Today in 1514 the Tudor scholar and humanist, John Cheke, was born in Cambridge. He was the son of administrator Peter Cheke and his wife Agnes Duffield. He studied at St John’s College, Cambridge, where was especially proficient in Latin and Greek.
He was the first Regius Professor of Greek at Cambridge University and was a tutor to Edward VI when he was young, and was briefly part of the administration of Lady Jane Grey when she was queen for a little over a week. For his participation in the reign of Lady Jane, Cheke was imprisoned in the Tower of London by Mary I, but was released just over a year later.
He traveled to the continent, as many Protestants would, but was arrested between Brussels and Antwerp in spring 1556, and moved back to England, where he was thrown in the Tower again. He was threatened with being burned at the stake for his Protestant beliefs and didn’t want to be a martyr, so he agreed to become Catholic and was released from prison in October 1556, after making a public recantation in front of Mary I. Afterwards, he was ashamed of himself, and regretted his choice, dying a little over a year later, on 13th September 1557.
That’s your Tudor Minute for today. Remember you can dive deeper into life in 16th century England through the Renaissance English History Podcast at englandcast.com.
Suggested links:
Episode 102: Education in Tudor England
5 Tudor Scholars who changed Learning in England
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Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast, one of the longest running indie history podcasts, going since 2009. She's been writing about history online for over 25 years, since her first site on Colonial American history became number one in history on Yahoo in 1998. She writes books, created the original Tudor Planner (a yearly diary filled with Tudor history) and in 2019 created the world's first Tudorcon (you can "attend" online this year!). She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 20 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history.