Tudor History with Claire Ridgway

August 1 - A young blind woman is burnt for heresy

On this day in Tudor history, 1st August 1556, a blind woman named Joan Waste was burnt in Derby for heresy after she refused to recant her Protestant faith.
 
Joan was just twenty-two when she died and had learnt the New Testament by having people read it to her. 
 
Find out more about Protestant martyr, Joan Waste, her short life and her sad end, in today's talk from historian Claire Ridgway. You can see this podcast as a video at the following link:
https://youtu.be/BUmhF-nFVUE
 
Also on this day in history, 1st August 1555, Sir Edward Kelley, apothecary, alchemist and medium, was born in Worcester. Kelley was a fascinating man. He worked with Dr John Dee and the men believed that they communicated with angels. Kelley also claimed that he was an alchemist and he wrote a treatise on the Philosopher's Stone. You can find out more about him in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/s6pCLEyHex8 

July 31 - Henry Grey, father of Lady Jane Grey, is released from the Tower

On this day in Tudor history, 31st July 1553, Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk, was “discharged out of the Tower by the Earle of Arundell and had the Quenes pardon.”
 
Suffolk had, of course, been imprisoned after Mary I had overthrown his daughter, Queen Jane, or Lady Jane Grey, and his release was down to his wife, Frances, interceding with the queen and begging for mercy.
 
But who was Henry Grey and how did he go from being pardoned to being executed in 1554? 
 
Find out in today's talk from Claire Ridgway, founder of the Tudor Society. You can see this podcast as a video at the following link:
https://youtu.be/pIwWLcPt6w4
 
Henry Grey's execution and the story regarding his head? - https://youtu.be/xkyb5qTHSBU 
 
Also, on this day in Tudor history, 31st July 1544 and 1548, the future Queen Elizabeth I wrote letters to her stepmother, Catherine Parr. The letters were written at very different times in Elizabeth's life, the first when Catherine was queen and Elizabeth had been separated from her for a while, and the second after Catherine had actually removed Elizabeth from her and Thomas Seymour's household. Find out more about these letters and their context in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/6jSr01gFj0Y 

July 30 - Elizabeth leaves Somerset House to meet Mary

On this day in Tudor history, 30th July 1553, Elizabeth, daughter of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, left her new home, Somerset House, to ride to Wanstead and greet her half-sister, Mary, who'd been officially proclaimed queen on 19th July.
 
Somerset House was Elizabeth's new London residence and you can find out more about how Elizabeth acquired it and who built it originally 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/8sFnsNPybJ8
 
Also on this day in Tudor history, 30th July 1540, in the reign of King Henry VIII, men of both the Catholic faith and the reformed faith were executed in London. Find out more about them in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/ZUvIWF51n_Q 
 

July 29 - England's clever tactics against the Spanish Armada

On this day in Tudor history, 29th July 1588, the English naval fleet attacked the Spanish Armada in a battle known as the Battle of Gravelines.
 
England defeated Spain and it was down to the new tactics they'd learned from previous encounters with the Armada and from capturing a Spanish ship, as well as weather conditions.
 
What were these new and successful tactics and what happened at the Battle of Gravelines?
 
Find out in today's talk from historian Claire Ridgway. You can see this podcast as a video at the following link:
https://youtu.be/IbT8ZwoxV_s
 
Video on the Spanish Armada - https://youtu.be/OcnS-lmbN00 
 
Also on this day in Tudor history, Sunday 29th July 1565, twenty-three-year-old Mary, Queen of Scots, queen regnant of Scotland, married her second husband, nineteen-year-old Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, at Holyrood Palace. Find out all about the wedding and how their marriage turned out – spoiler: it wasn’t good – in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/0ewKrNxNoRQ

July 28 - A botched execution for Thomas Cromwell

On this day in Tudor history, 28th July 1540, the same day that Henry VIII married Catherine Howard, Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, the king’s former chief advisor, was beheaded on Tower Hill having been found guilty of corruption, heresy and treason.
 
Find out about Cromwell's botched execution and his execution speech in today's talk from Claire Ridgway, founder of the Tudor Society. You can see this podcast as a video at the following link:
https://youtu.be/vPSl-CrGg4g
 
Also on this day in Tudor history, 28th July 1540, the very same day, Henry VIII married for a fifth time, marrying Catherine Howard. You can find out more about that in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/xXk0luHfeX4

July 27 - A Welshman comes to a sticky end on Anglesey

On this day in Tudor history, 27th July 1593, Roman Catholic priest and martyr, Blessed William Davies, was hanged, drawn and quartered at Beaumaris Castle on the Island of Anglesey. 
 
You may not have heard of William Davies, but he is believed to have been involved in the printing of “Y Drych Christianogawl”, or The Christian Mirror, an important early Welsh Catholic book and the first book to be printed on Welsh soil, while he was hiding in cave!
 
Find out more about Davies, how he came to be hiding in a cave in North Wales, and why he was executed, in today's talk from historian Claire Ridgway. You can see this podcast as a video at the following link:
https://youtu.be/cq3ummOVo7k
 
Article on William Davies - https://www.thecatholicuniverse.com/pdf/daviesbook.pdf
Also on this day in Tudor history, 27th July 1588, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, wrote to his queen with an invitation. He was intent on keeping the queen, the woman he loved, out of harm's way. What was this invitation? Well, you can find out more in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/xeWJg9kven8

July 26 - Anne Boleyn and St Anne

Today, 26th July, is the feast day of St Anne, mother of the Virgin Mary and grandmother of Jesus Christ. Happy St Anne's Day to any Annes or Annas out there! Have a wonderful day!
 
St Anne was very important to Queen Anne Boleyn, second wife of King Henry VIII and mother of Queen Elizabeth I, and a pageant at her coronation procession in 1533 took St Anne, combined with Anne Boleyn's falcon badge, as its theme.
 
Find out more about the pageant at Anne Boleyn's coronation, and why St Anne was chosen as the theme, in today's talk from Claire Ridgway, author of "The Fall of Anne Boleyn: A Countdown". You can see this podcast as a video at the following link:
https://youtu.be/LKTiqLj6Jz8
 
Also on this day in Tudor history, 26th July 1588, 4,000 men assembled at Tilbury Fort in an effort to prevent the Spanish Armada from travelling up the Thames and attacking London. Find out what had led up to this day in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/N89PDhKj3Bk

July 25 - A fool gets into big trouble

On this day in Tudor history, 25th July 1535, the Feast of St James, Eustace Chapuys, the imperial ambassador wrote about a furious King Henry VIII who’d apparently been nearly driven to commit murder!
What had angered the king? Well, it involved Henry VIII's fool and some foolish name-calling. Find out more in today's talk from historian Claire Ridgway. You can see this podcast as a video at the following link:
https://youtu.be/QPDa1fnBQqw
 
Links to related videos:
Tudor Court Fools - https://youtu.be/nyy_ZaBsqps Sir Nicholas Carew - https://youtu.be/jRx9pKlmABQ 
 
Also on this day in Tudor history, 25th July 1554, Queen Mary I, daughter of Henry VIII by Catherine of Aragon, his first wife, married Philip of Spain, son of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. The couple got married at Winchester Cathedral and Mary's Lord Chancellor, Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, officiated at the ceremony. Find out more about their wedding in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/289MSTDoZHA