Today in 1531 Pope Clement VII wrote to Henry in England telling him that if he remarried he would be excommunicated.

On January 4, 1493 Christopher Columbus left the new islands he had stumbled upon in the Caribbean to return back to Spain. He had left Spain in August 1492 attempting to find an all water route to Asia. Instead, he landed in San Salvador.

Today in 1495 Jasper Tudor died. He was the uncle of Henry Tudor, Henry VII, and it was largely due to his work protecting his nephew that Henry survived and was able to become King.

Today in 1542 James V of Scotland died, after becoming ill when his army was defeated at the Battle of Solway Moss about three weeks before. He had already taken to his bed when his wife, Marie of Guise, gave birth to their daughter, Mary.

Today in 1541 London was reeling from the executions of Thomas Culpepper and Francis Dereham, that happened yesterday. Dereham had been arrested after Thomas Cranmer let Henry know that his fifth wife, Katherine Howard, was no virginal maid, and in fact had been with Dereham before she was married.

It’s been a week of Mary, Queen of Scots, and that’s set to continue today, as it’s her birthday. She was born in 1542, the daughter of James V of Scotland, and his wife Marie of Guise, from France. She became Queen when she was only 8 days old, when her father died, and was crowned Queen when she wasn’t even a year old.

Today is the birthday of Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley, who was the grandson of Margaret Tudor by her second husband, Archibald Douglas. While he had a claim to both the English and Scottish thrones, he is most remembered for being the second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, and then being murdered, thus setting into play the chaos that led to Mary’s fleeing Scotland.

Today in 1555 the Pope in Rome handed down a sentence on the Protestant Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, saying that he was stripped of his archbishopric, and all of his ecclesiastical dignities.

Today in 1536 Henry proclaimed that the rebels in the Pilgrimage of Grace would be offered a pardon if they submitted to Henry’s officers in the region. In this proclamation, Henry also said that he would hold a Parliament at York, which was one of the major demands of the rebels.

Today in 1572 John Knox died. A Sottish clergyman, Knox is remembered as the founder of Presbyterianism, but he was also known for his outspoken stance against Mary I. He wrote a book called The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regimen of Women in which he attacked women rulers like Marie of Guise, and Mary I.