The Tudor Minute

Today in 1558 Elizabeth I left Hatfield House, where she had been living as Princess, on her way to London, traveling as Queen. Her train of followers was nearly 1000 people, and she processed through Hertfordshire, being met in Barnet by the Sheriff of London who rode with her down the Great North Road, through Highgate, which was just a tiny village then, to the City.

Today in 1591 Sir Christopher Hatton died. He is remembered for being the Lord Chancellor of England, and he was a favorite of Elizabeth. He first caught Elizabeth’s attention in the early 1560’s - he was an excellent dancer, was personable, charming, and intelligent. He became a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber in 1564, and by 1572 he was appointed captain of the Yeoman of the Guard. He is said to have been a Roman Catholic in all but name, yet he treated religious questions in a moderate and tolerant way.

Today in 1600 James VI of Scotland and his wife Anne of Denmark, had a son, Charles. This second son of James - who would become James I of England upon Queen Elizabeth’s death in 1603 - was never meant to be the King. His brother Prince Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, died in 1612, and at that point Charles became the heir.

Today in 1558 Mary I died, aged 42 years old. She had made a will at Easter believing herself to be pregnant, but her husband Philip I left in July, and there are no records of preparations for the birth, so it was likely another phantom pregnancy. In August she got a fever, and seemed to recover, but then by the end of September was unwell again. She confirmed her father’s plan for succession, and though she didn’t name Elizabeth by name, she said the throne would go to the next lawful heir.

Today in 1572 Spanish troops under Don Frederik (the Spanish General Fadrique Alvarez de Toledo) occupied and plundered Zutphen in the Netherlands. This would eventually drag Elizabeth into the conflict to support the Protestant Netherlands, against the Spanish Catholics, and 12 years later the poet Sir Philip Sidney would die in Zutphen as the conflict went on and on. It was one front of the Spanish Anglo war that lasted through the end of the 16th century.

Today in 1572 Spanish troops under Don Frederik (the Spanish General Fadrique Alvarez de Toledo) occupied and plundered Zutphen in the Netherlands. This would eventually drag Elizabeth into the conflict to support the Protestant Netherlands, against the Spanish Catholics, and 12 years later the poet Sir Philip Sidney would die in Zutphen as the conflict went on and on. It was one front of the Spanish Anglo war that lasted through the end of the 16th century.

Today in 1553 Lady Jane Grey’s trial started at London’s Guildhall, along with her husband Guilford Dudley. She was, of course, being tried for having claimed the throne during the short period after Edward VI’s death, before the Catholic Mary I was able to take back control of the throne.

Today we mark two events that are related. On November 12, 1555, Mary I’s Parliament reestablished the Catholic faith in England and was reunited with the Pope. It’s also the day of the death of Stephen Gardiner, who died on the very same day.

Today in 1556 Richard Chancellor died. He was a navigator and explorer who is remembered for piloting the boats that were sent to find a northeast passage. Yes, northeast, not northwest. The idea was that the Spanish and Portuguese largely had a lock on the trade routes to the west, so it worth it to try heading east, over Russia, and to try to come down from that direction. The first ships set out in 1553, and while they didn’t discover a faster route to Asia, they did discover a trade route to Moscow.

Today in 1518 Catherine of Aragon gave birth to a girl, to the great disappointment of everyone. The Venetian Ambassador wrote a letter on the tenth of November saying, “In the past night the queen had been delivered of a daughter, to the vexation of everybody. Never had the kingdom so anxiously desired anything as it did a prince.”