#OTD in 1582, Sir Edward Unton of Wadley, died. He married Anne Seymour, the widowed Countess of Warwick in 1555, and they had 4 surviving adult children, including Sir Henry Unton. However, their marriage was plagued with difficulties, primarily due to Anne's mental illness.

Lady Elizabeth Russell, first known female keeper of a castle, who nearly ruined Shakespeare, & who started riots!! I wrote about her in my book, SHAKESPEARE AND THE COUNTESS (Penguin Books UK), & had fun talking about her in this English Heritage podcast!: english-heritage.org.uk/visit/inspire-…

Loved talking about the feisty Lady Elizabeth Russell, Shakespeare's nemesis, who owned her own prison in which she locked up her enemies, & claimed to be a sheriff (her portrait is on my book about her 👇). Listen to her escapades & armed clashes here: english-heritage.org.uk/visit/inspire-…

#OTD in 1564, #DorothyDevereux is said to have been born at Chartley, Staffordshire - a late 15thc manor house. She was the younger daughter of Walter Devereux, Viscount Hereford, and his wife Lettice Knollys, and named after her paternal grandmother, Dorothy Hastings. #history

#PenelopeDevereux joined the court of #ElizabethI shortly after turning 18, with #DorothyDevereux remaining under the guardianship of the Earl of Huntingdon. This joint portrait was painted around this time, and later hung at their stepfather's home, Leicester House. #tudor

#OTD in 1580, Katherine Willoughby [Brandon/Bertie], Dowager Duchess of Suffolk died at Grimsthorpe Castle, Lincolnshire. She was a close friend and confidant of #KatherineParr, sharing her strong Reformist beliefs, leading her to seek exile in Europe during the reign of Mary I.

#OTD in 1586, Anthony Babington and 6 co-conspirators were executed at scaffolding at St Giles' Field, London. They were convicted of treason for their involvement in the 'Babington Plot': a conspiracy to assassinate #ElizabethI and place #MaryQueenofScots on the English throne.

Cyphered letters were sent to #MaryQueenofScots whilst imprisoned at Chartley Manor. The discovery of these letters and arrest of Babington led to the decision for Mary to be tried for treason and subsequently executed in Feb 1587. #tudor #history

#OTD in 1578, #LetticeKnollys, Dowager Countess of Essex married #RobertDudley, Earl of Leicester, at his home in Wanstead, Essex. This wedding was an intimate one, although it was speculated that there had been a ceremony held at #Kenilworth earlier in the year. #tudorhistory

Happy Autumn Equinox from Stonehenge! 🍂 During the equinox, the sun is positioned exactly above the equator – meaning day and night are theoretically of equal length all over the world today. In the Northern Hemisphere, the September Equinox marks the start of autumn.

#OTD in 1576, Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex died in Dublin, whilst serving as Earl Marshall of Ireland. Rumours spread regarding his death, in part due to gossip regarding an affair between #RobertDudley and his wife #LetticeKnollys; however he likely died of dysentery.

City of London Guildhall: the location of many famous #Tudor trials, including #LadyJaneGrey, #RobertDudley and #AnneAskew. #tudorhistory #london #londonhistory #tudors

On this day in 1515 Anne of Cleves was born. She was the daughter of Maria of Julich-Berg & the Duke of Cleves & was raised in modern-day Germany. In 1540 Anne became Henry VIII’s fourth wife. They were only married for just over 6 months before their marriage was annulled.

tumblr.com/thedudleywomen… #tudor #history #historyblog

Next week, access to around 1,000 of our digitised manuscripts will be restored. This will be the first tranche of manuscripts to be released, making them available for the first time since the cyber-attack.

I loved exploring Elizabeth’s relationship with her favourite stepmother for this newly-released Historic Royal Palaces blog: hrp.org.uk/blog/lady-eliz…

#OTD in 1561, #KatherineGrey gave birth to her first son Edward Seymour, Viscount Beauchamp, whilst imprisoned at the #TowerofLondon Katherine had been held at the Tower since Aug 1651, since news of her secret marriage to Edward Seymour, Lord Hertford and pregnancy became known

According to the will of #HenryVIII, Edward Seymour born #otd in 1561 was now heir to #ElizabethI, following his mother #KatherineGrey in the line of succession. The union of his parents was believed by some to part of a conspiracy to usurp Elizabeth, which led to the annulment.