March 14 - A man who served 4 monarchs and kept his head

On this day in Tudor history, 14th March 1555, courtier, envoy and landowner, Sir John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford, died at his London residence on the Strand aged around 70.

 

Russell was an important Tudor man who served four Tudor monarchs - Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI and Mary I - AND he managed to keep his head, dying a natural death at a good age.

 

Find out more about this Earl of Bedford, his life, his rise and his career at the royal court, in today's talk from Claire Ridgway, author of several Tudor history books.

 

You can see this podcast as a video at the following link:

https://youtu.be/_Lrjhj8v-So

 

Also on this day in Tudor history, 14th March 1540, Sir John Port died at Bewdley. Port is remembered for mumbling in a case and changing the outcome, and you can find out more about what happened in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/w2UTIzSv5uw