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This week in history 23 – 29 July

6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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23 July:

1543 – Mary of Guise and her daughter, Mary, Queen of Scots, escaped from Linlithgow Palace, where they were being watched, to Stirling Castle. They were helped by Cardinal Beaton.
1563 – Death of Cuthbert Vaughan, soldier and Muster-Master and Comptroller of the English garrison at Newhaven (actually Le Havre), from the plague.
1584 – Death of John Day, Protestant printer, bookseller and publisher of John Foxe’s “Actes and Monuments” (“Book of Martyrs”), at Walden in Essex. He was buried at Little Bradley parish church in Suffolk.
1596 – Death of Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon, Privy Councillor and Lord Chamberlain, at Somerset House. Hunsdon was the son of William Carey and his wife, Mary Boleyn, sister of Anne Boleyn. Mary was mistress to Henry VIII at some point in the 1520s, and some people believe it is possible that Hunsdon was actually fathered by the King.
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This week in history 9 – 15 July

6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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9th July:

1539 – Execution of Sir Adrian Fortescue, courtier and landowner, on Tower Hill. He was condemned for treason by act of attainder, but it is not known what he had done to deserve this. He was beatified in 1895 as a martyr, but historian Richard Rex points out that he is unlikely to have opposed Henry VIII’s supremacy because he was a cousin of Anne Boleyn.
1540 – It was declared that the marriage of King Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves was null and void, and that both parties were free to marry again. The couple had only been married six months.
1553 – Nicholas Ridley, Bishop of London, preached at St Paul’s Cross denouncing Henry VIII’s daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, as bastards. The congregation were “sore annoyed with his words”.
1553 – The Duke of Northumberland officially informed Lady Jane Grey of Edward VI’s death in front of the Council and nobles, going on to explain the terms of Edward’s will which named Lady Jane Grey as the heir to the throne. Lady Jane Grey accepted that she was Queen.
1553 – Mary (future Mary I) wrote to the Privy Council stating her claim to the throne and demanding their allegiance. Click here to read more.
While Mary was writing this letter, John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, was informing his daughter-in-law, Lady Jane Grey, of Edward VI’s death and informing her that the King had nominated her as his successor. Jane collapsed weeping and declared “The crown is not my right and pleases me not. The Lady Mary is the rightful heir.” Northumberland and Jane’s parents then explained Edward’s wishes to the distressed Jane, and she accepted the crown as her duty.
1575 (9th-27th) – Elizabeth I was entertained at Kenilworth Castle by Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. It was a special visit in that it lasted nineteen days and was the longest stay at a courtier’s house in any of her royal progresses.
1586 – Death of Edward Sutton, 4th Baron Dudley, soldier and landowner, at Westminster. He was buried in St Margaret’s, Westminster. Sutton served as a soldier in Henry VIII’s reign in Ireland and Boulogne, and in Edward VI’s reign against the Scots. He was made a Knight of the Bath at Mary I’s coronation, and then given Lordship of Dudley Castle, where he entertained Elizabeth I in 1575.
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This week in history 2 – 8 July

6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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2nd July:

1489 – Archbishop Thomas Cranmer was born in Aslockton, Nottinghamshire, England. He was the son of Thomas Cranmer, and his wife Agnes (nee Hatfield). He served Henry VIII and Edward VI as Archbishop of Canterbury but was burnt at the stake for heresy by Mary I on 21 March 1556.
1497 – Death of Sir William Haute, composer and cousin of Elizabeth Woodville. Haute was Sheriff of Kent at various times, as well as a Justice of the Peace and Commissioner. According to his biographer, Peter Fleming, he was also a patron of musicians, and a composer, composing carols and “polyphonic settings of the Benedicamus domino”.
1536 – Thomas Cromwell formally appointed Lord Privy Seal in Thomas Boleyn’s place.
1540 – Henry Fitzalan, the future 12th Earl of Arundel, appointed Deputy of Calais, replacing Arthur Plantagenet, Viscount Lisle.
1557 – Baptism of Philip Howard, 13th Earl of Arundel, son of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, and his wife Mary (née Fitzalan). He was baptised in the Chapel Royal at Whitehall Palace with Philip of Spain and Nicholas Heath, Archbishop of York, standing as godfathers and Elizabeth Howard, dowager Duchess of Norfolk, standing as godmother.
1594 – Burial of Robert Scarlett (Old Scarlett), sexton at Peterborough Cathedral. A verse accompanying his portrait in the cathedral states that he buried Catherine of Aragon and Mary, Queen of Scots at the cathedral, but it is not known whether this is true.
1610 – Burial of Richard Knolles, historian and translator, at St Mary’s Church, Sandwich. His works include “The Generall Historie of the Turkes” (1603), The “Six Bookes of a Commonweale” (1606), which was a translation of Jean Bodin’s “La république”, and a translation of Camden’s “Britannia”, which was not published.
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This week in history 25 June – 1 July

6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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25th June:

1503 – Catherine of Aragon was formally betrothed to Prince Henry, the future Henry VIII, and second son of Henry VII. She had been married to Arthur, Prince of Wales, Henry VII’s eldest son, but he died in 1501 after only six months of marriage.
1533 – Death of Mary Tudor, Queen of France, the thirty-seven-year-old sister of Henry VIII and wife of his friend Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. She died at her home, Westhorpe Hall in Suffolk, and was buried at the local abbey in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. When the abbey was dissolved, however, her remains were moved to St Mary’s Church, Bury St Edmunds. Click here to read more.
1539 – Baptism of courtier Gregory Fiennes, 10th Baron Dacre, the younger son of Thomas Fiennes, 9th Baron Dacre, and Mary, the daughter of George Neville, Baron Bergavenny.
1601 – Death of Peregrine Bertie, 13th Baron Willoughby, Beck and Eresby, at Berwick upon Tweed. He died of a fever. Bertie was the only son of Richard Bertie and Katherine, Duchess of Suffolk, 12th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby and the well known Protestant patron. Bertie was a soldier, nobleman, ambassador, Governor of Berwick upon Tweed and Warden of the East March.
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This week in history 18 – 24 June

6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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18th June:

1529 – Opening of the Legatine Court at Blackfriars to hear the case for the proposed annulment of Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon.
1546 – Anne Askew was arraigned at London’s Guildhall for heresy, along with Nicholas Shaxton, Nicholas White and John Hadlam (Adlams or Adams). She was sentenced to be burned at the stake.
1558 – Proving of the will of Robert Recorde, Welsh mathematician and physician. His date of death is not known, but is thought to have been mid June 1558. He is known for introducing the “equal to” sign, i.e. “=”. He published several mathematical works.
1588 – Death of Robert Crowley, Protestant printer, author, poet and Church of England clergyman. He was buried in the chancel of St Giles Cripplegate under the same stone as his great friend martyrologist, John Foxe.
1592 – Death of Francis Wyndham, Judge, at the Committee House, St Peter Mancroft, Norwich. His trials included the treason trials of John Somerville and William Parry in the 1580s, and his legal knowledge led to him being approached for advice on Mary, Queen of Scots.
1616 – Death of Thomas Bilson, Bishop of Winchester, at Westminster. He was buried at Westminster Abbey.
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This week in history 11 – 17 June

6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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11th June:

1456 – Birth of Anne Neville, Queen Consort of Richard III, at Warwick Castle. Anne was the daughter of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick and 6th Earl of Salisbury, known as the Kingmaker, and his wife, Anne Beauchamp.
1488 – Death of James III of Scotland, at Sauchieburn, or “the field of Stirling”. It is not known whether he died in battle or after the battle.
1509 – Marriage of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon at Greenwich Palace .
1540 – Birth of Barnabe Googe, translator and poet. Googe is known as one of the earliest English pastoral poets.
1544 – Bishops ordered by Henry VIII to ensure that the new litany was “in our native englysshe tonge”.
1560 – Death of Marie de Guise (Mary of Guise), former consort of James V and regent of Scotland, at Edinburgh Castle. Her body lay in a lead coffin at the castle, in St Margaret’s Chapel, until March 1561 when it was taken back to France. Marie was buried in the convent of St Pierre at Rheims.
1576 – Death of Sir Anthony Cooke, humanist and educator. Cooke educated his daughters to a high standard, teaching them Latin and Greek, and probably also modern languages and Hebrew. He was appointed royal tutor to Edward VI, but it is not known whether he actually tutored the King. It may have been more of a guiding role. He was buried at Romford, and his effigy can be seen at St Edward’s Church there.
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This week in history 4 – 10 June

6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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4th June…

1534 – Death of Sir Edward Guildford at Leeds Castle. Guildford acted as guardian to John Dudley (future Duke of Northumberland) and held the posts of Marshal of Calais, Constable of Dover Castle and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports.
1536 – Jane Seymour was proclaimed Queen at Greenwich Palace. Charles Wriothesley, the Tudor chronicler, recorded: “Also the 4th daie of June, being Whitsoundaie, the said Jane Seymor was proclaymed Queene at Greenewych, and went in procession, after the King, with a great traine of ladies followinge after her, and also ofred at masse as Queen, and began her howsehold that daie, dyning in her chamber of presence under the cloath of estate.”
1550 (some sources say 5th June) – Robert Dudley married Amy Robsart at the royal palace of Sheen at Richmond, near London. The marriage was attended by the then king, Edward VI.
1561 – The spire of St Paul’s Cathedral caught fire after being struck by lightning. The fire melted the Cathedral’s bells and lead from the spire “poured down like lava upon the roof”……
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This week in history 28 May – 3 June

6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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28th May:

1509 – Death of Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon. He was buried at Tiverton.
1533 – Archbishop Thomas Cranmer proclaimed the validity of Henry’s marriage to Anne Boleyn.
1535 – Birth of Sir Thomas North, translator, in London.
1582 – Executions of Roman Catholic priests Thomas Forde, John Shert and Robert Johnson at Tyburn. They were hanged, drawn and quartered.
1611 – Funeral of Thomas Sutton, founder of the London Charterhouse.
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This week in history 14 – 20 May

6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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14 May:

1511 – Death of Walter Fitzsimmons, Archbishop of Dublin and Lord Deputy of Ireland, at Finglas, Dublin. He was buried in the nave of St Patrick’s Cathedral.
1523 – Death of Nicholas Vaux, 1st Baron Vaux, courtier and soldier, at the Hospital of the Knights of St John of Jerusalem in Clerkenwell.
1571 – Matthew Stewart, Earl of Lennox and regent to James VI, held the “Creeping Parliament”.
1595 – Death of Anne Fiennes (née Sackville), Lady Dacre, at Chelsea. She was buried in the More Chapel, Chelsea, next to her husband, Gregory Fiennes, 10th Baron Dacre.
1629 – Death of Jean Gordon, Countess of Bothwell and Sutherland. She is known for having been married, albeit briefly, to James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, who went on to marry Mary, Queen of Scots. In 1573 she married Alexander Gordon, 12th Earl of Sutherland, and after his death she married Alexander Ogilvy of Boyne, the man she had been in love with before she married Bothwell.
1635 – Burial of Helena Gorges (née Snakenborg), Lady Gorges, in Salisbury Cathedral. Helena was married twice, firstly to William Parr, Marquis of Northampton (brother of Catherine Parr), and secondly to Sir Thomas Gorges, courtier.
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William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke (1507-1570)

6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke, soldier and magnate and a man who served four monarchs, was the second son of Sir Richard Herbert of Ewyas (the illegitimate son of William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke, of the 8th creation) and his wife, Margaret, daughter of Sir Matthew Cradock of Swansea. Richard served King Henry VII as a gentleman usher. Very little is known of Herbert’s early life, only that he lost his father in 1510 and was then brought up by his mother and her third husband, William Bawdrip.

In 1514, Herbert entered the service of Charles Somerset, Earl of Worcester, who was married to Herbert’s half-uncle’s daughter. John Aubrey recorded that William Herbert was known as ‘Black Will Herbert’ and that he was ‘a mad fighting fellow’. Aubrey also recorded that Herbert was illiterate, which seems to be a baseless accusation, and that he killed a mercer in Bristol and then fled to France, joining the army of Francis I. It is not known whether that claim was true and his name does appear in a coroner’s report.
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This week in history 7 – 13 May

6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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7th May:

1535 – John Fisher, former Bishop of Rochester, was visited by Thomas Cromwell, Master Secretary, and member of the King’s Council. Cromwell read out the “Act of Supremacy” and Fisher refused to acknowledge the King as the supreme head of the Church, saying “The King owre Soveraign Lord is not supreme hedd yn erthe of the Cherche of Englande.” It is alleged that Richard Rich tricked him into saying those words, telling him that the King wished to know his real opinion in secret, but whatever the truth of the matter, Fisher was found guilty of treason and executed on 22nd July 1535.
1536 – Queen Anne Boleyn’s chaplain, William Latymer, was searched by the mayor and jurates of Sandwich on his arrival back in England. He was returning from a business visit to Flanders, a visit he had undertaken on behalf of the Queen. Latymer had often brought Anne religious books back from the Continent, so it was lucky for him that he did not have anything which could have been deemed as heretical in his luggage. Records were made of the books that he was carrying and of those which he was having sent directly to London, but he was allowed to carry on with his journey.
1540 – Death of Sir William Weston, Prior of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem in England. He died at the priory on the day that the order to dissolve it was passed through the Commons. He was the uncle of Sir Francis Weston, a man executed in 1536 in the coup against Anne Boleyn.
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Sir John Gage (1479-1556)

6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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Sir John Gage was born on 28th October 1479 and was the only son of William Gage of Burstow and his wife, Agnes, daughter of Bartholomew Bolney of Bolney in Sussex. Gage was baptised in Burstow, where he was born, but the family later moved to Firle, near Lewes.

In 1499, Gage became a ward of Robert Tate, alderman of London, and in 1502 Gage married Philippa, daughter of Sir Richard Guildford of Cranbrook who was comptroller of the royal household. This marriage match was good for Gage in that it helped him to join the royal household, which he did by becoming an esquire of the body to King Henry VII. He continued in this role after the accession of 17-year-old Henry VIII in 1509.

Gage served as a Justice of the Peace for the counties of Sussex (1514) and Surrey (1528) and by 1522 he had been appointed as deputy to Sir Nicholas Vaux, who was serving as captain of Guînes. This was due to the patronage of Sir William Sandys who was serving as treasurer of Calais. In August 1522, Gage was granted survivorship of the office of comptroller of Calais, because the comptroller, Sir Robert Wotton was ill, and he became comptroller in 1524 on Wotton’s death. He served in the campaigns in France in the 1510s and 1520s and was rewarded with a knighthood in 1525.
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This week in history 30 April – 6 May

6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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1532 – James Bainham, lawyer and Protestant martyr, was burned at Smithfield.
1536 – Scottish theologian Alexander Alesius witnessed an argument between Queen Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII, and at 11 o’clock that night, the King and Queen’s upcoming visit to Calais was cancelled and arrangements made for the King to journey alone a week later. Also 30th April, court musician and member of the Boleyn circle, Mark Smeaton, was taken to Thomas Cromwell’s house in Stepney and interrogated. Within twenty-four hours, he had confessed to making love three times to the Queen.
1544 – Death of Thomas Audley, Baron Audley of Walden and Lord Chancellor, at his home in Aldgate, London. Audley was Cromwell’s right-hand man in 1536, during the fall of Anne Boleyn, and became even more important after Cromwell’s fall.
1547 – Sir Anthony Denny was made Henry VIII’s Groom of the Stool.
1563 – Death of Henry Stafford, 10th Baron Stafford, at Caus Castle, Shropshire. Stafford was the only legitimate son of Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, and his wife, Eleanor, daughter of Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland.
1595 – Death of Thomas Bedwell, mathematician, engineer and keeper of the ordnance store at the Tower of London. He was buried at the Tower, in the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula. Bedwell’s engineering projects included him supervising the building of Dover harbour, giving advice on the fortification of Portsmouth and working on the River Thames’ defences at Tilbury and Gravesend in 1588, at the time of the Spanish Armada.
1596 – Death of Sir John Puckering, administrator and Speaker of the House of Commons, from apoplexy. Puckering’s other offices included Serjeant-at-Law, Recorder of Warwick, Privy Councillor and Lord Keeper of the Great Seal. In 1587, he was involved in the trial of Elizabeth I’s secretary William Davison, appearing for the Crown. He was buried at Westminster Abbey, in St Paul’s Chapel.
1596 – Death of Thomas Bickley, Bishop of Chichester, at the bishop’s palace in Aldingbourne. He was buried in his cathedral.
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This week in history 23 – 29 April

6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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1500 – Birth of Alexander Ales (Alesius, Aless), Scottish theologian and reformer, at Edinburgh. His mother was Christina Bigholm, and his actual surname seems to have been Alan or Allane. He changed his name when he went into exile, choosing “Alesius”, meaning “bird”, or in this case, “exile”.
1512 – Birth of Henry Fitzalan, 12th Earl of Arundel, son of William Fitzalan, 11th Earl of Arundel, and Anne (née Percy), daughter of Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland. At his baptism, Henry VIII stood as his godfather. He served Henry VIII as Deputy of Calais, Privy Councillor and Lord Chamberlain.
1536 – Sir Nicholas Carew was elected to the Order of the Garter at the annual chapter meeting at Greenwich, rather than George Boleyn, brother of Queen Anne Boleyn.
1564 – Traditional birthdate of William Shakespeare, the Bard. It is not known on what date Shakespeare was actually born but he was baptised at Stratford-upon-Avon on 26th April 1564, and baptism usually took place around three days after birth.
William Shakespeare also died on this day in 1616. He was buried at the Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon, in the chancel.
23 April, St George’s Day, was the traditional day for announcing new appointments to the Order of the Garter, the highest order of chivalry in England.
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This week in history 9 – 15 April

6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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9th April:

1483 – Death of Edward IV at the Palace of Westminster. He was laid to rest in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, on 20th April. His cause of death is unknown. It may have been caused by a chill, but he was known for overindulging in food and drink, and that would not have helped his health.
1533 – A delegation of the King’s councillors, headed by the Duke of Norfolk, visited Catherine of Aragon and informed her that Henry VIII was now married to Anne Boleyn. After they left, Catherine’s Chamberlain, Sir William Blount, 4th Baron Mountjoy, had to tell her that she had been demoted from Queen to Dowager Princess of Wales.
1557 – Cardinal Reginald Pole’s legatine powers were revoked by Pope Paul IV.
1582 – Death of Richard Bertie, evangelical, member of Parliament and second husband of Katherine Willoughby (other married name Brandon), Duchess of Suffolk, at Bourne. He had met Katherine when he became her Gentleman Usher. He was buried with Katherine, who died in 1580, at Spilsby.
1590 – Funeral of Ambrose Dudley, Earl of Warwick. He was laid to rest in the Beauchamp Chapel of St Mary’s Church, Warwick.
1626 – Death of Francis Bacon, Viscount St Alban, Lord Chancellor, politician and philosopher. It appears that Bacon died from inhaling nitre or opiates in a botched experiment.
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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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This week in history 19 – 25 March

6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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19th March:

1563 – Deaths of Arthur Brooke, translator and poet, and Sir Thomas Finch, knight-marshal, in the shipwreck of the Greyhound, off the coast of Rye in East Sussex.
1563 – Peace (Edict) of Amboise signed at the Château of Amboise by Catherine de’ Medici, as regent for her son, Charles IX. Catherine initiated this truce after the assassination of Francis, Duke of Guise, at the Siege of Orléans. The Edict ended the first phase of the French Wars of Religion and guaranteed the Huguenots religious privileges and freedoms. Peace did not last long, however.
1568 – Death of Elizabeth Seymour, Lady Cromwell. Click here to read more.
1577 – Death of Edmund Harman, former barber of Henry VIII, at Burford in Oxfordshire. He had retired there after Henry VIII’s death. Harman was buried at Taynton Church.
1590 – Baptism of William Bradford, separatist and founder of the Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts, at Austerfield in Yorkshire. Bradford was Governor of the colony for over thirty years.
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This week in history 12 -18 March

6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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12th March:

1537 – Execution of William Haydock, Cistercian monk. He was hanged for his involvement in the Pilgrimage of Grace. Interestingly, his remains were discovered in the family’s home, Cottam Hall, in the early 19th century because his nephew had saved his body and hidden it there.
1539 – Thomas Boleyn, Earl of Wiltshire and Earl of Ormond, and father of Queen Anne Boleyn, died at Hever Castle, aged around sixty-two. He was laid to rest at St Peter’s Church, Hever.
1564 – Baptism of Christopher Bales, Roman Catholic priest and martyr. Bales was executed by hanging on 4th March 1590 in Fleet Street. Two others, Nicholas Horner and Alexander Blake, were executed at Smithfield and Grays Inn Lane for harbouring him.
1573 (11th or 12th) – Death of Edmund Brydges, 2nd Baron Chandos, soldier, politician, Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire and Vice-Admiral of Gloucestershire. He was laid to rest at Sudeley.
1628 – Death of John Bull, composer, musician and organ builder, at Antwerp.
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This week in history 5 – 11 March

6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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5th March:

1496 – King Henry VII of England issued letters patent to John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto), the Italian navigator and explorer. Click here to read more.
1549 – A bill of attainder was passed against Thomas Seymour, Baron Sudeley, after it was argued that his offences “were in the compasse of treason”. Seymour had been accused of attempting to kidnap his nephew, Edward VI, and also of plotting to marry the teenaged Elizabeth and put her on the throne.
1558 – Smoking tobacco was introduced in Europe by Francisco Fernandes.
1563 – Birth of Sir John Coke, politician and influential administrator during Charles I’s reign.
1572 – Death of Edward Hastings, Baron Hastings of Loughborough, nobleman and soldier. In July 1553, when Lady Jane Grey became queen, he was involved in assembling supporters of Princess Mary in the Thames Valley and became one of Mary’s trusted confidants. In the reign of Elizabeth I he was imprisoned in the Tower for hearing mass, but was released after taking the oath of supremacy.
1575 – Birth and baptism of William Oughtred, the mathematician responsible for developing a straight slide-rule, a gauging rod and various sundials. He also introduced the “×” symbol for multiplication and the abbreviations “sin” and “cos” for the sine and cosine functions.
1618 – Burial of Robert Abbot, Bishop of Salisbury, in Salisbury Cathedral.
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This week in history 26 February – 4 March

6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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26th February:

1548 – Birth of courtier George Carey, 2nd Baron Hunsdon, son of Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon, and his wife, Anne. George was the grandson of Mary Boleyn, sister of Anne Boleyn.
1552 – Executions of conspirators Sir Thomas Arundell, Sir Michael Stanhope, Sir Miles Partridge and Sir Ralph Fane. Arundell and Stanhope were beheaded on Tower Hill, while Partridge and Fane were hanged. They were condemned as traitors after being accused of conspiring with Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, against John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland.
1564 – Christopher Marlowe, poet, translator and playwright, was baptised at St George’s Canterbury. Marlowe was the second child of John Marlowe, shoemaker, and his wife, Katherine. Marlowe’s works included “Tamburlaine”, “Dr Faustus”, “The Jew of Malta” and “The Passionate Shepherd to his Love”. Click here to see a Claire Chats video on Christopher Marlowe.
1608 – Death of John Still, Bishop of Bath and Wells, in the palace at Wells. He was buried in Wells Cathedral.
1619 – Death of Edmund Bunny, clergyman, preacher and theological writer, at Cawood, Yorkshire. He was buried in York Minster. His works included “The Whole Summe of Christian Religion” (1576), “A Book of Christian Exercise, Appertaining to Resolution” (1584) and “A Briefe Answer, unto those Idle and Frivolous Quarrels of R.P.” (1589), a response to Jesuit Robert Person.
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This week in history 19 – 25 February

6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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19th February:

1473 – Birth of Nicholas Copernicus, the Renaissance mathematician and astronomer, in Thorn, in the province of Royal Prussia, Poland. Copernicus is known for his theory of heliocentric cosmology, or the idea that the sun was stationary in the centre of the universe and that the earth revolved around it.
1547 – King Edward VI rode from the Tower of London to Westminster in preparation for his coronation the next day. Click here to read more.
1546 – William Cavendish was appointed Treasurer of the Privy Chamber. He later claimed that he had paid £1000 for the position.
1567 – The imprisoned Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox, was informed of the murder of her son, Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley, by William Cecil’s wife, Mildred, and Lady William Howard. The Spanish ambassador recorded that Margaret’s grief was such “that it was necessary for the Queen to send her doctors to her”.
1592 – The Rose Theatre, an Elizabethan playhouse, was opened in London on Bankside.
1598 – Death of Jasper Heywood, Jesuit and poet, in Naples. Heywood had been deported to France in January 1585, after being imprisoned in the Tower of London for treason, and was then summoned to Rome. He never returned to England.
1601 – Death of Thomas Fanshawe, at Warwick Lane. He was buried in the south aisle of Ware church in Hertfordshire. Fanshawe was an Exchequer official during Elizabeth I’s reign.
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Was Elizabeth I really an awful person?

6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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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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This week in history 5 – 11 February

6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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5th February:

1537 – Birth of diplomat Sir Henry Brooke, son of George Brooke, 9th Baron Cobham, and his wife Anne Bray. Anne Bray was a lady in waiting to Anne Boleyn, and there is controversy over whether she was the “Nan Cobham” who was one of the Queen’s accusers in 1536. In Elizabeth I’s reign, Brooke was made a gentleman pensioner and carried out embassies to Spain, the Low Countries and France for her. In October 1579, Elizabeth appointed him as her resident ambassador in France, until he was replaced by Sir Edward Stafford in 1583.
1556 – Treaty of Vaucelles between Philip II of Spain and Henry II of France. By the terms of this treaty, Henry II had to relinquish Franche-Comté to Philip, but the treaty was quickly broken.
1557 – Death of Sir William Portman, Judge and Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales from 1555. He was buried at St Dunstan-in-the-West, Fleet Street, London.
1576 – Henry of Navarre, the future Henry IV of France, abjured Catholicism at Tours, rejoining the Protestant forces, following his escape from Paris on 3rd February.
1605 – Death of Sir Edward Stafford, son of Sir William Stafford (Mary Boleyn’s second husband) and his second wife Dorothy Stafford. Edward was an MP and diplomat, and there is controversy over his “spying” activities during the Armada and exactly how much information he passed to Mendoza. He was buried in St Margaret’s, Westminster.
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1 February – A busy day in Tudor history!

6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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1 February seems to have been a rather busy day in the Tudor period and here are three events, linked to further reading about them…

1514 – Henry VIII granted the dukedom of Suffolk to Charles Brandon, his future brother-in-law, and also made Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk, and Howard’s son, also called Thomas, the Earl of Surrey. Charles Somerset was also made Earl of Worcester.
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This week in history 29 January – 4 February

6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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29th January:

1536 – Catherine of Aragon was laid to rest in Peterborough Abbey, now Peterborough Cathedral. She had requested that she should be buried in a Chapel of her beloved order, The Observant Friars, but Henry’s dissolution of the monasteries meant that there were none left. She was buried as Dowager Princess of Wales, not queen.
1536 – Queen Anne Boleyn suffered a miscarriage.
1547 – Edward Seymour and Anthony Denny informed the young Edward VI that his father, Henry VIII, had died the day before.
1559 – Death of Sir Thomas Pope, founder of Trinity College, Oxford, member of Parliament and Privy Councillor in Mary I’s reign, at Clerkenwell. He was buried at St Stephen’s Church, Walbrook. In 1556, Pope acted as a guardian for Princess Elizabeth at Hatfield House, and handled the correspondence when Eric of Sweden was interested in marrying Elizabeth.
1577 – Death of Richard Harpur, Law Reporter and Judge of the Common Pleas. He was buried at Swarkestone Church in Derbyshire.
1613 – Death of Sir Thomas Bodley, scholar, diplomat and founder of Oxford’s Bodleian Library at his house next to St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London. He was buried in Merton College chapel on 29th March.
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This week in history 22 – 28 January

6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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22 January:

1528 – Henry VIII and Francis I declared war on Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.
1552 – Former Lord Protector of England, Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, was executed by beheading on Tower Hill in London. He was laid to rest in the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula at the Tower of London, and records show that he was buried next to Anne Boleyn in the chancel area. Click here to read more.
1554 – Thomas Wyatt the Younger met with fellow conspirators at his home of Allington Castle in Kent to make final plans for their uprising (Wyatt’s Rebellion) against Mary I and her decision to marry Philip of Spain – click here to read more.
1561 – Birth of Francis Bacon, Viscount St Alban, the Elizabethan Lord Chancellor, politician, philosopher, author and scientist, at York House in the Strand, London. Bacon is known as “the Father of the Scientific method” and developed an investigative method, the Baconian method, which he put forward in his book Novum Organum in 1620. Some people (Baconians) believe that Francis Bacon was the true author of William Shakespeare’s plays.
1575 – Death of James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran and Duke of Châtelherault, at Kinneil. Arran was appointed Regent for the infant Mary, Queen of Scots after James V’s death in 1542, but surrendered the regency to Mary’s mother, Mary of Guise in 1554.
1613 – Death of Sir David Williams, Serjeant-at-Law in Elizabeth I’s reign and Puisne Justice of the King’s Bench in James I’s reign, from a fever at Kingston House, Kingston Bagpuize, Berkshire. His body was buried at St John’s Chapel, Brecon, and his entrails were buried at Kingston.
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This week in history 8 – 14 January

6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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8th January:

1499 – Marriage of Louis XII and Anne of Brittany, widow of Charles VIII of France and the Queen Dowager. The couple had two surviving children: Claude, Queen of France, and Renée, Duchess of Ferrara.
1543 – Burial of King James V of Scotland at Holyrood Abbey, Edinburgh.
1570 – Death of Henry Clifford, 2nd Earl of Cumberland, at Brougham Castle. He was buried at Holy Trinity Church, Skipton. Clifford’s career included serving Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond, at Pontefract Castle, being made Knight of the Bath at the coronation of Anne Boleyn, serving as Carver to Henry VIII in 1540, and being appointed to the Council of the Borders and the Council of the North. He was married to Henry VIII’s niece, Eleanor Brandon.
1571 – Burial of Mary Shelton (married names: Heveningham and Appleyard) at Heveningham Church, Suffolk. Mary was the daughter of Sir John Shelton and his wife Anne (née Boleyn), and wife of Sir Anthony Heveningham, then Philip Appleyard. Mary served Queen Anne Boleyn as one of her ladies.
1586 – Death of Sir George Seton, 5th Lord Seton, politician, Scottish nobleman and loyal supporter of Mary, Queen of Scots. He was a member of Mary’s privy council. Seton was buried in Seton Church, East Lothian.
1594 – Death of Sir Wolstan Dixie, merchant and Lord Mayor of London, in London. He was buried at the parish church of St Michael Bassishaw. Dixie served as Lord Mayor of London in 1585-1586.
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This week in history 1 – 7 January

6 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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1 January:

1463 – Probable birthdate of Silvestro Gigli, diplomat and Bishop of Worcester, at Lucca in Italy. Gigli was nominated as Bishop of Worcester in December 1498, and enthroned in April 1499.
1511 – Queen Catherine of Aragon gave birth to a son, Henry, Duke of Cornwall. His birth was met with celebrations throughout England – bonfires, wine flowing through the streets of London, cannons firing, pageants, banqueting and jousts. He died on 22nd February 1511, just fifty-two days after his birth
1515 – Death of Louis XII of France, less than three months after his marriage to Mary Tudor, the sister of Henry VIII. He did not have a son, and so was succeeded by Francis I, his cousin’s son and the husband of Louis’ daughter, Claude. Louis was buried in Saint Denis Basilica.
1537 – Marriage of James V of Scotland and Madeleine de Valois, daughter of Francis I, at Notre Dame in Paris.
1540 – Henry VIII met his bride-to-be, Anne of Cleves, at Rochester. Following the great chivalric tradition, Henry disguised himself and attempted to kiss her, but a shocked Anne did not recognise him as King. It was a disastrous first meeting, and Henry was sorely disappointed that she could not recognise him as her true love.
1556 – Nicholas Heath, Archbishop of York, became Mary I’s Lord Chancellor.
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This week in history 25 -31 December

7 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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25th December:

Christmas Day – Happy Christmas!
1549 – Death of Stephen Vaughan, merchant, merchant adventurer, diplomat and administrator, in London. He was buried at London’s St Mary-le-Bow. Vaughan served Sir Thomas Cromwell as a diplomat between 1524 and 1539, and moved into Henry VIII’s service on Cromwell’s fall. He acted as the King’s Chief Financial Agent in the Netherlands from 1544 to 1546, and became Under-Treasurer of the Tower of London Mint in 1544.
1553 – Birth of Thomas Thomas, Puritan printer and lexicographer, in London. He became the printer of Cambridge University in 1583, and concentrated on printing Protestant theology and education works. He is known for his Latin dictionary.
1569 (25th or 26th) – Killing of Sir John Borthwick, soldier, diplomat and Protestant, near Bewcastle in Cumberland. He was killed by the Forster family as he was fighting on the side of James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray and the Regent, against Mary, Queen of Scots’s forces. Borthwick had served Edward VI as a diplomat, Elizabeth I as a military commander and Mary, Queen of Scots as a diplomat.
1587 – Death of Brian Darcy, magistrate, Sheriff of Essex, witch-hunter and contributor to the 1582 “A true and just recorde of the information, examination and confession of all the witches, taken at S. Oses”. “A True and Just Recorde” argued for harsher punishments for those found guilty of witchcraft.
1634 – Death of Lettice Blount (née Knollys, other married names: Devereux and Dudley) at the age of ninety-one. Lettice died at her home at Drayton Bassett and was buried beside her second husband, Sir Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, in the Beauchamp Chapel of St Mary’s Church, Warwick.
1596 – Death of Sir Henry Curwen, member of Parliament, Justice of the Peace and Sheriff. He served Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I loyally.
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This week in history 18 – 24 December

7 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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