#OTD in Tudor history – 17 March

On this day in Tudor history, 17th March, the Lady Elizabeth (Elizabeth I) delayed her arrest by writing her famous Tide Letter to her half-sister Mary I; theologian Alexander Alesius died in Edinburgh; and soldier and courtier William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke, died at Hampton Court Palace...

• 1473 – Birth of James IV, King of Scots, at Stirling in Scotland. He was the eldest son of James III and Margaret of Denmark, the husband of Margaret Tudor and the father of King James V. James' reign lasted from June 1488 to 9th September 1513 when he was killed at the Battle of Flodden.
• 1554 - Two members of Queen Mary I's council turned up at Whitehall Palace to escort Elizabeth (future Elizabeth I) to prison at the Tower of London. Elizabeth was able to stall things for one day by writing her famous Tide Letter. See video below.
• 1565 - Alexander Ales (Alesius, Aless), theologian and reformer, died in Edinburgh. Ales's works include Cohortatio ad Concordiam Pietatis, missa in Patriam suam (1544), Ad duos et brevis triginta articulos … aeditos a theologis Lovaniensibus brevis & moderata responsio (1545) Expositio Libri Psalmorum Davidis (1550), Ad libellum Ludovici Nogarolae … de traditionibus apostolicis & earum necessitate responsio (1556) and Cohortatio ad Pietatis Concordiam ineundam (1559). See video below.
• 1570 – Death of William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke, soldier, courtier and landowner, at Hampton Court, aged sixty-three. Herbert was married to Anne Parr, sister of Catherine Parr and served Henry VIII as an Esquire of the Body, a 'gentleman spear' and a Gentleman of the King's Privy Chamber. Click here to find out more about him and his royal career.

• 1612 – Death of Thomas Holland, Calvinist scholar and theologian, at Exeter College, Oxford. He was buried in the University Church of St Mary the Virgin, in the chancel. Holland, with six other scholars, helped to translate the prophetic books of the “Old Testament” for the “Authorised Version of the Bible”, and held the positions of Rector of Exeter College and Regius Professor of Divinity.