On this day in Tudor history, 7th July 1556, in the reign of Queen Mary I, Henry Peckham and John Danyell were hanged, drawn and quartered after being found guilty of treason for their involvement in the Dudley Conspiracy.
But what was the Dudley Conspiracy? And who was involved in it? What happened?
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On this day in Tudor history, 23rd June 1576, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, painter and miniaturist Levina Teerlinc died at Stepney in London.
Teerlinc was court painter to Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I, and was a prolific artist.
Find out more about her and her work…
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On this day in Tudor history, 15th June 1559, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, court fool William Somer (Sommers) died in Shoreditch, London.
He’d served as court fool to Henry VIII, Edward VI and Mary I.
Somer managed to survive the wrath of King Henry VIII to die a natural death in Elizabeth’s reign.
He wasn’t the only court fool at the time, and you can find out more about him and Jane the Fool in this video:
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On this day in Tudor history, 14th June 1557, in the reign of Mary I, Friar William Peto was made a cardinal and a papal legate.
He’d done well to survive Henry VIII’s reign as he’d upset the king with a controversial sermon and was attainted at one point.
Find out more about Peto in this short video…
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Today is the anniversary of the birth of King Philip II of Spain, husband of Queen Mary I.
I’m commemorating his birthday by sharing a few facts about this European ruler…
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On this day in Tudor history, 11th April 1554, in the reign of the Catholic Queen Mary I, Sir Thomas Wyatt the Younger, son of poet and diplomat Sir Thomas Wyatt the Elder, was beheaded on Tower Hill after being found guilty of high treason.
Wyatt had led a rebellion which sought to depose the queen and to replace her with her half-sister Elizabeth, but he refused to implicate Elizabeth in the plot. He went to his death asserting her innocence.
Find out more about what happened and hear his final speech…
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On this day in Tudor history, 8th April 1554, in the reign of Queen Mary I, there was an act of rebellion and religious defiance in London.
Someone who didn’t like Mary’s religious changes hanged a cat on the gallows at Cheapside. The cat was dressed as a Catholic priest and was holding a piece of paper to represent that communion wafer.
Find out more about what happened, the meaning behind it, and Mary’s reaction to it…
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On this day in Tudor history, 14th March 1555, courtier, envoy and landowner, Sir John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford, died at his London residence on the Strand aged around 70.
Russell was an important Tudor man who served four Tudor monarchs – Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI and Mary I – AND he managed to keep his head, dying a natural death at a good age.
Find out more about this Earl of Bedford, his life, his rise and his career at the royal court, in this talk…
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25th January is the Feast of the Conversion of St Paul, an important day in Tudor times. It celebrated the conversion of Saul, a man known for his persecution of Christians, on the road to Damascus.
In this talk, I explain the background of the feast day and shares a contemporary account of how St Paul’s Day was celebrated in the reign of Queen Mary I.
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On this day in Tudor history, 24th January 1555, in the reign of Queen Mary I, a great joust was held at Westminster between English and the Spanish knights.
It was one of the events planned by Philip of Spain, Queen Mary I’s husband, to try and tackle the problems between Englishmen and Spaniards in London.
Tensions had even led to violence and murder.
Find out more about the problems, and how King Philip tried to tackle them, in this talk…
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On this day in Tudor history, 22nd January 1554, Thomas Wyatt the Younger met with fellow conspirators at his home of Allington Castle in Kent. The purpose of their meeting was to make final plans for their uprising against Queen Mary I and her decision to marry Philip of Spain.
This rebellion would come to be known as Wyatt’s Rebellion, although the leader at the start appears to have been Sir James Croft.
Find out all about Wyatt’s Rebellion and what happened in this talk…
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On this day in Tudor history, 7th January 1558, in the reign of Queen Mary I, England lost Calais to the French.
It was a devastating blow as Calais had been held by England for over 200 years and was an important port for English wool exports. Mary I was said to have exclaimed ““When I am dead and opened, you shall find ‘Philip’ and ‘Calais’ lying in my heart”.
Find out exactly what happened in this talk…
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On this day in history, 24th December 1604, Christmas Eve, Sir Thomas Cornwallis, Comptroller of the household of Mary I and member of Parliament, died at about the age of eighty-six.
Cornwallis had been active putting down rebellion in 1549 and during the succession crisis of July 1553 swapped sides at just the right time, recanting his proclamation for Jane as queen and proclaiming for Mary instead, He was rewarded for this when Mary came to the throne.
Of course, he wasn’t so much a favourite in the reign of Elizabeth I, but a friendship with a man close to Elizabeth may have helped him escape trouble.
Find out more about Sir Thomas Cornwallis in this talk…
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On this day in Tudor history, 18th December 1575, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, fifty-six-year-old historian, Catholic apologist, priest and former Archdeacon of Canterbury, Nicholas Harpsfield, died in London.
Harpsfield and his brother, John, had been imprisoned since the early 1560s for refusing to swear the Oath of Supremacy, but had been released in 1574 on the grounds of ill-health.
In Mary I’s reign, he had been involved in the persecutions of Protestants, and martyrologist John Foxe described him as “the sorest and of leaste compassion” of all the archdeacons involved.
Find out more about his life, career and rise, his works, and his end, in this talk…
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On this day in Tudor history, 6th December 1573, soldier and administrator, Sir Hugh Paulet, died at his home in Hinton St George in Somerset.
He distinguished himself as a soldier in Henry VIII’s reign, served as Governor of Jersey in Edward VI’s reign, was a Protestant but survived Mary I’s reign and served as Vice-President of the Welsh marches, and had a successful career in Elizabeth I’s reign. He was an important man and a servant of the Crown, but still managed to die a natural death at his home.
Find out more about Sir Hugh Paulet, his life and career, in this talk…
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On this day in Tudor history, 29th November 1528, nobleman and courtier, Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montagu, was born.
Montagu began his court career with the help of his father in Henry VIII’s reign. served as a privy councillor in Mary I’s reign, and died a natural death as a wealthy man in Elizabeth I’s reign. He even survived being implicated in a rebellion!
Who was Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montagu, and just how did he manage to not only have an excellent court career, but leave a fortune to his grandson, when he was a Catholic in Elizabeth I’s reign?
Find out all about him in today’s this talk…
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On this day in Tudor history, 19th November 1564, Lord John Grey, youngest son of Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset, died.
He’s not the Lord John Grey of the wonderful Outlander series, but he is just as interesting.
In Mary I’s reign, he was involved in a rebellion with his brothers, Lord Thomas Grey and Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk, but unlike them was not executed.
How did Lord John Grey escape execution? And why did he get into trouble again in Elizabeth I’s reign.
Find out all about this Tudor lord in this talk…
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On this day in Tudor history, 18th November 1559, Ralph Baynes (Baines), Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, died.
Baynes had been actively involved in the persecutions of Protestants in Mary I’s reign, examining many well-known martyrs and featuring in John Foxe’s “Book of Martyrs”, but ended his days imprisoned in the home of Edmund Grindal, Bishop of London – why?
Find out more about Ralph Baynes, his life and career, and how he came to be deprived of his bishopric and die the way he did, in this talk…
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On this day in Tudor history, 18th October 1555, Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, finally received permission from her half-sister, Queen Mary I, to leave court and travel to her own estate at Hatfield, rather than return to house arrest in Woodstock.
Poor Elizabeth had spent the last 18 months being watched or imprisoned, so this must have been a huge relief.
But why had Elizabeth been watched and confined? What had she gone through and why?
Find out more about this awful part of Elizabeth I’s life…
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On this day in Tudor history, 6th October 1510, John Caius was born at Norwich.
Caius was a theological scholar, founder of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, royal physician (to Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I) and author of a book on sweating sickness.
In this video, I give an overview of John Caius’ life and career, as well as sharing some of what he wrote on sweating sickness, that mystery Tudor illness.
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On this day in Tudor history, 18th September 1556, Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon, died from a fever at Padua in Italy.
Courtenay had been sent overseas after he was implicated in Wyatt’s Rebellion as a future husband and consort of Queen Mary I’s half-sister, Elizabeth, the future Queen Elizabeth I.
In this video, I tell you more about this Earl of Devon and how he was a prospective bridegroom for both of Henry VIII’s daughters.
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On this day in Tudor history, 17th September 1558, Walter Devereux, 1st Viscount Hereford and grandfather of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex and a favourite of Elizabeth I, died at the Devereux family seat at Chartley in Staffordshire.
Devereux had a long and distinguished court career, serving Henry VIII, Princess Mary in Ludlow, and Edward VI. He also married at around the age of 11 and was imprisoned at one point. An interesting Tudor man.
Find out more about this soldier and royal servant…
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On this day in Tudor history, 18th August 1553, less than a month after his daughter-in-law, Lady Jane Grey or Queen Jane, had been overthrown by Queen Mary I, John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, was tried for treason at Westminster Hall in London.
During his trial, Northumberland pointed out that it couldn’t be treason to be acting by royal warrant and that some of those judging him had acted under the same warrant, but it did him no good.
Find out what happened at his trial, what his reaction was to his sentence, and what happened to William Parr, Marquess of Northampton, and John Dudley, Earl of Warwick, who were tried with him…
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On this day in Tudor history, 11th August 1581, Sir Maurice Berkeley, former gentleman usher of Henry VIII’s Privy Chamber, died.
You may not have heard of Sir Maurice Berkeley, but he had a wonderful court career, serving Henry VIII, Edward VI and Elizabeth I, and proving his loyalty to Mary I by arresting rebel leader, Thomas Wyatt the Younger.
Find out more about this lesser-known Tudor man…
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Today is the anniversary of the marriage of Queen Mary I and Philip of Spain at Winchester Cathedral in 1554.
How much do you know about Mary I’s king consort?
Test your knowledge of Philip II of Spain with this fun quiz.
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Today is the birthday of Philip II of Spain, king consort of Queen Mary I.
I commemorate his birthday by sharing a few facts about him…
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On this day in Tudor history, 17 April 1554, in the reign of Queen Mary I, celebrations for the acquittal of a Tudor courtier led to the head of his fellow rebel being stolen. It was the head of Sir Thomas Wyatt the Younger.
Find out what happened
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On this day in Tudor history, 14th April 1556, in the reign of Queen Mary I, Sir Anthony Kingston, died at Cirencester. He was on his way to London to face charges that had been laid against him, and it’s likely that he would have been executed.
Why? What had he done?
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In this first part of This Week in Tudor History for the week beginning 15th March, I look at the life and career of a bishop who started out as a monk but whose conversion to the reformed faith saw him dying an awful death in the reign of Queen Mary I, before moving on to the death of a soldier, translator and diplomat in Henry VIII’s reign, and the death of a Tudor earl and brother-in-law of a queen who was once known as Black Will Herbert.
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In this first part of “This Week in Tudor History”, I introduce a chap named John, one of the many johns in his family, who turned down a title; explain why Lady Jane Grey’s execution was postponed and what happened, and introduce an earl who appears to have been a bit of a Tudor bad boy.
8th February 1545, in the reign of King Henry VIII – Death of courtier and soldier Sir John Arundell of Lanherne, or John Arundell III, a man who turned down a barony from King Henry VIII. Find out why.
9th February 1554 – Queen Mary I postpones Lady Jane Grey’s scheduled execution and gives her a three-day reprieve…
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