On this day in Tudor history, 9th January 1514, Anne of Brittany, Queen Consort of King Louis XII of France, died at Château Blois in France. Her corpse was buried in the Cathedral Basilica of Saint-Denis and her heart was buried at Nantes.

Anne of Brittany was the mother of Queen Claude of France, the wife of a Holy Roman Emperor AND two Kings of France, and had been betrothed to one of the Princes in the Tower. A very interesting lady!

And then there’s the story of her stolen heart!

Find out more in today’s talk.

On this day in Tudor history, 8th January 1571, Mary Shelton (married names: Heveningham and Appleyard) was buried at Heveningham Church, Suffolk.

Mary Shelton was Queen Anne Boleyn’s cousin and lady-in-waiting, and may also have been King Henry VIII’s mistress. She also contributed to the Devonshire Manuscript with the likes of Mary Howard, Lady Margaret Douglas and Lord Thomas Howard.

Find out more about Mary Shelton in today’s talk.

Happy Epiphany! Happy Kings’ Day! Yes, today is the Feast of the Epiphany, the day that commemorated the visit of the Magi to the Christ Child.

Following on from yesterday’s Teasel’s Tudor Trivia about Epiphany Eve and Twelfth Night Cake, I thought I’d share with you some examples of how Epiphany was celebrated at the royal court. Find out what those Tudor people got up to on Twelfth Night in today’s talk.

On this day in Tudor history, 5th January 1546, in the reign of King Henry VIII, geographer and poet, Richard Willes, was born in Pulham, Dorset.

Richard Willes has been described as “One of the quirkier figures in the literary history not only of the college but of the Elizabethan period as a whole”, and he certainly was an interesting Tudor man. Find out about his literary accomplishments, and what exactly made him so “quirky”, in today’s talk.

On this day in Tudor history, 31st December 1559, Owen Oglethorpe, Bishop of Carlisle, died while under house arrest in London. He was buried at St Dunstan-in-the-West on 6th January 1560.

Oglethorpe is known for officiating at Queen Elizabeth I’s coronation in 1559, but also for infuriating the queen at Christmas 1558 by disobeying her instructions at Mass.

What did Oglethorpe do?

Find out about Owen Oglethorpe’s life and career, and how he upset the queen and ended his days under house arrest, in today’s talk.

On this day in Tudor history, 30th December 1568, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Roger Ascham, scholar and royal tutor, died. He was laid to rest in the St Stephen’s chapel of St Sepulchre without Newgate, London.

Ascham served as tutor to Princess Elizabeth, the future Elizabeth I, and is also responsible for the idea that Lady Jane Grey had abusive parents.

Find out more about Roger Ascham, his life and career, in today’s talk.

On this day in history, 29th (or 30th) December 1605, in the reign of King James I, Elizabethan navigator and explorer, John Davis (also spelled Davys) died near Bintang, off the coast of Borneo.

Davis died after being attacked by Japanese pirates. He was about 55 when he died.

He is known for his voyages, for being the first Englishman to document a sighting of the Falkland Islands, for his 1594 “The Seaman’s Secrets” and 1595 “The World’s Hydrographical Description”, and for his invention, the Davis Quadrant, or the backstaff.

Find out more about him, his final voyage and death, in today’s talk.

Today, 28th December, is Childermas or Holy Innocents’ Day, which was an important part of the Twelve Days of Christmas in Tudor times.

In today’s talk, I explain the origin of this feast day and how it was commemorated in the Tudor period.

In today’s talk, I explain how St Stephen’s Day was celebrated in Tudor times and why it’s known as Boxing Day, before moving on to today’s “on this day event”.

On this day in Tudor history, 26th December 1546, an ill Henry VIII made some changes to his will in preparation for his nine-year-old son, Edward, inheriting the throne. I explain all…

Merry Christmas! A very Happy Christmas to you and yours!

In today’s talk, I explain how Tudor people would have celebrated Christmas, before moving on to today’s “on this day” event, the death of Lettice Blount (also known as Lettice Devereux, Lettice Dudley and Lettice Knollys). Not only did she serve Queen Elizabeth I as a gentlewoman of the privy chamber, she was also the queen’s first cousin once removed, and was nicknamed the “she-wolf” by her royal mistress. Find out more about Lettice Knollys in today’s talk.

On this day in Tudor history, 23rd December 1556, in the reign of Queen Mary I, Nicholas Udall (Yevedale), schoolmaster, cleric, humanist and playwright, was buried at St Margaret’s, Westminster.

In today’s talk, I introduce this Tudor man and also share a ballad he wrote for Queen Anne Boleyn’s coronation celebrations in 1533. His ballad was about Anne Boleyn’s falcon badge and how it related to the queen.