Tudor Times is the online repository for all things Tudor and Stewart (1485–1625)

On 6th September 1520, Martin Luther wrote to Pope Leo X, presenting his pamphlet entitled, ‘On the Freedom of a Christian.’ He addressed the Pope in most respectful terms, saying that the slanders against Leo he had been accused of, were in no way addressed to the Pope personally, but that he, Luther, was pointing out the abominable wickedness of the court of Rome, which he likened to Babylon.

His letter explained that the arguments and strife that had flowed from his original theses had been caused by various attempts to suppress his genuine striving for the truth, which he did not believe had been Leo’s intention, but the work of ‘impious flatterers’.

The pamphlet itself was a treatise which expounded Luther’s thinking and the Biblical arguments he believed supported the doctrine of Justification by Faith alone – that is, that humans are saved purely through faith in Christ, and in no way by their own actions, no matter how virtuous.

On 5th September, 1548, Katherine Parr, Dowager Queen of England, and wife of Sir Thomas Seymour, Baron Seymour of Sudeley and Lord High Admiral, died, probably of puerperal fever, following the birth of her daughter, Mary Seymour. Katherine was the daughter of two of Henry VIII’s courtiers, Maud Green and Sir Thomas Parr. Married four times, Katherine was the first Queen of England to be buried as a Protestant, and the first Queen to have her writings published. Read more on her life here

On 4th September 1557, the Duke of Mecklenburg, Ulrich III, and his wife, Elizabeth of Denmark, had a daughter, whom they named Sophia. In 1571, Sophia (pictured) married Frederick II of Denmark, by whom she had eight children. Widowed young, Queen Sophia nevertheless overcame significant opposition to become Regent for her young son, Christian IV, and to control the destiny of the other six of her children who survived infancy. A learned and intelligent woman, she was at the forefront of Renaissance thought, with a particular interest in astronomy. Having arranged the marriage of her eldest daughter, Elizabeth, she reignited negotiations her late husband had held with Scotland for the marriage of her second daughter Anne, to the young King James VI.

Once her son had come of age, Queen Sophie was forced to retire, but continued her interest in science, and managed her dower estates so effectively as to become one of the richest women in Europe. The cultural atmosphere in which her daughter grew up may have influenced Anne’s tastes, although Anne is believed to have converted from the Lutheranism of her parents to Catholicism, once in Scotland. Once Queen of England, Anne became a notable patron of art and architecture – read more on her court masques here.