By Tim Lambert
This is a list of dates through the year with bits of information about what happened on that day in the Tudor era, which lasted from 1485 when Henry VII was crowned to 1603 when Queen Elizabeth I died.
On 1 January 1511 Catherine of Aragon, the first wife of Henry VIII gave birth to a son. Sadly he died after a few weeks.
On 1 January 1540, Henry VIII met Anne of Cleves for the first time.
On 2 January 1492, the Spanish captured the city of Granada, the last Moorish stronghold and Spain became a united country.
On 5 January 1531, Pope Clement VII forbade Henry VIII to remarry.
On 6 January 1540 Henry VIII married Anne of Cleves.
Catherine of Aragon died on 7 January 1536.
On 7 January 1558, the French captured Calais.
On 9 January 1493, Christopher Columbus reported seeing mermaids. He said they were ‘not half as beautiful as they are painted’. He probably saw manatees.
On 11 January 1569, the first national lottery in England was drawn. Some of the profits were used to improve the fortifications around Portsmouth.
On 13 January 1583 seats in a bear-baiting arena collapsed killing 8 people. (A bear was chained to a post and dogs were trained to attack it).
On 15 January 1559 Queen Elizabeth I, was crowned Queen of England
On 16 January 1547, Ivan the Terrible was crowned Tsar.
On 16 January 1556, Phillip II became King of Spain.
On 18 January 1486 King Henry VII married Elizabeth. At their wedding people set off fireworks. It was the first time fireworks were recorded in England.
The Mexican city of Leon was founded on 20 January 1576.
On 23 January 1570 James Stewart, Regent of Scotland was shot. (He was regent on behalf of the boy king James VI).
On 23 January 1571 Queen Elizabeth I opened the Royal Exchange in London.
On 24 January 1536, Henry VIII had an accident while jousting.
On 25 January 1533, Henry VIII married Anne Boleyn.
Sao Paulo, Brazil was founded on 25 January 1554.
The Portuguese founded Luanda, the capital of Angola on 25 January 1576.
The earliest record of cricket was in a court case and it was dated 27 January 1598.
On 28 January 1547 Henry VIII died.
On 29 January 1596 1596, Francis Drake was buried at sea.
On 2 February 1536, the Spanish founded the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
On 3 February 1488, Bartholomew Diaz set foot in Africa after sailing around the Cape of Good Hope.
On 4 February 1555 John Rogers became the first Protestant burned to death during the reign of Queen Mary.
Chancellor Thomas More was born on 7 February 1478.
On 8 February 1587, Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded.
On 9 February 1540, the first recorded horse racing meeting in England was held at Chester.
On 10 February Henry Stuart, husband of Mary Queen of Scots was assassinated.
Elizabeth of York, the mother of Henry VIII was born on 11 February 1466.
On 12 February 1554, Lady Jane Grey was executed. She was queen for 9 days in 1553. She was only 16 when she died.
Santiago, the capital of Chile was founded on 12 February 1541.
Jane Boleyn sister of Anne Boleyn was beheaded on 13 February 1542.
Catherine Howard the 5th wife of Henry VIII was executed on 13 February 1542.
On 16 February 1547 Henry VIII was buried in Windsor Castle.
Henry VIII’s daughter Mary was born on 18 February 1516. She reigned from 1553 5o 1558.
On 20 February 1547, Edward VI was crowned King of England. He was 9 years old. Sadly he died when he was only 15.
On 24 February 1582, Pope Gregory XIII decreed the introduction of a new calendar, the Gregorian calendar.
On 25 February 1570 Queen Elizabeth I was excommunicated by the Pope.
Playwright Christopher Marlowe was baptised on 26 February 1564. We don’t know the exact date of his birth because in those days they recorded the date of the baptism, not the birth.
On 27 February 1557, the first Russian embassy opened in England.
Rio de Janeiro was founded on 1 March 1565.
The first record of a play by William Shakespeare being performed was on 3 March 1592. It was Henry VI part one.
On 4 March 1493, Columbus returned to Lisbon, Portugal from his voyage to the New World.
On 4 March 1519 the conquistador Hernan Cortes reached Mexico.
William Oughtred the man who invented the slide rule was born on 5 March 1574.
On 6 March 1457, King James II of Scotland banned football and golf because people played them instead of practicing archery.
On 9 March 1500, Pedro Cabral set sail from Lisbon. After sailing across the Atlantic he discovered Brazil.
On 9 March 1562, Naples banned people from kissing in public to help stop the spread of the plague.
On 10 March 1535, the Spanish discovered the Galapagos Islands.
On 18 March 1571, Valetta was made the capital of Malta.
On 21 March 1556, the Protestant Archbishop of Canterbury was burned to death by the Catholic Queen Mary.
On 23 March 1540, Waltham Abbey in Essex closed. It was the last religious community to be closed by Henry VIII.
On 24 March 1603 Queen Elizabeth I, the last of the Tudors died.
On 27 March 1513 the Spanish sighted Florida.
On 28 March 1584, Ivan the Terrible died.
On 30 March 1533, Thomas Cranmer became Archbishop of Canterbury.
William Harvey the famous doctor who discovered how blood circulates in the body was born on 1 April 1578.
On 2 April 1502 Prince Arthur the older brother of the future Henry VIII died. Henry later married his widow, Catherine of Aragon.
On 4 April 1581, Francis Drake was knighted.
On 6 April 1580, London was hit by an earthquake. The only fatality was an apprentice cobbler called Thomas Grey.
King James V of Scotland was born on 10 April 1512. He became king in 1513 when his father was killed at the Battle of Flodden.
On 17 April 1534, Thomas More was sent to the Tower of London.
On 17 April Giovanni da Verrazzano reached New York harbour.
On 21 April 1509, Prince Henry became King Henry VIII of England
On 22 April 1500 Portuguese explorer Pedro Alvares Cabral discovered Brazil.
On St George’s Day, 23 April 1509 Prince Henry was informed that his father had died 2 days before and he was now King Henry.
On 24 April 1558, Mary Queen of Scots married the heir to the French throne. Her husband became king of France in 1559 but died in 1560.
William Shakespeare was baptised on 26 April 1564. We are not sure of the exact day of his birth but it was probably 23 April.
On 2 May 1536, Anne Boleyn was arrested and sent to the Tower of London.
On 3 May 1494, Columbus discovered Jamaica.
On 6 May 1541, King Henry VIII ordered that a copy of the Bible should be made available in every church in England.
On 8 May 1541 Hernando de Soto discovered the Mississippi River.
On 13 May 1515 Henry VIII’s sister Mary married Charles Brandon the Duke of Suffolk.
On 16 May 1532, Thomas More resigned as Chancellor.
On 17 May 1536, the marriage of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn was annulled.
The Great Siege of Malta began on 18 May 1565. The Turks failed to capture the island.
On 19 May 1536, Anne Boleyn was executed.
On 19 May 1568 Queen Elizabeth I ordered the arrest of Mary Queen of Scots.
On 20 May 1497, a man named John Cabot set sail from England in a ship called The Matthew on a voyage to the New World.
On 20 May 1498, a Portuguese named Vasco Da Gama reached India by sea.
On 20 May 1570, Abraham Ortelius published the first modern atlas.
Phillip II of Spain was born on 21 May 1527.
On 21 May 1554, Queen Mary founded Derby School by royal charter.
On 23 May 1533, the marriage of King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon was declared null and void.
On 24 May 1487, a boy named Lambert Simnel was crowned king of England in Dublin. Simnel’s forces invaded England but were easily defeated by the army of King Henry VII. Simnel was captured but King Henry spared his life, making him a kitchen servant.
The great astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus died on 24 May 1543. Shortly before his death, he published his theory that the Earth orbits the Sun.
The great scientist William Gilbert was born on 24 May 1544. He is famous for his work on magnetism. He showed that the Earth itself is magnetic.
On 28 May 1588, the Spanish Armada set sail from Portugal.
On 30 May 1536 Henry VIII married Jane Seymour.
On 30 May 1593, the playwright Christopher Marlowe was killed in an argument.
On 1 June 1533 Anne Boleyn was crowned Queen of England.
On 7 June 1494 Spain and Portugal signed the Treaty of Tordesillas, which divided the New World between them.
On 9 June 1534 Jacques Cartier reached the St Lawrence River in Canada.
On 11 June 1509, Henry VIII married Catherine of Aragon, even though she was his brother’s widow.
Helsinki, the capital of Finland was founded on 12 June 1550.
Henry VIII’s ship Henry Grace A Dieu was dedicated on 13 June 1514.
On 15 June 1502, Columbus landed on Martinique.
The battle of Stoke Field was fought on 16 June 1487. An imposter called Lambert Simnel tried to overthrow King Henry VII. After the battle, Simnel was captured but the king spared his life.
On 17 June 1579 Francis Drake landed in California. He called it New Albion (Albion was the Ancient Greek name for Britain) and claimed it for England.
On 17 June 1596 Willem Barents discovered Spitzbergen.
On 18 June 1541, the Irish parliament recognised Henry VIII as King of Ireland (previously English kings were only Lord of Ireland).
Henry VIII’s sister Margaret married the king of Scotland. Her grandson James was born on 19 June 1566. When Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603 he became King James I of England.
On 20 June 1597, the Dutch explorer Willem Barents died. The Barents Sea is named after him.
On 22 June 1535, Cardinal John Fisher was beheaded for refusing to recognise Henry VIII as the head of the Church of England.
On 24 June 1497, explorer John Cabot discovered Newfoundland. He claimed it for England.
On 24 June 1509, Henry VIII was crowned king of England.
Henry VIII was born on 28 June 1491.
Henry VIII’s grandmother Margaret Beaufort died on 29 June 1509.
On 29 June Jacques Cartier reached Prince Edward Island.
Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury was born on 2 July 1489. He was burned to death in 1556 during the reign of the Catholic Queen Mary.
Thomas More was beheaded on 6 July 1535.
On 6 July 1557 Phillip II of Spain, husband of England’s Queen Mary set off from Dover for war with France.
On 8 July 1497 Vasco da Gama set sail on a voyage to India.
On 9 July 1540, the marriage of Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves was declared null and void.
On 10 July 1553 Lady Jane Grey was proclaimed queen of England. She lasted only 9 days and was later beheaded.
On 11 July 1533, the Pope declared Henry VIII’s marriage to Anne Boleyn null and void.
On 11 July 1576, Martin Frobisher sighted Greenland.
On 12 July 1543, Henry VIII married his last wife, Catherine Parr.
The great architect Inigo Jones was born on 15 July 1573.
On 16 July 1557, Anne of Cleves died.
On 19 July 1545, Henry VIII’s warship Mary Rose sank in the Solent.
On 24 July 1567, Mary Queen of Scots was forced to abdicate.
On 25 July 1554 Queen Mary married Philip II of Spain in Winchester Cathedral.
On 25 July 1603 King James I was crowned King of England.
On 28 July 1540 Thomas Cromwell, former Chancellor of England was beheaded.
On 28 July 1540, Henry VIII married Catherine Howard.
On 29 July 1567, King James VI was crowned King of Scotland. In 1603 he also became King James I of England.
On 29 July 1588, the English sighted the Spanish Armada off Cornwall.
On 31 July 1498, Columbus discovered Trinidad.
On 3 August 1492, Christopher Columbus set sail across the Atlantic. He hoped to sail to India.
The Spanish founded Bogota, the capital of Colombia on 6 August 1538.
On 7 August 1566, UFOs were seen over Basel in Switzerland. A report said that black and red spheres ‘fought’ each other in the sky. It’s not known exactly what the strange spheres were.
On 7 August 1485, Henry Tudor landed with his men at Milford Haven in Wales. He won the battle of Bosworth and King Richard III was killed. Henry Tudor became King Henry VII.
On 8 August 1503 Margaret, the sister of Henry VIII married King James IV of Scotland. Their great-grandson became King James I of England.
Famous angler Izaak Walton was born on 9 August 1593. He wrote a famous book called The Compleat Angler.
The Battle of Saint-Mathieu was fought near Brest in France on 10 August 1512. The Mary Rose was among the English ships. It may have been the first naval battle with ships firing cannons through gunports.
On 10 August 1519, Ferdinand Magellan and his expedition set sail from Spain to circumnavigate the world.
On 13 August 1532, the Duchy of Brittany was united with the Kingdom of France.
On 14 August 1592 Englishman John Davis discovered the Falkland Islands.
The Spanish founded Panama City on 15 August 1519.
Asuncion the capital of Paraguay was founded on 15 August 1537.
On 16 August 1513, the English and their allies defeated the French at the Battle of the Spurs. The English named the battle because the French horsemen retreated so quickly that you could see their spurs as they fled.
On 18 August 1587, Virginia Dare became the first child born in North America to English parents.
On 19 August 1561, Mary Queen of Scots returned to Scotland having spent 13 years in France.
On 22 August 1485, a battle was fought at Bosworth. Richard III was killed, Henry Tudor won and subsequently, he became King Henry VII, the first of the Tudor dynasty.
On 24 August 1572 (St Bartholomew’s Day) Catholics massacred Protestants in Paris.
Famous Russian ruler Ivan the Terrible was born on 25 August 1530.
On 25 August 1543, the Portuguese reached Japan.
On 29 August 1521, the Turks captured Belgrade.
On 30 August 1572 Queen Elizabeth I banned people from playing football in the streets of London.
On 1 September 1532 Anne Boleyn was made Marquess of Pembroke by Henry VIII.
On 2 September 1561 Mary Queen of Scots entered Edinburgh after a long stay in France.
Catherine Parr died on 5 September 1548.
On 6 September 1522, a Spanish ship reached Spain after sailing around the world, the first ship to do so.
Queen Elizabeth I was born on 7 September 1533.
On 8 September 1565, the Spanish founded St Augustine, Florida. It was the first permanent European settlement in what is now the USA.
On 9 September 1513, the English totally defeated the Scots at the Battle of Flodden. The Scottish king was killed. So were many of the Scottish nobles.
On 9 September 1493, Columbus set sail on his second voyage.
On 10 September 1547, the English completely defeated the Scots at the Battle of Pinkie.
On 10 September 1515, Thomas Wolsey became a cardinal.
On 11 September 1565, the Turks gave up their attempt to conquer Malta and withdrew.
Philip II of Spain died on 13 September 1598.
On 14 September 1544, the English captured Boulogne. They held it until 1550.
On 17 September 1598, the Dutch discovered the island of Mauritius.
Prince Arthur, the older brother of Henry VIII was born on 20 September 1486. Sadly he died when he was a teenager.
Anne of Cleves, the fourth wife of Henry VIII was born on 22 September 1515.
William Adams was born on 24 September 1564. It’s thought he was the first Englishman to reach Japan.
On 25 September 1513, Vasco Nunez de Balboa reached the Pacific Ocean.
On 26 September 1580, Francis Drake sailed into Plymouth Harbour becoming the first Englishman to circumnavigate the Earth.
On 28 September 1542, a Spaniard named Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo discovered California.
The famous Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes was born on 29 September 1547. He is famous for his book Don Quixote.
On 1 October 1553 Mary, the oldest daughter of Henry VIII was crowned queen of England.
Miles Coverdale’s Bible was published on 4 October 1535. It was the first complete English translation of the Bible.
On 6 October 1536 William Tyndale, a man who translated the New Testament was strangled and burned.
On 7 October 1571, a fleet from Spain, Venice, and the Pope utterly defeated a Turkish fleet at the naval battle of Lepanto. Afterward, 12,000 Christian galley slaves were set free.
On 9 October 1514, Mary the sister of Henry VIII married the King Louis of France. Sadly Louis died shortly afterward.
On 11 October 1521, the Pope gave Henry VIII the title Defender of the Faith (in Latin Fidei Defensor).
On 12 October 1492, Columbus discovered the New World.
Henry VIII’s son Edward VI was born on 12 October 1537. He became king at 9 in 1547 but died in 1553 when he was only 15.
On 15 October 1586, Mary Queen of Scots went on trial for treason against Elizabeth I.
On 18 October 1565, Japanese ships fought Portuguese ships at the Battle of Fukuda Bay. It was the first recorded naval battle between the Japanese and Europeans.
The Polish Post was founded on 18 October 1558.
On 24 October 1537, Jane Seymour sadly died, shortly after giving birth to a son, the future King Edward VI.
On 24 October 1596, another Spanish Armada set sail. It ran into terrible storms off the northwest of Spain. Many of the ships sank or were severely damaged.
On 28 October 1492, Columbus reached Cuba.
On 28 October 1520, Magellan reached the Pacific Ocean after sailing through the Magellan Strait.
On 30 October 1485, Henry VII was crowned King of England.
On 1 November 1512, the Sistine Chapel opened to the public.
On 3 November 1534, the English parliament passed a law making Henry VIII the supreme head of the Church of England.
On 6 November 1528 Spanish explorer Cabeza de Vaca landed in Texas.
The first performance of Othello by William Shakespeare was on 1 November 1604.
On 4 November 1501, Catherine of Aragon met her future husband Prince Arthur for the first time.
On 7 November 1504, Columbus returned to Spain from his last voyage.
On 11 November 1574 astronomer Tycho Brahe observed a supernova.
On 14 November 1501, Prince Arthur married Catherine of Aragon. Sadly Arthur died when the next year and his brother became heir to the throne. Catherine later married her dead husband’s brother, Henry VIII.
Havana, Cuba was founded on 16 November 1519.
On 17 November 1558, Princess Elizabeth became Queen Elizabeth I when her half-sister Mary died.
On 18 November 1493, Columbus sighted Puerto Rico.
On 23 November 1499, Perkin Warbeck, a pretender to the English throne was hanged.
On 24 November 1542, an English army decisively defeated the Scots at the Battle of Solway Moss north of Carlisle.
On 25 November 1487 Elizabeth of York, wife of King Henry VII was crowned queen of England.
Margaret Tudor, sister of Henry VIII was born on 28 November 1489. In 1503 she married the king of Scotland.
On 29 November 1530, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey died while on his way from York to the Tower of London.
On 4 December 1533, Ivan the Terrible inherited the throne of Russia. But he was only 3 years old so for a time his mother ruled in his name.
On 6 December 1492, Columbus reached the island of Hispaniola.
Quito, the capital of Ecuador was founded on 6 December 1534.
Mary Queen of Scots was born on 8 December 1542.
On 13 December 1577, Francis Drake set sail on this voyage around the world.
Mary Queen of Scots became queen of Scotland on 14 December 1542. She was only a few days old.
The famous Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe was born on 14 December 1546.
Catherine of Aragon was born on 16 December 1485.
On 24 December 1515, Thomas Wolsey became Lord Chancellor.
The first recorded performance of the play A Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare was on 28 December 1594.
On 31 December 1600, the English East India Company was incorporated by royal charter.