25 October – Twin saints and Francis I’s gift to Anne Boleyn

Today, 25th October, is a feast day which was celebrated in medieval and Tudor times – the feast of Saints Crispin and Crispinian, martyrs of the Early Church and the patron saints of cobblers.

Find out more about these saints, how their feast day became linked to an important English victory over the French, how it was marked, and why these saints are linked to Faversham in Kent, in this talk…


Also on this day in Tudor history, 25th October 1532, Henry VIII returned to Calais following his visit to the French court at Boulogne, and he took the French king, Francis I, with him.

But first, Francis I wanted to honour two English noblemen by making them Knights of the Order of St Michel.

After that ceremony, the two kings travelled on to Calais, where they were greeted in a spectacular fashion, and Francis I sent Henry VIII’s sweetheart, Anne Boleyn, Marquess of Pembroke, a rather splendid gift.

Find out all about this day in 1532 in this video…

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