On 4th August 1598, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, died. He’d been Elizabeth’s chief advisor and a man she called her spirit.
Hear a few more William Cecil facts in this edition of #TudorHistoryShorts…
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On this day in Tudor history, 21st July 1586, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, explorer Thomas Cavendish set sail from Plymouth. Where was he going and why? And how would he break Sir Francis Drake's record?
Find out more in this edition of #TudorHistoryShorts... [Read More...]
Mary Boleyn is known for being Henry VIII’s mistress at one point, and you can find out a bit more about her in this edition of #TudorHistoryShorts…
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July 1553 was the month of three monarchs: King Edward VI, Queen Jane (Lady Jane Grey) and Mary I. It was a rather eventful month.
But how much do you know about the places and people involved in this succession crisis? [Read More...]
On this day in Tudor history, 6th July 1570, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Margaret Clement (née Giggs), adopted daughter of Sir Thomas More, died in Mechelen.
Find out more about Margaret Clement, what Sir Thomas More had bequeathed her, and how she had helped some imprisoned priests, in this latest edition of #TudorHistoryShorts…
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23rd June is the anniversary of the baptism of Thomas Hood, a Tudor doctor and mathematician, on 23rd June 1556, in the reign of Mary I.
Find out about this talented Tudor man in this edition of #TudorHistoryShorts...
On this day in Tudor history, 16th June 1614, Henry Howard, Earl of Northampton, died of gangrene following surgery on his thigh.
Find out more about this Tudor earl, and how he was involved in a murder plot, in today’s #TudorHistoryShorts talk…
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On 4th June 1550, Robert Dudley married his sweetheart, Amy Robsart, at the royal palace of Sheen at Richmond, near London, in a ceremony attended by King Edward VI.
On this day in Tudor history, 2nd May 1536, in the reign of King Henry VIII, the king’s second wife, Anne Boleyn, was arrested. What happened on that day? What was she told? Where was she taken?
Find out in this #TudorHistoryShorts video…
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Today is May Day – Happy May Day!
Did the Tudors celebrate May Day? If so, what did they do?
Find out in this #TudorHistoryShorts video…
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Sadly, Prince Philip passed away on the 9th of April 2021 at the age of 99. On Saturday the 17th of April the funeral will be held at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. Nowadays, a royal funeral is no longer for the family alone, all the world can watch it online. This was very different for the Tudors. What were their funeral traditions?
On this day in Tudor history, 13th April 1630, Anne Howard (née Dacre), Countess of Arundel, died at Shifnal.
Anne was the eldest daughter of Thomas Dacre, 4th Lord Dacre of Gilsand, and wife of Philip Howard, 13th Earl of Arundel, but there are some other interesting facts about this Tudor lady.
Find out more about this Countess of Arundel…
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A couple of weeks ago we asked our Instagram followers to vote on their favourite Tudor Monarch and wife of Henry VIII. We combined the votes with the most searched questions on Google and the country in which they are most popular. Here are the results!
Today, in the Western Christian Church, is Good Friday, which, of course, commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. I’m going to mark the dat by sharing how the day was commemorated in Tudor times.
But first, here is the account of Christ’s crucifixion from John’s Gospel. I’ve chosen the 16th century Tyndale Bible:
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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 the first part of this week in Tudor history, I introduce an outspoken reformer whose works were burnt, I talk about the death of Henry VIII’s niece, Lady Margaret Douglas, and how it was surrounded by rumour, and I give an overview of the life and career of a Tudor administrator who claimed he survived in politics in such turbulent times because he “was made of the plyable willow, not of the stubborn oak”
8th March 1569 – Death of evangelical reformer and Member of Parliament Richard Tracy at Stanway in Gloucestershire. Henry VIII and his council ordered the burning of his works in 1546….
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A big thank you to Lorna Wanstall for inspiring this week’s Friday video with her idea about casting our Tudor dream team or dream cast. I’m looking forward to reading your ideas!
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This Valentine’s Day a very special announcement was made by Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, they are expecting a child. A royal baby announcement nowadays is made and spread on social media. Since Instagram and other online platforms did not exist in Tudor times, how was this joyous news shared with the rest of the country?
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In the second part of “This Week in Tudor History” for 25-31 January, I talk about events that happened on 28th, 29th, 30th and 31st January in the reigns of the Tudor monarchs. Find out more about the following Tudor people and events.
28th January 1501 – The death of politician and administrator, John Dynham, 1st Baron Dynham, who managed to move smoothly from service to the Yorkists to Henry VII’s service, and who survived the falls of his brother-in-law and stepson.
29th January 1559 – The death of Sir Thomas Pope, guardian of Princess Elizabeth (Elizabeth I), founder of Trinity College…
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This week, I thought I’d split the week into two, so this video covers Tudor history events that took place on 11th, 12th and 13th January – the execution of a printer, the death of a baron, soldier and naval commander, the death of a godson of Henry VIII…
Below, you’ll also find videos from previous years that cover these dates.
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On this day in Tudor history, 31st December 1535, in the reign of Henry VIII, Sir William Skeffington, Lord Deputy of Ireland, died at Kilmainham in Dublin.
Skeffington had become known as “the Gunner” following his use of heavy artillery while taking Maynooth Castle in County Kildare, where he killed, or had executed, the whole garrison.
Find out more about the life and career of Sir William Skeffington in today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 26th December 1526, Protestant Rose Lok was born.
Rose lived well into her 80s and had an interesting life, being a Protestant exile, a businesswoman, and being the daughter of a man who supplied Anne Boleyn with religious books. She also had a ship named after her!
Find out all about Rose Lok in today’s talk.
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Happy Christmas!
On this day in Tudor history, 25th December 1587, Brian Darcy, magistrate, Sheriff of Essex, witch-hunter and contributor to the 1582 “A true and just recorde of the information, examination and confession of all the witches, taken at S Oses [St Osyth]”, died.
“A True and Just Recorde” argued for harsher punishments for those found guilty of witchcraft, and Darcy was personally responsible for a number of deaths of people accused of witchcraft.
Find out more about this zealous witch-hunter in today’s 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 today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 23rd December 1558, just over a month after her accession, England’s new queen, Elizabeth I, daughter of King Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn, moved from Somerset House to Whitehall Palace, which became her principal residence.
Whitehall, formerly York Place, had once been home to her mother, Anne Boleyn, and had been the setting of Anne’s marriage to Henry VIII. I wonder if Elizabeth felt close to her mother there.
Find out more about Whitehall Palace, and also Somerset Place, the property Elizabeth left, in today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 22nd December 1557, Protestant martyrs John Rough and Margaret Mearing, were burnt at Smithfield for heresy.
John Rough was a Scot who’d encouraged John Knox to be a pastor, but ended in days in England. Interestingly, the woman he died with was a woman he’d excommunicated from his congregation, believing her to be a spy. Although she’d been angry with her treatment, she was not the spy who betrayed him, she visited Rough in prison and was arrested after she tried to confront the real spy.
Find out about John Rough’s life and what brought him to England, how he’d come to be arrested, and what happened with Margaret Mearing, in today’s talk.
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21st December in Tudor times was the Feast of St Thomas the Apostle, or Didymus or Doubting Thomas. The apostle who wouldn’t believe Christ had been resurrected until Christ appeared in front of him and he’d felt the nail wounds and the wound in his side.
Thomas was known for his generosity, and in Tudor times, those in need would go “a-Thomasing”, collecting alms. But there are also other traditions associated with the feast day, such as pie-making. And did you know that Thomas also has links to India?
Find out more about St Thomas, his story, his feast day and the traditions associated with him, in today’s 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 today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 17th December 1559, fifty-five-year-old Matthew Parker was consecrated as Queen Elizabeth I’s Archbishop of Canterbury. It was an office which Parker did not want and would not have accepted if “he had not been so much bound to the mother”.
What did he mean by that?
Well, when he was Anne Boleyn’s chaplain in 1536, the queen had met with him just six days before her arrest and he made her a promise.
Find out more about Matthew Parker, his life and that meeting with Anne Boleyn, in today’s talk:
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On this day in Tudor history, 14th December 1542, six-day-old Mary, daughter of King James V and his second wife, Marie de Guise, became Queen of Scotland – Mary, Queen of Scots.
King James V, who had ruled since 1513, was just 30 at his death.
Find out what happened to James V, and how Mary became queen at such a young age, in today’s talk.
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