Claire | November 26, 2022
On this day in Tudor history, 26th November 1533, Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset, married Mary Howard at Hampton Court Palace. Henry Fitzroy was King Henry VIII’s illegitimate son by his mistress Bessie Blount and Mary Howard was the daughter of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk. They were both fourteen years old […]
Claire | July 22, 2022
On this day in Tudor history, 22nd July 1536, Henry VIII’s son by his former mistress, Elizabeth Blount, died at St James’s Palace. Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset, was just 17 years of age at his death, and the death of his only son was a huge blow to the king. In the […]
Joel Ridgway | November 26, 2021
On this day in Tudor history, 26th November 1585, Catholic priest Hugh Taylor and his friend Marmaduke Bowes were hanged at York. They were the first men executed under Elizabeth I’s 1585 statute which made it treason to be a Jesuit or seminary priest in England or to harbour such a priest. These two Catholics […]
Claire | May 8, 2021
On this day in Tudor history, 8th May 1536, some very distasteful behaviour, downright greed, was being displayed by some of Henry VIII’s courtiers. They were like vultures circling, wanting to take advantage of the fall of Queen Anne Boleyn and their fellow courtiers. What were they doing? What were they after? Find out in […]
Claire | July 22, 2019
1536 was a rather eventful year for King Henry VIII – his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, died, his second wife suffered a miscarriage and was then executed for treason, he lost five of his friends on the scaffold, he got betrothed and married for a third time, he was reunited with his wayward daughter, […]
Claire | June 15, 2018
This date in history, 15th June 1519, is the date traditionally given for the birth of Henry VIII’s recognised illegitimate son, Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset. Fitzroy was born at the Priory of St Lawrence, in Blackmore, Essex. His mother, Elizabeth (Bessie) Blount, had been sent away from court to the prior’s house […]
Claire | July 22, 2016
On this day in history, 22nd July 1536, King Henry VIII’s illegitimate son, Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset, died at St James’s Palace. He was just seventeen years of age, having been born on 15th June 1519 to the King’s mistress, Elizabeth (Bessie) Blount. In 1525, he had been elected as a Knight […]
Claire | November 26, 2015
On 26th November 1533, Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset and the illegitimate son of King Henry VIII, married Mary Howard, daughter of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, at Hampton Court Palace. They were both fourteen years of age. The wedding appears to have been rather low-key, so much so that it is […]
