On this day in Tudor history, 1st April, Chapuys, the imperial ambassador, reported that Henry VIII had sent Jane Seymour a purse of money; physician William Harvey, who discovered the circulation of blood, was born; and author and soldier Thomas Churchyard died…
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On this day in Tudor history, 31st March, the dying Henry VII made his will; Friar William Peto compared Henry VIII to Ahab and Anne Boleyn to Jezebel; and metaphysical poet and satirist John Donne died…
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On this day in Tudor history, 24th March, judge and Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir James Dyer, died; Queen Elizabeth I died at Richmond Palace; and Robert Rich, Earl of Warwick, died…
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On this day in Tudor history, 14th March, judge Sir John Port, who is known for mumbling in a case, which had serious repercussions, died; Bishop Arthur Bulkeley, former chaplain to Charles Brandon and Thomas Cromwell, died; and Sir John Russell, Lord Privy Seal, died…
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On this day in Tudor history, 3rd March, Charles Brandon and Mary Tudor may have got married in France, Margaret Tudor, former Queen of Scotland, married for the third time, and Edward IV’s illegitimate son, Arthur Plantagenet, Lord Lisle, died in the Tower of London…
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On this day in Tudor history, 1st March, Scottish evangelical preacher George Wishart was hanged and burnt, conspirator William Stafford was born, Grand Prior Sir Thomas Tresham died, and physician, poet and musician Thomas Campion died…
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On this day in Tudor history, 28th February, Gerald Fitzgerald, 11th Earl of Kildare and the fugitive “Wizard Earl” was born, Protestant Thomas Forret was burnt at the stake, and Protestant reformer Martin Bucer died…
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On this day in Tudor history, 27th February, English forces were defeated by the Scots at the Battle of Ancrum Moor, diarist and clergyman Richard Madox died at sea, and two priests and the woman who harboured them were executed…
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On this day in Tudor history, 10th February, Catherine Howard was escorted to the Tower of London to prepare for her execution, Henry Neville, 5th Earl of Westmorland, died, and Mary, Queen of Scots’ second husband, Lord Darnley, was murdered…
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On this day in Tudor history, 7th February, Sir Thomas More, Henry VIII’s famous Lord Chancellor, was born, Mary, Queen of Scots was informed she’d be executed the next day, and Henry VIII took part in the Shrovetide joust with the motto “Declare I dare not”…
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On this day in Tudor history, Henry VIII’s first wife, Catherine of Aragon, was laid to rest as Dowager Princess of Wales, and, on the very same day, his second wife, Anne Boleyn, experienced a tragic miscarriage…
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On this day in Tudor history, 16th January, a courtier and close friend of Henry VIII was born, a young king had his apartments broken into by his uncle, and a Howard man was tried for treason, and, unsurprisingly, found guilty…
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On this day in Tudor history, 11th January, the first recorded lottery was drawn at St Paul’s, a printer was hanged drawn and quartered, and a Lord of Misrule was buried…
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What happened on this day in Tudor history, 5th January, in Tudor times?
Let me share with you some events from 5th January during the reigns of the Tudor kings and queens…
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On this day in Tudor history, 18th September 1535, in the reign of King Henry VIII, Henry Brandon, 2nd Duke of Suffolk, was born.
Henry would not have a long life, dying at the age of fifteen from sweating sickness.
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On this day in Tudor history, 17th September 1575, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Swiss reformer and theologian Heinrich (Henry) Bullinger died in Zurich.
Bullinger succeeded Huldrych Zwingli as pastor at Grossmünster and head of the church in Zurich. His main work was “The Decades”, a theological work, but his sermons were also translated and published, and he wrote historical works.
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On this day in history, 8th September 1603, in the reign of King James I and just a few months after the death of Elizabeth I, courtier George Carey, 2nd Baron Hunsdon, died.
Carey was the son of Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hundson, and grandson of Mary Carey (née Boleyn).
He served Elizabeth I as Marshal of the Household, Justice of the Peace, Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire, Captain of the Isle of Wight, member of Parliament, Captain of the Gentlemen Pensioners, Lord Chamberlain and Privy Councillor.
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On this day in Tudor history, 6th September 1572, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Sir Henry Jerningham (Jernegan) died at his manor of Costessey in Norfolk. He was buried in the parish church there.
Jerningham served Henry VIII and Mary I, and his offices in Mary’s reign included privy councillor, Vice-Chamberlain of the Household, and Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard. He was instrumental in helping Mary in the succession crisis of 1553.
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On this day in Tudor history, 5th (or 6th) September 1558, in the reign of Queen Mary I, judge, legal writer and Speaker of the House of Commons Sir Robert Broke died at a friend’s house in Patshull, Staffordshire.
Broke was buried in Claverley Church, Shropshire.
Broke’s other offices included Deputy Chief Steward for the Duchy of Lancaster, Serjeant-at-Law and Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.
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On this day in Tudor history, 23rd August 1553, just over a month after Mary I had been proclaimed queen, Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, was made Lord Chancellor.
Here are some facts about Stephen Gardiner, a man known as “Wily Winchester”…
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This week’s #MondayMartyr is Protestant Agnes Prest, who was burnt at the stake at Southernhay, just outside of Exeter’s city walls on 15th August 1557, in the reign of Queen Mary I. Agnes was outspoken in her views of the Catholic Church, viewing the Eucharist as “that foul idol” and the Church as the “Whore of Babylon”.
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On this day in Tudor history, 13th August 1566, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Sir Humphrey Radcliffe died at his manor of Elstow. He was buried at Elstow Abbey.
Radcliffe served as a Member of Parliament during the reigns of Mary I and Elizabeth I, and then as a Justice of the Peace and Sheriff in Elizabeth I’s reign.
Here are some more facts about Sir Humphrey Radcliffe…
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On this day in Tudor history, 12th August 1577, humanist scholar and diplomat Sir Thomas Smith died at Hill Hall in Essex. He was buried in St Michael’s Church, Theydon Mount.
Smith served Elizabeth I as Chancellor of the Order of the Garter and as Secretary of State, but is known for his political books “The Discourse of the Commonweal” and “De Republica Anglorum; the Manner of Government or Policie of the Realme of England”.
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On this day in Tudor history, 4th August 1598, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, died in London aged seventy-six. He had been Elizabeth I’s chief advisor.
Here are a few facts about Burghley:
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On this day in Tudor history, 1st August 1596, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, courtier John Ashley (Astley) died, probably at Maidstone in Kent. He was buried there at All Saints’ Church.
Here are some facts about Ashley
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Fans of all things Tudor will be thrilled to know that a weekend conference dedicated to the late Dame Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall Trilogy will be held next summer
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On this day in Tudor history, 13th July 1527, John Dee, the astrologer, mathematician, alchemist, antiquary, spy, philosopher, geographer and adviser to Elizabeth I and influential statesmen, was born in London.
He had an incredible career
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On this day in Tudor history, 5th May 1586, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, fifty-six-year-old Sir Henry Sidney died. His body was buried in the Sidney Chapel at Penshurst and his heart in Ludlow, where he lived as President of the Council in the Marches of Wales.
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On this day in Tudor history, 29th April 1500, William Dacre, 3rd Baron Dacre of Gilsland and 7th Baron Greystoke was born.
Here are some facts about this Tudor baron:
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