Tudor History with Claire Ridgway

December 19 - A conspirator found dead in his cell

On this day in Tudor history, 19th December 1583, twenty-three-year-old convicted conspirator, John Somerville, was found dead in his cell at Newgate Prison. His death was said to be suicide, due to his poor mental health, but some Catholics believed that he had been killed.
 
Somerville had been found guilty of conspiring to assassinate the queen, but did he really mean to? Was he mentally ill? Was he manipulated by others?
 
Find out more about John Somerville in today's talk from historian Claire Ridgway. You can see this podcast as a video at the following link:
https://youtu.be/cgO8sBhK4b8
 
Also on this day in Tudor history, 19th December 1576, Katherine Palmer, Abbess of Syon, died in Belgium. Her death came just over a month after she had confronted a mob that had broken into her monastery. Find out more about Abbess Katherine Palmer, how her order had ended up settling in Belgium, and how her order is the only surviving pre-Reformation religious community in England today, in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/ssM_mwz_ccw 

December 18 - Nicholas Harpsfield, the sorest and of least compassion

On this day in Tudor history, 18th December 1575, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I,  fifty-six-year-old historian, Catholic apologist, priest and former Archdeacon of Canterbury, Nicholas Harpsfield, died in London. 
 
Harpsfield and his brother, John, had been imprisoned since the early 1560s for refusing to swear the Oath of Supremacy but had been released in 1574 on the grounds of ill-health.
 
In Mary I's reign, he had been involved in the persecutions of Protestants, and martyrologist John Foxe described him as “the sorest and of leaste compassion” of all the archdeacons involved.
 
Find out more about his life, career and rise, his works, and his end, in today's talk from historian Claire Ridgway. https://youtu.be/6psy0c8vve8
 
Note: Claire mistakenly says that he died four months after his release, she meant a year and four months! Sorry!
 
On this day in Tudor history, 18th December 1555, John Philpott, former Archdeacon of Winchester, was burned at the stake for heresy at Smithfield. Philpott had done a lot in his 40 years, including studying in Italy, upsetting Bishop Gardiner, and supporting fellow Protestants from his prison cell, and he died a courageous death at Smithfield in the reign of Queen Mary I. Find out more about him in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/cPM-lq1D8Po 

December 17 - A promise made to Anne Boleyn

On this day in Tudor history, 17th December 1559, fifty-five-year-old Matthew Parker was consecrated as Queen Elizabeth I's Archbishop of Canterbury. It was an office which Parker did not want and would not have accepted if “he had not been so much bound to the mother”.
 
What did he mean by that?
 
Well, when he was Anne Boleyn's chaplain in 1536, the queen had met with him just six days before her arrest and he made her a promise.
Find out more about Matthew Parker, his life and that meeting with Anne Boleyn, 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/hWJbumLvMeg
 
Link to Robert Parry's article - https://www.theanneboleynfiles.com/the-cambridge-connections/
 
Also on this day in Tudor history, 17th December 1538, Pope Paul III announced the excommunication of King Henry VIII. Henry VIII had been threatened with excommunication several times, but his desecration of one of the holiest shrines in Europe was the final straw for the pope. Find out how Henry VIII, who had once been "Defender of the Faith", had upset the Pope in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/d_V87vMb9As 

December 16 - A Grey man with Woodville links

On this day in Tudor history, 16th (or possibly the 18th) December 1503, George Grey, 2nd Earl of Kent, died at Ampthill, Bedfordshire. 
 
Grey served as a soldier under Henry VII, was on the king’s council, and served him as Constable of Northampton Castle and as a judge at the trial of Edward, Earl of Warwick in 1499.
He was also married to a sister of Elizabeth Woodville.
 
Grey also managed to retain royal favour on Henry VII's accession even though he'd been rewarded by Richard III.
 
Find out more about George Grey in today's talk from Claire Ridgway, author of "On This Day in Tudor History".
 
Also on this day in Tudor history, 16th December 1485, Catherine of Aragon, first wife of Henry VIII was born. Do make sure...Find out about her background, and early life, and how she ended up leaving her homeland of Spain and eventually becoming queen consort to Henry VIII in last year’s video. https://youtu.be/Y6VVbYbZfgY 
 

December 15 - Elizabeth I's loyal servant dies of "sheer grief"

On this day in Tudor history, 15th December, 1560, Comptroller of the Household to Elizabeth I and Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire, Thomas Parry died. The Spanish ambassador claimed that Parry had died of “sheer grief”. He was buried at Westminster Abbey.
 
Parry had served Elizabeth since 1547 and was a loyal servant and friend. So why did he die of grief?
 
Find out more about Thomas Parry, his background, life, and why he was upset in 1560, 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/PwnPALIR_98
 
Also on this day in Tudor history, 15th December 1558, Cardinal Reginald Pole, Mary I’s Archbishop of Canterbury and her chief advisor, was buried at Canterbury Cathedral. Coincidentally, Cardinal Pole had died the same day as his queen, on 17th November 1558.Find out a bit more about Cardinal Pole, his background, death and burial, in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/g2NwZSWd5T8 

December 14 - Mary, Queen of Scots is queen!

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 Mary became queen at such a young age, in today's talk from historian Claire Ridgway.
 
10 April – King James V - https://youtu.be/CiXTTLBhjusMary, Queen of Scots playlist - https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLepqWJ7TpkrIIC1eB75JBP8xYcqnqTHt6   
 
Also on this day in Tudor history, 14th December 1558, Queen Mary I was buried at Westminster Abbey. Mary had died on 17th November 1558 and had left instructions for Catherine of Aragon's remains to be moved from Peterborough and for them to be reinterred with Mary's remains so that mother and daughter could be together. Did this happen? Find out in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/EY1t9Ysn10U 

December 13 - A lawyer thrown in to prison for refusing to do a favour

On this day in Tudor history, 13th December 1558, civil lawyer and dean of Chester William Clyffe died.
Clyffe was one of the authors of the 1537 “Bishops' Book”, and he was consulted by convocation during Henry VIII’s Great Matter. He was thrown into prison for a time for refusing to do a favour for one of the king's servants - oh dear!
Find out more about William Clyffe's life and career in today's "on this day" talk from historian Claire Ridgway.
Also on this day in Tudor history, 13th December 1577, pirate, sea captain, and explorer Sir Francis Drake finally left the port of Plymouth on his circumnavigation of the Globe. In last year’s video, I shared a wonderful letter written by Drake. You can hear it in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/k7xmAqIGWUw

December 12 - A soldier who had to hide from Elizabeth I

On this day in Tudor history, 12th December 1595, Protestant Welsh soldier and author, Sir Roger Williams, died from a fever with his patron, Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, at his side. He was buried at St Paul's Cathedral. Williams served as a soldier in the Low Countries and France, and was second in command of the cavalry under Essex at Tilbury Fort in 1588. He also wrote the 1590 “A Briefe Discourse of Warre”.
At one point he incurred Queen ELizabeth I's wrath and had to go into hiding for a time.
 
Find out all about Sir Roger Williams' life, career and works 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/tEl9y3fRJF4
 
“A brief discourse of war” can be read at https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A15466.0001.001?view=toc
 
Also on this day in Tudor history, 12th December 1546, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, son of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, was led through the streets of London from Ely Place, where he had been held since his arrest on 2nd December, to the Tower of London.
It was meant to be a humiliating walk for the earl, but it seems that the citizens of London were actually sympathetic to his plight, and didn't boo him. Find out what happened on this day, and also what happened to his father, who had also been arrested, in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/EyE7_5CMfKI