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  • This week in history 20 – 26 February

    7 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in history…

    20th February

    1516 – Baptism of Princess Mary, the future Mary I, in the Church of the Observant Friars at Greenwich. The princess was carried to the font by the Countess of Surrey, and her godparents were Catherine Courtenay, Countess of Devon and daughter of Edward IV; Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury and daughter of George, Duke of Clarence; the Duchess of Norfolk and Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. Click here to read more.
    1523 – Hanging of Agnes Hungerford, Lady Hungerford, at Tyburn. Agnes was hanged, with her servant William Mathewe, after they were found guilty of murdering Agnes’s first husband, John Cotell. It was said that Agnes arranged for her servants, William Mathewe and William Ignes, to strangle Cotell in 1518. Mathewe and Ignes were found guilty of murder ‘by the procurement and abetting of Agnes Hungerford’, and Agnes was found guilty of inciting and abetting the murder. Ignes was hanged at a later date. Agnes was buried at Grey Friars, London.
    1547 – Edward VI was crowned King at Westminster Abbey by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer. Edward VI was the first monarch to be anointed as Supreme Head of the English Church. Click here to read more about his coronation.

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  • 20 February 1547 – Nine-year-old Edward VI is crowned king

    7 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in history, 20th February 1547, the nine-year-old son of the late King Henry VIII was crowned King Edward VI by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer at Westminster Abbey.

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  • 9 February 1555 – The burnings of Bishop John Hooper and Archdeacon Rowland Taylor

    7 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in history, 9th February 1555, the burnings of two prominent Protestant churchmen took place.

    John Hooper, Bishop of Gloucester and Worcester, was burned at the stake in Gloucester. He had been deprived of his bishopric in March 1554, due to his marriage. Rowland Taylor, Rector of Hadleigh in Suffolk, Canon of Rochester Cathedral, Archdeacon of Bury St Edmunds, Archdeacon of Cornwall and former chaplain to Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, was burned on Aldham Common, near Hadleigh. Both men were executed as part of Queen Mary I’s persecution of Protestants.

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  • This week in history 7-13 November

    8 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in history events for 7th – 13th November:

    7 November:

    1485 – Richard III and his supporters were attainted at Henry VII’s first Parliament. Click here to read more.
    1541 – Archbishop Thomas Cranmer and the Duke of Norfolk went to Hampton Court Palace to interrogate Queen Catherine Howard, and to arrange that she should be confined to her chambers there. Click here to read more.
    1557 – Death of Sir John Arundell of Lanherne. He was buried at St Mawgan Church. Arundell served Henry VIII as Sheriff of Cornwall and Commander of troops against the rebels during the Pilgrimage of Grace. He also served in France in 1544. During Edward VI’s reign, in 1549, he was imprisoned after John, Baron Russell, accused him of refusing to raise troops and of ordering the mass to be performed. He was released in June 1552.
    1565 – Death of Sir Edward Warner, soldier, member of Parliament and Lieutenant of the Tower of London during the reigns of Edward VI and Elizabeth I. He was the gaoler of Katherine Seymour (née Grey), Countess of Hertford, who had been imprisoned for secretly marrying Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford. Warner died in Norfolk and was buried at Little Plumstead Church in the county.
    1568 – Baptism of Dunstan Gale, poet and author of “Pyramus and Thisbe”, at St Giles Cripplegate, London.
    1581 – Death of Richard Davies, scholar and Bishop of St David’s, in Abergwili, Carmarthenshire, in the bishop’s palace. He was a friend of Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury, and undertook translations of parts of the Bible.
    1603 – Burial of Robert Allot, literary compiler, bookseller, poet and editor of the 1599 “Wits Theater” and the 1600 “Englands Parnassus”, at St Ann Blackfriars.

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  • God’s Kingdom Awaits: The Death of Henry VIII by Beth von Staats

    8 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    As today is the anniversary of the death of King Henry VIII in 1547, Beth von Staats, Tudor Life magazine contributor and author of Thomas Cranmer in a Nutshell, has written a very moving piece of fiction about Henry VIII’s final days from the viewpoint of Thomas Cranmer. I do hope you enjoy it.

    It is time for the Lord to act; they have frustrated Your law.  ~~~ Psalm 119:126

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  • 16 October 1555 – The Burnings of Bishops Ridley and Latimer

    9 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    he burnings of two of the Oxford martyrs: Hugh Latimer, Bishop of Worcester, and Nicholas Ridley, Bishop of London took place on this day in 1555, in the reign of the Catholic Mary I. The two men, along with Thomas Cranmer, who was burnt at the stake on the 21st March 1556, are known as the Oxford Martyrs and their lives and deaths are commemorated in Oxford by Martyrs’ Memorial, a stone monument just outside Balliol College and near to the execution site, which was completed in 1843. A cross of stones set into the road in Broad Street marks the site of their burnings.

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  • #OTD in Tudor history – 13 November

    1 week ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Lady Jane Grey and Archbishop Thomas Cranmer

    On this day in Tudor history, 13th November, mercer and member of Parliament Robert Packington was shot to death by an unknown assailant (1536); and Lady Jane Grey and her husband, Lord Guildford Dudley, two of his brothers, and Archbishop Cranmer were tried for treason…

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  • #OTD in Tudor history – 8 November

    1 week ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Portraits of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon

    On this day in Tudor history, 8th November, Henry VIII made a rather strange speech explaining his troubled conscience about his marriage to Catherine of Aragon (1528); and scholar, literary patron and chamberlain to Catherine of Aragon, William Blount, 4th Baron Mountjoy, died at Sutton on the Hill (1534)…

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  • #OTD in Tudor history – 21 September

    2 months ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Lettice Knollys and Robert Dudley

    On this day in Tudor history, 21st September, theologian and chaplain Henry Pendleton, a man known for changing his faith, was buried; and Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, married Lettice Devereux in secret…

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  • #OTD in Tudor history – 8 August

    3 months ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Photo of Edward VI's grave marker and a portrait of Edward VI

    On this day in Tudor history, Margaret Tudor married James IV of Scotland at Holyroodhouse; Edward VI was buried at Westminster Abbey in a Protestant service; and Elizabeth I accepted the Earl of Leicester’s invitation to visit the troops at Tilbury Fort…

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  • #OTD in Tudor history – 16 July

    4 months ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Burning of Anne Askew and the Louvre portrait of Anne of Cleves

    On this day in Tudor history, Frances Grey (née Brandon), Duchess of Suffolk, was born; Anne Askew was burnt at the stake for heresy with two others; and Anne of Cleves, Henry VIII’s fourth wife, died at Chelsea Old Manor…

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  • #OTD in Tudor history – 30 June

    4 months ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Portraits of Henry VIII, Catherine Howard, and Henry II of France

    On this day in Tudor history, Henry VIII and Catherine Howard set off on their ill-fated progress to the North; and keen sportsman, King Henry II of France, suffered a mortal head wound while jousting…

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  • #OTD in Tudor history – 9 June

    5 months ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Portrait of William Paget and the frontispiece of The Book of Common Prayer

    On this day in Tudor history, 9th June, William Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon, died; the Book of Common Prayer was used in English churches for the first time; and diplomat and administrator William Paget, 1st Baron Paget, died…

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  • #OTD in Tudor history – 28 May

    5 months ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Painting of the Spanish Armada and an engraving of the gallows at Tyburn

    On this day in Tudor history, 28th May, Archbishop Cranmer, proclaimed the validity of Henry VIII’s marriage to Anne Boleyn; three Catholic priests were executed for a plot that may not have been real; and the Spanish Armada set sail from Lisbon in Portugal bound for the Spanish Netherlands…

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  • #OTD in Tudor history – 23 May

    6 months ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Portraits of a young Elizabeth I, Henry VIII and Archbishop Cranmer

    On this day in Tudor history, 23rd May, Henry Grey was finally installed as a Knight of the Garter; Elizabeth (future Elizabeth I) arrived as Woodstock, where she was to be kept under house arrest; and Henry VIII’s first marriage was finally annulled…

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  • #OTD in Tudor history – 19 May

    6 months ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Photo of the White Tower and a miniature of Anne Boleyn

    On this day in Tudor history, Queen Anne Boleyn was executed at the Tower of London; Henry VIII was issued a dispensation to marry wife number 3, the future Elizabeth I was released from the Tower of London into house arrest; and it’s the Feast of St Dunstan…

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  • #OTD in Tudor history – 17 May

    6 months ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Portraits of Edward Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, and Anthony Bacon

    On this day in Tudor history, 17th May, Edward Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, was executed for treason; five men were executed as traitors for their involvement with Queen Anne Boleyn; and Elizabethan spy Anthony Bacon was buried…

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  • #OTD in Tudor history – 3 May

    6 months ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    An illumination of Cecilly Neville, and portraits of Anne Boleyn and Thomas Cranmer

    On this day in history, 3rd May, Cecily Neville, Duchess of York and mother of Edward IV and Richard III, was born; Archbishop Cranmer wrote of his shock about the investigation into Anne Boleyn; Sir Edward Rogers, a man who served three Tudor monarchs, died; and poet and farmer Thomas Tusser died…

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  • #OTD in Tudor history – 27 April

    6 months ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Portraits of Henry VIII, Thomas Cranmer and Anne Boleyn

    On this day in Tudor history, 27th April, writs were issued summoning Parliament and a bishop consulted about Henry VIII abandoning Anne Boleyn; Elizabethan lawyer and judge David Lewis died; and adventurer Sir Edward Michelborne died…

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  • #OTD in Tudor history – 21 March

    8 months ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    An engraving of the burning of Archbishop Cranmer and a portrait of him

    On this day in Tudor history, 21st March, Puritan Sir John Leveson, a man who helped put down Essex’s Rebellion, was born; Archbishop Cranmer was burnt at the stake in Oxford for heresy; and a dying Elizabeth I took to her bed…

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  • #OTD in Tudor history – 20 February

    9 months ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Portrait of Edward VI

    On this day in Tudor history, 20th February, Mary I was baptised, Lady Agnes Hungerford was hanged for murder, Edward VI was crowned king at Westminster Abbey, and Anne Herbert (née Parr), Countess of Pembroke, died…

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  • #OTD in Tudor history – 14 February

    9 months ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Portraits of Sir Nicholas Carew and an older Henry VIII

    On this day in Tudor history, 14th February, former royal favourite Sir Nicholas Carew was found guilty of treason, Henry VIII’s coffin leaked yucky stuff, fulfilling a prophecy, and “William Waste-all” died…

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  • #OTD in Tudor History – 9 February

    9 months ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    A portrait of Lady Jane Grey and a coloured engraving of Bishop John Hooper

    On this day in Tudor history, 9th February, Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford, was taken to the Tower of London, Lady Jane Grey’s execution was postponed, and a prominent bishop was burnt at the stake for heresy…

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  • #OTD in Tudor History – 27 January

    9 months ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    A miniature of Sir Francis Drake and an engraving of the Gunpowder Plotters

    On this day in history, 27th January, Protestant Bartholomew (Bartlet) Green was executed along with six others at Smithfield, Sir explorer Sir Francis Drake died of dysentery off the coast of Panama, and the remaining Gunpowder Plotters were tried and found guilty…

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  • October 8 – Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector is proclaimed a traitor

    1 year ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Portrait of Edward Seymour as 1st Earl of Hertford (cr 1537), wearing the Collar of the Order of the Garter. By unknown artist, Longleat House, Wiltshire.

    On this day in Tudor history, 8th October 1549, in the reign of King Edward VI, the king’s uncle, Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector, was proclaimed a traitor by the king’s privy council after he’d fled to Windsor Castle with Edward VI and called for troops to defend him and his charge.

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  • October 4 – Sir John Cheke recants

    1 year ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Engraving of Sir John Cheke by Joseph Nutting from the Life of Sir John Cheke by John Strype.

    On this day in Tudor history, 4th October 1556, following five months of imprisonment, humanist, former royal tutor and former secretary of state Sir John Cheke made a public recantation of his Protestant faith in front of Queen Mary I and the royal court.

    Cheke, who had tutored King Edward VI and served Queen Jane (Lady Jane Grey) as secretary of state, had been imprisoned in late July 1553 following Mary I’s accession for his part in putting Lady Jane Grey on the throne, but released in spring 1554. Mary I granted him a licence to go into exile abroad, which he did, travelling to Strasbourg, Basel, Padua and then back to Strasbourg.

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  • August 23 – Stephen Gardiner becomes Lord Chancellor

    1 year ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    A portrait of Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester

    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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  • Monday Martyr – The 1555 Canterbury Martyrs

    1 year ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    A photo of Martyrs Monument, Martyrs Field Road, Canterbury

    This week’s #MondayMartyrs are the Canterbury Martyrs of 1555.

    Protestants William Coker, William Hopper, Henry Laurence, Richard Colliar (or Collier), Richard Wright, and William Stere were burnt at the stake in Canterbury on 23rd August 1555, in the reign of Queen Mary I.

    Martyrologist John Foxe tells the story of these “Kentish men” who were “called forth and examined by Thornton, bishop of Dover, Nicholas Harpsfield, Richard Faucet, and Robert Collins”. Here are some facts about them, as shared in Foxe’s Book of Martyrs:

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  • Monday Martyr – John Lascelles (Lassells)

    1 year ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    A woodcut of the burnings of Anne Askew, John Lascelles, Nicholas Belenian and John Adams from John Foxe's Book of Martyrs

    This week’s Monday Martyr is John Lascelles (Lassells, Lacels), a courtier who was burnt at the stake for his Protestant faith at Smithfield on 16th July 1546 with priest Nicholas Belenian, tailor John Adams, and famous Protestant martyr Anne Askew.

    Here are some facts about this Henrician Protestant martyr

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  • June 1 – Anne Boleyn’s coronation

    1 year ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    A photo of Westminster Abbey and the National Portrait Gallery portrait of Anne Boleyn

    On this day in Tudor history, 1st June 1533, Whitsunday, Henry VIII’s second wife, Anne Boleyn, was crowned queen at Westminster Abbey.

    You can find out more about Anne Boleyn’s coronation in the video below, but here are a few facts:

    Anne was 6 months pregnant.
    She wore ermine-trimmed purple velvet coronation robes.
    Her train was carried by her step-grandmother, the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk.

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