Claire | June 9, 2022
On this day in Tudor history, 9th June 1549, in the reign of King Edward VI, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer’s Book of Common Prayer was used for the very first time. The Archbishop of Canterbury’s publication was used at Whitsun services all around England. This was a huge day for the English Reformation as it meant […]
Joel | November 11, 2021
On this day in Tudor history, 11th November 1534, Philippe de Chabot, Seigneur De Brion and Admiral of France, landed on English soil. The purpose of the diplomatic mission he was leading was to renew Anglo-French relations. George Boleyn, Lord Rochford, brother of Queen Anne Boleyn, had been put in charge of meeting the admiral […]
Claire | May 3, 2019
On this day in 1536, 3rd May, a shocked Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, wrote to King Henry VIII regarding what he’d heard about Queen Anne Boleyn. Meanwhile, the investigation into the queen wasn’t quite going according to plan as the arrested men were not ‘playing ball’. I give details on what happened on 3rd […]
Claire | April 27, 2019
On this day in 1536, writs were issued summoning Parliament, a letter was sent to Archbishop Cranmer, and, according to Eustace Chapuys, a bishop was consulted regarding whether Henry VIII could abandon his second wife, Anne Boleyn. What was going on? In today’s video, I explain what the primary sources tell us. I’m doing these […]
Claire | March 21, 2018
On this day in history, 21st March 1556, the third of the Oxford Martyrs, Thomas Cranmer, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, leader of the English Reformation and ‘architect’ of the Book of Common Prayer, was burnt at the stake in Oxford. Cranmer had been found guilty of heresy at a trial in September 1555 and […]
Claire | November 13, 2017
On this day in history, 13th November 1553, Lady Jane Grey (former Queen Jane), her husband Lord Guildford Dudley, his brothers Ambrose and Henry, and Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, were tried for treason in a public trial at Guildhall in London. They were all found guilty and were condemned to death, the men being […]
Claire | March 21, 2017
On this day in history, 21st March 1556, Thomas Cranmer, former Archbishop of Canterbury, was burned at the stake in Oxford after being found guilty of heresy in the reign of Mary I. He is one of three Protestant bishops who were executed in Mary I’s reign and who have become known as the Oxford […]
Claire | November 2, 2016
All Souls’ Day is the feast day when forgotten souls, those souls in purgatory who might not have any masses or prayers being said for them, are remembered and it was at the special All Souls’ mass of 1541 that Henry VIII’s happy world came crashing down. Previous to this, Henry VIII had been blissfully […]
