In this first part of This Week in Tudor History for the week beginning 15th March, historian and author Claire Ridgway looks at the life and career of a bishop who started out as a monk but whose conversion to the reformed faith saw him dying an awful death in the reign of Queen Mary I, before moving on to the death of a soldier, translator and diplomat in Henry VIII's reign, and the death of a Tudor earl and brother-in-law of a queen who was once known as Black Will Herbert.

 

You can see this podcast as a video at the following link:

https://youtu.be/zHsl0AvXRAY

 

15th March 1554, in the reign of Queen Mary I - John Hooper, Bishop of Gloucester and Worcester, was deprived of his bishopric while imprisoned in Fleet Prison. He had been charged with owing over five hundred pounds in unpaid first fruits, a charge he denied. He was later burnt at the stake. He'd started his career as a Cistercian monk though!

 

16th March 1533, in the reign of King Henry VIII -  soldier, translator and diplomat, John Bourchier, 2nd Baron Berners, died at Calais, while serving as Deputy of Calais. He was a translator of some renown.

 

17th March 1570, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I - William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke, soldier, courtier and landowner, died at Hampton Court, aged sixty-three. "Black Will Herbert" had served Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I, and was the brother-in-law of Queen Catherine Parr.

 

Claire's video on the burning of John Hooper - https://youtu.be/dE_mtQMSHVA

 

Other Tudor events on these dates:

 

March 15 - Henry VIII uses foul language! - https://youtu.be/z_7negTJ728

 

March 15 - The Lady Mary causes a stir in London - https://youtu.be/BuULiz0yXeI

 

March 16 - Richard Burbage, actor and friend of Shakespeare - https://youtu.be/mTvT72U5My8

 

March 16 - The martyrdom of two Catholic priests in York - https://youtu.be/Ai8crhFUUAQ

 

March 17 - Elizabeth I's Famous Tide Letter - https://youtu.be/oendk0s7eEs

 

March 17 - Alexander Alesius and his terrifying vision of Anne Boleyn - https://youtu.be/fj6N4BEMoYc