Today in Tudor History...

16 July 1377 – Coronation of Richard II of England.

1517 - Birth of Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk, at Hatfield.She was the second child and eldest daughter of King Henry VIII's sister Mary,queen of France and Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk. She was the mother of Lady Jane Grey,Catherine and Mary

She was close to her aunt Catherine of Aragon, and a childhood friend of her first cousin, the future Queen Mary I. Lady Frances received permission from the King Henry VIII to marry Henry Grey, Marquess of Dorset, in 1533. The marriage took place in Southwark.

1529-The divorce:

i. Deposition of Mary wife of Henry Bourchier earl of Essex, taken at Stanstede, on Thursday, 15 July 1529, in the presence of Robert Johnson, notary public (of Norwich diocese). Her age is 44 years and over. She says that prince Arthur and Katharine lived as man and wife together; that the two occupied the same bed after the wedding, at London House, and were generally reputed as man and wife.

ii. Deposition of Agnes widow of Thomas late duke of Norfolk, taken on Friday, 16 July 1529, in the church of St. Mary, of the Cluniac priory of Thetford, by Sampson Mychell, canon, in the presence of John [Fletcher]  and [William]* Molyneux, M.A., her chaplain. Her age is 52 years and over. She knew Henry VII. and his queen Elizabeth from the time she was 15, and remembers Katharine coming from Spain, and the marriage of Arthur and Katharine in St. Paul's. "He was then about the stature that the young [earl of] Derby is now at, but not fully so high as the same Earl is." Also, that the said prince Arthur and [princess Ka]theryne, now being Queen, were brought to bed the next night after the said marriage; for this deponent did see them lie ... me in one bed the same night, in a chamber within the said palace being prepared for them, and that this deponent left them so [lying to]gether there the said night."

1546 - Execution of Anne Askew.

Anne Askew was an English poet and Protestant who was condemned as a heretic. She is the only woman on record known to have been both tortured in the Tower of London and burnt at the stake. She is also one of the earliest female poets to compose in the English language and the first Englishwoman to demand a divorce.Anne Askew was martyred in Smithfield, London. She was carried to execution in a chair wearing just her shift as she could not walk and every movement caused her severe pain.She was dragged from the chair to the stake which had a small seat attached to it, on which she sat astride. Chains were used to bind her body firmly to the stake at the ankles, knees, waist, chest and neck. Because of her recalcitrance she was burned alive slowly rather than being strangled first or burned quickly. Those who saw her execution were impressed by her bravery, and reported that she did not scream until the flames reached her chest. The execution lasted about an hour, and she was unconscious and probably dead after fifteen minutes or so. Prior to their death, the prisoners were offered one last chance at pardon. Bishop Shaxton mounted the pulpit and began to preach to them. His words were in vain, however. Anne listened attentively throughout his discourse. When he spoke anything she considered to be the truth, she audibly expressed agreement; but when he said anything contrary to what she believed Scripture stated, she exclaimed: "There he misseth, and speaketh without the book." She burned to death, along with three other Protestants, John Lassells, John Hemley ('a priest') and John Hadlam ('a tailor')

1557 - Death of Anne of Cleves,  Queen of England from 6 January 1540 to 9 July 1540 as the fourth wife of King Henry VIII

When Anne's health began to fail, Mary I allowed her to live at Chelsea Old Manor, where Henry's last wife, Catherine Parr, had lived after her remarriage.Here, in the middle of July 1557, Anne dictated her last will. In it, she mentions her brother, sister, and sister-in-law, as well as the future Queen Elizabeth, the Duchess of Suffolk, and the Countess of Arundel.She left some money to her servants and asked Mary and Elizabeth to employ them in their households. She was remembered by everyone who served her as a particularly generous and easy-going mistress.

The cause of her death was most likely to have been cancer

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