after Elizabeth I’s privy council decided, following the Spanish Armada, that military officers and naval commanders should have a better knowledge of mathematics. He lectured until 1592.
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On 22nd June 1535, John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, was beheaded on Tower Hill.
Fisher, who had served Henry VIII’s grandmother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, was executed for treason for refusing to accept Henry VIII as the supreme head of the church.
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On this day in Tudor history, the night of 20th/21st June 1585, Henry Percy, 8th Earl of Northumberland, died at the Tower of London.
Northumberland was found dead in bed with a gunshot wound and on 23rd June an inquest in the Star Chamber ruled that he had committed suicide. However, it was rumoured by Catholics that he had been murdered by Sir Christopher Hatton on the orders of Elizabeth I’s government. They claimed that he had been shot in the chest three times, which was not consistent with suicide.
Northumberland had been imprisoned in the Tower in January 1584 for his Catholic beliefs and his involvement in plots to do with Mary, Queen of Scots. He was laid to rest in the chapel of St Peter ad Vincula at the Tower.
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This week’s Monday Martyr is Robert or Roger Ashton.
In his 18th century book, Memoirs of Missionary Priests, Bishop Richard Challoner states that Robert (also referred to as Roger) Ashton was born in Croston in Lancashire and that he was executed at Tyburn on 23rd June 1592, in the reign of Elizabeth I, for “procuring a dispensation from Rome to marry his second cousin”. However, that may not be the only reason.
On this day in Tudor history, 19th June 1566, Mary, Queen of Scots gave birth to a son at Edinburgh Castle. He was her only son and he was fathered by her second husband, Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley.
The little boy was baptised Charles James in a Catholic service on 17th December 1566 at Stirling Castle. The name Charles was in honour of his godfather, Charles IX of France, Mary’s former brother-in-law, but he was known as James, after his grandfather, James V, and the other Stewart kings.
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On this day in Tudor history, 18th June 1529, Catherine of Aragon made her first appearance at the special legatine court which had opened at Blackfriars on 31st May to hear Henry VIII’s case for an annulment of their marriage.
The couple had been summoned to appear on 18th, but only Catherine appeared, Henry sent proxies.
[Read More...]On this day in Tudor history, 17th June 1551, in the reign of King Edward VI, Sir George Blage (Blagge), courtier, diplomat, poet and good friend of Sir Thomas Wyatt the Elder, died at Stanmore in Middlesex. He is known for the Blage Manuscript, in which he collected the poetry of friends such as Wyatt.
In Henry VIII’s reign, Blage carried out diplomatic missions, was a member of the king’s privy chamber and fought in the king’s 1543-45 French campaign. He also served as Chief Steward and Bailiff of Maidstone, and Comptroller of the Petty Custom of London, and as a member of Parliament.
Blage was of the reformed faith and was arrested in July 1546 after he was heard denouncing the mass. Blage was condemned to death but, fortunately, was pardoned by Henry VIII.
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On this day in history, 16th June 1614, author, courtier and administrator Henry Howard, Earl of Northampton, died at his house in Charing Cross. He died of gangrene after an operation on a tumour on his thigh.
Northampton, who was the son of poet and courtier Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, and grandson of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, is known for his learning and intelligence, but also for his alleged involvement in the Overbury scandal.
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The 15th June 1519 is the traditional birthdate of Henry VIII’s illegitimate son, Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset, although the 18th is a more likely date.
Fitzroy’s mother, Elizabeth Blount, known as Bessie Blount, was serving as one of Catherine of Aragon’s maids of honour when she was noticed by the king and became his mistress. After it was found that she was pregnant, she was sent to the Priory of St Lawrence, in Blackmore, Essex, by Cardinal Thomas Wolsey before her pregnancy became visible.
Bessie’s baby boy was baptised at the chapel at Blackmore with Cardinal Wolsey acting as godfather.
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On this day in Tudor history, 14th June 1557, William Peto was made cardinal and papal legate, replacing Reginald Pole.
During Henry VIII’s Great Matter, Friar Peto served Catherine of Aragon and Princess Mary as confessor. On Easter Sunday 1531, he angered King Henry VIII when he preached a sermon comparing Henry VIII to King Ahab and Anne Boleyn to Jezebel. He warned the king to act to avoid Ahab’s unhappy end and to avoid the dogs licking up his blood as they had Ahab’s.
In 1547, while Henry VIII’s coffin was resting at Syon, it was said that liquid dripped out of it and that dogs did indeed lick it up.
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On this day in Tudor history, 13th June 1535, or possibly 14th, Tudor courtier and nobleman, George Neville, 3rd Baron Bergavenny, died at his home at Eridge in Sussex.
He fell from favour after the fall of his father-in-law, the Duke of Buckingham, in 1521, but managed to rise again.
This week’s #MondayMartyr is Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, who was beatified in 1886 by Pope Leo XIII as a Catholic martyr.
She was executed in 1541 in what was a truly awful botched execution, and for a crime she did not commit…
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On this day in Tudor history, 12th June 1567, Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich, died at Rochford.
Rich served Edward VI as Lord Chancellor and Mary I as a privy councillor, but he is mainly known for his involvement in the cases of Sir Thomas More and Protestant martyr Anne Askew.
As solicitor general, in 1535, Rich was involved in prosecuting his former friend and colleague, Sir Thomas More. He interviewed More at the Tower and reported at his trial that More had denied the royal supremacy. This was enough to convict More.
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On this day in Tudor history, 11th June 1576, seventy-year-old humanist and educator Sir Anthony Cooke of Gidea Hall in Essex died.
Cooke, who served in Henry VIII’s bodyguard and privy chamber, is more known for his role in education. He educated his daughters, who included Mildred Cecil, Anne Bacon, Catherine Killigrew and Elizabeth Hoby, to a high standard, teaching them Latin and Greek, and probably also modern languages and Hebrew. They were all noted for their scholarship.
Although Anthony Cooke doesn’t appear in the records as a formal royal tutor, it does appear that he was involved in the young king’s education, possibly in an advisory or guiding role.
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On this day in Tudor history, 10th June 1537, in the reign of King Henry VIII, Blessed Thomas Green and Blessed Walter Pierson, two Carthusian monks from London Charterhouse, died in Newgate Prison from starvation. They were two out of nine monks who were purposely starved to death for refusing to accept the royal supremacy.
A total of eighteen Carthusian monks were killed between May 1535 and August 1540. Some were hanged, drawn and quartered, some were hanged in chains and some were starved to death. They were all punished for refusing to accept Henry VIII as supreme head of the Church. All eighteen have been recognised by the Catholic Church as martyrs.
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On this day in Tudor history, 9th June 1511, in the reign of Henry VIII, William Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon, died of pleurisy at Greenwich. He was buried at Blackfriars, London, with the honours due an earl, even though he hadn’t been officially invested yet.
Courtenay was Henry VIII’s uncle, having married Katherine of York, daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville, and sister of Henry’s mother, Elizabeth of York.
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On this day in Tudor history, 8 June 1536, Henry VIII’s eldest daughter, Mary, wrote to her father in hope of a reconciliation now that her stepmother, Anne Boleyn, was dead.
Mary had been out of favour due to her refusal to accept the annulment of her parents’ marriage, her father’s supremacy and her status as illegitimate. She believed that Anne Boleyn was solely to blame for her troubles, writing that she understood that the king had “forgiven all her offences and withdrawn his displeasure”.
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On this day in Tudor history, 7th June 1594, Elizabeth I’s physician, Roderigo Lopez (Lopes), was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn after being accused by the Earl of Essex of conspiring with Spanish officials to poison the queen.
Portuguese Lopez settled in London in 1559. He was a physician at St Bart’s and then to Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, before moving into Elizabeth’s employ.
In 1584, a Catholic tract attacking Leicester accused Lopez of poisoning, but it wasn’t true. However, he made an enemy of Essex after he told Spanish officials details of Essex’s health.
The charges against Lopez appear to be false. He maintained his innocence, and the queen seemed unsure of his guilt. It didn’t save him, though.
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On this day in Tudor history, 6th June 1597, Tudor musician William Hunnis died.
Hunnis died a natural death, although he had been involved in a plot against the Crown in Mary I’s reign.
Here are some facts about William Hunnis:
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his week’s Monday Martyr is Thomas Hawkes who was burnt at the stake on 10th June 1555, in the reign of Queen Mary I, at Coggeshall in Essex.
Hawkes ended up being brought before the Earl of Oxford because he hadn’t had his son baptised, because, as martyrologist John Foxe records, “he would not suffer him to be baptised after the popish manner”. The earl referred Hawkes on to Edmund Bonner, Bishop of London, who, with others also questioned Hawkes on his beliefs regarding the mass, the sacrament, the holy creed, holy water and other Catholic practices. These he also rejected, stating that they were contrary to the word of God.
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On this day in Tudor history, 5th June 1600, Elizabeth I’s favourite, thirty-four-year-old Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, was charged with insubordination during his time in Ireland at a special hearing at York House.
Essex had been made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1599, but his campaign against the Irish was unsuccessful. He constantly ignored the Queen’s orders, acted contrary to her wishes and constantly worried about what his enemies were up to back in London. He ended up returning to England without Elizabeth’s permission, which amounted to desertion.
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This week’s Sunday fun is a word search from our archives testing your knowledge of Elizabeth I’s early life, youth and pre-accession days.
Find the answers to the questions in this word search and be warned: the words can go in any direction!
Good luck!
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On this day in Tudor history, 4th June 1550, in the reign of King Edward VI, Robert Dudley married Amy Robsart.
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On this day in Tudor history, 3rd June 1594, John Aylmer, Bishop of London, died at Fulham Palace. He was buried at St Paul’s Cathedral.
I could tell you about his career as bishop, but I thought I’d share a story about him with you.
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On this day in Tudor history, 2nd June 1537, in the reign of King Henry VIII, Sir Francis Bigod, George Lumley and Sir Thomas Percy were executed at Tyburn for their part in Bigod’s Rebellion which followed the Pilgrimage of Grace rebellion.
You can find out more about Bigod and his rebellion in the video below, but interestingly he was a reformer and so initially opposed the Pilgrimage of Grace rebellion. However, he realised he had common ground with the rebels: his opposition to Henry VIII’s involvement in religious matters.
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On this day in Tudor history, 1st June 1533, Whitsunday, Henry VIII’s second wife, Anne Boleyn, was crowned queen at Westminster Abbey.
You can find out more about Anne Boleyn’s coronation in the video below, but here are a few facts:
Anne was 6 months pregnant.
She wore ermine-trimmed purple velvet coronation robes.
Her train was carried by her step-grandmother, the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk.