Tudor History with Claire Ridgway

June 11 - St Barnabas Day and garlands

Happy St Barnabas Day!
 
Yes, 11th June is the Feast of St Barnabas, a feast day that was celebrated by the Tudors by decorating churches with garlands of flowers.
 
Find out more about St Barnabas and how he was commemorated in medieval and Tudor times 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/6xoLWZbf_4c
 
Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon chose St Barnabas Day for their wedding day in 1509 and you can find out more about their wedding in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/-NekooMEEeg 

June 10 - Elizabeth I's Frog

On this day in Tudor history, 10th June 1584, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Francis, Duke of Anjou and Alençon, died in Paris. It is thought that he died of malaria.
Why is Claire talking about a French duke? Well, for a time, he was a suitor of Queen Elizabeth I and the queen even affectionately called him her “frog”. It looked like Elizabeth would actually marry him.
 
Find out more about what happened between Elizabeth and her dear "frog" in today's talk from historian Claire Ridgway.
 
“On Monsieur’s Departure”
I grieve and dare not show my discontent,I love and yet am forced to seem to hate,I do, yet dare not say I ever meant,I seem stark mute but inwardly to prate.I am and not, I freeze and yet am burned.Since from myself another self I turned.My care is like my shadow in the sun,Follows me flying, flies when I pursue it,Stands and lies by me, doth what I have done.His too familiar care doth make me rue it.No means I find to rid him from my breast,Till by the end of things it be supprest.Some gentler passion slide into my mind,For I am soft and made of melting snow;Or be more cruel, love, and so be kind.Let me or float or sink, be high or low.Or let me live with some more sweet content,Or die and so forget what love ere meant.(Elizabeth I)
 
Book recommendation: Anna Whitelock’s “Elizabeth’s Bedfellows: An Intimate History of the Queen’s Court”.
 
You can see this podcast as a video at the following link:
https://youtu.be/FOzhpWWrfTM
Also on this day in Tudor history, 10th June 1540, King Henry VIII's right-hand man and 'fixer', Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, was arrested. Find out more in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/5SJb-gDqa5E 

June 9 - William Paget, a man who served 4 monarchs

 
On this day in Tudor history, 9th or 10th June 1563, William Paget, 1st Baron Paget, diplomat and administrator, died, probably at his estate of West Drayton in Middlesex. 
 
By his death, he'd served four Tudor monarchs and even though he'd fallen from favour and been imprisoned, he kept his head and climbed back in favour.
But who was Baron Paget? Well, let historian Claire Ridgway give you a few facts about this Tudor man.
You can see this podcast as a video at the following link:
https://youtu.be/Z-slMmmXFec
 
Also on this day in Tudor history, 9th June 1549, at Whitsun services all over England, the Book of Common Prayer was used for the first time. A service in English, not Latin! Find out more in last year's video - https://youtu.be/7dL81C4DfTI

June 8 - Elizabeth Woodville

On this day in Tudor history, 8th June 1492, in the reign of King Henry VII, Elizabeth Woodville, died at Bermondsey Abbey.
 
Elizabeth Woodville was the wife of King Edward IV and mother of Elizabeth of York and the Princes in the Tower, King Edward V and Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, but there's far more to her than that.
 
Enjoy this overview of Elizabeth Woodville's life from historian Claire Ridgway. You can see this podcast as a video at the following link:
https://youtu.be/2sX9SZel5s4
 
Also on this day in Tudor history, 8th June 1536, Parliament passed the Second Act of Succession, which removed Mary and Elizabeth from the succession and declared them illegitimate. Find out more in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/JppJNwsmW0s
Article on Elizabeth Woodville and the idea that she died of the plague - https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/apr/25/white-queen-died-of-plague-claims-letter-found-in-national-archives 

June 7 - A water pageant for Jane Seymour

On this day in Tudor history, 7th June 1536, there were celebrations for England’s new queen, Jane Seymour, third wife of King Henry VIII.
The celebrations consisted of a river pageant on the River Thames in London, from Greenwich Palace to Whitehall (York Place).
Find out all about this river pageant 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/qTzCcTLoHuo
Also on this day in Tudor history, 7th June 1520, the historic Field of Cloth of Gold meeting between Kings Henry VIII and Francis I began. Find out more about this meeting, and how the two kings tried to outdo each other, in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/HMNqsgPDcIo 

June 6 - Trouble brews in Bodmin

On this day in Tudor history, 6th June 1549, an army of rebels assembled at Bodmin in Cornwall, and there was a town meeting in which the rebels' demands were put forward.
What were these rebels rebelling against?
The recent religious changes, particularly the new law concerning the Book of Common Prayer.
Trouble ensued and their grievances became a full-blown rebellion, the Prayer Book Rebellion. You can find out what happened next and how the rebellion ended 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/y1eIshncBH8
Other videos on the Prayer Book Rebellion:
August 5 - Rebels defeated near Exeter - Battle of Clyst St Mary - https://youtu.be/jK_lEDaLfD4 August 6 - Cruel was the fight - Battle of Clyst Heath - https://youtu.be/IABiBMQ3ACs 
Also on this day in Tudor history, 6th June 1522, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and King Henry VIII made a grand entry into the city of London. Find out more about the pageantry involved in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/JCIH_7jrtl0 

June 5 - Maria de Salinas, Catherine of Aragon's friend

On this day in Tudor history, 5th June 1516, Spaniard Maria de Salinas married William, 10th Lord Willoughby of Eresby.
 
Maria and William were the parents of Catherine Willoughby, who went on to marry Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. Maria was also a good friend of Catherine of Aragon and managed to be with the queen in her final hours, even though she wasn't supposed to be there.
 
Find out more about Maria de Salinas in today's talk from historian Claire Ridgway. You can see this podcast as a video at the following link:
https://youtu.be/KA4YUJ0Gsng
 
You can find out more about Maria's daughter, Catherine Willoughby, in this video - https://youtu.be/dVz3KEzvYso
Also on this day in Tudor history, 5th June 1604, Tudor physician and naturalist Thomas Moffet, or Muffet, physician and naturalist, died at Wilton in Wiltshire. He is known for a poem on silkworms and his daughter is linked to a famous nursery rhyme. Find out more in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/V-8A9OB5fqU

June 4 - Lightning strikes St Paul's

On the afternoon of this day in Tudor history, Wednesday 4th June 1561, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, London was hit by a tremendous thunderstorm. Fires caused by lightning strikes destroyed one church and damaged St Paul's Cathedral.
 
Find out more about the storm, how St Paul's was damaged, the reactions to the lightning strike, what Queen Elizabeth I did, and what happened next, in today's talk from Claire Ridgway, author of several Tudor history books.
https://youtu.be/W3wCUDA2IcE
 
Also on this day in Tudor history, 4th June 1550, sweethearts Robert Dudley and Amy Robsart tied the knot at the royal palace of Sheen at Richmond in a service attended by King Edward VI. This marriage was a love-match, but it lasted just ten years, ending with Amy's death in 1560, a death which is surrounded by controversy. Find out more in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/ntXH7_kxRng