Claire | August 6, 2022
On this day in Tudor history, 6th August 1514, King Henry VIII’s sister, Margaret Tudor, widow of King James IV and Regent of Scotland, married secretly. Margaret’s secret second marriage was to Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus, the most important Scottish magnate. The couple married at Kinnoull in Perthshire. When news got out, it […]
Joel Ridgway | April 1, 2022
On this day in Tudor history, 1st April 1578, English physician William Harvey, was born in Folkestone, Kent. Harvey has gone down in history as being the man who discovered the circulation of blood, and he was also physician extraordinary to King James I and King Charles I. How did Harvey work out that the […]
Joel Ridgway | March 31, 2022
On this day in history, 31st March 1631, the Tudor and Stuart metaphysical poet, satirist, lawyer and clergyman John Donne died. Donne had an amazing career, going on voyages, serving as a royal chaplain and diplomat, and writing sermons, songs, satires and poetry, including an erotic poem, “The Flea”. Find out more about John Donne […]
Joel Ridgway | March 30, 2022
On this day in Tudor history, 30th March 1533, at the Passion Sunday service, Thomas Cranmer, Archdeacon of Taunton, was consecrated as Archbishop of Canterbury. His consecration was not like those of others before him, however, because as well as making the usual oath promising to be faithful to the papacy and to denounce heretics, […]
Joel Ridgway | March 29, 2022
On this day in Tudor history, 29th March 1555, in the reign of Queen Mary I, Protestant and former Dominican priest, John Laurence, was burned at the stake for heresy in Colchester. At his burning, young children encouraged him with their prayers. Find out more about his John Laurence’s sad end in this talk… Also […]
Joel Ridgway | March 28, 2022
This day in history, 28th March 1483, is one of the dates out forward as the birthdate of Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, or Raphael as he is known, the Italian Renaissance artist and architect. Did you know that Henry VII owned a piece of art by Raphael and that Henry VIII admired his work? Find […]
Joel Ridgway | March 27, 2022
On this day in Tudor history, 27th March 1489, the Treaty of Medina del Campo was signed between England and Spain. One part of it was the arrangement of the marriage between Arthur, Prince of Wales, and Catherine (or Catalina) of Aragon. It was signed by Spain on this day and ratified in 1490 by […]
Joel Ridgway | March 26, 2022
On this day in history, late on 26th March 1603, two days after the death of Queen Elizabeth I, Sir Robert Carey arrived at Holyrood in Edinburgh, Scotland, to inform King James VI that Queen Elizabeth I was dead and that James was now king. It took Carey just two days to get from London […]
