Tudor History with Claire Ridgway

October 8 - Henry VIII forces Princess Mary to write letters

On this day in Tudor history, 8th October 1536, while the Pilgrimage of Grace rebellion was getting underway in Lincolnshire and spreading to Yorkshire, Henry VIII wasn’t only issuing orders regarding the rebels, he was also issuing orders regarding his eldest daughter.
 
Henry and Mary had recently reconciled after Mary had finally submitted to him and recognised his supremacy and her illegitimate status. It was something that cost Mary dearly, but it did mend her relationship with her father and allow her back at court.
 
But then Henry VIII put more pressure on his daughter by forcing her to write to the pope and to Mary of Hungary, the emperor's sister.
 
What did Mary have to write? What did the king want of his daughter? And why had Mary submitted to her father?
 
Find out all about this 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/eaAfD48aaY0
 
Also on this day in Tudor history, 8th October 1515, Lady Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox and niece of King Henry VIII, was born at Harbottle Castle in Northumberland. Margaret was the daughter of Margaret Tudor, Queen Dowager of Scotland, and Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus. She was born while her mother was travelling to Henry VIII's court in London after feeling Scotland. Margaret was a fascinating lady and you can find out more about her in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/XhLKtBDLO5c

October 7 - Catherine of Aragon wins this round

On this day in Tudor history, 7th October 1529, Pope Clement VII wrote to King Henry VIII regarding his quest for an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon.
It wasn't good news. Catherine of Aragon had won this battle, with the pope deciding that the marriage was valid, but she hadn't won the war. Henry VIII did get the marriage annulled in the end, but the pope didn't do it.
But what was going on? Why wouldn't the pope help? What was Henry VIII's argument for an annulment and on what grounds did Catherine appeal?
Find out more 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/hTJnfmsmXRU
Philip Campbell’s essay on the Great Matter can be found at https://www.medievalists.net/files/11010101.pdf 
Also on this day in Tudor history, 7th October 1577, author, poet, courtier and soldier George Gascoigne died in Stamford, Lincolnshire. Gascoigne was a gifted poet and was hired in 1575 by Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, to provide entertainment for Queen Elizabeth I's visit to Leicester's home, Kenilworth Castle. This was Leicester's last ditch attempt at getting the queen to marry him and he hoped Gascoigne could help him. Find out all about Gascoigne's masque, Zabeta, and what happened at Kenilworth, in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/-AaOpqjmAJY 

October 6 - John Caius, royal physician and sweating sickness

On this day in Tudor history, 6th October 1510, John Caius was born at Norwich.
Caius was a theological scholar, founder of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, royal physician (to Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I) and author of a book on sweating sickness.  
In today's "on this day" talk, historian Claire Ridgway gives an overview of John Caius' life and career, as well as sharing some of what he wrote on sweating sickness, that mystery Tudor illness. You can see this podcast as a video at the following link:
https://youtu.be/GPvSK4Nbt6I
Also on this day in Tudor history, 6th October 1536, reformer, scholar and Bible translator William Tyndale was executed. One of Tyndale's works had helped King Henry VIII while another incurred the king's wrath and led to Tyndale's execution. Why? What happened? Find out in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/2gEP87fBOhE 

October 5 - Edward Seymour gathers troops to defend Edward VI

On this day in Tudor history, 5th October 1549, Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector, ordered a gathering of men at Hampton Court Palace, where he was lodged with the young King Edward VI, due to tensions mounting between Somerset and John Dudley, Earl of Warwick.
 
What was going on and what happened when 4,000 peasants turned up? How did John Dudley react and what did King Edward VI have to say about it all?
 
Find out what happened, and how this led to Somerset's undoing, 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/WPlTPV9cpEU
 
Also on this day in Tudor history, 5th October 1518, two-year-old Princess Mary, daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, became betrothed to François, the Dauphin of France, who was just a few months old. This betrothal was part of a treaty agreed between England and France, Henry VIII and Francis I. Find out what happened at the betrothal ceremony at Greenwich Palace, as well as what else the treaty involved, and what happened to this betrothal in the end, in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/v4_Y8Q0nXbA

October 4 - Sir Francis Bigod and his rebellion

On this day in Tudor history, 4th October 1507, Sir Francis Bigod, was born at Seaton, in Hinderwell, Yorkshire. 
Bigod led an uprising in Yorkshire in January 1537,  Bigod’s Rebellion, after the rebels of the Pilgrimage of Grace had been dispersed. But who was Bigod? Why would an evangelical reformer become involved with the Pilgrimage of Grace? What was his rebellion about and what happened to him?
 
Find out more about Sir Francis Bigod and Bigod's Rebellion 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/rPR8AQCZA2Y
 
Also on this day in Tudor history, Wednesday 4th October 1536, trouble erupted in Horncastle, Lincolnshire. This was part of what we know as the Lincolnshire Rising which, in turn, was part of the famous Pilgrimage of Grace rebellion, which I have, of course, just mentioned. You can find out what happened in Horncastle, which included two murders, what the rebellion was all about, and how King Henry VIII responded to the rebel's grievances, in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/9WBhp2N3hKM 
 

October 3 - Jane Seymour's coronation is postponed

On this day in Tudor history, 3rd October 1536, imperial ambassador Eustace Chapuys wrote to Emperor Charles V informing him that Jane Seymour’s coronation was being postponed.
 
Several dates for Henry VIII's third wife's coronation are mentioned in the contemporary sources, but they all passed by without the coronation taking place, and building work on Westminster Palace in preparation for the coronation came to a halt.
 
Why wasn't Jane Seymour crowned when her predecessor, Anne Boleyn, had been given a lavish coronation?
 
Find out more about what happened in 1536 and 1537 in today's talk from historian Claire Ridgway. 
 
Also on this day in Tudor history, 3rd October 1518, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, Henry VIII’s Lord Chancellor, sang a mass to Henry VIII and the French ambassadors at St Paul's Cathedral in celebration of a treaty between England and France. This mass wasn't the only celebration, there was also a banquet and a lavish masque of lords and ladies dressed beautifully and disguised with masking hoods. And the masque included some well-known courtiers, people like Sir Francis Bryan and Bessie Blount, the King's mistress. Hear a contemporary description of that masque in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/O1KNCNb5O7c 

October 2 - Mary Tudor, Henry VIII's sister, sets sail for France

On this day in Tudor history, 2nd October 1514, eighteen-year-old Mary Tudor, sister of King Henry VIII, set off from Dover to sail to France to marry fifty-two-year-old King Louis XII of France.
Things hadn't gone to plan with the scheduled sailing, due to bad weather, and Mary encountered rough seas on her journey too.
Find out about the arrangements for the journey, who was at Dover, Mary's crossing to Boulogne, and what happened next, 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/iqhGhjbEsIg
Find out about Mary's entry into Abbeville and her wedding in this video - https://youtu.be/wYYJpU893lo
Also on this day in Tudor history, 2nd October 1528, reformer and Bible translator William Tyndale’s book "The Obedience of a Christian Man" was published in Antwerp.
A copy of this book owned by Anne Boleyn ended up being a catalyst of the English Reformation when it was confiscated from the suitor of one of Anne's ladies as a heretical book. Henry VIII ended up reading it and proclaiming that "This Book is for me and all Kings to read.” It set him on his path to the break with Rome and saw him marrying Anne Boleyn as his second wife. Find out more in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/icpG3g08QKI

October 1 - John Alcock, bishop and tutor to one of the Princes in the Tower

On this day in Tudor history, 1st October 1500, John Alcock, Bishop of Ely, died at Wisbech Castle.
Alcock wasn’t just a bishop, he was a scholar, a royal tutor, and an administrator. He served as tutor to King Edward IV's son, Prince Edward, the future King Edward V and a boy who is known for being one of the ill-fated Princes in the Tower. He also christened another prince.
 
Find out more about this Tudor bishop and royal servant in today's talk from historian Claire Ridgway. You can see this podcast as a video at the following link:
https://youtu.be/0rlHGb7wKaU
 
Also on this day in Tudor history, 1st October 1553, Mary I was crowned queen at Westminster Abbey by Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester.
It was a moment of real triumph for Mary and she was England's first official queen regnant.
In last year’s video, I shared details from primary sources about Mary's I's coronation ceremony, and also the sumptuous banquet afterwards, which saw the Duke of Norfolk and the Earl of Arundel on horseback in the hall, and a challenge being made. What a spectacle it must have been! https://youtu.be/2wi_K78fEpY