On this day in Tudor history, 23rd January 1570, James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, illegitimate son of James V, half-brother of Mary, Queen of Scots, and a man who was acting as regent for his half-nephew, King James VI, was assassinated.

Moray, who was about 38 or 39 years of age at his death, had become regent for his one-year-old half-nephew following the abdication of Mary, Queen of Scots. Mary, who was imprisoned at the time, had been forced to abdicate by the confederate lords following her defeat at Carberry Hill.

On this day in Tudor history, 28th November 1565, Francis Yaxley set sail for Scotland from Antwerp.

The member of Parliament and political agent was carrying gold to Scotland for Mary, Queen of Scots. However, his ship was wrecked in a storm and he never reached Scotland, and neither did the gold.

But why was Francis Yaxley carrying gold? Who was it from and what happened to it?

On this day in Tudor history, 20th September 1586, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, conspirators Anthony Babington, John Ballard, John Savage, Chidiock Tichborne, and three others, were executed near St Giles-in-the-Fields in London.

They were hanged, drawn and quartered after being found guilty of treason for the Babington Plot, which sought to assassinate Elizabeth I and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots.

Find out more about Anthony Babington, the Babington Plot, the men involved, how it was discovered, and how it led to Mary, Queen of Scots’ execution…

On this day in Tudor history, 11th September 1561, Mary, Queen of Scots, set off on her first royal progress in Scotland.

Eighteen-year-old Mary had been in Scotland for less than a month, having returned from France following her husband Francis II’s death. Now, she wanted to see her homeland and her people, and show the people their queen.

This royal progress was to be an eventful one. It included a brush with death and a violent altercation!

Let me tell you more…

On this day in Tudor history, 9th September 1543, nine-month-old Mary, Queen of Scots, was crowned queen at the Chapel Royal of Stirling Castle.

It was the 30th anniversary of the Battle of Flodden and the death of Mary’s grandfather, King James IV of Scotland.

Find out more about how Mary came to the throne, her coronation ceremony, in which Mary howled, and how she was already promised in marriage to Henry VIII’s son, the future Edward VI…

On this day in Tudor history, 19th August 1561, Mary, Queen of Scots returned to her homeland, Scotland, from France. Her husband, King Francis II of France, had died in December 1560.

Let me explain the context of her return to Scotland, which would, of course, be the start of her troubles.

On this day in Tudor history, 24th July 1553, in the reign of Queen Mary I, merchant and conspirator Richard Hesketh was born in Lancashire.

Hesketh is known for the Hesketh Plot of 1593, when he urged Ferdinando Stanley, 5th Earl of Derby, to lead a rebellion to claim the throne of England.

But who was Richard Hesketh and why did he plot against Queen Elizabeth I?

What happened to him and what happened to Ferdinando Stanley?

And why did Stanley take bezoar stone and unicorn horn?

On this day in Tudor history, 20th June 1567, a silver casket of eight letters were allegedly found in the possession of James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, the third husband of Mary, Queen of Scots.

These letters, which became known as the Casket Letters, were instrumental in bringing down Mary, Queen of Scots.

Let me tell you a bit more about the Casket Letters and why they were “dynamite” for Elizabeth I’s advisors.

On this day in Tudor history, 14th May 1571, the “Creeping Parliament” was held in Edinburgh, Scotland. Why was it called the “Creeping Parliament” and why were there actually two Parliaments meeting? What was going on and what happened next?

It’s a busy date in Tudor history today!

On this day in Tudor history, 14th April 1578, Mary, Queen of Scots’ third husband, James Hepburn, Duke of Orkney and 4th Earl of Bothwell, died at Dragsholm Castle in Denmark. He’d been held at the castle in appalling conditions and it was said that he’d gone insane.

Find out more about the life of this earl who’d risen to be the husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, but who’d died in prison, far away from home…

On this day in Tudor history, 9th March 1589, Lady Frances Radcliffe, Countess of Sussex, and wife of Sir Thomas Radcliffe, Lord Fitzwalter and 3rd Earl of Sussex, died at her home in Bermondsey.

Frances is known for being the benefactor of Cambridge University’s Sidney Sussex College, but there is much more to her than that. Her enemies even turned her husband and Queen Elizabeth I against her at one point!

Find out all about Frances Radcliffe (née Sidney) in this talk…

On this day in Tudor history, 14th December 1542, six-day-old Mary, daughter of King James V and his second wife, Marie de Guise, became Queen of Scotland – Mary, Queen of Scots.

King James V, who had ruled since 1513, was just 30 at his death.

Find out what happened to James V, and how Mary became queen at such a young age, in this talk…

On this day in Tudor history, 8th December 1538, courtier and Master of the Horse to Queens Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour, Sir William Coffin, died at Standon in Hertfordshire.

It is thought that he died of the plague because his wife Margaret wrote to Thomas Cromwell saying that Coffin had “died of the great sickness, full of God’s marks all over his body”.

Who was Sir William Coffin and what did the Master of the Horse do?

Find out in this talk…

On this day in Tudor history, 5th December 1560, King Francis II of France, died at the age of just 15. Francis was King Consort of Scotland, as the husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, and his father had also proclaimed him and Mary as King and Queen of England back in 1558!

He was taken ill in mid-November with what appears to have been an ear infection, and it led to him dying on this day in history. His death led to Mary, Queen of Scots, returning to her homeland of Scotland, a country she hadn’t seen for 13 years.

Find out more about Francis II of France, his marriage to Mary, Queen of Scots, his death and what happened next, in this talk…