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

On 4th April 1497 Elizabeth Tilney, Countess of Surrey, died. Through her two marriages, first to Sir Humphrey Bourchier (killed fighting for York at the Battle of Barnet in 1471), and second, to Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey (later Duke of Norfolk), Elizabeth was the ancestor of an astonishing number of members of the Tudor court, including Anne Boleyn and her siblings, Katheryn Howard, Margaret Bryan, Sir Francis Bryan, Sir Nicholas Carew and the Dukes of Norfolk. She served as Lady of the Bedchamber to Elizabeth of York and was godmother to Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots.

The picture shows Elizabeth in the stained glass of the church at Long Melford, Suffolk.

On 3rd April 1538, Elizabeth Howard, Countess of Wiltshire and mother of Mary, Anne and George Boleyn, died. Lady Elizabeth was the daughter of the Earl of Surrey, later Duke of Norfolk, and was a lady-in-waiting to both Elizabeth of York and Katharine of Aragon. During the years when her daughter, Anne, was being courted by Henry VIII, Elizabeth acted as her chaperone. There is no record of Elizabeth’s feelings when Anne and George were condemned to death in a trial presided over by Elizabeth’s brother, the Duke of Norfolk, but following their executions, Elizabeth retired to the country for the remaining two years of her life.

On 2nd April 1502 Arthur, Prince of Wales, died, aged 15, at Ludlow Castle. Arthur was the great hope of the Tudor dynasty, his birth in 1486 having been seen as the confirmation from heaven of his father’s right to the throne and his death gave his parents intense grief, both personal and political. He was carefully brought up, with the best of teachers, and began his training for kingship early with his own Council in Wales. He was married when he was just past his fifteenth birthday, to Katharine of Aragon. The secrets of their marriage-bed affected the whole course of English history. The exact cause of the Prince’s death is unknown. He was buried in Worcester Cathedral where his tomb still stands.