May 31 - Henry VIII's annulment and a special Blackfriars court
On this day in Tudor history, 31st May 1529, a special legatine court opened at Blackfriars in London. The court’s purpose was to hear the case for an annulment of Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine o...
30 Touko 20204min
May 30 - Knights of the Bath for Anne Boleyn's coronation
On this day in Tudor history, on the night of 30th/31st May 1533, as part of the celebrations for Queen Anne Boleyn’s coronation, which was scheduled for 1st June, eighteen men were created Knights of...
29 Touko 20204min
May 29 - John Penry and his scandalous writings
On this day in Tudor history, 29th May 1593, Welsh religious controversialist, and a man regarded by Welsh historians as the pioneer of Welsh nonconformity, John Penry was hanged at St Thomas-a-Wateri...
28 Touko 20207min
May 28 - The Spanish Armada sets sail
On this day in Tudor history, 28th May 1588, the Spanish Armada set sail from Lisbon in Portugal bound for the Spanish Netherlands. With the Pope's blessing, King Philip II was going to invade Engla...
27 Touko 20206min
May 27 - Margaret Pole's botched execution
On this day in Tudor history, 27th May 1541, the frail sixty-seven-year-old Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, was executed at the Tower of London. The former governess of Princess Mary had an aw...
26 Touko 20205min
May 26 - Henry VIII and Charles V meet
On this day in Tudor history, 26th May 1520, in the lead-up to King Henry VIII’s meeting with Francis I of France at the Field of Cloth of Gold, the English king met with his nephew Charles V, Holy Ro...
25 Touko 20204min
May 25 - A great shaking of the ground - a Tudor earthquake
On this day in Tudor history, 25th May 1551, at around noon, Croydon and several Surrey villages, in the south of England, experienced a “great shaking of the ground”, in other words, an earthquake. ...
24 Touko 20209min
May 24 - The Life of Anne Askew
On this day in Tudor history, 24th May 1546, letters were sent from the Privy Council to the future Protestant martyr Anne Askew and her estranged husband Thomas Kyme. The couple were ordered to ap...
23 Touko 20209min
