Jane Dudley, Duchess of Northumberland, is one of my favourite figures from Tudor history—and for good reason. Her story is one of resilience, faith, and immense tragedy. She lived through one of the most tumultuous periods in English history, lost her husband and children to the axe, and yet, she carried on. Today, on the anniversary of her death, I’m exploring her life and legacy.
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On this day in Tudor history, 14th January 1515, in the reign of King Henry VIII, the king sent his best friend, Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, on a diplomatic mission. His task? To escort the king’s recently widowed sister, Mary Tudor, Queen of France, back to England.
But things didn’t go to plan… because Mary and Brandon had a secret—and scandalous—plan of their own.
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Witchcraft… It’s a topic surrounded by myths, mystery, and fear. But how much do we really know about the history of witches and witch trials?
Join me for an exclusive online event exploring the true history of witchcraft! We’ll dive into real cases of witch trials, how witches were portrayed through time, and the social dynamics that led to witch hunts.
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On this day in history, in 1613, Jane Dormer, Duchess of Feria, died in Spain. She was buried in the monastery of Santa Clara at Zafra.
Jane had a fascinating life, going from being one queen’s close confidante to fleeing another queen’s reign, and leading Catholic exiles abroad. Let me tell you more about her.
Jane was born on 6th January 1538, in the reign of King Henry VIII, at Eythrope in Buckinghamshire. She was the daughter of Sir William Dormer and his first wife, Mary Sidney. Following her mother’s death in 1542, Jane was brought up by her paternal grandmother, Jane, Lady Dormer, and was given a Catholic upbringing, and in 1547, when she was just nine years old, she was admitted into the household of Princess Mary.
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On this day in Tudor history, 12th January 1573, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, William Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Effingham, died at Hampton Court Palace. The diplomat, soldier and naval commander was buried at Reigate Church.
Howard was born in around 1510 and was the fourth son of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk, and his second wife, Agnes Tilney, making him a half-brother of the powerful Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, and the half-uncle of Queens Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard.
He was educated at Cambridge before joining the royal court, beginning his career there as Anne Boleyn rose to power. In October 1532, he accompanied Henry VIII and Anne, who had just been raised to the peerage as Marquess of Pembroke, on their trip to France to gain King Francis I’s support for their union. Then, in 1533, following Anne’s marriage to the king, he filled in as Earl Marshal, for her coronation celebrations, the 3rd Duke of Norfolk being in France at the time.
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On this day in Tudor history, 11th January 1584, Carter paid the ultimate price after being found guilty of treason. His crime? Printing a book that allegedly encouraged the assassination of Queen Elizabeth I.
William Carter was born in London in around 1548 and was the son of draper John Carter and his wife, Agnes. When he was about fifteen, Carter became apprenticed to John Cawood who had been Queen’s Printer to Mary I and who was joint Queen’s Printer to Elizabeth I. Carter was an apprentice to Cawood for a term of ten years before moving on to become secretary to Nicholas Harpsfield, a man who had been Archdeacon of Canterbury under Cardinal Pole in Mary I’s reign and who had been a zealous promoter of heresy trials of Protestants. He had been imprisoned by Elizabeth I’s government for refusing to swear the oath of supremacy and was still in Fleet prison when Carter became his secretary.
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What happens when a Tudor bad boy meets a powerful Habsburg duchess? Scandal, of course!
On this day in Tudor history, 10th January 1480, Margaret of Austria, Duchess of Savoy and regent of the Habsburg Netherlands, was born. Margaret was a remarkable woman—an accomplished ruler and a central figure in European politics. But in 1513, during a moment of celebration after Henry VIII’s victory in France, Margaret found herself at the centre of a scandal thanks to none other than Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk.
Flirtation, a stolen ring, and a royal joke gone wrong—what started as innocent courtly love spiralled into a full-blown international incident.
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On this day in Tudor history, 9 January 1493, Christopher Columbus recorded in his ship’s journal: “On the previous day [8th January 1493], when the Admiral went to the Rio del Oro [Haiti], he said he quite distinctly saw three mermaids, which rose well out of the sea; but they are not so beautiful as they are said to be, for their faces had some masculine traits.”
Mermaids, as you probably know, are mythical creatures whose origin is the siren of Ancient Greek mythology. The original siren was actually a bird with a human head, but the Greeks were depicting the siren as part fish by the classical period. Homer told of the sirens using their beautiful song as a lure, and that has also become associated with the mermaid. By 1493, when Columbus’s crew allegedly saw three mermaids, the mermaid had the head a torso of a woman and instead of legs, a fishtail. They are depicted in this way in medieval manuscripts, and the British Library explains, “Mermaids and sirens also frequently appear in the margins of Psalters as symbols of temptation. In the Luttrell Psalter a siren holds a mirror and a comb, perhaps as a warning against the lure of vanity and luxury.”
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In 1499, King Louis XII of France had his 22-year marriage annulled to marry Anne of Brittany, one of the most sought-after women in Europe. But why did Louis go to such lengths? And what happened to his first wife, who had been loyal for two decades?
This is a story of royal marriages, political scheming, and a forgotten queen who became a saint.
On this day in Tudor history, 8th January 1499, French king Louis XII married the queen dowager, Anne of Brittany, in Nantes.
Louis had had his twenty-two-year marriage annulled so that he could marry Anne, but why and on what grounds?
What do Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, and the Tower of London have in common? Balthasar Guercy, an Italian physician who served both queens—and found himself imprisoned for his beliefs.
Originally from Milan, Guercy rose to prominence at the Tudor court, healing some of the most powerful figures of the day. But in 1543, he was arrested for supporting papal authority, a dangerous stance under Henry VIII’s reign. Facing potential execution, Guercy’s life hung in the balance… until Holy Roman Emperor Charles V stepped in to save him.
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Kidnapping, violence, treason… Not exactly what you’d expect from the man behind one of the most influential literary works of Elizabethan England, but George Puttenham’s life was anything but ordinary.
On this day in Tudor history, 6th January 1591, author and literary critic George Puttenham was laid to rest at St Bride’s, Fleet Street. He’d led a life full of scandal. From kidnapping a teenage girl to accusations of high treason and violent disputes, this literary critic’s life reads more like a Tudor crime drama.
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Catherine de’ Medici has gone down in history as The Serpent Queen, but did she really poison a queen with deadly gloves, practise the dark arts and keep a squad of seductive female spies?
On this day in Tudor history, 5 January 1589, Catherine de’ Medici, Queen Consort and Queen Regent of France, passed away. Her legacy? A swirl of dark legends, court intrigues, and tales of power, ambition, and tragedy.
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On this day in Tudor history, 4th January 1519, reformer Martin Luther met with papal envoy Karl von Miltitz in an attempt to reconcile with the Catholic Church.
But could Luther, the man who sparked the Reformation with his Ninety-Five Theses, truly stay silent on indulgences and corruption?
Witness the pivotal moment that led to his excommunication and cemented his role as one of history’s most influential yet polarising figures. Luther’s theological breakthroughs revolutionised Christianity, but his later years revealed a darker side to his legacy.
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On this day in Tudor history, 3rd January 1590, Robert Boyd, 5th Lord Boyd, died at Kilmarnock. This Scottish nobleman played a key role in the turbulent politics of Mary, Queen of Scots’ reign and beyond.
Once a supporter of Mary, Boyd later opposed her marriage to Lord Darnley and participated in a rebellion against the royal couple, only to be pardoned shortly after, and that wasn’t the only trouble he was involved in. Boyd’s complex legacy includes diplomacy, battles, and negotiations with Queen Elizabeth I.
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On this day in Tudor history, 2nd January 1554, Sir Thomas Wyatt the Younger and Sir Peter Carew were summoned to face Queen Mary I’s privy council. The reason? Whispers of a bold plot to stop her marriage to Philip of Spain.
Their conspiracy aimed to replace Mary with her half-sister, Elizabeth, in a coup that spiralled into rebellion. But who betrayed the rebels? And how did Mary rally London to crush the uprising?
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On this day in Tudor history, 1st January 1515, King Louis XII of France died at just 52 years old, less than three months into his marriage to eighteen-year-old Mary Tudor, sister of King Henry VIII and daughter of the late King Henry VII. His throne was inherited by Francis of Angoulême, who became King Francis I.
Was Louis’ death due to illness or, as the French people whispered, the toll of overexerting himself in hopes of securing an heir?
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On this day in Tudor history, 31st December, “the Gunner” Sir William Skeffington, Lord Deputy of Ireland, died at Kilmainham (1535), and Owen Oglethorpe, Bishop of Carlisle, died while under house arrest (1559)…
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On this day in Tudor history, 29th December, Elizabeth I’s champion, George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland, was buried (1605), and navigator and explorer John Davis (Davys) died in hand-to-hand combat with Japanese pirates…
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On this day in Tudor history, 28th December, Sir Nicholas Bacon, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal for Queen Elizabeth I, was born (1510), and Childermas, one of the Twelve Days of Christmas, was celebrated…
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On this day in Tudor history, 27th December, Anne of Cleves landed at Deal in Kent in preparation for her marriage to Henry VIII (1539), and scholar and Puritan Katherin Killigrew (née Cooke) died (1583)…
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On this day in Tudor history, Protestant exile and businesswoman Rose Lok was born in London (1526), Henry VIII made some changes to his will (1546), and the Feast of St Stephen was celebrated…
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On this day in Tudor history, magistrate, sheriff and witch-hunter Brian Darcy died (1587), and Lettice Knollys (married names: Devereux, Dudley and Blount) died at the age of ninety one (1634)…
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On this day in Tudor history, 24th December, King Henry VIII made his final speech to Parliament (1545); Sir Thomas Cornwallis, comptroller of the household of Mary I and member of Parliament, died (1604); and Christmas Eve was celebrated…
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On this day in Tudor history, 23rd December, schoolmaster, cleric and playwright Nicholas Udall was buried (1556), and Queen Elizabeth I moved from Somerset House to Whitehall, which became her principal residence (1558)…
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On this day in Tudor history, 22nd December, an imprisoned Bishop Fisher wrote to Thomas Cromwell begging him for a shirt and sheet (1534), and Protestant martyrs John Rough and Margaret Mearing, were burnt at Smithfield for heresy (1557)…
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On this day in Tudor history, Henry VII’s uncle and mentor, Jasper Tudor, Duke of Bedford and Earl of Pembroke, died (1495), and the Feast of St Thomas the Apostle (or Didymus or Doubting Thomas) was celebrated…
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On this day in Tudor history, 20th December, Catherine Howard’s step-grandmother begged Henry VIII for forgiveness (1541), and Edward Arden was hanged, drawn and quartered for allegedly plotting with his son-in-law to kill the queen (1583)…
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On this day in Tudor history, 19th December, Katherine Palmer, former Abbess of Syon, died in exile a month after confronting an angry mob (1576), and conspirator John Somerville was found dead in his cell at Newgate Prison (1583)…
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On this day in Tudor history, 18th December, two former archdeacons died: Protestant martyr John Philpott was burnt at the stake at Smithfield (1555), and historian and Catholic apologist Nicholas Harpsfield died in London (1575)…
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