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

0n 6th August 1514 Margaret, Dowager Queen of Scots, and sister of Henry VIII of England, married, as her second husband, Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus. The reasons for Margaret’s action have been disputed – it has been attributed to love (or lust), to a level of coercion by Angus and his relatives, or to a deliberate decision by Margaret to bolster her position as Governor in the minority of her son, James V, by marrying one of the most important nobles. Whatever her reasons, the marriage spectacularly failed to improve Margaret’s position – instead, she was replaced as Governor by the Duke of Albany, and felt so threatened that she escaped secretly to England, where she bore Angus a daughter, Lady Margaret Douglas. Queen Margaret was thus grandmother to both Mary Queen of Scots, and her husband, Lord Darnley. Read more on the minority of James V here

On 5th August 1529, a peace was signed between Emperor Charles V and Francois I of France. Known as ‘The Ladies’ Peace’, it ended the War of the League of Cognac, one of the many conflicts within the wider Italian Wars of the 16th century. In 1525, Charles V had defeated Francois at the Battle of Pavia and taken him prisoner. In exchange for his freedom, Francois had signed the Treaty of Madrid, which replaced him as a prisoner with his two sons, the Dauphin Francois, and Henri, Duke of Orleans, and ceded disputed territories in Burgundy, as well as Navarre.

As soon as he was free, Francois disowned the Treaty of Madrid and entered into the League of Cognac against Charles. The League, formed in 1526, included France, England, Venice, Milan, Florence and the Pope against Spain and the Empire. Nevertheless, Charles was victorious again, and it was during this war that the Sack of Rome of 1527 took place. Charles’ victory ended Henry VIII’s hopes for an annulment of his marriage to Charles’ aunt, Katharine of Aragon.

The peace treaty was negotiated between Louise of Savoy (pictured), Francois’ mother, and Marguerite of Austria, Charles’ aunt. The French princes were returned to their homeland, and Charles’ sister, Eleanor, was married to Francois.

Read more about these women, and other influential women in 16th century Europe in Sarah Gristwood's Game of Queens here

The 4th August 1598 saw the death of William Cecil, Lord Burghley. Cecil had first come into royal circles in the reign of Edward VI, in the employ of Protector Somerset. After Somerset’s fall, and a brief spell of imprisonment, he reconciled with Northumberland’s regime and became secretary to the Privy Council. He was a Reformist in religion, but not a zealot. He was one of the signatories to the Devise for the Succession that attempted to place Lady Jane Grey on the throne, although he claimed later that he signed only as a witness.

During Mary’s reign, he held no office. Having acted for the Lady Elizabeth in the management of her estates, on her accession he became her right-hand-man and remained such until his death. He was more radical in religion than the Queen, and he constantly promoted the cause of Protestant rebels in Scotland and the Netherlands. Married twice, both times to ladies of exceptional learning, he is the ancestor of both the Marquesses of Exeter and the Marquesses of Salisbury. Burghley House in Lincolnshire, and Hatfield House in Hertfordshire, are his creations.