This Week in History: 10/12 - 10/18

Time for your history lesson!

What happened this week in Tudor History?

October 12, 1537: Queen Jane Seymour, third wife of Henry VIII, gave birth to a son, Prince Edward.  The little prince would one day become king, though his reign and life were short-lived due to an illness.

October 13, 1549: The Royal Council for Edward VI abolished Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset's (and the hero in my novel, My Lady Viper), membership on the council and his protectorship of the king. He'd been named Lord Protector upon the death of Henry VIII.

October 14, 1586: The trial of Mary Queen of Scots, brought about by her cousin Queen Elizabeth I of England (though she did not attend the proceedings), began at Fotheringhay Castle.

October 15, 1537: The infant, Prince Edward was christened. His half-sister, Mary (daughter of Henry VIII's first wife, Catherine of Aragon) stood as his god-mother. Charles Brandon, Thomas Cranmer and Thomas Howard stood as godfathers. His mother, Jane Seymour, would die of childbed fever just twelve days after giving birth.

October 16, 1555: Hugh Latimer, Bishop of Worcester and Nicholas Ridley, Bishop of London were burned at the stake as heretics, the order issued by Queen Mary I of England (eldest living daughter of Henry VIII).

October 17, 1491: Though a three-year truce had been signed between Henry VII of England and James IV of Scotland in 1488, (due to expire on 10/23/1491), relations had deteriorated significantly. On this day, the English parliament passed an act banishing all Scots from the land (who were not land/title holders) within 40 days.

October 18, 1541: Margaret Tudor, sister to Henry VIII and Queen Consort in Scotland and then regent, died at Methven Castle, Perthshire, Scotland.

This Week in History 9/21 - 9/27

Time for your weekly history lesson!

What happened this week in Tudor history?

September 21, 1561: Lady Katherine Grey gives birth to her son Edward Seymour while imprisoned in the Tower of London. (And if you want to read more about that, check out my novel, Prisoner of the Queen!)

September 22, 1515: Anne of Cleves, Henry VIII's 4th wife, is born. Dubbed the "Flanders Mare" at Henry's court (by Henry himself), he divorced her very shortly after they were married. They remained friends the rest of his life, and he set her up with a house and a comfortable settlement.

September 23, 1513: Tournai fell to Henry VIII during is campaign in France. (Battle of Spurs)

September 24, 1486: Arthur, Princes of Wales, son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, is christened.

September 25, 1586: Mary Stuart, aka Mary Queen of Scots, is brought to Fotheringhay Castle, after being arrested the previous month by her cousin Elizabeth I for plotting her assassination.

September 26, 1580: Frances Drake, under orders from Elizabeth I, completes his circumnavigation of the world, sailing aboard his ship the Golden Hind. He returns to England, landing in Plymouth, in triumph.

September 27, 1501: Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII's first wife, who he set aside in order to marry Anne Boleyn, arrived in England to marry her first husband--Henry's older brother, Arthur, Prince of Wales

This Week in History 9/14 - 9/20

Time for your weekly history lesson!

What happened this week in history?

September 14, 1716: First light house in the colonies is lit in Boston

September 15, 1514: Thomas Wolsey was appointed the Archbishop of York under the reign of Henry VIII.

September 16, 1701: The Jacobite claimant to the throne, James Francis Edward Stuart, the "Old Pretender", declares himself King of England and Scotland.

September 17, 1849: Harriet Tubman escapes slavery for the first time with her two brothers in Maryland.

September 18, 1809: Royal Opera House opens in London after being rebuilt.

September 19, 1676: Rebels under the leadership of Nathaniel Bacon set fires in Jamestown, VA that burned the colony to the ground.

September 20, 1519: Ferdinand Magellan sets in an effort to circumvent the globe.

This Week in History: 9/7 - 9/13

Time for your weekly history lesson!

What happened this week in history?

September 7, 1191: Queen Elizabeth I of England is born to King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. 

September 8, 1504: In Florence, the infamous David sculpture by Michelangelo is unveiled.

September 9, 1753: The first steam engine arrives in the US Colonies (New Jersey) from England—but not to be used as a mode of transportation, instead as a way to pump water from coal and metal mines. It was called a “fire engine.” It would be nearly 50 years later that steam engines were used for transportation.

September 10, 1547: The English beat the Scots at the Battle of Pinkie.

September 11, 1297: The Battle at Stirling Bridge (featured in my novel, The Highlander’s Reward). The Scots, led by William Wallace, defeat the English. This is also the date, in 2001, that the United States will remember forever, as terrorists hijacked planes that they crashed into the Twin Towers in NYC, the Pentagon in DC, and a fourth that passengers and crew fought back, crashing in a field in Pennsylvania. 2977 victims were killed in this heinous attack.

September 12, 1814: The Battle of North Point—celebrated as Defenders’ Day—is fought near Baltimore (War of 1812).

September 13, AD 122: The alleged date that the Romans began building Hadrian’s Wall.

This Week in History 8/31 - 9/6

Time for your weekly history lesson! 

What happened this week in history? Do you know?

August 31, 1422: Henry VI is named the King of England (he is only 9 months old)

September 1, 1715: After reigning 72 years—the longest of any major European monarch—King Louis XIV of France dies.

September 2, 44AD: Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt (known as Cleopatra) declares her son (fathered by Julius Caesar) co-ruler as Ptolemy XV Caesarion

September 3, 1189: Richard the Lionheart is crowned King of England in Westminster.

September 4, 1833: Remember newsies? The first paperboy, Irish-American, Barney Flaherty, 10 years old, was hired in NYC by the Sun.

September 5, 1550: William Cecil, who would go on to serve Queen Elizabeth I, is sworn in as Secretary of State under the young King Edward’s reign.

September 6, 1860: Jane Addams, of Cedarville, Illinois, was born on this day. She worked as a pacifist, social worker & feminist, going on to be awarded a Nobel in 1931.

This Week in History: 8/24 - 8/29

Time for your weekly history lesson! 

What happened this week in history? Do you know?

8/24/1456: The Gutenberg Bible printing is completed.

8/25/1814:  The Library of Congress is destroyed by the British (which contained 3000 books)

8/26/1549: John Dudley, Earl of Warwick, defeats rebels and ends "John Kett's Rebellion" near Norwich, in what is now known as the Battle of Dussingdale.

8/27/1784: The first fire balloon ascent in Britain was made by James Tytler, in Edinburgh. 

8/28/1892: Fire breaks out at the NYC Metropolitan Opera House. 

8/29/1640: A peace treaty is signed between the English King Charles I and Scotland.