The Tudor Society

YOUR SEARCH UNCOVERED 763 RESULTS

  • This week in history 10 – 16 July

    A miniature of Henry Brandon, 2nd Duke of Suffolk, by Hans Holbein the Younger.

    On this day in history…

    10th July:

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

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  • The Northern Rebellion of 1569

    The Northern Rebellion of 1569, also known as the Revolt of the Northern Earls, was the only major armed rebellion during the reign of Elizabeth I. In the last months of 1569, the earls of Northumberland and Westmorland rebelled against the queen in an attempt to preserve Catholicism. The establishment of the Elizabethan settlement alienated those who favoured the old religion, and their disaffection increased as growing numbers were arrested and imprisoned for religious nonconformity. This disaffection was spurred by the arrival in England of Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1568, the year before the rebellion. Mary had been forced from her throne after the murder of her second husband Henry, Lord Darnley, and her swift remarriage to Darnley’s suspected murderer, James, Earl of Bothwell. Mary’s Catholic faith made her a sympathetic figure to traditionalists in England. Although the majority of English Catholics remained loyal to Elizabeth, some were determined to force her from the throne and replace her with her cousin Mary, who they hoped would restore Catholicism to the realm.

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  • This week in history 3 – 9 July

    On this day in history…

    3 July:

    1495 – The pretender Perkin Warbeck landed at Deal in Kent with men and ships. Around 150 of his men were killed and over 160 captured by Henry VII’s troops. Warbeck escaped, fleeing to Ireland. Warbeck claimed to be Richard, Duke of York, the younger of the Princes in the Tower.
    1533 – William Blount, 4th Baron Mountjoy, Catherine of Aragon’s Chamberlain, was ordered to inform Catherine again that she must recognise her new title of ‘Princess Dowager’ and not use the title of ‘Queen’. Catherine refused, and whenever she saw her new title written in letters, she crossed it out with a pen.
    1541 – Death of Girolamo Ghinucci, Italian papal administrator, Bishop of Worcester, papal nuncio and ambassador. He died in Rome and was buried in the church of San Clemente.
    1557 – Mary I bid farewell to her husband, Philip of Spain, at Dover as he set off for war with France.
    1579 – Death of Sir Edward Fitton, administrator and Vice-Treasurer for Elizabeth I in Ireland. His death was recorded as being ‘from the disease of the country’, which he had apparently caught on an expedition to Longford. He was buried in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, beside his wife, Anne.
    1594 (3rd or 4th July) – Executions of Catholic priest John Cornelius, Thomas Bosgrave (a relation of Sir John Arundell) and two servants of the Arundell family at Dorchester. They had been arrested when Cornelius was found hiding in a priest hole at Chideock Castle on 14th April 1594

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  • July 2017 Tudor Life Magazine – Palaces and Stately Homes

    Here’s the full edition of our giant 62-page 78-page July edition of Tudor Life Magazine. This month we are focusing on Tudor stately homes and palaces … a fascinating edition.

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  • This week in history 26 June – 2 July

    On this day in history…

    26th June:

    1513 – Burial of Sir Edmund Carew, landowner, administrator and soldier, in the church of St Nicholas, Calais, after he was shot dead during the siege of Thérouanne in Artois.
    1535 – A new commission of oyer and terminer was appointed for the county of Middlesex. The commission ordered the Sheriff of Middlesex to gather the Grand Jury on the 28th June at Westminster Hall. This was to try Sir Thomas More who, according to the indictment, had been “traitorously attempting to deprive the King of his title of Supreme Head of the Church”.
    1568 – Death of Thomas Young, Archbishop of York, at Sheffield. He was buried in York Minster.
    1576 – Death of Edward Dering, scholar, Church of England clergyman and controversial evangelical preacher, from tuberculosis at Thobie Priory in Essex. A collection of his works, which included sermons, lectures, prayers and letters, was first published in 1590.
    1596 – Burial of Sir John Wingfield in the cathedral at Cadiz, Spain. He was shot in the head in the attack on Cadiz on 21st June. At Wingfield’s funeral, “the generalls threw their handkerchiefs wet from their eyes into the grave” (Stow, 775) and the poet John Donne, who was a member of the expedition, composed an epigram as a tribute to Wingfield: “Farther then Wingefield, no man dares to go”.

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  • Leanda de Lisle talks Tudor

    One of my favourite historians, Leanda de Lisle, has just shared details of two talks she’s doing, one at Bosworth Battlefield and one in Yorkshire. Here are the details:

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  • This week in history 19 – 25 June

    On this day in history…

    19th June:

    1502 – The Treaty of Antwerp was signed between Henry VII and Emperor Maximilian I at Antwerp. Henry VII promised a payment of £10,000 for aid against the Turks in exchange for Maximilian’s promise to banish Yorkist rebels from his territories.
    1535 – Sebastian Newdigate, William Exmew and Humphrey Middlemore, monks of the Carthusian Order of London Charterhouse, were hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn. Their crime: refusing to accept King Henry VIII as the Supreme Head of the Church. Click here for more information on the Carthusian Martyrs.
    1566 – Birth of James VI and I, King of Scotland, England and Ireland, at Edinburgh Castle in Scotland. James was the only son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and Henry Stuart (Stewart), Lord Darnley. James became James VI of Scotland when his mother was forced to abdicate 24th July 1567, and he became James I of England on the death of Elizabeth I, 24th March 1603.
    1573 – Execution of Thomas Woodhouse, Jesuit priest and martyr, at Tyburn. He was the first priest to be executed in Elizabeth I’s reign. Woodhouse was beatified in December 1886 by Pope Leo XIII.
    1616 – Death of Henry Robinson, Bishop of Carlisle, at his home, Rose Castle in Carlisle. He died of the plague. Robinson was buried in Carlisle Cathedral.

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  • 17 June 1497 – The Battle of Blackheath (Battle of Deptford Bridge)

    On this day in history, 17th June 1497, the Cornish Rebellion was brought to an end by the Battle of Blackheath, which is also known as the Battle of Deptford Bridge, when Henry VII’s forces were triumphant against the rebels.

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  • This week in history 12 – 18 June

    Miniature of Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset, by Lucas Horenbout

    On this day in history…

    12th June:

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

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  • This week in history 5 – 11 June

    On this day in history…

    5th June:
    1516 – Maria de Salinas married William, 10th Lord Willoughby of Eresby. Maria was a good friend of Catherine of Aragon, and she and William were the parents of Katherine Willoughby, who went on to marry Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk.
    1536 – Edward Seymour was created Viscount Beauchamp of Hache, Somerset, following the wedding of his sister, Jane Seymour, and Henry VIII.
    1539 – Death of Brian Hygdon, Dean of York. Hygdon was close to Wolsey and Cromwell, and served on the King’s Council in the North. He was buried in York Minster.
    1577 – Death of John Rastell, author, Jesuit and Vice-Rector at Ingolstadt. He died in Ingolstadt.
    1588 – Death of Anne de Vere (née Cecil), Countess of Oxford, at Greenwich. She was buried at Westminster Abbey. Anne was the daughter of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, and his second wife, Mildred. She had been contracted to marry Philip Sidney, but married Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford in 1571. It was not a successful marriage, and the couple separated after Oxford refused to recognise their daughter, Elizabeth, as his.

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  • Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk

    On this day in history, 2nd June 1572, Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, was executed on Tower Hill for treason. His remains were buried in the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula at the Tower of London.

    Thomas was the eldest son of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, and his wife, Frances de Vere, and he was born on 10th March 1538 at Kenninghall. His father was executed in January 1547 so his aunt, Mary Fitzroy, Duchess of Richmond, was in charge of his early upbringing. His tutors included Hadrianus Junius, the martyrologist John Foxe and Bishop John White. When he was 15 years of age, in September 1553, he was made a Knight of the Bath by Mary I and he helped his grandfather, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, Earl Marshal and Lord High Steward, officiate at the queen’s coronation and coronation banquet in October 1553.

    In July 1554, Thomas was appointed as first gentleman of the chamber to Philip of Spain, Mary I’s new husband. He became the Duke of Norfolk following the death of his grandfather on 25th August 1554 and also inherited his grandfather’s office of Earl Marshal. In 1555 he married Mary Fitzalan, daughter and heir of Henry Fitzalan, 12th Earl of Arundel. During Mary I’s reign, he was rewarded with offices including High Steward of Cambridge and Great Yarmouth, and Lord Lieutenant of Norfolk and Suffolk. His wife, Mary, died on 25th August 1557, having given birth to a son, Philip, on 28th June 1557. Thomas went on to marry his cousin, Margaret Dudley, widow of Lord Henry Dudley and heir of Thomas, Lord Audley of Walden, shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I in 1558.

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  • This week in history 29 May – 4 June

    On this day in history…

    29th May:

    1500 – Death of Thomas Rotherham, Archbishop of York, at Cawood Castle, Yorkshire. He was buried in York Minster.
    1533 – Anne Boleyn’s coronation pageantry began with a river procession.
    1542 – Death of Sir Thomas Neville, lawyer and Speaker of the House of Commons, county commissioner in Kent, Surrey, Sussex, and Middlesex, and Knight of St John. He was the fifth son of George Neville, 2nd Baron Bergavenny. Neville was buried in Mereworth church in Kent.
    1546 – Murder of David Beaton, Cardinal and Archbishop of St Andrews, at the castle in St Andrews. He was killed by a small group of Fife lairds. One motive was their outrage at the recent trial and execution of Protestant preacher George Wishart at St Andrews.
    1555 – Birth of George Carew, Earl of Totnes, soldier, administrator and Lord President of Munster. He was a member of James I’s Privy Council and his council of war. He was also a friend of Sir Walter Ralegh, and pleaded unsuccessfully for his life.
    1593 – Hanging of religious controversialist John Penry at St Thomas-a-Watering in Surrey. Penry had been found guilty of “publishing scandalous writings against the church” after having been linked to the “Marprelate religious tracts.”
    1623 – Burial of Francis Anthony, alchemist and physician, in the church of St Bartholomew-the-Great.

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  • Katherine of Aragon

    Katherine of Aragon was born into the royal Spanish household on 16th December 1485, at the Archbishop’s Palace of Alcalá de Henares. She was the daughter of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and his illustrious wife, Isabella I of Castile. Katherine’s parents were the Catholic powerhouses of Western Europe during the late fifteenth century, therefore during her youth, the young Spanish princess would have envisioned the grand future that awaited her, with an ambitious marriage into an equally powerful European royal household.

    At aged just three, her parents were in negotiations with the English king, Henry VII, for a suitable marriage to his son, Arthur. The Tudors had recently taken the throne after defeating the Yorkist Richard III at Bosworth in 1485, although their Lancastrian claimant to the throne was still vulnerable to usurpation. England required international support to ensure the legitimacy and security of their house. An Anglo-Spanish alliance would be vitally important for the country’s prosperity and position in European politics.

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  • This week in history 15 – 21 May

    On this day in history…

    15th May:

    1464 – Execution of Henry Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, immediately after the Battle of Hexham. He was buried in Hexham Abbey.
    1536 – Trials of Anne Boleyn and George Boleyn in the King’s Hall at the Tower of London. They were both found guilty and sentenced to death.
    1537 – Thomas Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy de Darcy, and his cousin, John Hussey, 1st Baron Hussey of Sleaford, were tried for treason at Westminster after being implicated in the Pilgrimage of Grace. “Letters and Papers” recorded the verdict as guilty and the sentence was “Judgment as usual in cases of high treason. Execution to be at Tyburn.” They were actually beheaded.

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  • This week in history 8 -14 May

    On this day in history…

    8th May:
    1508 – Birth of Charles Wriothesley, herald and chronicler, in London. His chronicle is one of the major primary sources for Henry VIII’s reign. Charles came from a family of heralds; he was the younger son of Sir Thomas Wriothesley, Garter King of Arms, grandson of John Writhe, Garther King of Arms, and nephew of William Wriothesley, York Herald. Charles’ offices included Rouge Croix Pursuivant and Windsor Herald of Arms in Ordinary, but he did not go as far as his father and grandfather.
    1538 – Death of Edward Fox, Bishop of Hereford and diplomat. He was active in trying to secure the annulment of Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon, and produced several books and polemics on Henry’s Great Matter, including Henricus octavus.

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  • This week in history 1 – 7 May

    On this day in history…

    1st May:
    1461 – Execution of James Butler, 1st Earl of Wiltshire and 5th Earl of Ormond, at Newcastle after being captured by the Yorkists.
    1508 – Birth of Sir William Cavendish, administrator. Cavendish was one of Cromwell’s main agents in the dissolution of the monasteries and was appointed Treasurer of the Chamber in February 1546.
    1517 – The Evil May Day Riot. A mob of young apprentices and labourers gathered at St Paul’s and then went on a rampage through the streets of London, causing damage to property and hurting those who stood in their way.

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  • This week in history 24 – 30 April

    On this day in history…

    24th April:

    1536 – Commissions of oyer and terminer set up by Thomas Audley, Lord Chancellor. These particular commissions were for offences committed in the counties of Middlesex and Kent, and covered the crimes of misprision, treason, rebellion, felonies, murder, homicide, rioting, plotting, insurrection, extortion, oppression, contempt, concealment, ignorance, negligence, falsities, deception, conspiracy and being an accessory to these crimes. It is not known whether they were set up specifically to try the men who would later be charged with committing adultery with Queen Anne Boleyn.
    1545 – Baptism of Henry Wriothesley, 2nd Earl of Southampton, at St Andrews, Holborn. He was the son of Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton and 1st Baron Wriothesley, Henry VIII’s Lord Chancellor.
    1549 – Death of Ralph Neville, 4th Earl of Westmorland, English peer, soldier and Privy Councillor. He was buried at Staindrop in County Durham. Neville was one of the peers who sat in judgement on Anne Boleyn in May 1536 and served Henry VIII as a soldier in the North of England and borders, and Edward VI in Scotland.
    1551 – Execution of Dutchman George van Parris, surgeon and religious radical at Smithfield. He was burned at the stake for Arianism (denying the divinity of Christ).

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  • James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell

    James Hepburn, 1st Duke of Orkney, 4th Earl of Bothwell and the third husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, was the son of Patrick Hepburn, 3rd Earl of Bothwell and Lord High Admiral, known as the “Fair Earl”, and his wife Agnes Sinclair, daughter of Henry Sinclair, 3rd Lord Sinclair. In 1556, on his father’s death, James became 4th Earl of Bothwell and Lord High Admiral of Scotland.

    In 1559/1560 Bothwell visited Denmark on the way to France and met Anna Throndsen (Anne Thorssen). He is alleged to have seduced and even married Anne but deserted her. In 1566, he married Jean Gordon, second eldest daughter of George Gordon, Earl of Huntly, but the marriage was not a happy one, as Jean accused Bothwell of adultery with her maid and seamstress, Bessie Crawford. The marriage was annulled in May 1567 on the grounds of consanguinity. Eight days after the divorce, Bothwell married Mary, Queen of Scots.

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  • This week in history 10 – 16 April

    On this day, 10th April…

    1512 – James V, King of Scotland, was born at Linlithgow Palace. He was the fourth child of James IV and Margaret Tudor, sister of Henry VIII. He was the only one of James and Margaret’s children to survive childhood, and so inherited the crown of Scotland when his father was killed at the Battle of Flodden, 9th September 1513.
    1550 – Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, was re-admitted into Edward VI’s council.
    1559 – Death of Sir Rice Mansel, soldier and administrator, at his home in Clerkenwell. He served Henry VIII as Vice-Admiral in 1542, in France and Scotland, and in 1544 as Knight-Marshal. He was also Chamberlain of Chester.
    1585 – Death of Pope Gregory XIII, the Pope known for his introduction of the Gregorian Calendar, in Rome. He was succeeded by Pope Sixtus V.

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  • Sir Francis Walsingham

    On this day in history, 6th April 1590, Elizabeth I’s principal secretary, Sir Francis Walsingham, died at around the age of fifty-eight. Although he had served the queen for many years, he died in debt, as he had underwritten the debts of Sir Philip Sidney, his son-in-law.

    Walsingham was an incredibly important man during Elizabeth I’s reign, being a statesman, private secretary, adviser, diplomat and spymaster, and he probably saved the queen’s life many times by uncovering various plots against her. Elizabeth called him her “Moor”.

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  • An Overview of the Results of the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis 1559

    Thank you to regular contributor Heather R. Darsie for this article on the 1559 Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis.

    After sixty-five long years of war, the Habsburg and Valois families finally brought the Italian Wars to an end on 3 April 1559. The Italian Wars were fought over territory in Italy, particularly the duchy of Milan. In 1551 Henry II, King of France, carried on his father Francis’ battle with Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, which came to be between Henry II and Philip II of Spain by 1559. The purpose of the treaty was to settle all territorial disputes. The peace ushered in at Cateau-Cambrésis would last the better part of one hundred and fifty years.

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  • 24 March 1603 – The death of Gloriana

    On this day in history, the 24th March 1603, Queen Elizabeth I died at Richmond Palace aged 69, bringing the rule of the Tudor dynasty to an end. Elizabeth I had reigned for 44 years and 127 days and her reign was known as “The Golden Age”. She was the longest reigning Tudor monarch.

    It is said that the execution of her former favourite, Robert Devereux, the Earl of Essex, on the 25th February 1601 had a huge impact on Elizabeth. She had already lost her great love Robert Dudley in 1588, her good friend Blanche Parry in 1590, and her friend and adviser William Cecil, Lord Burghley, in 1598. It seemed that all those she loved and depended on were dying and leaving her. Her grief, combined with a belief that she was losing her grip on her court and country, led to her becoming severely depressed.

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  • This week in history 20 – 26 March

    On this day in history…

    20th March

    1469 – Birth of Cecily, Viscountess Welles and princess, also known as Cecily of York, third daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. She was born at Westminster Palace. A marriage alliance with Scotland was made in 1473 promising Cecily to James, the infant son of James III, but Cecily was still unmarried at her father’s death in 1483. Her uncle, Richard III, arranged Cecily’s marriage to Ralph Scrope of Upsall, but Henry VII dissolved the marriage in 1486 and she married John Welles, Viscount Welles, the King’s half-uncle. After Welles’ death in 1499, Cecily went on to marry Thomas Kyme of Friskney. Cecily died in 1507.
    1544 – Baptism of Cuthbert Mayne, Roman Catholic priest and martyr. He was hanged, drawn and quartered at Launceston on 30th November 1577 after being charged with traitorously getting hold of a papal bull and publishing it at Golden Manor, defending the authority of the Pope, purchasing a number of Agnus Dei and giving them to people, and celebrating the Catholic mass.
    1549 – Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron of Sudeley and Lord High Admiral, husband of the late Dowager Queen Catherine Parr and brother of Queen Jane Seymour and Protector Somerset, was executed after being charged with thirty-three counts of treason.
    1555 – Burial of John Russell, Earl of Bedford, courtier and magnate, at Chenies, following his death 14th March. It was a lavish funeral with three hundred horses, all in black trappings.

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  • This week in history 13 – 19 March

    On this day in history…

    13th March:

    1540 – Death of Henry Bourchier, 2nd Earl of Essex. He died after falling off a horse, and his title was given to Thomas Cromwell. His daughter, Anne, married Sir William Parr, brother of Queen Catherine Parr.
    1543 – Death of Sebastian Giustinian, the Venetian diplomat. He died in Venice at the age of eighty-three. Giustinian served as the Venetian ambassador to England from 1514 to 1519, and wrote 226 letters during his embassy there. He became ambassador to France in 1526 and procurator of St Mark in 1540.
    1594 – Death of John Woolton, Bishop of Exeter, from asthma at the bishop’s palace in Exeter. He was buried in the cathedral choir.

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  • This week in history 6 – 12 March

    On this day in history, 6th March…

    1492 – Birth of Juan Luis Vives, scholar, humanist and tutor of Mary I, in Valencia, Spain.
    1536 – Introduction into Parliament of the “Act for the Suppression (or Dissolution) of the Lesser Monasteries”. The act affected the “lesser monasteries”; those with fewer than twelve members and those worth less than £200 per year. They were to be dissolved, their heads pensioned off and their members to become secularized or moved to larger monasteries “where they may be compelled to live religiously for reformation of their lives”.
    1547 – Thomas Wriothesley lost the Great Seal of his Lord Chancellorship and was confined to his home at Ely Place for abusing his authority. He was found guilty of issuing a commission without the knowledge or permission of the other executors of Henry VIII’s will, but it was probably more to do with his opposition to Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, becoming Lord Protector. He was later re-admitted to the Privy Council, a position he’d also lost at his fall.

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  • This week in history 27 February – 5 March

    On this day in history…
    27th February:

    1531 – Birth of Roger North, 2nd Baron North, politician, diplomat and administrator at the court of Elizabeth I. North served as a Member of Parliament, Privy Councillor and Treasurer of the Household.
    1545 – The English forces were defeated by the Scots at the Battle of Ancrum Moor, near Jedburgh in Scotland.
    1555 – Death of Sir William Babthorpe, Member of Parliament and a man who was created Knight of the Bath at the coronation of Edward VI in 1547. Babthorpe had originally been on the rebel side in the Pilgrimage of Grace in 1536, but fortunately swapped sides.

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  • Tudor Nobility

    This list includes the English royal family and nobility of the Tudor period, along with how they would be addressed. Do let me know if I have missed any by commenting below.

    Rank

    Here they are are order of importance:

    Monarch and royal family
    Duke
    Marquis
    Earl
    Viscount
    Baron
    Knight

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  • This week in history 20 – 26 February

    On this day in history…

    20th February

    1516 – Baptism of Princess Mary, the future Mary I, in the Church of the Observant Friars at Greenwich. The princess was carried to the font by the Countess of Surrey, and her godparents were Catherine Courtenay, Countess of Devon and daughter of Edward IV; Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury and daughter of George, Duke of Clarence; the Duchess of Norfolk and Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. Click here to read more.
    1523 – Hanging of Agnes Hungerford, Lady Hungerford, at Tyburn. Agnes was hanged, with her servant William Mathewe, after they were found guilty of murdering Agnes’s first husband, John Cotell. It was said that Agnes arranged for her servants, William Mathewe and William Ignes, to strangle Cotell in 1518. Mathewe and Ignes were found guilty of murder ‘by the procurement and abetting of Agnes Hungerford’, and Agnes was found guilty of inciting and abetting the murder. Ignes was hanged at a later date. Agnes was buried at Grey Friars, London.
    1547 – Edward VI was crowned King at Westminster Abbey by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer. Edward VI was the first monarch to be anointed as Supreme Head of the English Church. Click here to read more about his coronation.

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  • This week in history 13 – 19 February

    On this day in history…

    13th February:

    1542 – Catherine Howard, fifth wife of Henry VIII, and Lady Jane Rochford were executed at the Tower of London. They had been found guilty of treason by Act of Attainder. They were both buried in the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula at the Tower of London. Click here to read more.
    1564 – Baptism of John Harvey, astrologer and physician, at Saffron Walden in Essex. Harvey was the third son of John Harvey, farmer and rope-maker, and his wife, Alice. His published works included “An Astrologicall Addition” (1583), a series of almanacs and “A Discoursive Probleme Concerning Prophesies” (1588).
    1579 – Death of John Fowler, the English Catholic printer and publisher, in Namur, during his exile in the reign of Elizabeth I. He was buried there in the church of St John the Evangelist. He is known as one of the most important English Catholic publishers of the 1560s and 70s.

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  • 8 February 1601 – Essex’s Rebellion

    On this day in history, Sunday 8th February 1601, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, his supporters and two hundred soldiers gathered at Essex House. Essex then marched into the city crying “For the Queen! For the Queen! The crown of England is sold to the Spaniard! A plot is laid for my life!”. However, the people ignored him and stayed indoors.

    Essex was forced to give up after his supporters deserted him, and he surrendered after Lord Admiral Nottingham threatened to blow up his house if he did not give himself up.

    Thomas Birch gives an account of the failed rebellion in his book…

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