Queen Mary I of England wed King Philip II of Spain on 25 July 1554 at Winchester Cathedral, and although she was personally very happy, it was one of the worst political moves should could have made. Mary’s Lord Chancellor, Stephen Gardiner, and the entire House of Commons begged the queen to wed an Englishman… Read more Merry Mary Marries
On 22 July 1298 the English King Edward I decisively defeated a small army of Scots under the command of William Wallace at Falkirk, which resulted in the resignation of Wallace as a Guardian of Scotland and brought Robert the Bruce into the forefront of the First War of Scottish Independence. The English would have… Read more The Battle of Falkirk
The Mary Rose was the prized flagship of King Henry VIII’s navy. She was a carrack-type warship who was in service for 33 years before she sank in action on 19 July 1545. The Mary Rose would slumber in the deeps of the Solent, the straits north of the Isle of Wight, until she was… Read more The Mary Rose Visits Davy Jones
On 18 July 1290 King Edward I issued an Edict of Expulsion decreeing the forcible removal of all Jews from England. The expulsion edict was the law of the land for the next 360-odd years, until 1657, when Oliver Cromwell (of all people!) permitted Jews to return to England. Cromwell only let Jewish people return… Read more Edict of Expulsion 1290
King Edward I of England, known as Edward Longshanks, died on 7 July 1307. As I have explained before, Edward’s historical legacy is complicated; he was a good man who did horrible things. Longshanks was on his way to Scotland to battle Robert the Bruce, who had recently rebelled against English rule and had declared… Read more The Death of Edward Longshanks
The fiercely maternal and profoundly strong-willed Margaret Beaufort died peacefully in her bed on 29 June 1509. Founder of the Tudor Dynasty, she was buried in Westminster Abbey with every honor and an Italian sculptor was commissioned to create the effigy on her tomb. The famous humanist scholar Erasmus honored her by composing her epitaph,… Read more The Passing of Margaret Beaufort
Princess Isabella, the direct ancestress of Mary, Queen of Scots and King Henry IV of France, as well as the Bourbon line of French monarchs, was born 16 June 1332 in Woodstock Palace. She was the second child and firstborn daughter of young King Edward III and his bride, Philippa of Hainault. The new baby… Read more The Birth of Isabella of England
This date is a big one, vis-à-vis English monarchial history. Henry VII died on 21 April 1509 and Queen Elizabeth II was born on the same day in 1926. When Henry died, an ungrateful nation rejoiced because he had rebuilt their stability and standing in Europe via badly needed tax revenue. His son Henry… Read more The King is Dead, Long Live the Queen
Queen Elizabeth I died on March 24, but she was not the only English monarch to die on this day. George V’s queen consort, Mary of Teck, died on March 24, 1953 — exactly 350 years after the death of Queen Elizabeth. Coincidently, Mary’s death occurred in the first year in the reign of her… Read more Mary of Teck
I recently wrote about Joan of England, Queen of Scotland, who is little known because she was a quintessentially nice young lady. Her mother, Isabella of Angoulême, was not such a nice young lady and as such she is a much more intriguing historical figure – albeit more famous in France than in England. Why… Read more More Jezebel than Isabel