Tudor History with Claire Ridgway

December 28 - A Lord Keeper of the Great Seal who supported learning

On this day in Tudor history, the feast of Childermas, 28th December 1510, lawyer, administrator and Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, Sir Nicholas Bacon, was born. Bacon was the father of the famous philosopher, statesman, scientist and author, Sir Francis Bacon.
 
Bacon wasn't just a lawyer and statesman, he was also very concerned with the education of the young, and did much to support it.
 
Find out all about Sir Nicholas Bacon, his life and career, and how he was banished from court at one point, in today's talk from Claire Ridgway, author of "On This Day in Tudor History". You can see this podcast as a video at the following link:
https://youtu.be/XeYFwlAuHGc
 
28th December is also Childermas or Holy Innocents' Day, an important part of the Twelve Days of Christmas in Tudor times. In last year’s video, I explained the origin of this feast day and how it was commemorated in the Tudor period. https://youtu.be/5mB9GOmwpU4 

December 27 - Katherine Killigrew, "the Muses friend, and saint of Heav’n"

On this day in Tudor history, 27th December 1583, scholar and Puritan Katherine Killigrew died after giving birth to a stillborn child. 
 
Katherine was the daughter of renowned humanist and scholar, Sir Anthony Cooke, and was known for her ability at writing poetry and her knowledge of languages, including Hebrew, Latin and Greek. She was a very accomplished Tudor lady.
 
Find out more about Katherine, and hear the epitaphs that were written in her honour, in today's talk from historian Claire Ridgway. You can see this podcast as a video at the following link:
https://youtu.be/_ksia3B_T_k
 
Also on this day in Tudor history, 27th December 1539, Anne of Cleves landed at Deal in Kent in preparation for her forthcoming marriage to King Henry VIII. Anne of Cleves would be King Henry VIII's fourth wife. Find out more about her journey, the background to it, and what happened next, in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/sl5n06RIlgc 

December 26 - The interesting life of Rose Lok

On this day in Tudor history, 26th December 1526, Protestant Rose Lok was born. 
 
Rose lived well into her 80s and had an interesting life, being a Protestant exile, a businesswoman, and being the daughter of a man who supplied Anne Boleyn with religious books. She also had a ship named after her!
 
Find out all about Rose Lok 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/tQTHOFQAA3U
 
Read an article on Rose by Lissa Chapman at https://www.theanneboleynfiles.com/rose-loks-tale-lissa-chapman/
 
Also on this day in history, 26th December 1546, an ill Henry VIII made some changes to his will in preparation for his nine-year-old son, Edward, inheriting the throne. I explained more about that in last year’s video, as well as talking about how the Feast of St Stephen was celebrated in Tudor times - https://youtu.be/KCmnejkr0xc 

December 25 - A Tudor witch-hunter

Happy Christmas!
 
On this day in Tudor history, 25th December 1587, Brian Darcy, magistrate, Sheriff of Essex, witch-hunter and contributor to the 1582 “A true and just recorde of the information, examination and confession of all the witches, taken at S Oses [St Osyth]”, died. 
 
“A True and Just Recorde” argued for harsher punishments for those found guilty of witchcraft, and Darcy was personally responsible for a number of deaths of people accused of witchcraft.
 
Find out more about this zealous witch-hunter in today's talk from historian Claire Ridgway. You can see this podcast as a video at the following link:
https://youtu.be/E7fbjYHVeGU
 
The pamphlet containing his interrogations can be read at https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A14611.0001.001?view=toc
 
Last year, I talked about Lettice Devereux, wife of favourite Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and mother of favourite Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, AND I also talked about how Tudor people celebrated Christmas - https://youtu.be/G-7arUBvGe8 

The Great Tudor Christmas Quiz

Thank you, everyone! I wanted to get a Christmas themed quiz out today so you can enjoy it with your friends and family.
Without further ado, why don't you play along and see if you can do better than Tim?
THE QUESTIONS (The answers are below ... no cheating!) -------------------------
1. What date is the Feast of St Nicholas? 2. On the Feast of St Nicholas, in medieval and Tudor times, it was traditional for a choir boy to be chosen as this… 3. On Christmas Eve, the men of the house would go out and get this to bring into the home… 4. It was traditional to decorate homes with greenery, such as holly, laurel, ivy and rosemary, but there was no rush to take these down by Twelfth Night, when were they traditionally taken down? 5. What could happen if you didn’t take the decorations down by this date? 6. Elizabeth I ordered this to be roasted and enjoyed at Christmas 1588 following the defeat of the Spanish Armada because it was the first meal she enjoyed following the victory. 7. Frumenty was a food enjoyed at Christmas, but what was it? 8. This traditional wassail drink was made from mixing hot cider sherry or ale, with apple and spices. 9. How many ingredients were traditionally used in the Tudor minced pie? 10. What was different about the Tudor minced pie, compared to our modern mince pies? 11. This traditional Christmas vegetable made its debut in England in the 1580s 12. This person would be in charge of organising the revelry and presiding over it for the 12 days of Christmas. 13. What would you find at the bottom of the communal wassail cup or bowl? 14. What is the name of the feast day commemorated on 28th December? 15. Twelfth Night or Epiphany was celebrated with a cake containing a hidden…. The person who found it would be the king of the feast. 16. This Monday (a special name) was the first Monday after Epiphany and was when things would return to normal and people would get back to work.
THE ANSWERS ------------------------
1) 6 December 2) Boy Bishop 3) Yule Log 4) Candlemas Eve (1 Feb) 5) You might get goblins in your home. 6) Goose 7) A spiced porridge. It was made from cracked wheat, ale, spices, currants, egg and cream. 8) Lambswool 9) 13 to symbolise Jesus and his apostles. 10) It contained meat – mutton. 11) The Brussels sprout 12) The Lord of Misrule 13) A crust of bread – it would be given to the most important person present. 14) Holy Innocents’ Day or Childermas 15) A bean. Sometimes it would contain a pea too for the queen. 16) Plough Monday.

December 24 - A man who swapped sides at the right time

On this day in history, 24th December 1604, Christmas Eve, Sir Thomas Cornwallis, Comptroller of the household of Mary I and member of Parliament, died at about the age of eighty-six. 
 
Cornwallis had been active putting down rebellion in 1549 and during the succession crisis of July 1553 swapped sides at just the right time, recanting his proclamation for Jane as queen and proclaiming for Mary instead, He was rewarded for this when Mary came to the throne.
 
Of course, he wasn't so much a favourite in the reign of Elizabeth I, but a friendship with a man close to Elizabeth may have helped him escape trouble.
Find out more about Sir Thomas Cornwallis in today's talk from Claire Ridgway, author of "On This Day in Tudor History".
 
Also on this day in Tudor history, 24th December 1545, Christmas Eve, King Henry VIII made his final speech to Parliament. The king was concerned about the religious divisions in his realm and so chastised the Lords and Commons for their disagreements, and also the clergy for provoking this discord. I shared some of his speech, which included the wonderful words mumpsimus and sumpsimus, in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/AQCqsyJhT9Q 
Today is obviously Christmas Eve, so do check out the video Teasel and I did on one of the Tudor traditions associated with Christmas Eve – the Yule Log - https://youtu.be/VJqQDfI4AJM 

December 23 - Elizabeth I moves to a property her mother knew well

On this day in Tudor history, 23rd December 1558, just over a month after her accession, England’s new queen, Elizabeth I, daughter of King Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn, moved from Somerset House to Whitehall Palace, which became her principal residence.
 
Whitehall, formerly York Place, had once been home to her mother, Anne Boleyn, and had been the setting of Anne's marriage to Henry VIII. I wonder if Elizabeth felt close to her mother there.
 
Find out more about Whitehall Palace, and also Somerset Place, the property Elizabeth left, 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/B9OmNV9NOQU
 
Also on this day in Tudor history, 23rd December 1556, in the reign of Queen Mary I, Nicholas Udall (Yevedale), schoolmaster, cleric, humanist and playwright, was buried at St Margaret's, Westminster. You can find out more about him and hear a ballad he wrote for Queen Anne Boleyn's coronation celebrations in 1533, in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/22JA60AlzA8  

December 22 - Two Protestants betrayed by a spy

On this day in Tudor history, 22nd December 1557, Protestant martyrs John Rough and Margaret Mearing, were burnt at Smithfield for heresy.
 
John Rough was a Scot who'd encouraged John Knox to be a pastor, but ended in days in England. Interestingly, the woman he died with was a woman he'd excommunicated from his congregation, believing her to be a spy. Although she'd been angry with her treatment, she was not the spy who betrayed him, she visited Rough in prison and was arrested after she tried to confront the real spy.
 
Find out about John Rough's life and what brought him to England, how he'd come to be arrested, and what happened with Margaret Mearing, in today's talk from historian Claire Ridgway.
 
John Foxe's account can be read at https://www.dhi.ac.uk/foxe/index.php?realm=text&gototype=modern&edition=1583&pageid=2052
 
Also on this day in Tudor history, 22nd December 1534, John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, who was a prisoner in the Tower of London, wrote to Thomas Cromwell.
In his letter to Cromwell, the poor bishop begged him for a shirt, sheet, food and books, as well as asking him to intercede with King Henry VIII on his behalf. It is so sad that a man who had served the king so loyally in the past had come to this, and, of course, the king's mercy would only stretch to commuting his method of execution to beheading.
Find out more in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/9EwSBKVB16E