26 May 1520 - Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon met with Charles V at Dover

26 May 1536 – Princess Mary to Cromwell

"Master Secretary, I would have been a suitor to you before this time to have been a mean for me to the King's Grace to have obtained his Grace's blessing and favor; but I perceived that nobody durst speak for me as long as that woman (Anne Boleyn) lived, which is now gone; whom I pray our Lord of His great mercy to forgive." Is now the bolder to write, desiring him for the love of God to be a suitor for her to the King, to have his blessing and leave to write to his Grace. Apologises for her evil writing; "for I have not done so much this two year and more, nor could not have found the means to do it at this time but by my lady Kingston's being here." Hunsdon, 26 May.

26 May 1538 – Geneva expels John Calvin and his followers from the city. Calvin lives in exile in Strasbourg for the next three years.

source:http://www.british-history.ac.uk/

25 May 1420 – Henry the Navigator is appointed governor of the Order of Christ.

25 May 1452 -Death of John Stafford, Archbishop of Canterbury

25 May 1521 -Emperor Charles V Declares Martin Luther a Criminal and Heretic

25 May 1524- TREATY with CHARLES V.

Treaty concluded by Thomas Docwra, prior of St. John of Jerusalem in England, on the part of Henry VIII., and Louis de Praet on the part of the Emperor.

1. Charles duke of Bourbon with a sufficient army shall invade France with all possible speed, so as not to give the enemy time to recover strength.

2. The Emperor will send with Bourbon the troops he was bound to keep in the duchy of Milan. Each prince will provide 100,000 gold crowns for the payment of the remainder of the army, the contribution to commence as soon as Bourbon is in French territory.

3. They will make an additional contribution, according as they may agree, if necessary.

4. If the King of England will invade France on his side, the lady Margaret, with 25 days' warning, will provide 3,000 horse and 1,000 foot, at the Emperor's wages, who will join the King or his lieutenant in six days after their landing, and serve for five months. The King will hire, in addition, 1,000 German foot. His contribution to Bourbon's army will cease at his invasion.

5. Any money obtained by the capitulation or capture of towns shall be divided between the Princes in proportion to their contribution. As to lands captured, the treaty of Windsor remains in force.

6. If Bourbon will not take an oath of fealty to the King as king of France, he will not be bound to contribute to the Duke's army.

7. Bourbon shall make no truce without the consent of both Princes. Dated 25 May 1524

25 May 1533-Henry VIII. to the Customers, &c. of London.

Orders them to demand neither customs nor subsidies for three gold rings set with great table diamonds, and five pieces of arras of gold, containing 56 Flemish ells, which the King has bought of John Lengrant, his jeweller, and of which he has given him the custom and subsidy. Greenwich 25 May

25 May  1536- Mary of Hungary to Ferdinand King of the Romans.

I hope the English will not do much against us now, as we are free from his lady, who was a good Frenchwoman. That the vengeance might be executed by the Emperor's subjects, he sent for the executioner of St. Omer, as there were none in England good enough.

Hears he has already espoused another lady, who is a good Imperialist (I know not if she will continue), and to whom he paid great attention before the death of the other. As none but the organist confessed, nor herself either, people think he invented this device to get rid of her. Any how, not much wrong can be done to her, even in being suspected as méchante, for that has long been her character. It is to be hoped, if hope be a right thing to entertain about such acts, that when he is tired of this one he will find some occasion of getting rid of her. I think wives will hardly be well contented if such customs become general. Although I have no desire to put myself in this danger, yet being of the feminine gender I will pray with the others that God may keep us from it.

from a modern copy, pp. 2. Headed: "Extrait d'une lettre de la Reine d'Hongrie au Roy des Romains en date du 25  Mai 1536."

25 May 1537 – Hanging of John Pickering, Dominican friar, at Tyburn. Pickering had been found guilty of treason for his part in the Pilgrimage of Grace uprising.

25 May 1551- London shaken by a great eathquake

25 May 1553-Lady Catherine Grey married Lord Henry Herbert, son of the Earl of Pembroke, and Guildford’s sister,  Lady Catherine Dudley, married Lord Henry Hastings.

25 May 1555 - Death of Henry II of Navarre

25 May 1632-Death of William Knollys, 1st Earl of Banbury.He was an English nobleman at the court of Queen Elizabeth I and King James.He was the son of Sir Francis Knollys, of Greys Court in Oxfordshire, and of Reading, in Berkshire, and his wife, Catherine Carey. 

25 May 1660-Richard Cromwell resigns as Lord Protector of England allowing King Charles II to return and take his throne.

25 May 1661 - Marriage of King Charles II and Princess Catherina

source:http://www.british-history.ac.uk/,http://www.onthisdayintudorhistory.com/

24 May 1425 - Death of Murdoch Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany, Scottish politician 

24 May 1487- The ten-year-old Lambert Simnel is crowned in Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland, with the name of Edward VI in a bid to threaten King Henry VII's reign.

24 May 1522-Birth of John Jewel, English bishop 

24 May 1533- Charles V. to his Ambassador in France.

Since his last, touching the marriage of Henry VIII. and Anne Boleyn, has received letters from his ambassadors, stating that it has certainly taken place, and that the Queen has been forbidden to call herself Queen, and the Princess to write to her, &c. The people of England are scandalised at the King's barbarity. Is to show these things to Francis, and urge him as a Christian prince, and as related to Katharine by his wife, to denounce this marriage, or at least not to countenance it in any way or interfere with justice. He is also to deliver the Emperor's letters to the Queen, and urge her to use her best efforts in the matter. De Leyva writes that Montferrat is reduced all but Alba. Barcelona, 24 May 1533.

24 May 1536-John Thorneton to Lord [Erskine?].

Came hither (Antwerp) on the 14th instant. As I could not easily obtain posting to go myself to Rome, I have sent my errands by the post, who has promised to be in Rome and deliver my errands there this night, and I trust to have answer in 15 days, when I will return to Scotland with diligence. I hope your Lordship has obtained me the safe-conduct to pass through England which you promised me, but I have heard nothing thereof.

Your Lordship will do the King our master great and singular pleasure, and have me indebted to you by sending it as soon as possible to Mons. Camillo Tadiattote's (?) bank here in Antwerp, where I am lodging. The merchants of London write that there will be no difficulty in sending it here if it be sped. I dare not return without it through England, as Mr. Cromwell's writing serves only for Calais and Dover, "and tha ar ellis out of handes and deliverit quhen I come over, and sua quhen I return againe, but [a salve] conductte I am war not of before and inclusit in ane horse net, quhilk God [keep] me fra in Ingland, and your L. ma put remeidy and ye pleise." Will gladly pay all the expenses. I hope to be ready to depart in WhitSunday week. There are three or four Scotch ships in Zealand ready to depart, "bot tha ar mor to aventur in, and grant apperans of breking of wey . . . . . . betwix France and the Imperator."

Both Italy and Almain are furnishing the Emperor with men-of-war and necessaries. Sixty thousand men are passed to the Emperor's army, which will number 100,000 men. He has joined it himself. The 13th instant he was beside Placentia, 40 miles from Milan. I have sent to Scotland by sea copies of a writing I got from Rome, and of the Emperor's oration made before the Pope. The count Palatine has come with 13,000 men. Some say he passes to recover Denmark. The duke of Gueldres with 6,000 men is besieging Grinning, in Holland, and 3,000 men of this country have gone to defend it. All that he does is by the solicitation of France. They reck little of his intelligence with the Turk, who seeks to invade Hungary this year. A Scotchman, who lately came from Reusbrige, says that many of the Lutherans are turned again to the right faith because of the poverty and mischief that came amongst them since they erred. At Nuremberg, which was the worst, mass, matins, and all divine service are sung as before. There is an ambassador from England at Frankfort, who was with the duke of Saxony. I trust he is a bishop returning to England. They will not let him pass without the Emperor's command.

At Frankfort a friar who had married a nun and had fair bairns with her, after coming from the preaching ran her through with a sword, and hanged himself in his own house; and, "on the morn," Barbour, who was a chief Lutheran, cut his own throat with a razor.

In this country they are very good Christian people and devout. Many who were noted Lutherans before consider the sect to be dead, because they see their deeds and intentions to be evil. Commend me to Master Adam Mur (?), Sir Jo. Ker, and all friends. Hantverpe, in Vigilia Ascensionis, 1536.

24 May 1543-Nicolaus Copernicus publishes proof of a sun-centered solar system. He dies just after publication.

24 May 1546 – Letters were sent from Privy Council to Anne Askew and her estranged husband Thomas Kyme, ordering them to appear in front of the council within fourteen days.

24 May 1562 – Holinshed's Chronicle reported that on this day, a "monstrous birth" occured at Chichester in Sussex..

24 May 1576 - Birth of Elizabeth Chamberlain,Lady Berkeley,she was an English courtier and arts patroness, the only child of George Carey, 2nd Baron Hunsdon, and Elizabeth Spencer.

24 May 1612 - Death of Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury,he was and the son of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley and Mildred Cooke. His half-brother was Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter and philosopher Francis Bacon was his first cousin.

source:http://www.thetudormonarch.com/,http://www.british-history.ac.uk/

23 May 1430-Joan of Arc is Sold to English and Condemned to Die for Heresy

23 May 1533 - King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon's marriage declared null and void 

23 May 1533-Charles V. to Ferdinand of Hungary.

I wrote on the 12th what I had learned about the marriage (l'esposement) of the king of England to Anne Boleyn. I have since received letters from my ambassador, by which you will see that the said marriage is accomplished, and that the King holds her as his wife and queen of England. Although the injury done to the Queen and Princess is extreme, and there is little hope of bringing Henry to reason, considering the delays and subterfuges used by him and the Pope, yet after careful consideration it has been thought best to persist in the demand for justice, as you will see by the copy of our despatches to Rome and England ; and that you also should send some one to Rome to urge the matter. I write also to the king of Portugal to do the like. * Barcelona, 23 May 1533.

23 May 1533-The Bailly of Troyes to Francis I.

The king of England desires him to suggest to Francis that he ought to inform the Germans about the interview with the Pope, lest they should suspect something would be arranged to their prejudice.

He has heard from his ambassador in France that Francis thinks that the late statute forbidding appeals to Rome in matrimonial cases may hinder the interview, and render it more difficult. He says he was forced to it by the unjust censures issued against him by the Pope, who has acted not like a judge or a party, but an enemy, as Norfolk will explain more fully. Sends a copy of grievances, which the King gave him. The archbishop of Canterbury is at work on the King's great affair, to decide whether the other queen is his wife or no. Expects the sentence in three days. Asked that it might be delayed till the Pope's arrival at Nice, which was refused ; and then that it might be kept secret until he had met the French king ; which the King said was impossible, for it must be published before the Queen's coronation, which will take place on Whitsunday. He does not wish the Pope to give a sentence, or do anything to cause discussion about the inheritance of the child of which the Queen is pregnant. He intends the child, if a son, to be the sole heir of the kingdom. The sentence of the archbishop of Canterbury must therefore precede any other that may be given by the Pope. He said also that it would be more honorable for the Pope to consent to the Archbishop's sentence than to give it himself, considering how he has acted.

Norfolk "ne s'y trouve moins empesché que moy," as he can show the French king when he sees him.

Fr. Headed : Copie d'une lettre escripte au Roy par M. le Bailly de Troyes, du 23 May 1533.

23 May 1533-Cranmer to Henry VIII.

Today, 23 May, I have given sentence in your great and weighty cause. I send a copy thereof by the bearer, Ric. Watkyns. As I was advertised by the letters of Mr. Thurlesbye, your chaplain, that it was your pleasure that I should cause your counsel to conceive a procuracy concerning the second marriage, I have sent the letters to them, and required them to act accordingly. I desire to know your pleasure concerning the second matrimony as soon as you and your counsel are perfectly resolved therein, for the time of the coronation is so near at hand that the matter requires good expedition. Dunstaple, 23 May.

23 May 1533-The Divorce.

Notification of the sentence of divorce between Hen. VIII. and Katharine of Arragon pronounced by archbishop Cranmer. Dated in the monastery of Dunstable, 23 May 1533. Present, Gervase prior of the said monastery, Simon Haynes, S.T.P., John Newman, M.A., and others.

The matrimony between the King and the lady Katharine being dissolved by sufficient authority, all pactions made for the same marriage are also dissolved and of none effect. That is, the jointure shall return again to the King's use, and the money paid to him by her friends shall be repaid to her.

The matrimony being dissolved, the lady Katharine shall return to the commodity and profits of the first matrimony, and the pactions of the same, made with prince Arthur, and shall enjoy the jointure assigned to her thereby, notwithstanding any quittance or renunciation made in the second pact. For as these renunciations were agreed unto for a sure trust and hope to enjoy the commodities and pactions of the second marriage, which now she cannot enjoy, unless without fault she should be deprived of both, equity and right restore her to the first. This, we think, by our poor learning, to be according both to canon and civil law, unless there are any other treaties and pactions which we have not seen.

For the more clear declaration hereof, we think that when a matrimony is dissolved, if there is no paction of a further bond, then by law the money paid by the woman or her friends shall be restored to her, and the jointure return to the man and his heirs. In this case there is an especial pact that she shall enjoy her jointure durante vita, so that the said jointure is due to her by the pact, and the money paid by her and her friends by the law.

23 May 1547 – Henry Grey, 3rd Marquess of Dorset, father of Lady Jane Grey, installed as a Knight of the Garter.

23 May 1554 - After two months of terror at the Tower of London Elizabeth was finally released on Saturday 19 May.  However she was not given her freedom. She was placed under the equivalent of 'house arrest' at the Royal residence at Woodstock. Her 'jailor' was to be Sir Henry Bedingfield.  imprisoned at Woodstock. Elizabeth had not expected to be released and was suspicious of the circumstances surrounding her release from the Tower.

source:http://www.british-history.ac.uk/,http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/,wikipedia

22 May 1455- Start of the Wars of the Roses

22 May 1455-King Henry VI is taken prisoner by the Yorkists at the Battle of St. Albans

22 May 1455 - Death of Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland.He was an English nobleman and military commander in the lead up to the Wars of the Roses. He was the son of Henry "Hotspur" Percy, and the grandson of Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland. His father and grandfather were killed in different rebellions against Henry IV in 1403 and 1405 respectively, and the young Henry spent his minority in exile in Scotland. Only after the death of Henry IV in 1413 was he reconciled with the Crown, and in 1416 he was created Earl of Northumberland.

22 May 1455 - Death of Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset.He  was an English nobleman and an important figure in the Wars of the Roses and in the Hundred Years' War. He also succeeded in the title of 4th Earl of Somerset and was created 1st Earl of Dorset and 1st Marquess of Dorset (previously held by his father and later forfeited), and Count of Mortain. He was known for his deadly rivalry with Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York.

22 May 1490 - Death of Edmund Grey, 1st Earl of Kent.He was an English administrator,nobleman and magnate, and the son of Sir John Grey and Constance Holland.

22 May 1537 -  Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset sworn in as a Privy Councillor

22 May 1538 - Friar John Forrest burned at the stake, the only Catholic to burn during Henry VIII's reign

22 May 1539 - Birth of  Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford.He was the eldest son of Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, by his second wife Anne Stanhope. He is most noted for incurring the displeasure of Queen Elizabeth by more than one clandestine marriage.His first wife was Lady Catherine Grey, the younger sister of Lady Jane Grey and granddaughter of Henry VIII's sister Mary

source:http://www.thetudormonarch.com/,wikipedia