Local Histories

By Tim Lambert His Early Life Tycho Brahe was one of the great astronomers of the 16th century. He lived before the telescope was invented yet he made very accurate observations of the positions of stars. Tycho Brahe was born on Knudstrup on 14 December 1546. (It was then part of n but it is… Continue reading A Biography of Tycho Brahe

By Tim Lambert His Early Life Nicolaus Copernicus was one of the great astronomers of the 16th century. He was born on 19 February 1473 in the Polish town of Torun. (His real name was Mikolaj Kopernik although he is better known by his Latin name). His father was a rich merchant and Nicolaus was… Continue reading A Biography of Nicolaus Copernicus

By Tim Lambert His Early Life Henry VIII was born at Greenwich Palace on 28 June 1491 the second son of Henry Tudor (Henry VII). However, Henry’s older brother Arthur died in 1502. So Henry came to the throne in 1509. (Henry also had an older sister called Margaret and a younger sister called Mary).… Continue reading A Biography of Henry VIII

By Tim Lambert The early life of Kepler Johannes Kepler was one of the great astronomers of the 17th century. Kepler was born in Weil der Stadt in southern Germany on 27 December 1571. His father Heinrich was a mercenary soldier. Johannes’s family was poor but in 1588 he won a scholarship to study theology… Continue reading A Biography of Johannes Kepler

By Tim Lambert His Early Life Martin Luther was a religious reformer who lived in the 16th century. Luther was born on 10 November 1483 in the German town of Eisleben. (In those days Germany was not a single country but was a federation of states called the Holy Roman Empire). His father was Hans… Continue reading A Biography of Martin Luther

By Tim Lambert The early life of Christopher Marlowe Christopher Marlowe was a great Elizabethan playwright. He was baptised in Canterbury, Kent on 26 February 1564. The exact date of his birth is not certain but he was born the same year as William Shakespeare during the reign of Elizabeth I. His father John Marlowe… Continue reading A Biography of Christopher Marlowe

By Tim Lambert His Early Life Thomas More was an English statesman and writer of the early 16th century. Thomas More was born on 7 February 1478 in Milk Street in London. (At that time London was a bustling town of perhaps 60,000 or 70,000 people). His father, John More was a lawyer and the… Continue reading A Biography of Thomas More

By Tim Lambert His Early Life William Shakespeare was baptized on 26 April 1564. We don’t know the exact date of his birth but in the 16th century, it was normal for babies to be baptised within a few days of their birth (because so many died). Shakespeare was born the same year as Christopher… Continue reading A Biography of William Shakespeare

By Tim Lambert The Early Life of Tyndale William Tyndale was a great man of the 16th century. Little is known about his childhood. Tyndale was born about 1494 in Gloucestershire. He came from a family of landowners and wool merchants. We also know that Tyndale had two brothers. The family was well off and… Continue reading A Biography of William Tyndale