On this day in Tudor history, 16th July 1517, the feast of St Francis, in the reign of King Henry VIII. Frances Brandon was born.
Frances was King Henry VIII’s niece.
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July 16 – The birth of Frances Brandon
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July 14 – A poisoned cardinal, and a Bible translator
On this day in Tudor history, 14th July 1514, in the reign of King Henry VIII, Cardinal Christopher Bainbridge died in Rome.
Who was this cardinal?
And who claimed to have poisoned him and why?
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July 13 – Some of Queen Jane’s councillors begin to feel uneasy
On this day in Tudor history, 13th July 1553, while the queen’s father-in-law, John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, was preparing to leave London to apprehend the late Henry VIII’s daughter, Mary, members of Queen Jane’s royal council were meeting with the imperial ambassadors.
What was the meeting about?
What was the news from East Anglia?
And why were the queen’s councillors beginning to feel uneasy?
Let me explain…
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July 9 – Mary I wants to avoid bloodshed and vengeance, and Elizabeth I visits Leicester’s home
On this day in Tudor history, 9th July 1553, Mary (the future Mary I), daughter of King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, wrote to her late half-brother’s privy council regarding “some evil” that she had heard.
This was three days after Edward VI’s death and the day after Mary had proclaimed herself queen at at Kenninghall.
But what was going on? What had Mary heard and was she going to do about it?
Find out more about the situation and Mary’s letter…
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July 1 – Treaties arrange the marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots and Prince Edward (Edward VI)
On this day in Tudor history, 1st July 1543, in the reign of King Henry VIII, the Treaties of Greenwich were signed between England and Scotland.
Among the terms of the treaties was the agreement of a marriage between five-year-old Prince Edward, the future Edward VI, and the infant Mary, Queen of Scots.
Scotland went on to reject the treaties and this led to a war between Scotland and England, the Rough Wooing.
Let me explain what these treaties were all about, what happened in the war known as the Rough Wooing, and why it was called that.
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June 29 – The death of Lady Margaret Beaufort, and the Globe burns down!
Today is the anniversary of the death of sixty-six-year-old Lady Margaret Beaufort. matriarch of the Tudor dynasty, on 29th June 1509.
She died just four days after she had enjoyed the coronation celebrations of her grandson King Henry VIII and his new bride and queen, Catherine of Aragon.
Margaret Beaufort is surrounded by myth and it seems fashionable to see her as a religious zealot. But who was this influential Tudor lady? What did she do?
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June 26 – Two loyal soldiers: Sir Edmund Carew and Sir John Wingfield
On 26th June 1513, in the reign of King Henry VIII, a loyal soldier lost his life serving the Crown.
What happened to Sir Edmund Carew? How did he die? And how else did his service to the Crown affect him?
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Tudor Coronations True or False Quiz
We’ve just had the anniversary of the coronation of the second Tudor monarch, King Henry VIII, who was crowned on 24th June 1509, so I thought I’d test your knowledge of Tudor coronations.
How much do you know about the coronations of the Tudor kings and queens?
Test your knowledge with this fun quiz…
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June 23 – Levina Teerlinc amd her miniatures, and a Tudor doctor and mathematician
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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June 22 – Bishop Fisher is executed
On this day in Tudor history, 22nd June 1535, in the reign of King Henry VIII, John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, was executed.
Why was Fisher executed and how did the pope try to save him?
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June 15 – The death of Will Somer, court fool
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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June 14 – Friar Peto and Sir Christopher Danby, both lucky men
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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June 13 – George Neville, and fighting actors
On this day in Tudor history, 13th June 1535, courtier George Neville, 3rd Baron Bergavenny, died. He’d done well for himself in the reigns of King Richard III and Henry VII, but came undone in Henry VIII’s reign.
What happened to George Neville?
Find out a bit more about him
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June 9 – William Courtenay, William Paget, and the 1549 Book of Common Prayer
On this day in Tudor history, 9th June 1511, in the reign of King Henry VIII, William Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon, died.
Who was Courtenay and how did he go from being in favour to being a traitor and then back to being in favour?
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Anne of Cleves Places Word Search
This week’s puzzle tests your knowledge of places associated with Anne of Cleves, fourth wife of King Henry VIII.
Note: the words can go in any direction!
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May 27 – Cardinal Pole makes an enemy and his mother, Margaret Pole, suffers a botched execution
On 27th May 1536, Cardinal Reginald Pole, who was in Venice, wrote to King Henry VIII. It was a very polite letter but what he sent with it brought Pole and his family trouble. He made the mistake of making an enemy of King Henry VIII.
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Anne Boleyn’s Life Crossword Puzzle
This past week has been the anniversary of the execution of Queen Anne Boleyn on 19th May 1536, so I thought we’d pay tribute to Anne by testing your knowledge of Henry VIII’s second wife.
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May 17 – Executions in 1521 and 1536, and the spy Anthony Bacon
On this day in Tudor history, 17th May 1521, Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, was executed for treason on Tower Hill.
He’d served King Henry VII and King Henry VIII loyally for many years, so what led to this nobleman being condemned for high treason?
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May 11 – Two Carthusians lose their lives and the doctor who saved a queen
On this day in Tudor history, 11th May 1537, Blessed John Rochester and Blessed James Walworth, two Carthusian monks from the London Charterhouse, met their ends in York after being condemned for treason.
In a five-year period, eighteen Carthusian monks were executed, but why? What had King Henry VIII got against these men of God? What happened?
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May 8 – Charles Wriothesley, Elizabeth I’s Acts of Uniformity and Supremacy, and a show of strength
On this day in Tudor history, 8th May 1508, herald and chronicler Charles Wriothesley was born in London.
Wriothesley’s chronicle is one of the major primary sources for King Henry VIII’s reign, so let Claire tell you more about its writer, Charles Wriothesley, Windsor Herald, and what heralds actually are.
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1 May – Evil May Day Riot, May Day and a hot-tempered courtier
On this day in Tudor history, 1st May 1517, foreign traders in London had their shops and property vandalised and damaged by a mob of angry apprentices and labourers.
What sparked off this “Evil May Day Riot”? What happened to the troublemakers? And how did Queen Catherine of Aragon and Henry VIII’s sisters, Margaret and Mary, get involved? I explain…
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April 30 – A lawyer is burnt and two Tudor statesmen die
On this day in Tudor history, 30th April 1532, in the reign of King Henry VIII, lawyer James Bainham was burned at the stake at Smithfield for his reformed faith.
Find out more about what led Bainham to the stake, and hear an account of his end…
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April 18 – Cromwell is rewarded (but not for long!), a martyrologist, and Anne Boleyn bumps into Chapuys
On this day in Tudor history, 18th April 1540, just three months before his execution, Thomas Cromwell was given two rewards by King Henry VIII.
Find out more about these rewards…
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April 15 – A royal champion, blows and evil words from Elizabeth I, and an unhappy Earl of Essex
On this day in 1545, Sir Robert Dymoke, champion at the coronations of Henry VII and Henry VIII, and a man who served in the households of Queens Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn, died.
He had an interesting career and survived being suspected of involvement in the 1536 Pilgrimage of Grace rebellion.
Find out more about Sir Robert Dymoke…
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April 7 – Robert Aske and Elizabeth Boleyn
On this day in Tudor history, 7th April 1537, Robert Aske and Thomas Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy, were sent to the Tower of London.
Both Aske and Darcy had been involved in the Pilgrimage of Grace rebellion of 1536, with Aske being “chief captain” of the rebels.
Even though Henry VIII pardoned the rebels after negotiations in 1536, Darcy and Aske were arrested, imprisoned and executed as traitors.
Find out more about what happened and more about Robert Aske, the rebel leader…
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April 5 – A pope is declared wrong and a cook is boiled to death
On this day in 1533, Convocation, ruled that the pope was wrong and that Henry VIII was right, i.e. it ruled that the Pope had no power to dispense in the case of a man marrying his brother’s widow, and that it was contrary to God’s law – Catherine of Aragon should not have been able to marry Henry VIII.
This was just as well seeing as the king had got married to Anne Boleyn and she was pregnant with his child!
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Tudor Mistresses and Bastards Crossword Puzzle
Henry VIII has been linked romantically to a number of women, but how much do you know about these women and his alleged illegitimate children.
And what about the other Tudor kings and queens and Tudor personalities who were said to be royal bastards?
Test your knowledge of Tudor mistresses and Tudor bastards in this week’s puzzle – a fun crossword puzzle.
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March 30 – Thomas Cranmer and his protestation, and A “pregnant” Mary I makes her will
On this day in Tudor history, 30th March 1533, at the Passion Sunday service, Thomas Cranmer, Archdeacon of Taunton, was consecrated as Archbishop of Canterbury.
His consecration was not like those of others before him, however, because as well as making the usual oath promising to be faithful to the papacy and to denounce heretics, he also made a protestation to show that his oath would not conflict with his loyalty to King Henry VIII and his commitment to reforming the church. Hmmmm…. complicated.
Find out more in this talk…
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March 28 – The birth of the amazing Raphael and the death of Anne Boleyn’s chaplain and almoner John Skip
This day in history, 28th March 1483, is one of the dates out forward as the birthdate of Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, or Raphael as he is known, the Italian Renaissance artist and architect.
Did you know that Henry VII owned a piece of art by Raphael and that Henry VIII admired his work?
Find out a bit more about Raphael and see some of his beautiful works of art in this talk…
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March 23 – The last abbey is dissolved and the Pope issued a bull proclaiming Catherine of Aragon to be England’s true queen
On this day in Tudor history, 23rd March 1540, Waltham Abbey, an Augustinian house in Essex, was surrendered to the Crown.
It was the last abbey to be dissolved in Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell’s dissolution of the monasteries.
Find out more about this historic abbey, its origins and what’s left today, and also who profited from its lands, in this talk…
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