Claire | December 5, 2022
On this day in Tudor history, 5th December 1560, Mary, Queen of Scots, lost her first husband, King Francis II of France and King Consort of Scotland. Francis II was just fifteen years old when he died. He’d come down with what appeared to be an ear infection in mid-November 1560 and died just a […]
Claire | October 14, 2022
On this day in Tudor history, 14th October 1586, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, the trial of Mary, Queen of Scots, opened at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire. The forty-three-year-old Mary did not recognise the authority of the commission, and she had even threatened not to attend her trial, but she was informed that […]
Claire | September 26, 2022
On this day in Tudor history, 26th September 1588, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, administrator, diplomat and Governor of Jersey, Sir Amias (Amyas) Paulet died. He was buried in St Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster. Sir Amias Paulet was also one of Mary, Queen of Scots’ gaolers. While he was in that position, Queen Elizabeth wanted […]
Claire | April 24, 2022
On this day in 1536, Sir Thomas Audley, Lord Chancellor to King Henry VIII, set up two commissions of oyer and terminer, one for the county of Middlesex and one for the county of Kent. What were these commissions and what did they have to do with the fall of Anne Boleyn, if anything? On […]
Claire | April 19, 2022
On this day in Tudor history, 19th April 1558, fifteen-year-old Mary, Queen of Scots and fourteen-year-old Francis, the Dauphin, son of King Henry II of France, were formally betrothed at the Louvre Palace in Paris. This betrothal was just five days before their wedding and was a lavish affair, celebrated with a ball. Find out […]
Joel Ridgway | March 9, 2022
On this day in Tudor history, 9th March 1589, Lady Frances Radcliffe, Countess of Sussex, and wife of Sir Thomas Radcliffe, Lord Fitzwalter and 3rd Earl of Sussex, died at her home in Bermondsey. Frances is known for being the benefactor of Cambridge University’s Sidney Sussex College, but there is much more to her than […]
Joel Ridgway | February 17, 2022
Well, ok, perhaps love at second or third sight! On this day in Tudor history, Saturday 17th February 1565, Mary, Queen of Scots, met and fell in love with Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, at Wemyss Castle in Scotland. Just over 7 months later, the couple got married. Find out more about the background of this […]
Joel Ridgway | December 14, 2021
On this day in Tudor history, 14th December 1542, six-day-old Mary, daughter of King James V and his second wife, Marie de Guise, became Queen of Scotland – Mary, Queen of Scots. King James V, who had ruled since 1513, was just 30 at his death. Find out what happened to James V, and how […]
