The Tudor Society

#OTD in Tudor history – 16 August

On this day in Tudor history, 16th August, Henry VIII claimed the victory after the French fled the battlefield at the Battle of the Spurs, and soldier and Lord President of Munster in Ireland, Sir Thomas Norris, died at Mallow Castle, in Cork. He was one of five brothers who lost their lives in service to the queen...

  • 1513 - The Battle of the Spurs took place at Guinegate (Enguinegatte) in France. It was a battle between the English, backed by Imperial troops, and the French, and is called the Battle of the Spurs because the French knights, taken by surprise and realising that they were outnumbered and outmanoeuvred, fled on horseback, their spurs glinting in the sunlight. See video below.
  • 1533 (16th or 17th August) – Death of Thomas Skevington, Abbot of Beaulieu and Bishop of Bangor, at Beaulieu. His body was buried at Beaulieu and his heart buried on the north wall of Bangor Cathedral, before the picture of St Deiniol.
  • 1549 – Death of Sir Christopher More, landowner and administrator. He was buried in St Nicholas's Church, Guildford, in the Loseley Chapel. More was a JP and Sheriff during the reign of Henry VIII and was appointed, in 1539, to the guard of honour prepared for Anne of Cleves in late 1539.
  • 1599 - Soldier and Lord President of Munster in Ireland, Sir Thomas Norris, died at his home, Mallow Castle, in Cork, as a result of an injury he’d sustained in a skirmish with Irish troops on 30th May 1599. His brother, Henry, died just five days later. Thomas's brothers, John, William and Maximilian, who were also soldiers, died in 1597, 1579 and 1593 respectively. Elizabeth I wrote a letter of condolence to the Norris family. See video below.

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#OTD in Tudor history – 16 August