The Tudor Society

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  • 2 April 1552 – Edward VI falls ill

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in history, fourteen-year-old King Edward VI fell ill. His journal entry for 2nd April 1552 reads “I fell sike of the mesels [measles] and the small pokkes [smallpox]”, but he doesn’t mention it again in the entries for that month and he was still able to write entries.

    In a letter to his friend Barnaby Fitzpatrick written on 3 May 1552, Edward mentions his recent illness:

    “We have a little been troubled with the smallpox, which hath letted us to write hitherto; but now we have shaken that quite away.”

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  • Elizabeth I (1533 – 1603)

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in history, 24th March 1603, Queen Elizabeth I died at Richmond Palace. She was sixty-nine years old and had ruled for over forty-four years.

    You can click here to read more about her death, but I thought it would be useful to list some Elizabeth I resources for you here:

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  • Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556)

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    As today is the anniversary of the burning of Thomas Cranmer, former Archbishop of Canterbury, on 21st March 1556 in Oxford, I thought I’d list some resources for you to find out more about this fascinating Tudor man.

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  • Frances Murfyn, the Other Lady Cromwell

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
    1 Comment

    Thank you to Teri Fitgerald for writing this biography of Frances Murfyn, a little know Tudor woman, for us.

    Frances Murfyn (c.1519–c.1543) was the daughter of Sir Thomas Murfyn, an alderman and former lord mayor of London, and his second wife Elizabeth Donne, daughter, and heir, of Sir Angel Donne, alderman of London and Anne Hawardine of Cheshire.

    Her father died in 1523 and her mother subsequently married Sir Thomas Denys in 1524. Her older sister Mary had married, in 1523, Andrew Judde, a successful merchant and future lord mayor of London. In early 1534, her stepfather successfully negotiated a marriage between Frances and Richard Cromwell (c.1510–1544), the nephew of Thomas Cromwell. The couple were married by 8th March 1534 and they would have two sons: Henry (c.1537–1604) and Francis (c.1541–1598).

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  • 19 March 1568 – Death of Elizabeth Seymour, Lady Cromwell by Teri Fitzgerald

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
    2 Comments

    On this day in history, 19th March 1568, Elizabeth Seymour, the wife of John Paulet, Lord St John died. She was laid to rest on 5th April in the Paulet family church of St Mary at Basing, Hampshire.1 She was around fifty years of age.

    The undated inscription on the wall of the vault in the church (as transcribed by Lord Bolton, 16th Dec. 1903) reads:

    “Hic jacet D[omina] Cromwell, quondam conjux Johis, Marchionis Winton.”2

    Known by her superior title of Lady Cromwell, Elizabeth was never a Marchioness – her husband succeeded his father as 2nd Marquess of Winchester after her death.

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  • Katherine of York, Countess of Devon

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    The daughter of King Edward IV, Stained glass window of the northwest transept of Canterbury Cathedral,

    King Edward IV married the Lancastrian widow Elizabeth Wydeville [Woodville] in the spring or summer of 1464. In nineteen years of marriage, Elizabeth gave birth to ten children, seven of whom were daughters. The eldest daughter Elizabeth, born in 1466, remains the most well known in popular and scholarly circles and Edward IV’s other four daughters are significantly neglected both in factual and fictional accounts of their lives. The emphasis on Elizabeth and the neglect of her sisters are perhaps understandable, in that Elizabeth married Henry Tudor in 1485 and gave birth to Henry VIII in 1491. A queen of England undoubtedly attracts more attention than a countess or viscountess. Yet the lives of Elizabeth of York’s younger sisters are interesting in shedding light on the marriage policies of the houses of York and Tudor in an era of intermittent dynastic and political conflict. They also illuminate the contrasting fortunes of members of a side-lined royal dynasty.

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  • Happy St David’s Day!

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Happy St David’s Day to all those in Wales or with Welsh blood. Are you wearing a leek or a daffodil today? I’d love to know if you are.

    Here is an extract from our Tudor Feast Days e-book on St David’s Day…

    1st March is the feast day of St David (Dewi Sant), patron saint of Wales. According to Rhigyfarch’s Life of Saint David, David lived in the 6th century and founded religious centres including Glastonbury and Croyland. He then travelled to the Holy Land and was made archbishop at Jerusalem before travelling back to Wales and settling at Glyn Rhosyn (Rose Vale), or St David’s, in Pembrokeshire, Wales. There, he founded a monastery whose site is now marked by St David’s Cathedral.

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  • Do you need to wear gloves when handling old manuscripts and books?

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
    4 Comments

    Thank you so much to Tudor Society member Mary for asking this question. Mary’s full question was “I’ve often wondered why certain old texts/manuscripts are only handled with gloved hands, while others are not. Can someone explain?”

    This is something I can explain as I researched it a couple of years ago because I had comments when I shared a video of a historian touching a medieval manuscript without gloves. Those who viewed it were horrified, but archives’ policies have changed and it’s all for the best, to keep these precious manuscripts safe from harm so that they can be enjoyed by many more generations to come.

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  • 21 February 1590 – The death of Ambrose Dudley, Earl of Warwick

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Today is the anniversary of the death of Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick, Master of the Ordnance, Privy Councillor and fourth son of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, at Bedford House on the Strand in 1590. He was laid to rest in the Beauchamp Chapel of the Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick. You can read more about Ambrose in my bio of him – Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick.

    I have a real fondness for the Dudley family and was very moved when I visited the tombs of Ambrose, his brother Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and Robert’s wife, Lettice, and Robert’s little boy, Robert Dudley, Lord Denbigh, “the noble imp” as his tomb says.

    Here are some photos I took at the church in Warwick. By the way, the crowns are earls’ coronets rather than royal crowns.

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  • Was Elizabeth I really an awful person?

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
    10 Comments

    Thank you to Tudor Society member Denis for asking the question “Was Elizabeth I as awful a person as Philippa Gregory paints her in her novel The Last Tudor?” I haven’t read the novel, so can’t share any views, but I know that Philippa Gregory used Leanda de Lisle’s book The Sisters Who Would be Queen for research so I asked Leanda. Leanda said:

    “Elizabeth I had good reason to be frightened of the Grey sisters as her possible heirs. She had already seen the eldest, Jane, supplant her in the line of succession and was very frightened that a married Katherine – with a son – could replace her on the throne. She had far less reason to fear Mary Grey, but her harsh treatment of Thomas Keyes sent a message to all – do not cross the queen on the matter of marriage to members of the royal family. If you read my Tudor: The Family Story, you will discover that the Grey sisters and Mary, Queen of Scots were not the only heirs she imprisoned, and it also explains the importance of these issues throughout the story of the dynasty.”

    Thank you to Tudor Society member Denis for asking the question “Was Elizabeth I as awful a person as Philippa Gregory paints her in her novel The Last Tudor?” I haven’t read the novel, so can’t share any views, but I know that Philippa Gregory used Leanda de Lisle’s book The Sisters Who Would be Queen for research so I asked Leanda. Leanda said:

    “Elizabeth I had good reason to be frightened of the Grey sisters as her possible heirs. She had already seen the eldest, Jane, supplant her in the line of succession and was very frightened that a married Katherine – with a son – could replace her on the throne. She had far less reason to fear Mary Grey…

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  • 12 February 1554 – Lady Jane Grey and Lord Guildford Dudley are executed

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in history, 12th February 1554, Lord Guildford Dudley, son of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, was executed on Tower Hill. Not long after, Guildford’s wife, Queen Jane, or Lady Jane Grey as she is more commonly known, great-granddaughter of King Henry VII, was executed at the Tower of London.

    You can find out more about Jane and Guildford’s executions in the following articles:

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  • Catherine of Aragon’s Pregnancies Part 2: 1513 – 1518

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Today, I am concluding my examination of Catherine of Aragon’s pregnancies and what evidence we have for them from the primary sources.

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  • Catherine of Aragon’s Pregnancies Part 1: 1509 – 1511

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    As this week was the anniversary of Queen Catherine of Aragon giving birth to a still-born daughter in 1510, I thought I’d look at the primary source accounts we have of Catherine’s pregnancies.

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  • Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk (c.1484-1545)

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Charles Brandon was one of King Henry VIII’s most trusted advisors and friends. He married the king’s sister, even when he had been trusted not too, and eventually married a lady thirty-five years younger than him.

    Being someone who was so close to Henry VIII, what was Brandon’s real purpose? What did he achieve in his lifetime? And, how did he rise so high?

    Charles Brandon was born around 1484 and was one of two sons born to Sir William Brandon and Elizabeth Bruyn of South Ockendon. His father was Henry VII’s standard-bearer at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, which is where he is said to have been killed by Richard III himself. King Henry VII saw how loyal William had been to him, so, therefore, chose to repay this debt by having his son, Charles, brought up at his court. Charles was just two years older than Henry VII’s eldest child, Prince Arthur, but when Arthur married the Spanish princess, Catherine of Aragon, in 1502, Charles did not join them at Ludlow Castle. Instead, he stayed in London and got to know Arthur’s younger brother, Henry, Duke of York.

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  • 27 January 1606 – The trial of the Gunpowder Conspirators

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On 27th January 1606, the eight surviving conspirators of the November 1605 Gunpowder Plot were tried at Westminster for high treason. Those tried were Guy Fawkes, Robert and Thomas Wintour (Winter), John Grant, Ambrose Rookwood, Robert Keyes, Thomas Bates and Sir Everard Digby. Jesuits Henry Garnet, Oswald Tesmond (Tesimond) and John Gerard were said to have “traitorously move[d] and persuade[d]” the conspirators. The other conspirators had died shortly after the plot had been discovered; John Wright, Christopher Wright, Thomas Percy and Robert Catesby were shot dead at Holbeche House in a siege on 8th November, and Francis Tresham died in the Tower of London on 23rd December 1605.

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  • Lady Jane Grey Resources

    6 years ago Author: ADMIN Tim
    4 Comments

    Lady Jane Grey is a hot topic at the moment with Helen Castor’s programme having recently aired in the UK. I thought it would be useful for members if I created this list of useful resources to find out more about Queen Jane, who was a fascinating Tudor woman.

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  • A review of England’s Forgotten Queen: The Life and Death of Lady Jane Grey

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
    13 Comments

    Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of last week were treats for us Tudor history lovers with access to British TV because BBC Four was airing “England’s Forgotten Queen: The Life and Death of Lady Jane Grey” followed by Lucy Worsley’s “Fit to Rule: How Royal Illness changed History”. I think “Fit to Rule” had been on before, but I’d missed it and so enjoyed catching up on that. Two hours of history for three nights – bliss!

    So what was “England’s Forgotten Queen: The Life and Death of Lady Jane Grey” like and would I recommend it?

    The simple answer is yes, but let me tell you a bit more about it.

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  • Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk (1443-1524)

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
    3 Comments

    Thomas Howard was a politician, English nobleman and lived to a ripe old age of 81! For someone who spent a lot of time in the English court, he also had very stable connections which kept him in his position, especially since he was the grandfather of two queens of England, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, making him the great-grandfather to Queen Elizabeth I. Serving four monarchs as both statesmen and solider, who was Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk, Earl of Surrey?

    Thomas Howard was born in 1443; he was the only son of Sir John Howard and Catherine Howard, daughter of Lord William Moleyns. Having been educated in Thetford school as he got older Surrey started a career as a henchman in court. In the service of Edward IV, Thomas, who was still a young man, took the king’s side when war began in 1469 and having taken the Kings side took sanctuary in 1470 when the king fled to Holland. After he sustained an injury in 1471, he was appointed as a knight in 1478 at the marriage of the king’s son. In the same year, he was appointed as a Knight of the Garter and became appointed to the privy council.

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  • England’s Forgotten Queen: The Life and Death of Lady Jane Grey

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
    5 Comments

    I am so looking forward to this 3-part TV programme from the BBC presented by historian Helen Castor. It’s on in the UK on BBC Four at 9pm on 9th, 10th and 11th January and as well as Helen Castor, it features historians like John Guy, Leanda de Lisle, J Stephan Edwards and Anna Whitelock.

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  • Childermas or Holy Innocents’ Day

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Today, 28th December, is Childermas or Holy Innocents’ Day. It was part of the Twelve Days of Christmas in Tudor times and is a feast day that remembers the slaughter of the baby boys ordered by King Herod in Bethlehem when he heard of the birth of the Christ Child, “the Massacre of the Innocents”.

    The apostle Matthew told of the atrocity:

    “16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.

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  • Tudor Society Advent Video 1 – 15

    6 years ago Author: ADMIN Tim
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    Here are daily short videos of Claire Ridgway in the build-up to Christmas. Each day Claire will be going live on Facebook and we’ll put those videos here too. Just a little Tudor Christmas fun each day.

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  • Henry VII’s Court Entertainment

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    In today’s Claire Chats video I look at two examples of court revels that took place in Henry VIII’s reign.

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  • Jane Boleyn, Viscountess Rochford

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Thank you to historian and author Conor Byrne for writing this article for us.

    Jane Parker was the daughter of Henry Parker, Baron Morley, and Alice St John. Her birth date is unknown, but her marriage took place in late 1524 or early 1525 when she would have been at least twelve years of age, the earliest age permitted for females to marry. Since she accompanied Katherine of Aragon as an attendant to the Field of Cloth of Gold in 1520, and appeared at a court masque two years later, it is probable that she was born no later than 1507 and probably by about 1505. Her highly educated father was a gentleman usher to Henry VIII. From her teenage years, Jane resided at court and lived in some luxury; her belongings included sleeves and apparel of rich fabrics, jewellery and plate.

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  • Margaret Tudor 1489-1541

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Detail of Margaret Tudor's face from a portrait of her by Daniel Mystens

    Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scotland, was born on 28th November 1489 at Westminster Palace. Her parents were King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, and she was the couple’s second child and eldest daughter. The couple named her Margaret after her paternal grandmother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, and she was baptised at St Margaret’s Church, Westminster, on 30th November.

    Margaret spent her childhood at Sheen and at Eltham Palace but was sent to Scotland at the age of thirteen to marry King James IV following the 1502 Treaty of Perpetual Peace between England and Scotland. Margaret and James were married by proxy on 25th January 1503 at Richmond Palace and Margaret set off from Richmond Palace to travel to Scotland on 27th June 1503, spending eleven days with her grandmother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, at Collyweston in Northamptonshire on the way. Stops included Grantham, York, Durham, Newcastle and Berwick, which was, at the time, held by England. Margaret arrived in Scotland on 1st August and the wedding took place took place in the chapel of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh, on 8th August 1503. The marriage ceremony was performed by the Archbishop of Glasgow and the papal bulls were read by the Archbishop of York.

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  • The Rising of the North 1569

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    This day in history, 9th November 1569, is seen as the start of the 1569 Northern Rebellion or Rising of the North, the only major armed rebellion of Elizabeth I’s reign.

    The rebellion was led by Charles Neville, 6th Earl of Westmorland, and Thomas Percy, 7th Earl of Northumberland, and the idea was to depose Queen Elizabeth I, replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots (who would marry the Duke of Norfolk), and restore the Catholic faith as the faith of England. Although the rebels were successful in occupying Durham (where they took mass in the cathedral), Staindrop, Darlington, Richmond, Ripon and also Barnard Castle, they were finally forced to retreat north. Northumberland and Westmorland fled to Scotland. Their rebellion had been a failure.

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  • Remember, remember the fifth of November

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    This weekend, people around the UK will have been marking the 5th of November by attending firework displays, letting off fireworks in their backyards, lighting bonfires and burning “the guy”. For many, it’s just a bit of fun, for others it’s time to worry about the pets, and for others, it’s a time to remember the plot that sought to kill a king.

    On the night of 4th/5th November 1605, Guy Fawkes was caught with thirty-six barrels of gunpowder in the cellars beneath Westminster. The idea was to blow up the House of Lords at the opening of Parliament on the 5th November, and to assassinate King James I.

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  • Amy Robsart – What do we really know about her by Christine Hartweg

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
    12 Comments

    Thank you to Christine Hartweg, author of Amy Robsart: A Life and its End for writing this guest article on Amy Robsart, wife of Robert Dudley, for us today.

    Who was Amy Robsart? And what do we really know about her? And why?

    In 1559, the Imperial ambassador at Elizabeth I’s court wrote that Robert Dudley, Elizabeth’s great favourite, was “married to a beautiful wife” (but of course the ambassador had never seen her). We know for certain, on the other hand, that Amy Robsart was born on 7 June 1532 in Norfolk. Like her future husband, who was almost exactly the same age, she grew up in an “evangelical” (or Protestant) family. It is possible, even likely, that the marriage of Amy and Robert was a love match. They were married on 4 June 1550 in the presence of King Edward VI.

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  • Happy birthday to Edward VI!

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Happy 480th birthday to King Edward VI who was born on this day in history, 12th October 1537. To commemorate his birthday, here is a mini-biography of him plus links to further resources.

    Edward VI was born on 12 October 1537 at Hampton Court Palace. He was the son of Henry VIII and his third wife Jane Seymour, who died twelve days after giving birth to him, probably of puerperal fever. He was tutored by scholars such as John Cheke, Richard Cox, Roger Ascham and Jean Belmain, and it appears that he was an intelligent child. By the age of twelve he was undertaking work on religious issues and controversies and had written a treatise about the Pope being the Antichrist.

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  • George Gascoigne

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in history, 7th October 1577, George Gascoigne, author, poet, courtier and soldier, died in Stamford, Lincolnshire. He was buried in Stamford, at St Mary’s Parish Church. He was in his early forties.

    Gascoigne is listed as one of the most important Tudor poets, along with the likes of Sir Thomas Wyatt, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, and Philip Sidney. His works included A Discourse of the Adventures of Master FJ, The Supposes, A Hundredth Sundry Flowres… and The Posies of George Gascoigne, Esquire. Gascoigne was also hired in 1575 by Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, to provide the entertainment for Elizabeth I’s visit to Kenilworth Castle.

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  • Richard III

    6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
    5 Comments
    A portrait of King Richard III

    As today is the anniversary of the birth of King Richard III, on 2nd October 1452, I thought I’d share an extract from my book Illustrated Kings and Queens of England and links to Tudor Society resources and further reading on Richard III.

    Richard III (1452-1485)
    Rule: 1483-1485
    Marriages: Anne Neville, daughter of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick
    Issue: Edward of Middleham. 2 illegitimate children: John of Gloucester; Katherine Plantagenet.

    Richard III was born on 2 October 1452 at Fotheringhay Castle and was the youngest son of Richard, Duke of York, and Cecily Neville, daughter of the Earl of Westmorland. He became king after deposing his nephew Edward V in June 1483 and was crowned on 6 July 1483 at Westminster Abbey.

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