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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On this day in Tudor history, 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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Today’s Claire Chats was inspired by the recent video I did about the Evil May Day Riot which took place on 1st May 1517, in London, in the reign of King Henry VIII. The riot was an attack on the property of foreign traders in London by a mob of young apprentices and labourers, and it made me want to dig deeper into the topic of immigration during this period.
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On this day in Tudor history, 6th May 1541, King Henry VIII issued an injunction ordering the Great Bible to be available in every church in England.
But what was this Bible? Who had worked on its translation?
I explain just what this Bible was in today’s video.
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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? Let me explain…
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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 this man to the stake, as well as an account of his end, in today’s video.
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On this day in Tudor history, 21st April 1509, King Henry VII, founder of the Tudor dynasty on the English throne, died at Richmond Palace.
Henry VII was succeeded by his seventeen-year-old son who, apparently, did “not desire gold or gems or precious metals, but virtue, glory, immortality”! Yes, this was Henry VIII.
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On this day in Tudor history, 12th April 1533, Anne Boleyn made her very first public appearance as King Henry VIII’s official queen consort.
Anne made quite an entrance! Accompanied by sixty ladies and “loaded with jewels”, she processed to Easter Eve mass at Greenwich Palace, setting tongues wagging.
Hear an account of this event in today’s video.
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On this day in Tudor history, 10th April 1512, Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots, eldest daughter of the late King Henry VII, and sister of King Henry VIII, gave birth to a boy who would become King James V of Scotland.
Find out more about James V, his life and reign, and his relationship with his uncle, King Henry VIII, in today’s video
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Sorry about the tongue-in-cheek title, but the cook of Bishop Fisher’s household really did get into hot water on this day in 1531 when he was boiled to death for high treason at Smithfield.
He was found guilty of high treason by an act of Parliament, but why? What happened and why did King Henry VIII take a personal interest in this case?
Find out all about Richard Roose and the case of poisoning in today’s video
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Henry VIII’s beloved sister, Mary Tudor, Queen of France, was born on this day in 1496 at Richmond Palace.
In this video, I give a brief overview of Mary Tudor’s life.
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On this day in Tudor history, 8th March 1539, former royal favourite Sir Nicholas Carew was beheaded for treason at Tower Hill.
How did a man who was once Henry VIII’s good friend and Master of the Horse end his days on the scaffold? I give an overview of Carew’s life, rise and fall, and his part in Anne Boleyn’s fall, in today’s video.
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Today we have a guest post from the DigVentures team who are currently working at Sudeley Castle. Thank you to Maiya of DigVentures for contacting me and sending me this article. Over to them…
Tudor history fans are being invited to help archaeologists unearth a remarkable set of ruins recently discovered in the grounds of Sudeley Castle.
Sudeley Castle, in the Cotswold town of Winchcombe, was one of the Tudors’ most beloved palaces and housed many of those closest to the crown. It’s where Anne Boleyn stayed with Henry VIII while he decided to dissolve the monasteries and where Katherine Parr, his last wife, later lived after he died.
Now, a small team of archaeologists from DigVentures are on a mission to unearth traces of another remarkable moment in Tudor history: a famously epic three-day party attended by Elizabeth I to celebrate her victory over the Spanish Armada, held somewhere in the castle grounds.
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On this day in Tudor history, 19th February 1547, the new king, the nine-year-old King Edward VI, son of King Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, processed through the streets of London on his coronation procession.
In this video, I share details of the procession route, descriptions of the streets, the huge procession, and the pageants and entertainment that Edward VI and the citizens of London would have enjoyed on that day in 1547. It sounds like a spectacular event.
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On this day in Tudor history, 17th February 1547, Edward Seymour was made Duke of Somerset. He was already leading the boy-king Edward VI’s government as Lord Protector, something that King Henry VIII had not wanted, so how did he get to these dizzying heights and who exactly was Edward Seymour?
I explain what happened in 1547 and share some Edward Seymour facts.
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I’ve been sent a press release regarding key parts of the Mary Rose, Henry VIII’s favourite warship, being displayed for the first time since she sank in 1545. They will be on display at the Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth, just in time for the UK’s half-term.
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In today’s “on this day in Tudor history”, I take you back to 1547 and a rather horrible event that was seen as the fulfilment of a prophecy. Friar William Peto had warned King Henry VIII that if he carried on with his behaviour then he would end up like King Ahab. Strong words!
I then move on to a happier topic, Valentine’s Day in the Tudor period. Did the Tudors celebrate Valentine’s Day and what did they do to mark the occasion?
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On this day in Tudor history, 13th February 1542, Catherine Howard, the former queen and fifth wife of King Henry VIII, and her lady-in-waiting, Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford, were executed at the Tower of London.
In today’s “on this day” video,I look at the accounts of their executions, including the one where Catherine Howard says “I die a Queen, but I would rather die the wife of Culpeper.” Did Catherine say that and did Jane Boleyn use her scaffold speech to repent of bringing down Anne Boleyn and George Boleyn in 1536? I relate what happened on 13 February 1542 and what these women said on the scaffold.
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On this day in Tudor history, 7th February 1526, Henry VIII took part in the traditional Shrovetide joust at Greenwich. In this video, I give details of this joust, its theme and a nasty accident that affected one courtier that day.
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In today’s “on this day in Tudor history” video, I read an excerpt from my book about a sad event affecting King Henry VIII and Queen Catherine of Aragon on this day in 1510.
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On this day in Tudor history, Henry VIII’s first wife, Catherine of Aragon, was buried at Peterborough Abbey.
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Today’s Sunday quiz is on William Paget, 1st Baron Paget, a man who served Henry VIII, Edward VI and Mary I. How much do you know about this Tudor man? Find out! Good luck!
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Thank you to John Tepper Marlin, MA (Oxon.), author of Oxford College Arms for writing this guest post for us.
Six Oxford colleges were founded under the Tudors. Three under Henry VIII, two under Mary I, and one during the reign of Elizabeth I.
As members of the Tudor Society will know, the Tudor dynasty started with Henry VII, son of Lancastrian Edmund Tudor and Margaret Beaufort, a descendant of Edward III. Henry VII was brought up in Wales but had exiled himself to France while the Yorkists were in power. After the disappearance of Edward V in 1483, his uncle Yorkist Richard III was crowned and soon made himself unpopular. Henry VII returned to Wales, assembled an army that defeated and killed Richard III at Bosworth Field in 1485, and was crowned king in London. By marrying Elizabeth of York the following year, Henry VII united the Houses of Lancaster and York and created as his badge the “Tudor Rose” – red outside, white inside–that ever since has been used by every British monarch as a symbol of England.
On this day in Tudor history, 25th January 1533, King Henry VIII married his second wife, Anne Boleyn, at Whitehall Palace. In this video, I share an excerpt from my book, On This day in History, to tell you more about this event.
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We’re just coming to the end of a 3-day fiesta here in our village to celebrate our village’s saints’days and I just had to share this video with you for a bit of fun as it made me think of Henry VIII and his fellow knights.
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Today’s “on this day in Tudor history” is a happy episode from early in Henry VIII’s reign, when he was happy in his marriage to Catherine of Aragon.
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How much do you know about Catherine of Aragon, first wife of King Henry VIII? Test yourself with this fun Sunday quiz. Good luck!
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Let me tell you all about King Henry VIII’s first joust as king, which happened at Richmond Park on 12th January 1510.
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In today’s “on this day in Tudor history”, I talk about the death of Catherine of Aragon, first wife of King Henry VIII.
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Happy Epiphany! In today’s “on this day in Tudor history” video, I talk about the wedding of Anne of Cleves and Henry VIII, an event that took place on this day in 1540.
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