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

On 16th April 1587 Anne Stanhope, Duchess of Somerset, died. Anne was the second wife of Edward Seymour, brother of Queen Jane. Other than with her husband, who seems to have doted on her, and Queen Mary, who despite their religious differences maintained a friendship with her, Anne seems to have been almost universally disliked. She was accused of being 'more presumptuous than Lucifer', and of domineering over her husband. On the remarriage of Katherine Parr, whose Lady-in-Waiting she had been, to Anne’s brother-in-law, Sir Thomas Seymour, Anne demanded to take precedence of the former Queen, even jostling her out of the way, quite against all court etiquette. One of Anne’s ten children, Edward, Earl of Hertford, was disgraced and imprisoned for a secret match with Lady Katherine Grey. Anne is buried in Westminster Abbey.

On 15th April 1565, Elizabeth, or “Bess” Throckmorton was born. The Throckmortons were an influential gentry family from Coughton Court, Warwickshire. Half of the family remained strictly Catholic and were involved in serial plots against Elizabeth I, and half became Protestant, including Bess’ own father, who was Ambassador to Scotland. Bess was appointed as a maid-of-honour to her distant cousin, Elizabeth I, with whom she was in high favour, until her clandestine relationship with Elizabeth’s favourite, Sir Walter Raleigh, was discovered. Initially imprisoned in the Tower of London, and then banished from court, Bess retired to Raleigh’s estates in Dorset where she brought up their children during his voyages to the Americas. Bess long outlived her husband, who was executed in 1618. Whilst in prison, Raleigh wrote her a moving letter which is still preserved at Coughton.

Picture of Elizabeth Throckmorton by Robert Peake the Elder

On 14th April 1578 James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, and third husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, died. Bothwell had been a staunch supporter of the regency of Mary’s mother, Marie de Guise, and was one of the few Scottish nobles who never entered into secret negotiations with England or France. On Mary’s return to rule Scotland personally, he continued in his loyalty, however, there can be little doubt that he was up to his neck in the plot to murder Darnley. When Mary married him, it gave substance to the belief that she had colluded in the murder, although the evidence against her does not stand up to scrutiny. Mary and Bothwell surrendered at Carberry Hill, and he went into exile. On landing in Denmark, he was arrested – bizarrely on an initial accusation of a Breach of Promise to a Norwegian woman. Although the case was settled, he remained under arrest, the King of Denmark hoping to use him as a bargaining chip for the return of the Orkney Islands. Despite efforts to extradite him, he remained incarcerated for the rest of his life.