Today in 1586 Arthur Tudor was christened. Prince Arthur, Henry VIII’s older brother, was christened at Winchester Cathedral. Of course Henry VII had planned his birth to be there – he was, after all, named after King Arthur, whose legendary round table is still at Winchester even to this day.

Today in 1459 the first major battle of the Wars of the Roses, the Battle of Blore Heath, took place. The First Battle of St Albans took place in 1455, after which an uneasy peace held in England. Attempts at reconciliation between the houses of Lancaster and York were unsuccessful and both sides became increasingly wary of each other and by 1459 were actively recruiting armed supporters.

Today in 1486 Arthur, Prince of Wales, was born to Elizabeth of York in Winchester, eight months after her marriage to Henry Tudor, Henry VII. Arthur was the fulfillment of his parents’ uniting the houses of Lancaster and York after the Wars of the Roses, and was named after the legendary King Arthur. His father even chose his birth place, Winchester, because of its association with King Arthur.

Today in 1580 Katherine Willoughby died. We talked about her yesterday with her sons and the sweating sickness, but something else you may not have known about her is that she was the daughter of Maria de Salinas, one of Catherine of Aragon’s most loyal ladies in waiting, who came with her from Spain.

Today in 1535 Charles Brandon and his wife, his ward Katherine Willoughby, had a son called Henry.

Today we mark the death, in 1575, of Heinrich Bullinger, one of the leading Swiss Protestant Reformers. He was born in 1504, and interestingly, his story overlapped with that of the Tudors in that, when he was 12, he was sent to school in Cleves.

Today in 1585 Francis Drake set sail from Plymouth for what would be called The Caribbean Raid. The pseudo-war between England and Spain had been heating up, and much of that had to do with piracy of Spanish ports and it would culminate in 1587 when Drake raided Spanish mainland in the Singeing of the King’s Beard in Cadiz.

Today is the birthday, in 1520, of the leading Elizabethan statesmen, William Cecil, Lord Burghley.  He was born in Lincolnshire and his grandfather had served Henry VII, so service to the Tudors was in his blood.

Today in 1555 Archbishop Thomas Cranmer went on trial for heresy. He was one of the architects of Henry VIII’s divorce from Catherine of Aragon, and as such when Mary Tudor came to power, Catherine’s daughter, he was one of the main people that she had a grudge against.

Today in 1572 Pope Gregory XIII ordered a commemoration both for the defeat of the Ottoman Turks at the Battle of Lepanto in October 1571, and the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre in France over the summer of 1572.