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

On 12th April 1550 Edward de Vere, later 17th Earl of Oxford, was born to John, 16th Earl, and his second wife, Margery Golding. His father died when he was only twelve so Oxford became the ward of Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley, and was brought up in his household, together with the Earl of Essex and Burghley’s own children. He married Burghley’s daughter, Anne, although the marriage was unhappy – more on that here. Oxford was a noted poet and literary figure at the court of Queen Elizabeth, and has been put forward as a candidate for being the “real” Shakespeare. He also patronised scholars and musicians. Nevertheless, he was reckless and improvident - Oxford managed to squander his entire inheritance as the second ranking Earl in the kingdom.

Image of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, is by Nicholas Hilliard

On 11th April 1492 Marguerite d’Angouleme, sister and close companion of Francois I of France, was born. Marguerite was a scholar and a writer and hugely influenced the cultural life of the French court. Her book, the Heptameron was a collection of tales in the style of the Decameron, and her more famous work, The Mirror of a Sinful Soul, strongly influenced the evangelical religious movement of the 1520s. Marguerite's work may well have also influenced the young Anne Boleyn who was in the train of Marguerite’s sister-in-law, Queen Claude. Marguerite married Henry II of Navarre, in 1525. Her grandson was Henri IV of France – about whom you can read more here in an article written for Tudor Times by Dominic Pearce.

10th April 1512 saw the birth of a son to James IV of Scotland and his English wife, Margaret Tudor. The baby was not the first born to the couple but previous infants had died young. He became King of Scots as James V at the age of eighteen months, when his father was killed at Flodden. James, after a troubled minority, during which his mother fought to retain the regency, became a capable monarch. The rivalry for control was, in part, a manifestation of the ongoing struggle between France and England for influence in Scotland. James never forgave his uncle, Henry VIII, for his interference in his realm, and it was in yet another skirmish with his southern neighbour that James fell ill and died, aged just thirty, leaving his eight-day old daughter, Mary, as Queen of Scots.