On this day in Tudor history, 17th October 1586, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Sir Philip Sidney died.

The poet, courtier and soldier died as a result of an injury sustained fighting against Spain at the Battle of Zutphen in the Netherlands.

Sir Philip Sidney is known for his literary works, which include “Astrophel and Stella”, “The Arcadia” and “A Defense of Poetry.

Sidney was lucky to escape the St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre in Paris, but was shot in the thigh at the Battle of Zutphen and died twenty-six days later.

Yes, you read the title correctly! Today, I’m telling you about Tudor poet and diplomat Sir Thomas Chaloner the Elder, whose teeth did save him from death.

On this day in Tudor history, 14th October 1565, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Sir Thomas Chaloner the Elder died at his home in Clerkenwell, London. He was just forty-four years old.

Chaloner had served four Tudor monarchs as a diplomat, but he also wrote English and Latin works.

Find out more about Thomas Chaloner, his life, his career, and how his teeth saved him from death…

On this day in Tudor history, 12th October 1555, in the reign of Mary I, Lewis Owen, member of Parliament and administrator in Wales, was assassinated.

Owen was murdered on Dugoed Mawddwy, a mountain pass, by a group of bandits as revenge for his campaign against them, which had led to around 80 hangings.

Find out more about Lewis Owen, his life and what happened…

On this day in Tudor history, 9th October 1547, Miguel de Cervantes was baptised in Alcalá de Henares, Spain. His actual birthdate is unknown.

Cervantes is, of course, the author of the famous classic “Don Quixote”, a book known as “the first modern novel”.

Obviously, this event didn’t happen in Tudor England, but it did happen in the Tudor period, and Cervantes is known the world over.

Let me share with you some Cervantes facts, which include him being held to ransom by pirates!

On this day in Tudor history, 1st October 1500, in the reign of King Henry VII, John Alcock, Bishop of Ely, died at Wisbech Castle.

As well as being a clergyman, John Alcock had been a scholar and he’d served as a royal tutor and administrator.

Alcock had been a tutor to Prince Edward, the son of King Edward IV and the future King Edward V, who, of course, has gone down in history as one of the Princes in the Tower. Alcock also christened another prince.

On this day in history, 27th September 1442, in the reign of King Henry VI, John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk, was born.

Why am I talking about a duke born in the Plantagenet period?

Well, because he was the first husband of the Tudor matriarch, Lady Margaret Beaufort, and his son was involved in a rebellion against King Henry VII.

On this day in Tudor history, 25th September 1525, in the reign of King Henry VIII, explorer, navigator and naval administrator Stephen Borough (Burrough) was born at Borough House, Northam Burrows, Northam, in Devon.

Borough was an Arctic explorer who learnt his navigational skills from first his uncle and then Spanish pilots in Seville.

Borough discovered Novaya Zemlya and the Viagatz Strait (Kara Strait), which was named the Burrough Strait until the late 1800s.

On this day in Tudor history, 24th September 1589, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Roman Catholic priest, William Spenser, and layman Robert Hardesty were executed at York. Spenser was executed for being a priest, and Hardesty for sheltering him.

In 1987, the two men were beatified as two of the Eighty-five Martyrs of England and Wales.

Find out more about William Spenser and Robert Hardesty, and how they came to their awful ends…