#OTD in Tudor history – 30 June

On this day in Tudor history, Henry VIII and Catherine Howard set off on their ill-fated progress to the North; and keen sportsman, King Henry II of France, suffered a mortal head wound while jousting...

• 1537 – Execution of Thomas Darcy, Baron Darcy of Darcy. He was beheaded on Tower Hill after being found guilty of treason for his part in the Pilgrimage of Grace and Bigod's Revolt.
• 1541 - Henry VIII and his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, set off on their royal progress to the North, the aim being to meet Henry’s nephew, King James V of Scotland, at York in September and also “to emphasise the extent of his defeat of the Pilgrims [from the Pilgrimage of Grace] and the Percy interest, and to humiliate utterly all but the most clearly loyal elements”. See below for a video or click here for a more detailed talk.
• 1559 - Henry II of France suffered a mortal head wound while jousting at the Place Royale at a joust held to celebrate the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis. The king died on 10th July and was succeeded by Francis II.

• 1567 – Death of Thomas Becon, clergyman, reformer and theologian. Becon acted as chaplain to Edward Seymour, Lord Protector, and Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, and was appointed by Cranmer as one of the six preachers at Canterbury. Becon was imprisoned in the Tower of London from August 1553 to March 1554, during Mary I's reign, due to his religious beliefs, and on release went into exile in Strasbourg, Frankfurt and Marburg. He returned to England on Elizabeth I's accession. Becon wrote many theological works, which, in time, changed from Lutheran to Zwinglian in their theology. It is thought that he was buried somewhere in Canterbury.
• 1590 – Death of Sir Roger Townshend, member of Parliament and courtier in Elizabeth I's reign, at Stoke Newington in Middlesex. He was buried at St Giles Cripplegate. Townshend began his career serving the Howard family and was knighted by Charles Howard, Baron Howard of Effingham and the Lord Admiral, at sea for his part in defeating the Spanish Armada in 1588.