Joel | March 10, 2022
On this day in Tudor history, 10th March 1513, magnate John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford, died at his home at Castle Hedingham in Essex. Oxford was a key figure in the Wars of the Roses and played an important role in the Battle of Bosworth Field. Find out more about his life and […]
Claire | January 24, 2018
On this day in history, 24th January 1536, the forty-four-year-old King Henry VIII suffered an accident while jousting at Greenwich Palace. It was an accident that is hotly debated today, nearly 500 years after it happened, with some historians seeing it as a real turning point in Henry VIII’s reign and a cause of his […]
Claire | March 10, 2017
On this day in history, 10th March 1524, thirty-two-year-old King Henry VIII suffered a jousting accident. The king had forgotten to lower the visor of his headpiece and was struck by his good friend and brother-in-law, Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, on the brow. It could have been a very serious accident “for the Duke’s […]
Claire | January 24, 2015
On 24th January 1536, King Henry VIII suffered a serious accident while jousting at Greenwich Palace. Sources differ as to exactly how serious the King’s injuries were, but Henry VIII was forced to give up the sport he loved. You can read all about his accident in my article A Serious Jousting Accident for Henry […]
Claire | January 24, 2014
On 24th January 1536, at Greenwich Palace, the forty-four year-old King Henry VIII suffered a serious acccident while jousting. We have three main contemporary reports of the accident: one from Eustace Chapuys, Emperor Charles V’s ambassador in England, another from Dr Pedro Ortiz, Charles V’s ambassador in Rome, and a further one from chronicler and […]
Claire | January 12, 2013
On this day in history, 12th January 1510, Henry VIII jousted for the first time as King. The joust was a private one, and took place at Richmond Park. Henry and his friend William Compton attended in disguise, and there was panic when Compton was seriously injured by Edward Neville. Nobody knew whether it was […]
Claire | March 10, 2012
On this day in history, 10th March 1524, King Henry VIII suffered a jousting accident after he forgot to lower his visor in a joust against Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. According to the records, “the duke struck the king on the brow right under the guard of the headpiece on the very skull cap […]
Claire | January 24, 2012
On the 24th January 1536 the 44 year old King Henry VIII had a serious jousting accident at Greenwich Palace. Eustace Chapuys, the imperial ambassador, reported it in his dispatches, writing:- “On the eve of the Conversion of St. Paul, the King being mounted on a great horse to run at the lists, both fell […]
