On this day in Tudor history, 26th June 1535, in the reign of King Henry VIII, a new commission of oyer and terminer was appointed in the case against Sir Thomas More, Henry VIII’s former Lord Chancellor and good friend. More was being indicted for high treason, and, of course, would eventually be executed.
How had this Tudor statesman come to this?
In today’s video, I explain why More was accused of high treason.
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On this day in Tudor history, 25th June 1533, Mary Tudor, former Queen of France, wife of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, and sister of King Henry VIII, died at her home in Suffolk. She was just thirty-seven years old.
In today’s video, I talk about Mary’s ill-health, her death and funeral.
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No, I’m not talking about Henry VIII’s love-life!
As you will know from my “on this day in Tudor history” videos and posts, there are many, many momentous Tudor dates. The Tudor period was packed full of important Tudor events. So, for this week’s Sunday quiz, I decided to test you on just a few of them. I hope you have a head for dates!
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On this day in Tudor history, 21st June 1529, Queen Catherine of Aragon, first wife of King Henry VIII, stole the show with an incredible speech at the Legatine Court at Blackfriars, a court that was hearing the case for the annulment of her marriage to the king.
The speech was given while she knelt at her husband’s feet and she appealed directly to him. It’s an incredible speech and I share it with you in today’s video.
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On this day in Tudor history, 19th June 1535, Sebastian Newdigate, William Exmew and Humphrey Middlemore, monks of the Carthusian Order of London Charterhouse, were hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn.
Their crime: refusing to accept King Henry VIII as supreme head of the Church in England.
But did you know that Sebastian Newdigate was actually a close friend of Henry VIII? Well, friendship and loyal service didn’t seem to matter if you were viewed as being at all defiant or disobedient.
In today’s video, I give you a few more details about Sebastian Newdigate and how he came to be executed in 1535.
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On this day in Tudor history, 18th June 1546, twenty-five-year-old Anne Askew was found guilty of heresy at London’s Guildhall along with Nicholas Shaxton (former Bishop of Salisbury), Nicholas White and John Hadlam.
Anne Askew has gone down in history as a Protestant martyr, after having been burned at the stake in July 1546, but also as a woman who was illegally put to the rack at the Tower of London by two of Henry VIII’s trusted men.
In today’s video, I use contemporary sources and Anne Askew’s own accounts, to piece together what happened that June and July, and what led to Anne Askew’s execution.
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Thank you to Lynne for asking about Catherine Cromwell. Lynne’s full question is “I was watching the actor Danny Dyer trace his family history on T.V. Apparently his family tree was traced to William the Conqueror and stopped at the Tudors which Catherine Cromwell was mentioned. She
seemed a powerful woman but I’ve never really heard of her. So my long-winded question is who was this Lady and how powerful was she in the
Tudor times?”
Now, there are several Catherine (or Katherine) Cromwells, one being the sister of Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex and Henry VIII’s right-hand man, who married Morgan Williams and who is an ancestor of Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector, but the Catherine that was mentioned in the TV programme on Danny Dyer’s ancestry was actually the great-granddaughter of Thomas Cromwell. Let me show you how she is linked to the Thomas Cromwell we all know and love (or hate!).
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On this day in Tudor history, 15th June 1536, Mary, daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, was bullied and threatened by members of her father’s council.
It must have been a truly shocking event for the twenty-year-old princess, who was now known as “Lady Mary”.
In today’s video, I give a contemporary account of what happened on this day and why, and explain how Mary did end up reconciling with her father the king.
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On this day in Tudor history, 10th June 1540, King Henry VIII’s right-hand man and ‘fixer’, Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, was arrested.
In today’s “on this day” video, I share an account of what happened on that day, the day when Henry VIII’s loyal servant fell from power and was escorted to the Tower of London.
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On this day in Tudor history, 8th June 1536, the sixth Parliament of King Henry VIII’s reign met.
This Parliament passed the Second Act of Succession, which removed Mary and Elizabeth from the succession and declared them illegitimate.
I explain what happened at this Parliament and also share another “on this day” event from the very same day in 1536.
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This day in Tudor history, 7th June 1520, was the first day of that historic meeting between King Henry VIII of England and King Francis I of France.
The meeting was known as the Field of Cloth of Gold and although it was a diplomatic meeting, it was a chance for these two Renaissance kings to show off to each other and try to outdo each other with their wealth, costumes and even strength.
Find out more about this famous meeting in today’s video.
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On this day in Tudor history, 3rd June 1535, Sir Thomas More, King Henry VIII’s former Lord Chancellor and good friend, was interrogated in the Tower of London by members of the king’s council.
These men were trying to get More to give a definitive answer on whether the statute of supremacy was lawful, seeing as he’d refused to take the oath of supremacy.
What happened on their visit and what was said afterwards?
Find out in today’s video.
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On this day in Tudor history, 1st June 1533, Whitsunday, Queen Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s second wife, was crowned queen at Westminster Abbey in a ceremony performed by her good friend, Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury.
It was a long day for the pregnant queen, starting with a procession from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey, then there was the actual coronation, where Anne was crowned with St Edward’s crown, and finally the huge coronation banquet.
Find out exactly what Anne Boleyn did on that day in 1533 in today’s video.
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This month’s expert is Roland Hui talking on one of his favourite historical topics – queenship, and more specifically the Six Wives of Henry VIII. Roland’s knowledge and expertise come through in this video and we know you’ll enjoy learning things you didn’t know before, as well as chatting with Roland later in the month in the Chatroom. Roland’s live chat session is scheduled for 29th June.
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On this day in Tudor history, Saturday 31st May 1533, the eve of her coronation, a pregnant Queen Anne Boleyn, second wife of King Henry VIII, processed from the Tower of London to Westminster Hall.
This coronation procession is one of those events that Claire would love to travel back in time for as it was a huge procession through the streets of London and there was lots of entertainment, including lavish, pageants, orations, music, and wine flowing in the conduits and in fountains. To be a citizen of London on that day! Wow!
Hear all about the pageantry in today’s video.
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On this day in Tudor history, 26th May 1536, Henry VIII’s daughter, Mary, sought the help of Thomas Cromwell, the king’s right-hand man. Now that Anne Boleyn was dead and gone, Mary hoped for a reconciliation with her father the king.
What did she want Cromwell to do?
What happened to Mary after Anne Boleyn’s death? How was she treated?
In today’s video,I consider Mary’s situation and what happened between her and her father after this point.
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Today is the anniversary of reformer and Bible translator William Tyndale’s arrest in Antwerp on 21st May 1535, after he was betrayed.
Why was Tyndale arrested and why didn’t King Henry VIII help him when he had the chance?
In today’s video, I explain what happened to Tyndale on this day, why the king refused to help him, and what happened next.
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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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