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…

On this day in Tudor history, 23rd September 1571, John Jewel, Bishop of Salisbury, died at Monkton Farleigh Manor. He was laid to rest in Salisbury Cathedral.

Forty-nine-year-old Jewel had been taken ill while preaching a sermon in Lacock, Wiltshire.

Jewel’s life and career spanned the reigns of King Henry VIII, Edward VI, Lady Jane Grey, Mary I and Elizabeth I – a time of huge religious change. He was a clergyman, a Protestant exile, a theologian and bishop, and someone who spoke up for what he believed.

On this day in Tudor history, 21st September 1557, in the reign of Queen Mary I, theologian and chaplain Henry Pendleton was buried at St Stephen’s, Walbrook, London.

Pendleton, who was a friend of Bishop Bonner, is known not only for his strong preaching, which led to him being shot at once, but also for his changing religious faith. Pendleton went from staunch Catholic to zealous Protestant back to staunch Catholic. He even took part in disputations with his former friends and saw them imprisoned and burnt.

Find out more about Henry Pendleton, his life, career and changing religious beliefs…

On this day in Tudor history, 19th September 1560, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Thomas Cavendish was baptised at St Martin’s Church, Trimley St Martin in Suffolk.

Explorer, navigator and privateer Thomas Cavendish is known for his imitation of Sir Francis Drake’s circumnavigation of the globe, which he undertook in 1586. He is also known for being the first Englishman to explore the island of St Helena, in the mid-Atlantic. Unfortunately, Cavendish also had a reputation as a spendthrift, and his final voyage was a failure.

On this day in Tudor history, 18th September 1556, in the reign of Queen Mary I, Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon, died at Padua in Italy.

Courtenay, who died from a fever, had been sent to the Continent after being implicated in Wyatt’s Rebellion. The 1554 rebellion sought to replace Queen Mary I with her half-sister, Elizabeth, who would marry Courtenay.

Let me tell you more about Edward Courtenay, Earl of Devon, and how he was a prospective bridegroom for both of Henry VIII’s daughters…

On this day in Tudor history, 17th September 1563, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Henry Manners, 2nd Earl of Rutland, died.

The courtier and soldier died during an outbreak of the plague, which was rife in London that year and killed about 24% of London’s citizens.

Manners had served King Henry VIII, King Edward VI, Queen Mary I and Queen Elizabeth I, so had a long and interesting career, which also saw him imprisoned at one point.