On this day in Tudor history, 16th May, Sir Thomas More resigned as Lord Chancellor; Archbishop Cranmer visited an imprisoned Queen Anne Boleyn; Mary, Queen of Scots, landed on English soil; and William Adams, the inspiration for Shōgun's John Blackthrone, died...
- 1511 – Burial of Walter Fitzsimons, Archbishop of Dublin and Lord Deputy of Ireland, in the nave of St Patrick's Cathedral.
- 1532 – Resignation of Sir Thomas More as Henry VIII's Lord Chancellor. See video below.
- 1536 – Archbishop Cranmer visited Queen Anne Boleyn at the Tower of London. It is thought that his visit's purpose was to get Anne to confess to an impediment to her marriage and to consent to him dissolving her marriage to Henry VIII. See video below.
- 1544 – Death of John Skewys, lawyer and chronicler.
- 1566 – Death of Patrick Ruthven, 3rd Lord Ruthven, a man who was involved in the murder of David Riccio, Mary, Queen of Scots' private secretary.
- 1567 – Death of Sir Anthony Browne, judge, at his home Weald Hall, South Weald, Essex. He had served Mary I as Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, but was removed from this office by Elizabeth I and made a Puisne Justice of the same court.
- 1568 – Mary, Queen of Scots landed at Workington, England, after losing at the Battle of Langside. See video below.
- 1576 – Burial of Nicholas Bullingham, Bishop of Lincoln and Worcester. His burial was originally registered at Hartlebury (he died at Hartlebury Castle), but his tomb can now be found in the north aisle of Worcester Cathedral.
- 1579 – Death of George Freville, judge and 2nd Baron of the Exchequer.
- 1618 – Death of Dorothy Wadham (née Petre), founder of Wadham College, Oxford. She is buried in St Mary's Church, Ilminster.
- 1620 – Death of William Adams, navigator, in Hirado, Japan. He is thought to be the first Englishman to have reached Japan (arriving there in 1600) and was the inspiration for the character of John Blackthorne in the famous novel Shōgun. See video below.
