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Sir William Kingston

6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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Sir William Kingston, Constable of the Tower of London, Knight of the Garter and comptroller of the King’s household, was born around 1476. His origins are unknown but historian Stanford Lehmberg believes that he was from a Gloucestershire family who were related to the barons Berkeley of Berkeley Castle, Gloucestershire, and also to Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham. Kingston had a brother named George.

In 1497, Kingston was appointed as a yeoman of the chamber to Henry VII and served in this position until 1509. In 1506, he became a Justice of the Peace for Gloucestershire. At Henry VII’s funeral in 1509, he served as a gentleman usher. In 1511 and 1512, he served in the army of Henry VIII and in September 1513 he fought at the Battle of Flodden against the Scots. He was knighted in October 1513.

In 1514, Kingston was made a king’s sewer and a sheriff of Gloucestershire, and in 1519, Cardinal Wolsey chose him to be a knight of the body in the privy chamber following Wolsey’s purge of the privy chamber in the Eltham Ordinances. He continued to serve the king as keeper of the king’s jewels and plate and then as a carver in 1521.
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John Leland

6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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John Leland, the well-known Tudor poet and antiquary was born in London on 13th September, probably in 1503 although the actual year of his birth is unknown.

Leland is known for his Latin poems and his antiquarian writings which included Assertio inclytissimi Arturii regis Britanniae, which he presented to Henry VIII; his New Year’s gift to Henry VIII, Antiquitates Britanniae; De uiris illustribus, a biographical encyclopedia of British writers; his travel notes, and his defence of the legends of King Arthur.

He died on 18th April 1552 in the parish of St Michael le Querne, Cheapside, London, and was buried there. It was recorded in 1547 that Leland “fell besides his wits” and in 1551, his brother was granted custody of him and his possessions.

His works can still be read today so I will share links for you to read them online. Be aware that some will be in the original Latin!
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7 September 1533 – The birth of Elizabeth I

6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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At three o’clock in the afternoon of Sunday 7th September 1533, the eve of the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen Elizabeth I was born at Greenwich Palace.

Elizabeth was the daughter of King Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn, and she came to the throne following the death of her older half-sister, Queen Mary I, on 17th November 1558. She reigned for over forty-four years, until her death on 24th March 1603, and her reign became known as a “golden age”. Elizabeth I has gone down in history as Good Queen Bess, the Virgin Queen and Gloriana.
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Elizabeth Somerset, Countess of Worcester, one of Anne Boleyn’s ladies

6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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Born around 1502 in Bechworth, Surrey, Elizabeth was the daughter of Lucy Neville and Sir Anthony Browne; with the latter serving as standard-bearer to Henry VII and occupying the post of Lieutenant of Calais.

Little is known of Elizabeth’s early life, however, her family did have connections to the royal court. Her father was a trusted courtier, and in 1508 her sister Anne married Sir Charles Brandon, one of the future King Henry VIII’s closest friends.

During the 1520s Elizabeth was of marriageable age, and in around 1526 she was matched with Henry Somerset, the second Earl of Worcester. This was an elevated match as her father was neither royal nor noble, however, his descendants were members of parliament. Somerset’s first wife, Lady Margaret Courtney, granddaughter of Yorkist queen Elizabeth Woodville, had died without issue. Elizabeth and Henry married before 1527 and would go on to produce nine children, with many living into adulthood.
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This week in history 4 – 10 September

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

4th September:

1504 – Birth of Antoine de Noailles, soldier and French diplomat at the English court in Mary I’s reign, at Château de la Fage.
1539 – William, Duke of Cleves, signed the marriage treaty promising his sister, Anne of Cleves, in marriage to King Henry VIII. The Duke then sent the treaty to England, where it was ratified and concluded by early October.
1550 – Death of Sir Thomas Paston, Gentleman of the Privy Chamber in the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI.
1588 – Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester died at his lodge at Cornbury, near Woodstock in Oxfordshire.
He had been ill for some time with a recurring stomach ailment, and so had decided to travel to Buxton to take the waters, but he died on the way.
1590 – Death of Sir James Croft, Lord Deputy of Ireland, member of Parliament and conspirator. Croft was one of the leaders of Wyatt’s Rebellion in 1554, but although he was sentenced to death for treason, he was eventually released and pardoned. He served Elizabeth I as Comptroller of the Household, but was imprisoned briefly in her reign for negotiating with the Duke of Parma without permission. Croft was buried at Westminster Abbey, in the Chapel of St John the Evangelist.
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September 2017 Tudor Life – Katherine of Aragon

6 years ago Author: ADMIN Tim
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Here is the full version of our 80-page September edition of Tudor Life Magazine. This month we focus on Katherine of Aragon, the first wife of Henry VIII.
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This week in history 28 August – 3 September

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

28th August:

1550 – Death of Thomas Magnus, administrator, Archdeacon of the East Riding of Yorkshire, member of the King’s Council and diplomat, at Sessay in the North Riding of Yorkshire. He was also buried there.
1551 – Lord Chancellor Richard Rich, Sir Anthony Wingfield and Sir William Petre went to Copthall in Essex to see Edward VI’s half-sister Mary. The purpose of their visit was to deliver the King’s order that Mary and her household should desist from celebrating the Catholic mass, and that Wingfield should replace Robert Rochester, whom Edward’s council had removed, as Mary’s comptroller. Mary refused to obey them and they were forced to leave, having failed their mission.
1553 – Death of Sir John Harington, administrator, in Bishopsgate, London. He was buried in Exton. Harington served Henry VIII as Esquire of the Body, Treasurer of War (1542 and 1543), Vice-Treasurer of the army for the 1544 French campaign and Treasurer of the expedition to France (1546).
1583 – Burial of William Latymer, Chaplain to Queen Anne Boleyn, Dean of Peterborough, chaplain to Elizabeth I and author of the “Cronickille of Anne Bulleyne”, a biography of Anne Boleyn. He was buried in Peterborough Cathedral.
1588 – Execution of William Dean, Roman Catholic priest and martyr, by hanging at Mile End Green, Middlesex. He was found guilty of high treason for being a Catholic priest.
1588 – Execution of Franciscan friar and martyr, Thomas Felton, near Brentford, Middlesex. He was hanged, drawn and quartered for his beliefs, and for proclaiming that he could not accept a woman as supreme head of the Church.
1588 – An ill Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, wrote his final letter to his queen and childhood friend, Elizabeth I.
1609 – Death of Sir Francis Vere (de Vere), soldier. He served in the English army in the Low Countries, and also in the 1596 Cadiz expedition. He was buried in Westminster Abbey.
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Shane O’Neill

6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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Born in about 1530, Shane O’Neill (Seán Mac Cuinn Ó Néill) was the youngest son of Conn Bacach O’Neill, Earl of Tyrone. His father was forced to recognise Henry VIII as his overlord and monarch, acknowledging his laws and supremacy and agreeing to renounce the Pope. Conn petitioned the king for the earldom of Ulster, but was offered instead the earldom of Tyrone, which he accepted. He later travelled to England to formally submit to Henry in person. Conn’s eldest son Mathew was created Baron of Dungannon at this time and had the right to succeed his father as Earl of Tyrone. Shane, as an adolescent, was excluded from the negotiations leading to the settlement.
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This week in history 21 – 27 August

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

21st August:

1536 – Death of Robert Sherborn (Sherborne), former Bishop of Chichester, at Chichester. He was buried in the cathedral there. The elderly and conservative bishop was forced to resign his see in June 1536 after being examined by Dr Richard Layton.
1551 – Death of Sir John Packington, judge. He was buried at Hampton Lovett in Worcestershire, where he had settled in 1528. Packington was an active member of the Council of the Marches, a justice for North Wales, Recorder of Worcester, a judge on the Brecon circuit in Wales, and Recorder of Ludlow.
1553 – Death of Sir Thomas Heneage, courtier. Heneage served Henry VIII as Groom of the Stool and Chief Gentleman of the Privy Chamber, and served Edward VI as a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber. He was buried in the chancel of the parish church at Hainton, Lincolnshire.
1568 – Death of Humphrey Llwyd, antiquary, translator and cartographer from a fever. He was buried in the north aisle of St Marcella’s (Llanfarchell) Church, which is also known as Whitchurch or Eglwys Wen. Llwyd is known for producing the first ever printed map of Wales.
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17 August 1510 – The end of Empson and Dudley

6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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On this day in history, 17th August 1510, the second year of King Henry VIII’s reign, Henry VII’s former chief administrators, Sir Edmund Dudley and Sir Richard Empson, were beheaded on Tower Hill after being found guilty of treason.

Chronicler Edward Hall records:

“The kynge beyng thus in hys progresse harde euery daye more and more complayntes of Empson and Dudley, wherfore he sent wryttes to the Shynfes of London, to put them in execucion, and so the xvii. day of August, they were both behedded at the Towre hyl, and their bodies buryed and their heades.”
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10 August 1512 – The Mary Rose’s first battle

6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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On this day in history, 10th August 1512, the Battle of Saint-Mathieu took place. It was a naval battle in the War of the League of Cambrai and it was between the English and Franco-Breton fleets off the coast of Brest, in present day Brittany, France. England was allied with Spain and the Holy Roman Empire at this time.

The Mary Rose, Henry VIII’s famous warship whose wreck was discovered in 1971 and raised in 1982, was chosen as the English fleet’s flagship by Sir Edward Howard, Admiral of the English fleet. It was her first battle. The twenty-five ship English fleet had set out from Portsmouth, on the south coast of England, after hearing news of the twenty-one ship French fleet gathering at Brest, and the two fleets engaged in Berthaume Bay on 10th August 1512.
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This week in history 7 – 13 August

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

7th August:

1485 – Henry Tudor (future Henry VII) dropped anchor at Mill Bay, Milford Haven, Wales. He had returned from exile to claim the crown of England. Click here to read more.
1514 – Peace treaty signed between England and France, arranging the marriage of the widowed fifty-two-year-old Louis XII of France and the eighteen-year-old Princess Mary Tudor, sister of Henry VIII.
1541 – Death of Sir Richard Weston, courtier and father of Sir Francis Weston who was executed in 1536 for alleged adultery with Queen Anne Boleyn. Richard served Henry VII as Groom of the Chamber and Henry VIII as an Esquire of the Body, Governor of Guernsey and treasurer of Calais. He was buried in Holy Trinity Church, Guildford.
1549 – The five-year-old Mary, Queen of Scots set sail from Dumbarton, Scotland, for France. A marriage had been agreed between Mary and Francis, the Dauphin, so Mary was going to be brought up at the French court. Mary arrived at Saint-Pol-de-Léon, near Roscoff in Brittany, just over a week later.
1574 – Sir Robert Dudley, mariner, cartographer and landowner, was born on this day in 1574 at Sheen House, Richmond. He was the illegitimate son of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester and favourite of Elizabeth I, and his lover Lady Douglas Sheffield, daughter of William Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Effingham, and widow of John Sheffield, 2nd Baron Sheffield.
1600 – Burial of Sir Thomas Lucy in the parish church at Charlecote, Warwickshire. Lucy was a magistrate and member of Parliament, but is best known for his links with William Shakespeare. Tradition has it that Shakespeare wrote a satirical ballad about Lucy, or he made a caricature of him in the character of Judge Shallow, as revenge after he was judged too harshly for poaching on Lucy’s estate, Charlecote Park. There is no evidence to support this story.
1613 – Death of Sir Thomas Fleming, Solicitor-General to Elizabeth I and James I, at Stoneham Park. He also served James I as Chief Justice of the King’s Bench. He was buried at North Stoneham Church.
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Margaret or Mary?

6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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Showtime’s “The Tudors” TV series caused all kinds of confusion by amalgamating Henry VIII’s two sisters in one character named Margaret, and throwing in lots of inaccuracies too! So, how much do you know about these two women and do you know which woman did what?

Grab a drink and snack, sit comfortably and get those little grey cells working with today’s fun history quiz. Good luck!
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4 August 1540 – Executions and more executions

6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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On 4th August 1540, Brother William Horne, laybrother of the London Charterhouse, was executed. He was hanged, disembowelled and quartered at Tyburn and was the last of the Carthusian Martyrs to be killed. Between May 1535 and August 1540, eighteen members of the Carthusian order were put to death for refusing to accept King Henry VIII as the Supreme Head of the Church.

You can read more about the Carthusian Martyrs in my article Henry VIII and the Carthusian Monks.

Horne wasn’t the only one to be executed that day. Chronicler Charles Wriothesley records:

“This yeare, the fowerth daie of Awgust, were drawen from the Tower of London to Tiburne, Giles Heron, gentleman, Clement Philpott, gentleman, late of Callis, and servant to the Lord Lile, Darbie Gynning, Edmonde Bryndholme, priest, William Horn, late a lay brother of the Charter Howse of London, and another, with six persons more, were there hanged drawen, and quartered, and one Charles Carow, gentleman, was that daie hanged for robbing of my Ladie Carowe, all which persons were attaynted by the whole Parliament for treason.”
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The Prayer Book Rebellion 1549

6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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The Prayer Book Rebellion was a rebellion that took place in the south-west of England in the summer of 1549, in the reign of King Edward VI.

Henry VIII, Edward VI’s father and the previous monarch, had broken with Rome in the 1530s and had been declared the Supreme Head of the Church in England. Although Henry had died a Catholic, the break had brought religious changes to the country and these had become more Protestant when his young son came to the throne.

In 1549, the Book of Common Prayer, which had been composed mainly by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer and which was the official liturgy of Edward VI’s Protestant Church, was introduced into England. It was in English and it replaced the Catholic Mass that the English people were used to celebrating. You can read more about the Book of Common Prayer in Beth von Staats’ excellent article – click here. This change wasn’t embraced by all of the English people and in the summer of 1549, there was trouble in Devon and Cornwall. The rebels called for the rebuilding of abbeys, the restoration of the Six Articles, the restoration of prayers for souls in purgatory, the policy of only the bread being given to the laity and the use of Latin for the mass.
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3 August 1553 – Mary I enters London

6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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On 2nd August 1553, Elizabeth, second daughter of King Henry VIII, greeted her half-sister Mary, the new queen, at Wanstead. The women then spent the night at Wanstead House, a royal hunting lodge. The following day, 3rd August, Mary and Elizabeth rode from Wanstead to Aldgate for Mary to be greeted by the city as its queen.

Here are some primary source accounts of Mary I’s entry into London on 3rd August 1553…

Henry Machyn, “citizen and merchant-taylor of London”, recorded in his diary:
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Should Ferdinand of Aragon have insisted on Katherine’s return?

6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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Thank you to Tudor Society member Angela for asking the question “Should Ferdinand of Aragon have insisted on Katherine’s return when Prince Arthur died?”. Historian Amy Licence, who is the author of “Catherine of Aragon: An Intimate Life of Henry VIII’s True Wife” has answered Angela’s question…

This is a complex question, because Katherine’s position in England fluctuated during the period of her widowhood between 1502 and 1509. Also, we have to consider the dual impulses in Ferdinand, as a father on one hand, and as a monarch on the other, playing on the international stage, on which all his children were pawns for the furtherment of the Spanish Empire. Out of Katherine’s parents, it was Isabella of Castile who played a more active role in terms of writing to Henry VII before and after her daughter’s wedding, so she was really the commanding figure of the pair until her death in 1505. We must be careful too, with the word “should,” because it is suggestive of hindsight. We know what an awful time Katherine was to have during her widowhood and later, at the hands of Henry VIII, but back then they didn’t know how things would turn out.
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The Great Drought of 1540

7 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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In today’s Claire Chats video, I look at the primary sources for the great drought of 1540, the same summer that Henry VIII married Catherine Howard and executed Thomas Cromwell.
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This week in history 10 – 16 July

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

10th July:

1553 – Lady Jane Grey, her husband, Guildford Dudley, her parents and Guildford’s mother arrived by barge at the Tower of London, having travelled from Syon. Two heralds then proclaimed that Lady Jane Grey was now Queen of England before they moved on to proclaim their message in Cheapside and Fleet Street.
1553 – A letter arrived from Mary, daughter of Henry VIII, informing the council that she was the rightful heir to the throne, not Lady Jane Grey, and demanding their support.
1559 – Death of Henry II of France. He had been injured in a joust on 30th June when he was hit in the face by a lance. It is thought that a splinter entered his eye and went into his brain. He was buried in the Saint Denis Basilica.
1559 – Accession of Francis II and Mary, Queen of Scots as King and Queen of France.
1584 – Assassination of William of Orange, also known as William the Silent or William I, Prince of Orange. He was shot in the chest at his home in Delft by Balthasar Gérard, a Catholic Frenchman. A reward of 25,000 crowns had been offered by Philip II of Spain for the assassination of William, who was the main leader of the Dutch Protestant revolt against Spanish forces in the Netherlands. William was buried in the New Church in Delft. Gérard was captured and was tortured for days before being executed on 14th July 1584.
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Anne of Cleves wordsearch

7 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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As today is the anniversary of the annulment of the marriage of Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves on 9th July 1540, I thought we would mark the occasion with an Anne of Cleves wordsearch as our Sunday fun.

Print it out, grab a drink and snack, and have a few minutes fun. It’s not too hard, I promise!
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8 July 1553 – Mary I declares herself queen

7 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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On this day in history, Saturday 8th July 1553, the day after she’d been informed of her half-brother Edward VI’s death, Mary Tudor, eldest daughter of King Henry VIII declared herself queen.

Mary gathered together her loyal household at Kenninghall and informed them of Edward VI’s death, stating that “the right to the crown of England had therefore descended to her by divine and by human law”.
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Sir Thomas More

7 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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Yesterday was the anniversary of the execution of Sir Thomas More, former Lord Chancellor to Henry VIII, on 6th July 1535. To commemorate that anniversary, I thought I would share with you a brief bio of More, based on an extract from my book On This Day in Tudor History, and then some videos about him.

Sir Thomas More is thought to have been born on 7th February 1477 or 1478 n Milk Street, London, and he was the son of Sir John More, lawyer and judge on the King’s Bench, and Agnes Graunger, daughter of Thomas Graunger, a Merchant of the Staple of Calais and an Alderman of London.

More joined the household of John Morton, Archbishop of Canterbury, before studying Latin and logic at the University of Oxford. He then studied law in London. It was while he was a student that he met and became friends with men like William Lilye, John Colet and Erasmus.
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Katherine Parr

7 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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Born around 1512 to a family of gentry status, Katherine was the oldest daughter of Sir Thomas Parr, a late fifteenth-century courtier and knight. Her mother was Maud Green, a close friend and lady in waiting to Henry VIII’s first wife, Katherine of Aragon. The Parrs were a substantial northern family, with Thomas Parr tracing his ancestry to Edward III. Parr was a well-respected man and enjoyed the patronage of the young Henry VIII, who in 1515 sent him to Newcastle to escort his sister, the Princess Margaret, on her month-long progress south to London. Reports suggest he was charming and gallant, with the princess finding him particularly desirable; he soon became a favourite at Henry’s court. Upon his death in 1517 he left portions of £400 (£140,000 in modern value) to his two daughters, with a considerable amount more remaining for his son William.

Without the presence of a male figure in what was a patriarchal period, Maud was dealt the challenging duty of raising her children while maintaining a presence at court. Throughout these challenges, Maud was successful; she managed her estates and finances accordingly, oversaw her children’s education and arranged suitable unions for them befitting their status and marriageability.
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25 June 1533 – Mary Tudor, Queen of France, dies

7 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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On this day in history, 25th June 1533, Mary Tudor, Queen of France, sister of King Henry VIII and wife of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, died at her home of Westhorpe Hall in Suffolk.

Mary had been born on 18th March 1496 at Richmond Palace and was the youngest surviving child of King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. She was renowned for her beauty, being described by the Venetian ambassador as “a Paradise – tall, slender, grey-eyed, possessing an extreme pallor”, and her motto was La volenté de Dieu me suffit (The will of God is sufficient for me). In 1507, Mary was betrothed to Charles of Castile (the future Charles V Holy Roman Emperor), and their wedding was planned for 1514. However, the betrothal was cancelled due to Henry VIII’s diplomatic dealings and, much to Mary’s horror, she was betrothed instead to the fifty-two-year-old King Louis XII of France, a man thirty-four years her senior, as part of Cardinal Wolsey’s peace treaty with France.
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This week in history 19 – 25 June

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

19th June:

1502 – The Treaty of Antwerp was signed between Henry VII and Emperor Maximilian I at Antwerp. Henry VII promised a payment of £10,000 for aid against the Turks in exchange for Maximilian’s promise to banish Yorkist rebels from his territories.
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 the Supreme Head of the Church. Click here for more information on the Carthusian Martyrs.
1566 – Birth of James VI and I, King of Scotland, England and Ireland, at Edinburgh Castle in Scotland. James was the only son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and Henry Stuart (Stewart), Lord Darnley. James became James VI of Scotland when his mother was forced to abdicate 24th July 1567, and he became James I of England on the death of Elizabeth I, 24th March 1603.
1573 – Execution of Thomas Woodhouse, Jesuit priest and martyr, at Tyburn. He was the first priest to be executed in Elizabeth I’s reign. Woodhouse was beatified in December 1886 by Pope Leo XIII.
1616 – Death of Henry Robinson, Bishop of Carlisle, at his home, Rose Castle in Carlisle. He died of the plague. Robinson was buried in Carlisle Cathedral.
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Mary Boleyn

7 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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Mary Boleyn was probably the eldest daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn and Elizabeth Howard. She was most likely born at Blicking Hall, Norfolk. The date of her parents’ union is open to question, but fragmentary evidence indicates that they had married by 1501 at the latest. Mary was probably born at the turn of the 16th century. It is possible that she accompanied Henry VIII’s sister Mary to France in 1514 in readiness for her marriage to Louis XII, but whether she resided at the French court has never been resolved. Hostile rumours in circulation during the 1530s claimed that Louis’ successor, Francois I, knew Mary to have been promiscuous, but it is uncertain whether this meant she had gained her supposedly dubious reputation in France. Possibly Mary indeed resided at the French court during her teenage years, but if so she had certainly returned to England by early 1520, for her marriage to Henry VIII’s attendant, William Carey, occurred on 4 February that year. It is possible that she served Katherine of Aragon, but there is no evidence that she did so.
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This week in history 12 – 18 June

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

12th June:

1492 – Burial of Elizabeth Woodville, former consort of Edward IV, next to her husband in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.
1511 – Burial of William Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon, at Blackfriars.
1530 – Catherine of Aragon told Henry VIII to abandon his “wicked” life.
1535 – Richard Rich interviewed Sir Thomas More in the Tower of London. He later reported, at More’s trial, that More had denied the royal supremacy during this interview.
1540 – The newly imprisoned Thomas Cromwell wrote to King Henry VIII from the Tower of London, asking for mercy and pleading his innocence.
1553 – Edward VI’s council commanded the judges of the King’s Bench to turn Edward’s “Devise for the succession” into a legal will.
1567 – Death of Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich and Lord Chancellor, at Rochford. He was buried at Felstead. Richard Rich was Lord Chancellor in Edward VI’s reign and went on to serve in Mary I’s Privy Council.
1573 – Birth of Robert Radcliffe, 5th Earl of Sussex, courtier and soldier. He was the son of Henry Radcliffe, 4th Earl of Sussex, and his wife, Honor. Radcliffe served Elizabeth I as an ambassador and as Earl Marshal and Colonel General of her army. He was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Essex by James I in 1603.
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7 June 1520 – The Field of Cloth of Gold meeting begins

7 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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On this day in history, 7th June 1520, the famous Field of Cloth of Gold meeting began.

The meeting was between King Henry VIII of England and King Francis I of France and its aim was to solidify the Treaty of London. It took place between the English stronghold of Guînes and the French town of Ardres, on a piece of land referred to as the Field of Cloth of Gold, and ran from 7th June 1520 until 24th June 1520
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Anne of Cleves

7 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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Anne of Cleves was born on 22nd September 1515 in Dusseldorf to John III, Duke of Cleves, and his wife, Maria. Like Henry VIII’s first wife, Katherine of Aragon, Anne was born into a highly influential and politically active family. Her sister Sybille was married to the Elector of Saxony, and her brother, Wilhelm, became the future Duke of Cleves-Burg, and would be instrumental in negotiations regarding her future marriage.

Anne was born during the volatile reformation period, resulting in reforms against traditionalist Catholicism, which was spreading through western and northern Europe. Her mother has been described as a conservative Catholic, however, her sister Sybille’s husband was a renowned Lutheran, often given the epithet ‘champion of the reformation’, and a good friend of its founder, Martin Luther. Anne was originally intended to be married into the House of Lorraine when she was eleven in 1527. There were numerous negotiations regarding the union, but nothing was cemented, and by 1535 all official wedding discussions had essentially been rejected, leaving the desirable duke’s daughter available on the European marriage market. Henry VIII and his council were searching for a new wife after the death of Queen Jane Seymour in 1536, with rumours of a possible union with the Duchess of Milan. The French had aligned themselves to the Habsburgs and signed a ten-year truce in 1538 (although this never lasted), cementing a union between Europe’s two major Catholic powerhouses. Cromwell, Henry’s leading minister at the time, suggested a counter alliance with a Lutheran house in Germany, even though Anne’s family were relatively mild in their reformist views. Cromwell was aware that England was potentially vulnerable to a Franco-Habsburg invasion, and influenced the king that negotiating with the newly appointed Duke Wilhelm (Anne’s father had died in 1539) would be a successful diplomatic adventure, that would ensure the prosperity of England against foreign invasion.
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6 June 1522 – The grand entry of Emperor Charles V into London

7 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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On this day in history, 6th June 1522, Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, made a grand entry into London accompanied by King Henry VIII.

You can read two primary source accounts of Charles’s entry, and the pageantry involved, in the chronicles of Edward Hall and Charles Wriothesley at the following links
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