Today in 1571 Sir Christopher Danby died. He was a politician who managed to be a Catholic, and side with the rebels in the Pilgrimage of Grace, and be called in for questioning under the reign of Elizabeth, and he still remained uncharged.
He was born in 1503, and during Anne Boleyn’s coronation in 1533, Henry VIII knighted him. But he is most remembered for his participation in the Pilgrimage of Grace.
On 15 October 1536, the lords at Pontefract Castle reported that he and his brother-in-law Lord Latimer, had been taken by the rebels. Both escaped, and Danby, in the 3rd Duke of Norfolk’s phrase, showed himself a true subject by acting as a grand juror in the trials of his less fortunate colleagues, including his cousin Lord Darcy.
Some years later he was listed among the few Yorkshire knights fit to serve against the Scots, and in 1544 he was charged with raising 50 or 100 men for the Scottish campaign.
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 011 – The Pilgrimage of Grace
Episode 051: Rebellions One
Episode 052: Rebellions Part Two
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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.