Gunpowder Plot

Thomas Tresham – Lancastrian and Speaker of the Commons.

Jan 31, 2024

anniversaries, battles, buildings, law

attainder, Barnet, edmund lenthall, francis tresham, Gunpowder Plot, Henry VI, Henry VII, High Sheriffs, huntingdon castle, Jack Cade, John Earl of Oxford, jps, Lord Grey of Ruthin, Margaret of Anjou, mary zouche, MPs, Richard Duke of York, Second Battle of St. Albans, simon norwich, Sir Thomas Tresham, Sir William Tresham, Sir William Vaux, Tewkesbury, Tower of London, Towton

Thomas Tresham was born in about 1420. He was the son of William Tresham and Isabel Vaux. (Isabel Vaux was the great-aunt of that Sir William Vaux who was executed at Tewkesbury.) William Tresham was an important servant of Henry VI, which undoubtedly helped his son’s advancement. In 1443, father and son were appointed joint…
Another Hundred Years’ Grudge

Mar 23, 2023

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy

Battle of Bosworth, Boroughbridge, Contrariants, Edward II, executions, Gunpowder Plot, Henry IV, Henry VII, James VI/I, Kathryn Warner, Lancastrians, Pontefract Castle, Richard II, Robert Catesby, starvation, Thomas of Lancaster, William Catesby

A few years ago, we showed that Robert Catesby, directly descended from Sir William Catesby, sought to kill James VI/I, a descendant of Henry VII, by gunpowder 120 years after Henry had Sir William hanged after Bosworth.This second case, of which I was reminded in Kathryn Warner‘s The Despensers, doesn’t involve direct ancestry on both…
A HAWKING RING OF THE TALBOT FAMILY

Jun 30, 2022

anniversaries, archaeology, art, battles, buildings, genealogy

Albrighton, Battle of Bosworth, Earls of Shrewsbury, executions, Gunpowder Plot, hawking ring, Henry VII, jewellery, John 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury, Lady Eleanor Talbot, Lovell rebellion, recusants, Shropshire, Sir Gilbert Talbot, Sir John Talbot, Talbots

Recently the rains washed off some soil in a muddy Shropshire field, and yet another metal detectorist had a lucky find–a hawking ring from the Elizabethan period. The most intriguing thing to me was the very bold lettering spelling the name JOHN TALBOT AT GRAFTON across the band of the tiny ring. As it was…
Religion can be the death of us….

Apr 13, 2022

anniversaries, law, religion

Anne Boleyn, executions, Gunpowder Plot, Guy Fawkes, Henry VIII, Reformation, Thomas More

Oh, the perils of religion. It seems to turn up behind most things throughout history. Certainly it prompted More and Fawkes, and was used quite shamelessly by Henry VIII so he could have Anne Boleyn. And even today it’s still the reason for most conflicts around the world. This article only deals with…
Walking “Tudor” England

Aug 10, 2021

battles, buildings, genealogy, law, religion, television reviews, travel

“Bloody Mary”, “Tudors”, Anne Boleyn, Anne of Cleves, Arthur “Tudor”, Ashdown Forest, attainder, Austin Friars, bear-baiting, Bishops of London, Bridewell Palace, brothels, Cambridge, cannon, Channel Five, Christopher Hatton, Clifford’s Tower, conspiracies, dancing, de heretico comburendo, Dutch refugees, East Midlands, Edmund Bonner, Edward of Buckingham, Edward VI, Elizabeth I, excommunication, executions, exile, fire, Framlingham Castle, Fulham Palace, Greenwich Palace, Grey-Dudley rebellion, Gunpowder Plot, Guy Fawkes, Hampton Court, Henry Earl of Huntingdon, Henry Grey Duke of Suffolk, Henry VIII, Hever Castle, James VI/I, Jane, John Dudley Duke of Northumberland, John Foxe, John Howard Duke of Norfolk, Katherine Howard, Kenilworth Castle, Kenninghall, Kett Rebellion, Leicester, London, Lord Chancellor, Lord Guildford Dudley, Margaret Clitherow, Mary Stuart, Mass, Michelham Priory, naval power, Nicholas Ridley, Northern Earls’ Rebellion, Norwich, Penshurst Place, Pilgrimage of Grace, Pontefract, Portsmouth, recusants, Ripon Cathedral, Robert Aske, Robert Dudley Earl of Leicester, royal barges, royal hunting estates, Rushton Triangular Lodge, severed heads, Sir Henry Dudley, Sir John Hawkins, Sir Thomas Tresham, Sir Walter Raleigh, Southwark, St. Mary’s Abbey, Stamford, Suzannah Lipscomb, The Globe, Thomas Howard 3rd Duke of Norfolk, Thomas Stafford, tobacco, torture, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, Will Kemp, William Cecil, William Shakespeare, Wyatt Rebellion, Yorkshire Museum

Suzannah Lipscomb has just completed another series on Channel Five, this time visiting the sites related to the “Tudors”. In the first episode, she concentrated on Henry VIII and the naval power he inherited from John Howard, Duke of Norfolk. The second was principally about the penultimate “Tudor”, Mary I, as well as Edward VI…
King James VI of Scotland, James I of England podcast….

Jun 19, 2021

anniversaries, buildings, religion

“favourites”, Abdication, Agnes Sampson, Anna Whitelock, Anne of Denmark, Arbella Stuart, assassination, Basilikon Doron, BBC, Bible translators, Bye plot, Calvinism, Charles I, Counterblast against tobacco, David Rizzio, Edinburgh Castle, Elizabeth I, Elizabeth Stuart, Esme Stuart, executions, Fotheringhay, Frederick of Bohemia, George Villiers Duke of Buckingham, Greg Jenner, Gunpowder Plot, Henrietta Maria, Henry Lord Darnley, Henry Stuart, James Earl of Morton, James VI/I, Jamestown, King James Bible, Larry Dean, Mary Stuart, New World discoveries, North Berwick trials, Oath of Allegiance, podcasts, Popish Recusants Act, Radio 4, Regency, Roanoke, Robert Carr Earl of Somerset, Robert Catesby, Robert Cecil, Ruthven Raid, Scotland, Sir Walter Raleigh, Spain, Stirling Castle, Stuarts, The wisest fool in Christendom, Thirty Years’ War, tobacco, Union Jack, Union of the Crowns, voyage to Denmark, Wicked Bible, witchcraft, You’re dead to me

Here is a link to a BBC podcast about King James VI of Scotland, who, of course, became James I of England and was the first of our Stuart monarchs. I can’t say I’m a Stuart expert, being much more interested in the Plantagenets, but a monarch is a monarch!
A strange perspective

Apr 27, 2020

Alternative History, genealogy

“Tudors”, Adam Hart-Davis, Bertram Fields, G.L.Harriss, Great Fire of London, Gunpowder Plot, Gutenburg, Instagram, John Ashdown-Hill, stretched timeline, William Caxton

This image was drawn to my attention on Instagram. Quite apart from the dubious nature of the “Tudor” descent of those monarchs, as attested to by several historians, the timeline is being stretched somewhat, from Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press to the Gunpowder Plot and even the Great Fire of London. Those of you…
Channel 5’s “Inside the Tower of London”

Nov 16, 2018

archaeology, buildings, genealogy, Science, television reviews

“Princes”, Anne Boleyn, Beefeaters, bigamy, Catherine of Aragon, Ceremony of the Lilies and Roses, Channel Five, Charles II, coins, Colonel Blood, Colonel Thomas Blood, Constable of the Tower, crown jewels, Domenico Mancini, Duke of Wellington, Eton, executions, exhibitions, Germany, Guido Fawkes, Gunpowder Plot, Guy Fawkes, Henry III, Henry VI, Henry VIII, illegitimacy, James VI/I, Jason Watkins, Josef Jacobs, King’s College Cambridge, Kray twins, Leonora Cohen, Long Cross Penny, More, Peasants’ Revolt, pre-contract, ravens, Richard III, Royal Marriage Secrets, Royal Mint, Rudolf Hess, Simon of Sudbury, Sir Walter Raleigh, St. Gregory’s, Tower of London, Tracy Borman, Westminster Abbey, William I

This four-part series is narrated by Jason Watkins and heavily features Tracy Borman, Joint Chief Curator of Historic Royal Palaces. The first part dealt with the Peasants’ Revolt, which resulted in Simon of Sudbury‘s beheading and Borman travelled to St. Gregory’s in his home town to view the preserved head. She spoke about the animals…
Conspiracy theories, Elizabeth I and Shakespeare….?

Nov 5, 2018

anniversaries

Albert Camus, anti-Stratfordianism, Charlotte Bronte, conspiracy theories, Edgar Allen Poe, Elizabeth I, Guido Fawkes, Gunpowder Plot, Hunter S Thompson, John Lennon, KGB, murder, Percy Shelley, Robert Cecil, Shakespeare, Stephen King, William Godwin

If you go to here you will find examples of those intriguing possibilities, conspiracy theories. Well, some of them are too outlandish, but others…well, maybe…? Anyway, take a look and decide for yourself whether, for example, the Gunpowder Plot was really a put-up job by the Earl of Salisbury. Or whether Elizabeth the First might—just…
A request for authenticity

Jan 31, 2018

anniversaries, buildings, Events, religion

authenticity, bonfires, executions, Guido Fawkes, Gunpowder Plot, Holbeche House, Robert Catesby, Tyburn

Today in 1606, the last of the “Gunpowder Plotters”, including Guido Fawkes, were executed at Tyburn. Some had been put to death the previous day whilst others, including Robert Catesby, were shot at Holbeche House , resisting arrest, soon after the plot was discovered. All of the executions were carried out by drawing, hanging and…