16th Century history
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A prisoner in the Lords: the curious case of William Grey, 13th Lord Grey of Wilton
The first Elizabethan Parliament (1559) famously witnessed the restoration of the royal supremacy and paved the way for the reintroduction…
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Elizabeth I’s Swedish lady of the privy chamber: Helena Ulfsdotter née Snakenborg, marchioness of Northampton
As we mark Women’s History Month throughout March, here Dr Andrew Thrush, editor of our Lords 1558-1603 project, looks into…
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‘So far out of order’: the scandalous career of Henry, 2nd Viscount Howard of Bindon
Elizabethan noblemen enjoyed enormous privileges, but generally recognized that there were limits to their freedom of action. However, one particular…
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The man who would be king (-consort): Henry Fitzalan, earl of Arundel
Many of the leading figures at the Elizabethan court, like the queen’s chief minister, William Cecil, Lord Burghley and the…
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Bishop Jewel and the lost archdeaconry
Many Elizabethan bills which failed to become Acts of Parliament don’t now survive, and little is known about them except…
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What if Elizabeth I had Died in 1562?
It is easy to take the long reign of Elizabeth I for granted. But less than four years after Elizabeth…
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The tomb of William Rudhale (d.1530), Queen Katherine’s attorney-general, in the church of Ross-on-Wye
William Rudhale had a successful career in the medieval legal profession culminating in his promotion to serjeants-at-law. Simon Payling from our Commons…
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Picturing the Parliament of 1523
What did a meeting of the English Parliament look like 500 years ago? The earliest-known image of a state opening…
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A Forgotten Elizabethan Noblewoman: Katherine Bertie, Dowager Duchess of Suffolk and Baroness Willoughby de Eresby
With the notable exception of ‘Bess of Hardwick’ (Elizabeth Talbot (née Cavendish), countess of Shrewsbury), most Elizabethan noblewomen are barely…
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The other Elizabethan succession crisis: the fight to succeed the 1st Lord Burghley, 1592-1598
The long-running problem of who would inherit the English throne was not the only succession crisis of Elizabeth I’s reign.…
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Parliament and the Elizabethan energy crisis
Steep increases in fuel bills are not just a modern problem, as Dr Paul Hunneyball of our Lords 1558-1603 section…
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The ‘Answer Answerless’ and Elizabeth I’s attitude towards the Parliament of 1586-7
In the latest blog from our First Elizabethan Age series Dr Andrew Thrush, editor of our Lords 1558-1603 section, discusses…