On this day in Tudor history, 16th January 1572, Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, eldest son of the late Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, was tried and found guilty of treason at Westminster Hall.
Norfolk had promised Queen Elizabeth I that he would not get involved with Mary, Queen of Scots, ever again, but it was a promise that he just couldn’t keep. Once again, he had become involved in a plot against Elizabeth I and in support of Mary, Queen of Scots. He wouldn’t escape punishment this time.
On this day in Tudor history, 15th January 1569, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Catherine Knollys (née Carey), wife of Sir Francis Knollys, daughter of Mary Boleyn, and cousin of the queen, died at Hampton Court Palace. She was about 45 years old.
Sadly, Queen Elizabeth I had kept Catherine and her beloved husband, Sir Francis Knollys, apart during Catherine’s final day.
Find out more about Catherine’s final days, the queen’s cruelty, Francis’s frustration, and Catherine’s lavish burial, which was paid for by the queen, in today’s talk.
On this day in Tudor history, 13th January 1599, Elizabethan poet and administrator in Ireland, Edmund Spenser, died in Westminster. He was described as “the prince of poets in his time” and is best known for his allegorical poem in praise of Elizabeth I, “The Faerie Queene”.
But, did you know that he also upset William Cecil twice and that his most famous work is actually unfinished?
Find out more about Edmund Spenser in today’s talk.
On this day in Tudor history, Thursday 12th January 1559, Queen Elizabeth I travelled by barge from Whitehall to the Tower of London to prepare for her coronation, which was due to take place on the 15th January.
Of course, her journey wasn’t a low key one in a normal river barge, it was a lavish one with decorated barges, music and the usual artillery fire. Find out all about this river procession in today’s talk.
On this day in Tudor history, 11th January 1579, courtier, Member of Parliament, Lord of Misrule and poet, George Ferrers, was buried at Flamstead, Hertfordshire.
Ferrers was a rather colourful Tudor character. He caused a stir when he was arrested on his way to the House of Commons (the Ferrers’ Case), he was Lord of Misrule on several occasions and led a huge procession into London, and he had a hand in the arrest of John Dee. And that’s not all!
Find out all about George Ferrers in today’s talk.
On this day in Tudor history, 10th January 1532, Protestant martyr Thomas Dusgate, also known as Thomas Benet, was burned at the stake at Livery Dole in Heavitree, near Exeter.
Benet was a zealous Reformer and got into trouble when he posted anti-Catholic bills on Exeter Cathedral’s door. He refused to recant, and it was said that “there never was so obstinate a heretic”.
Find out about this Protestant reformer, who sought advice from Martin Luther regarding his trouble with lust, in today’s talk.
On this day in Tudor history, 9th January 1514, Anne of Brittany, Queen Consort of King Louis XII of France, died at Château Blois in France. Her corpse was buried in the Cathedral Basilica of Saint-Denis and her heart was buried at Nantes.
Anne of Brittany was the mother of Queen Claude of France, the wife of a Holy Roman Emperor AND two Kings of France, and had been betrothed to one of the Princes in the Tower. A very interesting lady!
On this day in Tudor history, 7th January 1558, in the reign of Queen Mary I, England lost Calais to the French.
It was a devastating blow as Calais had been held by England for over 200 years and was an important port for English wool exports. Mary I was said to have exclaimed ““When I am dead and opened, you shall find ‘Philip’ and ‘Calais’ lying in my heart”.
Happy Epiphany! Happy Kings’ Day! Yes, today is the Feast of the Epiphany, the day that commemorated the visit of the Magi to the Christ Child.
Following on from yesterday’s Teasel’s Tudor Trivia about Epiphany Eve and Twelfth Night Cake, I thought I’d share with you some examples of how Epiphany was celebrated at the royal court. Find out what those Tudor people got up to on Twelfth Night in today’s talk.
On this day in Tudor history, 4th January 1575, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, courtier, diplomat and former rebel, Sir William Pickering, died at his home, Pickering House, in London.
He died a wealthy man and died a natural death, a miraculous feat seeing as he was a friend of the Earl of Surrey and the Duke or Northumberland, both of whom ended up on the scaffold, AND he was one of the men involved in planning Wyatt’s Rebellion in 1554. Wyatt lost his head, but Pickering kept his.
How? What happened? Find out more about Sir William Pickering in today’s talk.
On this day in Tudor history, 3rd January 1521, Pope Leo X excommunicated Reformer, German priest and professor of theology Martin Luther from the Catholic Church.
In today’s talk, I explain what led to Luther’s excommunication, what happened when Luther was called to the Diet of Worms, and what happened next to this famous Reformer.
On this day in Tudor history, 31st December 1559, Owen Oglethorpe, Bishop of Carlisle, died while under house arrest in London. He was buried at St Dunstan-in-the-West on 6th January 1560.
Oglethorpe is known for officiating at Queen Elizabeth I’s coronation in 1559, but also for infuriating the queen at Christmas 1558 by disobeying her instructions at Mass.
What did Oglethorpe do?
Find out about Owen Oglethorpe’s life and career, and how he upset the queen and ended his days under house arrest, in today’s talk.
On this day in Tudor history, 30th December 1568, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Roger Ascham, scholar and royal tutor, died. He was laid to rest in the St Stephen’s chapel of St Sepulchre without Newgate, London.
Ascham served as tutor to Princess Elizabeth, the future Elizabeth I, and is also responsible for the idea that Lady Jane Grey had abusive parents.
Find out more about Roger Ascham, his life and career, in today’s talk.
Merry Christmas! A very Happy Christmas to you and yours!
In today’s talk, I explain how Tudor people would have celebrated Christmas, before moving on to today’s “on this day” event, the death of Lettice Blount (also known as Lettice Devereux, Lettice Dudley and Lettice Knollys). Not only did she serve Queen Elizabeth I as a gentlewoman of the privy chamber, she was also the queen’s first cousin once removed, and was nicknamed the “she-wolf” by her royal mistress. Find out more about Lettice Knollys in today’s talk.
On this day in Tudor history, 21st December 1495, Jasper Tudor, 1st Duke of Bedford and 1st Earl of Pembroke, died at his manor at Thornbury at the age of around sixty-four.
Jasper Tudor was the uncle of Henry Tudor, a man who would become King Henry VII, and served as a mentor and advisor to him.
Find out more about this interesting Tudor man in today’s talk.
On this day in Tudor history, 19th December 1576, Katherine Palmer, Abbess of Syon, died in Mechelen in Belgium. Her death came just over a month after she had confronted a mob that had broken into her monastery.
Find out more about Abbess Katherine Palmer, how her order had ended up settling in Mechelen, and how her order is the only surviving pre-Reformation religious community in England today, in this talk.
On this day in Tudor history, 15th December 1558, Cardinal Reginald Pole, Mary I’s Archbishop of Canterbury and her chief advisor, was buried at Canterbury Cathedral. Coincidentally, Cardinal Pole had died the same day as his queen, on 17th November 1558.
Find out a bit more about Cardinal Pole, his background, death and burial, in today’s talk.
On this day in Tudor history, 14th December 1558, Queen Mary I was buried at Westminster Abbey.
Mary had died on 17th November 1558 and had left instructions for Catherine of Aragon’s remains to be moved from Peterborough and for them to be reinterred with Mary’s remains so that mother and daughter could be together.
Did this happen?
Find out all about Mary I’s burial, and who did join her in death, in today’s talk.
On this day in Tudor history, 13th December 1577, pirate, sea captain, and explorer Sir Francis Drake finally left the port of Plymouth on his circumnavigation of the Globe.
I have spoken about this voyage and Drake's life and career in previous talks (see below), so today I share a letter written by Drake to Sir Francis Walsingham. He really did have a wonderful way with words.
Also on this day in history:
1558 – Death of William Clyffe, civil lawyer and one of the authors of the 1537 “Bishops' Book” or “The Godly and Pious Institution of a Christian Man”. Clyffe's expertise on marriage and divorce law led to convocation seeking his advice regarding Henry VIII's Great Matter.
1561 – Death of Lawrence Dalton, Richmond Herald, Rouge Croix Pursuivant and Norroy King of Arms. He was buried at St Dunstan-in-the-West, London.
Transcript:
On this day in Tudor history, 13th December 1577, pirate, sea captain, and explorer Sir Francis Drake finally left the port of Plymouth, on the south Devon coast, with his fleet of five ships. This voyage would be a historic one and would see him circumnavigating the Globe. He was not the first man to do this, but Drake was the first Englishman to do it.
I give a rundown of this voyage in my talk from 26th September, the anniversary of Drake’s return in 1580, so I’ll give you a link to that, and also my talk on Drake’s life. But today I thought I’d honour this interesting Tudor chap by sharing a letter that Drake wrote to Sir Francis Walsingham, Secretary of State to Queen Elizabeth I, in May 1587, following his singeing of the king of Spain’s beard, i.e. his attack on the Spanish fleet in the harbour of Cadiz which meant that Spain had to postpone their planned attack on England. Drake wrote:
“There must be a beginning of any great matter, but the continuing unto the end until it be thoroughly finished yields the true glory. If Hannibal had followed his victories, it is thought of many he had never been take by Scipio.
God make us all thankful again and again that we have, although it be little, made a beginning upon the coast of Spain. If we can thoroughly believe that this which we do is in the defence of our religion and country, no doubt but out merciful God for his Christ, our Saviour’s sake, is able, and will give us victory, although our sins be reed. God give us grace that we may fear him, and daily to call upon him, so shall neither Satan, nor his ministers prevail against us; although God permit you to be touched in body, yet the Lord will hold his mind pure.”
On this day in Tudor history, 10th December 1541, Thomas Culpeper, a gentleman of the privy chamber, and Francis Dereham, a member of the queen’s household, were executed at Tyburn.
They had been found guilty of high treason for intending to do ill with Queen Catherine Howard, i..e intending to commit adultery with her, and had been sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered. Dereham suffered the full traitors’ death, while Culpeper was beheaded.
Find out more about what happened from a primary source account in today’s talk.
On this day in Tudor history, 9th December 1538, Sir Edward Neville, courtier, Gentleman of the Privy Chamber and son of George Neville, 2nd Baron Bergavenny, was beheaded on Tower Hill.
He had been condemned to death for treason, accused of conspiring against the king in the Exeter Conspiracy of 1538, along with members of the Pole family. He was also accused of saying “The King is a beast and worse than a beast”, which is not a wise thing to be overheard saying in Tudor England.
Find out more about Neville’s life and downfall in today’s talk.
Tim here and I’ve taken over this challenge to ask Claire some Tudor history questions for a change. The questions were provided by the following historians: Sarah-Beth Watkins, Rioghnach O’Geraghty, Toni Mount & Catherine Brooks. Claire did well – but how well will you do???
Note that the answers are below the questions, so no cheating! Let us know how you do in the comments below. Good luck!
On this day in Tudor history, 5th December 1556, Anne de Vere (née Cecil) was born, She was the daughter of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, and his second wife, Mildred Cooke.
Anne only lived until she was 31 years old, but in her short life she managed to impress scholars, have five children, and have a rather eventful and unhappy marriage with Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, who didn’t treat her at all well and even refused to recognise their first daughter as his own, at one point. If only she had married Philip Sidney instead!
Find out more about the life of William Cecil’s daughter, Anne de Vere, Countess of Oxford, in today’s talk.
On this day in Tudor history, 4th December 1555, in Rome, papal sentence was passed on Thomas Cranmer, resulting in Cranmer being deprived of his archbishopric. Permission was also granted for his fate to be decided by the secular authorities.
In today’s “on this day in history”, I explain what led Cranmer to this day and also what happened next. Thomas Cranmer went on to recant his Protestant faith on several occasions, but was still executed by being burned at the stake. Why?
On this day in Tudor history, 28th November 1499, Edward Plantagenet, styled Earl of Warwick, was executed by beheading on Tower Hill.
Warwick was a potential claimant to the throne being the son of George, Duke of Clarence, brother of Kings Edward IV and Richard III, but it was his involvement in a plot by pretender Perkin Warbeck that was his final undoing.
Find out more about his short and sad life, much of it spent in prison, in today’s talk:
On this day in Tudor history, 27th November 1582, eighteen year-old William Shakespeare, the famous playwright and a man known as the Bard, married twenty-six year-old Anne (also known as Agnes) Hathaway, at Temple Grafton, near Stratford-upon-Avon, in Warwickshire.
Anne Hathaway was pregnant at the time of their marriage and went on to give birth to a daughter, Susannah, the following May. The couple went on to have twins, Hamnet and Judith, in 1585.
Find out more about William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway, and their marriage, and also what happened to them, in today’s talk:
On this day in Tudor history, 25th November 1487, the Feast of St Catherine, Elizabeth of York, queen consort of Henry VII and mother of one-year-old Arthur Tudor, was crowned queen at Westminster Abbey.
In today’s talk, I share details of Elizabeth of York’s coronation, including Elizabeth’s apparel, and who attended, plus a list of some of the interesting dishes served at Elizabeth of York’s coronation banquet which included swan and seal!
On this day in Tudor history, 21st November 1559, Frances Grey (maiden name Brandon, other married name Stokes), Duchess of Suffolk and the mother of Queen Jane, or Lady Jane Grey, died at Richmond. She was laid to rest in St Edmund’s Chapel, Westminster Abbey, on the orders of her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I, and her second husband, Adrian Stokes, erected a tomb in her memory.
Frances, daughter of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, and Mary Tudor, Queen of France, has gone down in history as rather a harsh and abusive mother, but let me tell you a bit more about the woman who was once named in Edward VI’s “devise for the succession”.
