Claire | November 9, 2022
On this day in Tudor history, 9th November 1518, nine years into her marriage to King Henry VIII, Queen Catherine of Aragon gave birth prematurely to a stillborn daughter at Greenwich Palace. Sadly, this sixth pregnancy would be Catherine’s last. Let me explain exactly what happened on this day in 1518 and what we know […]
Joel | January 31, 2022
On this day in history, 31st January 1606, Gunpowder Plot conspirators Thomas Winter, Ambrose Rookwood, Robert Keyes, and Guy Fawkes were executed for treason at the Old Palace Yard, Westminster. Two of them cheated the executioner and crowd by leaping at the gallows, but they still had awful ends. Hear a contemporary account of their […]
Claire | November 9, 2017
On 9th November 1518, the sixth pregnancy of Queen Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s first wife, ended tragically at Greenwich Palace. On 10th November 1518, Sebastian Giustinian, the Venetian ambassador, reported back to the Signory: “In the past night the Queen had been delivered of a daughter, to the vexation of everybody. Never had the […]
Claire | January 31, 2017
On this day in history, 31st January 1510, seven months after her marriage to King Henry VIII, Queen Catherine of Aragon gave birth prematurely to a stillborn baby girl. Her confessor, Fray Diego, reported that the birth occurred “without any other pain except that one knee pained her the night before”, which seems rather unlikely. […]
Claire | January 31, 2016
On this day in history, 31 January 1510, Queen Catherine of Aragon went into premature labour and gave birth to a still-born daughter. Her confessor, Fray Diego, reported that the birth had occurred “without any other pain except that one knee pained her the night before.” Read more…
