Edward had a private tutor, Richard Cox, but he was with other boys his own age in the schoolroom. Richard Cox (c. 1500 – 22 July 1581) was an English clergyman, who was Dean of Westminster and Bishop of Ely. He was made Almoner to Prince Edward, in whose education he took an active part.
Some of these boys were:
-Henry, Lord Hastings: Henry Hastings, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon (c. 1535 – 14 December 1595) was an English Puritan nobleman and was educated alongside the future Edward VI.
- Barnaby Fitzpatrick: Barnaby Fitzpatrick, 2nd Baron Upper Ossory (c. 1535 – 11 September 1581) was an Irish military officer and politician. He was educated at the court of Henry VIII of England with Edward, Prince of Wales. He was the whipping boy, that is, the one who received punishment intended for Edward.
When Catherine Parr restored the position of Mary and Elizabeth in court, Henry commissioned 'The Family of Henry VIII".
During his marriage to Catherine Parr, the king's health declined. There was also trouble in politics as Stephern Gardiner led a conspiracy against Catherine. Stephen Gardiner (27 July 1483 – 12 November 1555) was an English Catholic bishop and politician during the English Reformation period. In 1546 Gardiner was the significant person involved in a conservative plot to discredit Maud Lane who was Catherine Parr's cousin, gentlewoman and confidante. The plan was to find evidence of her heresy but the plot failed and plans to kidnap the Queen and two of her ladies were not enacted. Gardiner's position was reduced by this.
Henry's obesity hastened his death at the age of 55, on 28 January 1547 in the Palace of Whitehall. Henry was interred in a vault at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, next to Jane Seymour.
Edward was crowned kingon February 20, 1547, at the age of nine. His coronation took place at Westminster Abbey. As he was too young, Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, was his regent.
Catherine Parr lived with Thomas in Hanworth House.
Edward Seymour, the Duke of Somerset, was executed, following a coup by John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland. Edward Seymour, the Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector of England during the minority of Edward VI, was executed by beheading on January 22, 1552. The execution took place on Tower Hill in London.
Edward VI became sick, and before he died, he signed a devise, leaving the crown to Lady Jane Grey. Edward had become ill in January 1553 with a fever and cough that gradually worsened. Edward died at the age of 15 at Greenwich Palace at 8 pm on 6 July 1553.
Lady Jane Grey was procalimed queen and reigned for 9 days. Jane was the great-granddaughter of Henry VII (through his youngest daughter, Mary Tudor), a grand-niece of Henry VIII, and cousin to Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I. After Edward's death, Jane was proclaimed queen on 10 July 1553 and awaited coronation in the Tower of London. Support for Mary grew rapidly and most of Jane's supporters abandoned her. Jane was executed as well as her husband Guildford Dudley.
The book mentions the jesters that entertained the queen. One was Jane Cooper, Jane Fool.
Mary married Philip of Spain, who she was smitten with. This liaison prompted uprisings in Kent, Hereford, Devon and Leicestershire led by Thomas Wyatt and Henry Grey.
Mary I of England and Philip II of Spain married on July 25, 1554, in Winchester Cathedral. The marriage was primarily a political alliance, intended to solidify Mary's rule and restore Catholicism in England, as well as to secure the Low Countries. Despite Mary's hopes for love and an heir, the marriage was fraught with tension due to English fears of Spanish dominance and the couple's lack of genuine affection.
Wyatt's Rebellion was a limited and unsuccessful uprising in England in early 1554 led by four men, one of whom was Thomas Wyatt the Younger. The rebellion arose out of concern over Queen Mary I's determination to marry a foreigner, Philip II of Spain, and to return England to the Catholic Church and papal authority. The uprising failed, with consequences for the rebels that ranged from death to forgiveness.
In 1556 Charles V abdicated in Philip's favour. Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, abdicated his thrones in 1555 and 1556, dividing his vast empire between his brother and son. He relinquished control of the Netherlands on October 25, 1555, and Spain on January 16, 1556. His decision stemmed from a combination of factors, including poor health, the overwhelming nature of ruling a sprawling empire, and the desire to step back from the political and religious conflicts of the time.
Mary believed that she was pregnant twice but she did not produce a child. Queen Mary I of England experienced two phantom pregnancies, also known as pseudocyesis. These were instances where she believed herself to be pregnant, exhibiting physical symptoms like a swollen abdomen and missed periods, but without an actual fetus. The first instance was a highly publicized event with elaborate preparations for the birth, including letters announcing the birth and a decorated nursery. However, no baby was ever born, and the pregnancy was later revealed to be a false one. A second phantom pregnancy occurred a few years later, likely due to menopause rather than a true pregnancy.
When Mary became sick, she added a codicil to her will, confirming that the crown would go to Elizabeh. In pain, possibly from ovarian cysts or uterine cancer, she died on 17 November 1558, aged 42, at St James's Palace. Although Mary's will stated that she wished to be buried next to her mother, she was interred in Westminster Abbey on 14 December in a tomb she eventually shared with Elizabeth.
Elizabeth was crowned queen on January 15, 1559, at Westminster Abbey.
Elizabeth I never married but there were rumours that she was in love with Robert Dudley, his long-standing companion. Then Robert's wife, Amy Robsart, died under suspicious circumstances. Amy, Lady Dudley (née Robsart; 7 June 1532 – 8 September 1560) was the first wife of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, favourite of Elizabeth I of England. She is primarily known for her death by falling down a flight of stairs, the circumstances of which have often been regarded as suspicious. Despite the inquest's outcome, Robert Dudley was widely suspected to have orchestrated his wife's demise, a view not shared by most modern historians. He remained Elizabeth's closest favourite, but with respect to her reputation she could not risk a marriage with him.
To protect Elizabeth's reputation, Kat Astley sarted negotiating her marriage with King Eric XIV of Sweden. King Erik XIV of Sweden pursued a marriage with Queen Elizabeth I of England, but his advances were ultimately unsuccessful. Elizabeth, known for her strategic avoidance of marriage, employed "fair words" but no firm commitment. She ultimately rejected his suit, making it clear he should not visit England.
Robert Dudley did not remain a celibate. He started flirting with Lettice Knollys, who he eventually married. Lettice Knollys (Lettice Devereux or Lettice Dudley), Countess of Essex and Countess of Leicester (8 November 1543 – 25 December 1634), was an English noblewoman. By her second marriage to Elizabeth I's favourite, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, she incurred the Queen's unrelenting displeasure.
Dudley also had an affair with Douglas Sheffield, and they even had a child. Douglas, Lady Sheffield (née Howard; 1542/1543 – 1608), was an English noblewoman, the lover of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester and mother by him of explorer-cartographer Sir Robert Dudley, an illegitimate son.
Like her father and sister, Elizabeth enjoyed the entertainment of jesters. One was a woman, Ippolyta the Tartaryan. Aura Soltana, also known as Ipolitan the Tartarian or Ipolita or Ippolyta, was a Tartar woman at the court of Elizabeth I after arriving from Russia to England, apparently as a slave.
Another was Thomasine the Dwarf. Thomazina Muliercula (died 1603), also known as “Mrs Tamasin” and “Tomasin de Paris”, was an English jester. She was the Court dwarf and jester of queen Elizabeth I of England between 1577 and 1603.
The following year another playhouse opened. This one was called "The Curtain". The Curtain Theatre was an Elizabethan playhouse located in Hewett Street, Shoreditch, just outside the City of London. It opened in 1577, and continued staging plays until 1624.
Elizabeth invited Shakespeare and his company "Leicester's Men" to perform for her. The Earl of Leicester's Men was a playing company or troupe of actors in English Renaissance theatre, active mainly in the 1570s and 1580s in the reign of Elizabeth I. In many respects, it was the major company in Elizabethan drama of its time, and established the pattern for the companies that would follow: it was the first to be awarded a royal patent, and the first to occupy one of the new public theatres on a permanent basis.
When Robert Dudley married Lettice Knollys, Elizabeth was very angry. Then she and a suitor, François, Duke of Alençon and Anjou, become close, but he died a year after his visit. Monsieur François, Duke of Anjou and Alençon (18 March 1555– 10 June 1584) was the youngest son of King Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici. In 1579, negotiations commenced for marrying Anjou to Elizabeth I of England. The Duke of Anjou was in fact the only one of Elizabeth's foreign suitors to court her in person. He made two visits to England, in 1579 and 1581. He was 24 and Elizabeth was 46. Despite the age gap, the two soon became very close.
Mary, Queen of Scots, fled to England. Her husband killed Mary's secretary, David Rizzio. David Rizzio (c. 1533 – 9 March 1566) was an Italian courtier and the private secretary of Mary, Queen of Scots. Mary's husband, Lord Darnley, is said to have been jealous of their friendship because of rumours that Rizzio had impregnated Mary, and he joined in a conspiracy of Protestant nobles to murder him.
Mary, Queen of Scots, fled to England, and Elizabth made her prisoner. On 2 May 1568, Mary escaped from Lochleven Castle where she had been imprisoned. Mary apparently expected Elizabeth to help her regain her throne. Elizabeth was cautious, ordering an inquiry into the conduct of the confederate lords and the question of whether Mary was guilty of Darnley's murder.
In 1586 Anthony Babington planned to assassinate Elizabeth and place Mary on the English throne. Mary supported him. Elizabeth's spy, Francis Walsingham, intercepted letters between them. Mary was tried and found guilty of treason. Mary, Queen of Scots, was executed for treason against Queen Elizabeth I of England on February 8, 1587, after being found guilty of involvement in plots to assassinate Elizabeth. She was implicated in various schemes aimed at overthrowing Elizabeth and placing Mary on the English throne.
Philip II started a campaign to discredit Elizabeth. A young man, Arthur Dudley, was shipwrecked and Philip claimed he was the illegitimate son of Elizabeth and Robert Dudley. Arthur Dudley was a 16th-century man famous for the controversial claim that he was the son of Queen Elizabeth I and Robert Dudley. In 1587, a man calling himself Arthur Dudley was detained by the Spanish after rescue from a shipwreck on the Biscay Coast under suspicion of being a spy. Taken to Madrid, Dudley claimed to be the son of Queen Elizabeth and Robert Dudley, conceived in 1561, the timing of which would have been consistent with when she was bedridden.
In 1588 Robert Dudley died, which left the queen inconsolable. He died at Cornbury Park near Oxford, on 4 September 1588. Leicester's health had not been good for some time. Elizabeth was deeply affected and locked herself in her apartment for a few days until Lord Burghley had the door broken.
Robert's was not the only death Elizabeth mourned. Another was the passing of Lady Elizabeth Fiennes de Clinton. Elizabeth FitzGerald, Countess of Lincoln (1527 – March 1590), also known as "The Fair Geraldine", was an Irish noblewoman and a member of the celebrated FitzGerald dynasty. Queen Elizabeth I of England, whom Lady Elizabeth served as a lady-in-waiting, was her close friend.
A year later Elizabeth lost Blanche Parry. Blanche Parry (1507/8–12 February 1590) of Newcourt in the parish of Bacton, Herefordshire, in the Welsh Marches, was a personal attendant of Queen Elizabeth I, who held the offices of Chief Gentlewoman of the Queen's Most Honourable Privy Chamber and Keeper of Her Majesty's Jewels.
Katherine Hastings, Lady Huntingdon, was part of her personal entourage. Katherine Hastings (née Dudley), Countess of Huntingdon (c. 1538 or 1543–1545 – 14 August 1620) was an English noblewoman. After the Earl of Huntingdon died at York in December 1595,[9] she lived at court and became one of the closest friends of the old Queen.
Margery Norris (1521–1599) was a courtier to Queen Elizabeth I. She, her husband and her six sons all served the crown and they have a huge monument in Westminster Abbey.
Elin Ulfsdotter Snakenborg, Marchioness of Northampton, also known as Helena, and Helena the Red for her red hair, (1548/1549 – 10 April 1635) was a Swedish-born noblewoman, Maid of Honour of Queen Elizabeth I of England, and Marchioness of Northampton by her marriage to William Parr, 1st Marquess of Northampton.
The court was full of scandals at the time when Elizabeth was getting old. Elizabeth Throckmorton had an affair with Walter Ralegh. She fell pregnant and he married her in secret, angering the queen. Elizabeth, Lady Raleigh (née Throckmorton; 16 April 1565 – c. 1647), was an English courtier, a Gentlewoman of the Privy Chamber to Queen Elizabeth I of England. Her secret marriage to Sir Walter Raleigh precipitated a long period of royal disfavour for both her and her husband. Once the queen found out about their marriage, she first placed Bess and Raleigh under house arrest, then sent them to the Tower of London, in June 1592. Raleigh was released from the Tower in August 1592 and Bess in December 1592, at which time she joined her husband at Sherborne Castle.
Elizabeth's health declined and she died in Richmond. She died on 24 March 1603, aged 69, at Richmond Palace, between two and three in the morning. A few hours later, Cecil and the council set their plans in motion and proclaimed James king of England.
His court filled with prostitutes and pimps. One was Venetia Stanley, a famours courtesan. Venetia Anastasia, Lady Digby (née Stanley; December 1600 – 1 May 1633) was a celebrated beauty of the Stuart period and the wife of a prominent courtier and scientist, Sir Kenelm Digby.
James I brought his favourite to court. That was Robert Carr. Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset KG (c. 1587 – 17 July 1645), was a politician, and favourite of King James VI and I.
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