On this day in history, actually in the Stuart period, 27th April 1609, Sir Edward Michelborne, member of Parliament, soldier and adventurer, died.
He’d survived an unsuccessful naval campaign against the Spanish, being implicated in a rebellion, and an attack by pirates, to die a natural death at his home in Hackney.
Find out more about Sir Edward Michelborne in today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 26th April 1564, the Bard, William Shakespeare, was baptised at Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. This was just three months before the plague hit the town, wiping out a fifth of its population. Fortunately for him, and us, Shakespeare didn’t catch it – phew!
Find out more about the plague and its outbreak in Stratford-upon-Avon in today’s talk.
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Today, 24th April, is St Mark’s Eve, the day before the Feast of St Mark the Evangelist, one of Christ’s apostles and the man who is said to have written the Gospel of Mark. In medieval and Tudor times, St Mark’s Eve was the night to divine who you were going to marry.
How did people go about divining their future partner?
Find out in today’s talk and do let me know if you try any of these divination methods!
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On this day in Tudor history, 23rd April 1536, St George’s Day, George Boleyn, Lord Rochford, lost to Nicholas Carew in the Order of the Garter elections.
George Boleyn was, of course, the brother of Queen Anne Boleyn, so how did he lose, and was this a sign of the beginning of the end for the Boleyns?
Find out what exactly happened in today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 21st April 1581, alchemist Thomas Charnock was buried at Otterhampton in Somerset.
Charnock was obsessed with alchemy and claimed to have made the philosopher’s stone, which he offered to Queen Elizabeth I in exchange for financial support.
Find out more about Thomas Charnock, his work on alchemy, and the philosopher’s stone, in today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 20th April 1578, Lady Mary Keys (née Grey), sister of Lady Jane Grey and wife of Thomas Keys, died at her home in the parish of St Botolph without Aldgate, London.
Like her sisters, Mary had a sad life. Her secret marriage led to Elizabeth I imprisoning her and her husband, and they never saw each other again.
Find out more about the tiny Mary who was described as “crook-backed”, her marriage to a man who was said to be 6’8, and what happened to Mary and Thomas, in today’s talk.
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Ok, so they didn’t physically bump into each other, but on this day in Tudor history, 18th April 1536, just a month and a day before Anne Boleyn’s execution, imperial ambassador Eustace Chapuys was manoeuvred unto a position where he was forced to pay reverence to Queen Anne Boleyn, the woman he referred to as “the concubine”. By paying her reverence, he was acknowledging her as queen, something that he had managed to avoid doing until now.
What happened and how did Chapuys get into this awkward position?
Find out in today’s talk.
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It’s Friday and I think we’re due some fun, aren’t we? Let’s have it at Tim’s expense, he doesn’t mind.
Here’s our latest Tudor History Challenge! Do play a long. Give yourself a point for each correct answer and there’s a bonus point if you get both parts of question 7 correct. The answers are at the bottom of this post so don’t scroll down and cheat!
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On this day in Tudor history, 12th April 1550, in the reign of King Edward VI, courtier and poet, Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, was born.
In today’s talk, I introduce Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, and talk about his not-so-nice personality, the Oxfordian theory regarding the works of William Shakespeare, and the idea that Oxford was actually Elizabeth I’s son by Thomas Seymour.
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On this day in Tudor history, 10th April 1585, Pope Gregory XIII died from a fever. He was succeeded by Pope Sixtus V.
Pope Gregory is known for his reform of the calendar. He introduced what is now called the Gregorian Calendar, or Western or Christian Calendar, replacing the Julian Calendar, which had been used since 45 BC.
But why was this reform needed and how was it done?
Find out more about it, and how England didn’t use it until the 18th century, in today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 9th April 1582, Richard Bertie, member of Parliament, evangelical, and second husband of Catherine Willoughby (other married name Brandon), Duchess of Suffolk, died at Bourne in Lincolnshire. He was laid to rest in St James’s Church, Spilsby, with Catherine, who had died in 1580.
Bertie was Catherine’s gentleman usher and the two became close following the death of her sons from sweating sickness.
Find out more about the man Catherine Willoughby chose to marry for love in today’s talk from Claire Ridgway.
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On this day in history, 6th April 1621, in the Stuart period, Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford, died at Netley in Hampshire. He was aged around 81 at his death.
Now, Hertford is known for his secret marriage to Lady Katherine Grey, sister of Lady Jane Grey, and their conjugal visits in the Tower of London, but Hertford had a thing for secret marriage and married twice more, all in secret. And then his son and grandson also had secret marriages!
Find out more in today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 2nd April 1502, Arthur, Prince of Wales, son and heir of King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, died at Ludlow Castle. He was just fifteen years old, and had only been married to the Spanish princess Catherine of Aragon for four and a half months.
In today’s talk, I discuss his death and the theories regarding Arthur’s cause of death, which include sweating sickness, consumption, testicular cancer and Atypical Cystic Fibrosis.
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On this day in Tudor history, 1st April 1578, English physician William Harvey, was born in Folkestone, Kent. Harvey has gone down in history as being the man who discovered the circulation of blood, and he was also physician extraordinary to King James I and King Charles I.
How did Harvey work out that the heart pumped the blood around the body and how was his challenge of Galen’s work received?
Find out more about William Harvey’s work, and also his role in the pardoning of women accused of witchcraft, in today’s talk.
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On this day in history, 31st March 1631, the Tudor and Stuart metaphysical poet, satirist, lawyer and clergyman John Donne died.
Donne had an amazing career, going on voyages, serving as a royal chaplain and diplomat, and writing sermons, songs, satires and poetry, including an erotic poem, “The Flea”.
Find out more about John Donne and hear some of his work in today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 27th March 1489, the Treaty of Medina del Campo was signed between England and Spain. One part of it was the arrangement of the marriage between Arthur, Prince of Wales, and Catherine (or Catalina) of Aragon. It was signed by Spain on this day and ratified in 1490 by Henry VII.
Find out more about this treaty and the betrothal and marriages (yes, plural!) of Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales, and Catherine of Aragon in today’s talk.
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On this day in history, late on 26th March 1603, two days after the death of Queen Elizabeth I, Sir Robert Carey arrived at Holyrood in Edinburgh, Scotland, to inform King James VI that Queen Elizabeth I was dead and that James was now king.
It took Carey just two days to get from London to Scotland, and he had an accident on the way, but it was all worth it. Find out about his journey and what happened in today’s “on this day in Tudor history” talk.
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On this day in history, 24th March1619, Robert Rich, 1st Earl of Warwick, Tudor nobleman and politician, died at his London home, Warwick House in Holborn. He was laid to rest at Felsted Church in Essex.
Rich was an incredibly wealthy man and a good catch for Penelope Devereux, sister of the Earl of Essex, but their marriage was unhappy and she had an affair. Find out more about Rich and his marriage in today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 22nd March 1582, gunner, mathematician and writer, William Bourne was buried at Gravesend in Kent.
This popular author, who was able to explain technical matters for the common man in his books, was also a gunner, mathematician and inventor, yet he received no university education. He also drew plans for a submarine, although he never built it.
Find out more about the fascinating William Bourne and his works in today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 21st March 1603, a dying Queen Elizabeth I finally took to her bed.
Elizabeth I had been queen since November 1558, but now she was dying. She had deep-rooted melancholy, couldn’t sleep and was refusing to eat. She spent her days lying on cushions in her withdrawing chamber. But on 21st March, she was finally persuaded to go to bed.
Find out more about these last days in this talk.
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Here in Spain, we’ve been on lockdown since Monday due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Now, I could use this as inspiration to talk about epidemics, the plague, influenza and sweating sickness in history, but I’m not. I’ll give you links to my talks on those, but I want to stop thinking about the nasty stuff.
So, with so many people around the world in lockdown or self-isolating, I thought I’d give you some ideas for keeping occupied and getting your Tudor history fix.
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On this day in Tudor history, 19th March 1568, Elizabeth Seymour, Lady Cromwell, died. She was around fifty years old at her death.
Elizabeth was the sister of a queen, and a lord protector, and two of her brothers were executed as traitors, but what else do we know about Elizabeth Seymour and how is she linked to the Cromwell family and a portrait once thought to be of Queen Catherine Howard?
Find out more in today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 17th March 1565, Scottish theologian and Reformer Alexander Alesius (also known as Ales, Aless), died in either Leipzig or Edinburgh.
Alesius wrote a huge number of theological works, was friends with reformers Philip Melancthon and Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, but had a row with the Bishop of London at one point.
Let me tell you a bit more about Alexander Alesius and also a terrifying vision or nightmare he experience in the early hours of 19th May 1536, the day of Queen Anne Boleyn’s execution.
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On this day in history, 16th March 1619, actor Richard Burbage was buried at St Leonard’s Church, Shoreditch.
Burbage was a famous actor in the reigns of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I, peforming for royalty and even being in King James’ company of players. Burbage was also a good friend of William Shakespeare, and the two men were involved in the building of the famous Globe Theatre.
Find out more about Richard Burbage, his life and career, in today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 10th March 1513, magnate John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford, died at his home at Castle Hedingham in Essex.
Oxford was a key figure in the Wars of the Roses and played an important role in the Battle of Bosworth Field. As I talk about his life and career, you’ll see just how complicated this civil war was.
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On this day in Tudor history, 9th March 1589, Lady Frances Radcliffe, Countess of Sussex, and wife of Sir Thomas Radcliffe, Lord Fitzwalter and 3rd Earl of Sussex, died at her home in Bermondsey.
Frances is known for being the benefactor of Cambridge University’s Sidney Sussex College, but there is much more to her than that. Her enemies even turned her husband and Queen Elizabeth I against her at one point!
Find out all about Frances Radcliffe (née Sidney) in today’s talk.
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This day in Tudor history, 7th March 1556, was one of the days on which the Great Comet, or the Comet of Charles V, was seen and recorded by Paul Fabricius, mathematician and physician at the court of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.
Find out all about the Great Comet of 1556, what it looked like and how Emperor Charles V saw it as an ominous portent in today’s talk.
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On this day in history, 4th March 1609, Tudor spelling reformer and grammarian William Bullokar died at Chichester in West Sussex.
William Bullokar is known for writing the first grammar book of English, the “Pamphlet for Grammar”, and for his work reforming the alphabet to improve literacy. Find out more about him and what he did in today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 2nd March 1545, scholar, diplomat and founder of the Bodleian Library, Sir Thomas Bodley, was born in Exeter.
Sir Thomas Bodley served as a diplomat in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, but he is most known for his re-founding of Oxford University Library and the Bodleian Library, and all the work he did on it. Find out all about him and his library in today’s talk.
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