The Elizabeth Files

At midnight on this day in history, the 28th July 1588, five hell-burners were ordered to be sent amongst the galleons of the Spanish Armada at Calais. Hell-burners were fire-ships, ships that were packed with wood and pitch and set alight. The high winds at Calais caused an inferno which resulted in complete chaos and
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On this day in history, the 27th July 1588, Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester and the Lieutenant and Captain General of the Queen’s Armies and Companies, invited Elizabeth I to visit Tilbury, where he was busy assembling troops.
The reason for his invitation was to stop his beloved Queen and childhood friend from doing what
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On this day in history, the 26th July 1588, 4,000 men assembled at Tilbury Fort, the fort built on the Thames estuary in Essex by Elizabeth’s father, Henry VIII, to guard the eastern approach to London from the expected invasion by the Spanish Armada.
The Armada had first been spotted off English shores on the 19th
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On this day in history, 25th July 1554, the feast day of St James, Mary I married Philip of Spain (later Philip II), son of Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor.
The Wedding
The couple married on a rainy day in Winchester Cathedral, the bishopric of Stephen Gardiner, Mary’s chancellor. Gardiner performed the ceremony, which was a
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Apologies for the rather inflammatory headline but I do like to be controversial! I’ve purposely used the misleading nickname that history has given Mary I, daughter of Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, a title that is still being used today in the new London Dungeon’s Exhibition “Bloody Mary: Killer Queen”.
On this
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From the 9th to the 27th July 1575 Elizabeth I stayed at Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire, home of her great friend Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. She had visited Kenilworth three times before but this was a special visit in that it lasted 19 days and was the longest stay at a courtier’s house in
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Just a quick post as I’m on the road travelling around the UK, but I thought you’d all be interested in reading this article from one of my favourite authors and historians, Leanda de Lisle:-
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-1293102/Katherine-Mary-Grey-Loved-locked-Virgin-Queen.html

On this day in history, the 10th July 1553, Lady Jane Grey was proclaimed Queen of England. Her predecessor, Edward VI, had died on the 6th July, naming Jane as his successor in his “Device for the Succession”.
Although Edward had removed his half-sisters, Mary and Elizabeth, from the succession, the Privy Council received a letter
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