Claire | December 3, 2022
On this day in Tudor history, 3rd December 1536, King Henry VIII issued a proclamation to the rebels of the Pilgrimage of Grace offering them “free pardons”. Although these free pardons were proclaimed, prominent rebels ended up being executed. Let me explain what the Pilgrimage of Grace rebellion was about and how the rebels ended […]
Claire | October 26, 2022
On this day in Tudor history, 26th October 1536, in the reign of King Henry VIII, rain put a stop to a battle between the Pilgrimage of Grace rebels and Crown troops. The rebel army of around 30,000 men way outnumbered the Crown’s army when they met at Scawsby Leys near Doncaster on 26th October […]
Claire | October 20, 2022
On this day in Tudor history, 20th October 1536, in the reign of King Henry VIII, Lord Darcy, owner of Pontefract Castle in Yorkshire, surrendered his castle to the rebels of the Pilgrimage of Grace. However, all was not as it seemed. Thomas Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy, and others in the castle were actually sympathetic […]
Claire | October 19, 2022
By this day in Tudor history, 19th October 1536, in the reign of King Henry VIII, a rebellion in the North of England was well underway. This rebellion is known as the Pilgrimage of Grace, and on 19th October Henry VIII decided that it was time for tough action against the rebels. The rebellion needed […]
Claire | October 4, 2022
On this day in Tudor history, Wednesday 4th October 1536, in the reign of King Henry VIII, the Lincolnshire Rising began in the town of Horncastle. This trouble was the beginning of the 1536 Pilgrimage of Grace rebellion. Let me share what happened in Lincolnshire, which included two murders, what provoked the rebellion and how […]
Claire | April 7, 2022
What do Elizabeth Boleyn and rebel leader Robert Aske have in common, you may ask? Well, the date of 7th April! On 7th April 1538, Elizabeth Boleyn (née Howard), Countess of Wiltshire and Ormond, was laid to rest at St Mary’s Church, Lambeth. And a year earlier, on 7th April 1537, Robert Aske and Thomas […]
Joel | December 3, 2021
On this day in Tudor history, 3rd December 1600, sixty-nine-year-old peer and politician Roger North, 2nd Baron North, died at his London home. North was a good friend of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, accompanying him on trips, witnessing his secret marriage and serving with him in the Netherlands. It was even said that he’d […]
Joel | October 26, 2021
On this day in Tudor history, 26th October 1536, the rebels of the Pilgrimage of Grace halted at Scawsby Leys near Doncaster, where they met crown troops. The rebels were said to number around 30,000 and the crown’s army was only a fifth of the size, but the rebel leader, lawyer Robert Aske, chose to […]
