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

On 31st August 1580, one of the foremost Welsh bards of the Elizabethan era died. William LLyn, aged about 45 on his death, graduated as a bard at the Eisteddfod of Caerwys in 1568. The job of a bard was largely to promote the glories of the families he worked for, writing panegyrics in traditional verse forms such as the cywydd, the awdl and the englyn, all of which have complex patterns of rhyme, alliteration and syllable quantity.

Other activities of William and his fellow bards were the construction of complex pedigrees and coats of arms. The pedigrees were recited over generations, but often took off into flights of fantasy, such as descent from Brutus or the Trojans. The majority of William’s patrons were in North Wales, centred around Llyn and Anglesey. He is buried in Oswestry, where he lived, with his wife and at least one son and one daughter, during the latter part of his life.

On 30th August 1535, Marie of Guise, Duchess of Longueville, gave birth to her first child, a son, whom she named Francois, probably in honour of the King of France who had personally arranged the marriage. Marie had been married to the Duke the year before, with Francois stumping up one third of the 120,000 crown dowry required to marry into one of the most prestigious houses in France. Marie and her husband, Louis, seem to have got on well together – they were of similar age, and it was the duty of both parties in these arranged aristocratic marriages to try to make each other as happy as possible. Unfortunately, Marie and Louis’ marriage did not last long – he died in 1537, which propelled Marie to a far more illustrious second marriage, to James V, King of Scots.

Read more about Marie’s fascinating life here

On 29th August 1538, Sir Geoffrey Pole was arrested. Geoffrey was the youngest son of Margaret, Countess of Salisbury, and thus was second cousin to Henry VIII. Unlike his older brother, Henry, Lord Montague, Geoffrey had never had a particularly successful career, but, during the Pilgrimage of Grace, he had brought 20 men to fight in the royal army. In 1538 however, it came to the notice of Thomas Cromwell that Geoffrey was corresponding with his other brother, Reginald, who was considered to be the King’s greatest enemy. Read more here on the Exeter Conspiracy, as it became known.