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

On 5th July 1551, Gregory Cromwell, 1st Baron Cromwell died. Lord Cromwell was the only son of Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII's chief minister. He was born around 1516, and educated at home, and then at Pembroke College, Cambridge, but Gregory, although diligent, was no scholar. Sometime during the tenure of Jane Seymour as Queen of England, Gregory was married to her sister, Elizabeth, widow of the Governor of Jersey. This was a stunning match for the grandson of a small trader from Putney, and propelled Gregory into the circle surrounding the King.

He took part in court life, being a competent jouster, and was one of the attendants sent to accompany Anne of Cleves to England. Gregory became a Knight of the Shire (MP) for Kent in 1539 and does not seem to have suffered after his father’s execution, being promoted to a barony, and thus a seat in the Lords in autumn 1540. He continued to sit in the Parliaments of Henry’s reign, and those of Edward, but did not hold other government office. Read more about Gregory’s famous father, Thomas, here.

On 4th July 1530, Eleanor of Austria (1498 – 1558) was married to Francois I of France. Eleanor was the daughter of Philip, Duke of Burgundy, and Juana, Queen of Castile. Her brothers were the Emperor Charles V, and Emperor Ferdinand I. Eleanor, who had once been suggested as a bride for Henry VIII, prior to his marriage to her aunt, Katharine of Aragon, had been married, aged 20 to Manuel I of Portugal. Manuel had previously been married to two of her aunts. On his death in 1521, Eleanor joined her brother’s court in Spain. Various second marriages were proposed, but none were carried out.

In 1529, a peace was brokered between France and the Empire. France had been heavily defeated at the Battle of Pavia in 1515, and Francois I taken prisoner. As part of the agreement for his release, he sent his two sons as hostages, and agreed to marry Eleanor. She arrived in 1530, flanked by the two boys. Although Eleanor received the respect due to her as Queen of France, Francois made his resentment of the marriage plain and continued to flaunt his mistresses, even appearing with one at the celebrations following Eleanor’s coronation. There were no children of the marriage. When widowed in 1547, Eleanor returned to Spain, where she spent the remainder of her life.

On 3rd July 1495, Perkin Warbeck arrived at Deal in Kent, with some 150 supporters. His men had been paid for by Margaret of York, Dowager Duchess of Burgundy, who claimed to believe that he was her nephew, Richard, Duke of York, who had disappeared in the Tower in 1483. The local populace were less impressed than Margaret and gave Warbeck’s men a drubbing. He had not landed, and made for Ireland, where he received a warmer welcome. He was also helped by the Scottish king, James IV – read more about that here.