The Tudor Society

YOUR SEARCH UNCOVERED 381 RESULTS

  • This week in history 21 – 27 November

    Tomb effigy of Frances Grey (Brandon), Duchess of Suffolk

    On this day in history events for 21-27th November.

    21 November:

    1495 – Birth of John Bale, churchman, Protestant playwright, historian and Bishop of Ossory, at Cove, near Dunwich, in Suffolk. Bale wrote twenty-four plays, including “Three Laws of Nature, Moses and Christ, corrupted by the Sodomytes, Pharisees and Papystes most wicked”, “A Tragedye; or enterlude manifesting the chief promyses of God unto Man”, “The Temptacyon of our Lorde”, “A brefe Comedy or Enterlude of Johan Baptystes preachynge in the Wyldernesse, etc” and “ Kynge Johan”. His most famous work is his Illustrium majoris Britanniae scriptorum, hoc est, Angliae, Cambriae, ac Scotiae Summarium… (“A Summary of the Famous Writers of Great Britain, that is, of England, Wales and Scotland”), which was his effort to record every work by a British author.
    1558 – Death of James Bassett, courtier and stepson of Arthur Plantagenet, Viscount Lisle. Bassett was a member of Philip of Spain’s Privy Chamber and private Secretary to Mary I. He was buried at Blackfriars, London.

    [Read More...]
  • This week in history 14 – 20 November

    14 November

    1501 – Catherine of Aragon married Arthur, Prince of Wales at St Paul’s Cathedral.
    1531 – Birth of Richard Topcliffe, member of Parliament, priest-hunter, interrogator and torturer, in Lincolnshire. During the reign of Elizabeth I, Topcliffe was issued with warrants allowing him to use torture when examining imprisoned Catholic recusants and priests. His famous victims included Robert Southwell, John Gerard and Henry Garnet.
    1532 – On this day in 1532, according to the chronicler Edward Hall, Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn secretly married:

    [Read More...]
  • This week in history 7-13 November

    On this day in history events for 7th – 13th November:

    7 November:

    1485 – Richard III and his supporters were attainted at Henry VII’s first Parliament. Click here to read more.
    1541 – Archbishop Thomas Cranmer and the Duke of Norfolk went to Hampton Court Palace to interrogate Queen Catherine Howard, and to arrange that she should be confined to her chambers there. Click here to read more.
    1557 – Death of Sir John Arundell of Lanherne. He was buried at St Mawgan Church. Arundell served Henry VIII as Sheriff of Cornwall and Commander of troops against the rebels during the Pilgrimage of Grace. He also served in France in 1544. During Edward VI’s reign, in 1549, he was imprisoned after John, Baron Russell, accused him of refusing to raise troops and of ordering the mass to be performed. He was released in June 1552.
    1565 – Death of Sir Edward Warner, soldier, member of Parliament and Lieutenant of the Tower of London during the reigns of Edward VI and Elizabeth I. He was the gaoler of Katherine Seymour (née Grey), Countess of Hertford, who had been imprisoned for secretly marrying Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford. Warner died in Norfolk and was buried at Little Plumstead Church in the county.
    1568 – Baptism of Dunstan Gale, poet and author of “Pyramus and Thisbe”, at St Giles Cripplegate, London.
    1581 – Death of Richard Davies, scholar and Bishop of St David’s, in Abergwili, Carmarthenshire, in the bishop’s palace. He was a friend of Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury, and undertook translations of parts of the Bible.
    1603 – Burial of Robert Allot, literary compiler, bookseller, poet and editor of the 1599 “Wits Theater” and the 1600 “Englands Parnassus”, at St Ann Blackfriars.

    [Read More...]
  • Expert live chats timetable – 28 October Open Day

  • The marriage of Robert Dudley and Lettice Devereux

    On the morning of Sunday 21st September 1578, between seven and eight o’clock, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, married Lettice Devereux (née Knollys), widow of Walter Devereux, Earl of Essex, at his house in Wanstead, Essex.

    Leicester’s chaplain, Humphrey Tindall officiated, and the guests at this secret and private ceremony included Sir Francis Knollys, father of the bride; Richard Knollys, the bride’s brother; Ambrose Dudley, Earl of Warwick and brother of Leicester; and Leicester’s friends, the Earl of Pembroke and Lord North.

    [Read More...]
  • 31 August 1555 – The martyrdom of Robert Samuel

    On this day in history, 31st August 1555, Robert Samuel, former minister of East Bergholt Church in Suffolk, was burned at the stake in Ipswich, probably at the Cornhill. He was one of the Ipswich Martyrs, Protestants who were executed in Ipswich during the reign of the Catholic queen, Mary I.

    [Read More...]
  • This week in history 29 August – 4 September

    On this day in history events for 29th August to 4th September.

    [Read More...]
  • This week in history 22 – 28 August

    On this day in history events for 21-28 August in the Tudor period.

    [Read More...]
  • 22 August 1553 – The execution of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland

    On 22nd August 1553, John Dudley, Earl of Warwick and Duke of Northumberland, was beheaded on Tower Hill for his part in putting his daughter-in-law, Lady Jane Grey, on the throne in place of Mary I. Northumberland’s friends, Sir John Gates and Sir Thomas Palmer, were also executed on this day in 1553 for supporting Northumberland.

    [Read More...]
  • This week in history 25 – 31 July

    On this day in history events for week 25th July to 31st July.

    [Read More...]
  • The Scots Queen Surrenders: An Overview of the Battle of Carberry Hill 1567 by Heather R. Darsie

    By 15 June 1567, twenty-four-year-old Mary Stuart had been Queen of Scotland for almost her entire life; never knew her father, James V, because he died when she was six days old; was Queen Consort, then Queen, of France for less than seventeen months; had lost her mother in July 1560; was about to celebrate her son and heir’s first birthday on 19 June, and was married to her third husband. Mary’s first husband, King Francis II of France, died three days before Mary’s eighteenth birthday in 1560. Mary’s mother was dead for roughly five months when her first husband died. She married her second husband, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, when she was twenty-two. Mary gave birth to her only surviving child, James VI, during her marriage to Darnley. Darnley died, likely murdered, less than two years after the marriage, and Mary married her third husband, James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell. Bothwell may have had a hand in the death of Mary’s second husband and there is speculation as to whether Mary indeed wanted to marry Bothwell or whether she was coerced into the marriage.

    [Read More...]
  • This week in history 13 – 19 June

    On this day in history events for 13th to 19th June.

    [Read More...]
  • March Feast Days

    1st March is the feast day of St David (Dewi Sant), patron saint of Wales. According to Rhigyfarch’s Life of Saint David, David lived in the 6th century and founded religious centres including Glastonbury and Croyland. He then travelled to the Holy Land and was made archbishop at Jerusalem before travelling back to Wales and settling at Glyn Rhosyn (Rose Vale), or St David’s, in Pembrokeshire, Wales. There, he founded a monastery whose site is now marked by St David’s Cathedral.

    [Read More...]
  • February Feast Days

    If you haven’t taken down your Christmas decorations yet then don’t worry, you’re just following the medieval and Tudor tradition of taking them down on Candlemas Eve. 1st February was the traditional day for removing the greenery, such as laurel, holly, ivy and rosemary, which had decorated homes over the Christmas period. However, Candlemas Eve really is your last chance to rid your home of decorations and please don’t leave them up otherwise you may just get invaded by goblins!

    [Read More...]
  • 7 June 1520 – The Field of the Cloth of Gold meeting begins

    This day in history, 7th June 1520, was the first day of the historic meeting between Henry VIII and Francis I of France. It took place between the English stronghold of Guînes and the French town of Ardres, on a piece of land referred to as the Field of Cloth of Gold.

    [Read More...]
  • Bargain History Books

    I’ve mentioned Postscript Books before in videos, but I thought I’d write a post just highlighting them as a great resource for bargain history books. Thank you to Tudor Life contributor Olga Hughes for recommending them to me, what a find!

    Postscript Books are a mailorder bookseller based in Devon, in the UK, and who offer books at up to 75% off publishers’ prices. They can offer these discounts because the books are publishers’ overstocks or remainders. By the way, I’m not affiliated to them in any way, I’m just a happy customer!

    [Read More...]
  • 1 June 1533 – Queen Anne Boleyn’s coronation

    Today is the 483rd anniversary of the coronation of Queen Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII. What was interesting about her coronation is that she was crowned with the crown of St Edward, a crown usually reserved for crowning the reigning monarch, so her coronation was quite a statement. Whether the use of the crown was to do with Anne’s status or to do with her unborn child, who was, of course, expected to be a prince, it is still an interesting fact.

    [Read More...]
  • This week in history 9 – 15 May

    On this day in history events for 9-15 May.

    [Read More...]
  • This week in history 2 – 8 May

    On this day in history events for 2nd to 8th May.

    [Read More...]
  • This week in history 18 – 24 April

    On this day in history events for 18-24 April.

    [Read More...]
  • Tudor Cooking with Claire – Hippocras

    I’m always coming across mentions of hippocras when I’m reading primary source accounts of banquets, coronations and christenings. It was something that was served at the end of a banquet with wafers and “spice plates”. I love trying out things I read about so I looked in my books for a contemporary recipe and a modernised version. Here is the result:

    [Read More...]
  • This week in history 4 – 10 April

    On this day in history events for week 4-10 April.

    [Read More...]
  • This week in history 28 March – 3 April

    On this day in history events for week 28th March to 3rd April.

    [Read More...]
  • This week in history 7 – 13 March

    On this day in history events for week 7-13 March.

    [Read More...]
  • Battle of Ancrum Moor

    On 27th February 1545, the English forces were defeated by the Scots at the Battle of Ancrum Moor, near Jedburgh in Scotland.

    The battle was part of the 1543-1550 War of the Rough Wooing, a war attempting to put pressure on the Scots to agree to a marriage match between the infant Mary, Queen of Scots and Henry VIII’s son, Edward (the future Edward VI).

    [Read More...]
  • This week in history 22 – 28 February

    On this day in history events for 22 – 28 February.

    [Read More...]
  • This week in history 15 – 21 February

  • Gillyflowers for Lord Guildford Dudley

  • Elizabeth of York by Sarah Bryson

    On 11th of February 1466, Elizabeth of York was born at the Palace of Westminster. Exactly thirty seven years later, at the Tower of London, Elizabeth died shortly after giving birth to her last child.

    Elizabeth of York was the eldest child of King Edward IV and his wife Queen Elizabeth Woodville. Elizabeth was christened in St Stephen’s Chapel in Westminster Abbey. Jacquetta of Luxembourg, Duchess of Bedford, and Cecily Neville, Duchess of York, stood as her godmothers and Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, stood as her godfather.

    [Read More...]
  • This week in history 8 – 14 February

    On this day in history events for 8-14 February.

    [Read More...]