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

On 30th June 1577 Frances de Vere, Countess of Surrey, died. She was the widow of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, the poet, who was the last person to be executed during the reign of Henry VIII. Frances, who was born around 1516, was the daughter of the Earl of Oxford. Frances and Surrey were married in 1532, but were considered too young to cohabit for a further three years. In due course, they had five children. Frances was one of the mourners at the funeral of Katharine of Aragon, at Peterborough Abbey. The couple appear to have been fond of each other, Surrey requesting the Council for permission for Frances to travel to France when he was there on military manoeuvres.

On 29th June 1482, Isabella of Castile gave birth to her third surviving daughter, Maria, who was thus the younger sister of Juana, Queen of Castile, and the older sister of Katharine of Aragon, Queen of England. Maria had a much less turbulent life than her sisters. A marriage to James IV of Scotland was mooted (see more on his wife and mistresses here) but never carried out. Instead, she married her sister, Isabella’s, widower, Manuel I of Portugal. The couple had eight children who survived to adulthood, including Isabella, who was married to her cousin Charles V and became Empress. Maria died in 1517 at the age of 35.

On 28^th June 1491, Elizabeth of York gave birth to her third child and second son at the Palace of Placentia (Greenwich). He was named Henry for his father and baptised by Bishop Fox in the Chapel of the Observant Friars, next to the palace. When Henry was ten, his older brother, Arthur, died, leaving him as heir to the throne. He went on to become probably the most famous king in British history.