Today in 1553 Mary Tudor arrived in the Tower of London in a barge to prepare for her coronation where she would stay for two days before leaving for Westminster Abbey to be crowned. You will remember that over the summer there was an attempted rebellion to put Lady Jane Grey on the throne. Jane would have been in the Tower at the same time as Mary during this period, but with very different experiences. Mary was creating Knights of the Bath, and preparing to be crowned while Lady Jane was a prisoner, having been found guilty of treason along with her husband Guilford Dudley.
It was traditional for monarchs to spend the nights before their coronation ceremonies in the Tower, as it was a sumptuous royal palace in addition to being a jail, but surely for some of them, like Elizabeth, whose mother had been killed there, the association must have been difficult to handle. For Mary, though, the event was a joyful one.
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:
Tudor Summit: Melita Thomas on Mary Tudor
Episode 23 Mary Tudor (Mary I)
Episode 16: Lady Jane Grey
Also, check out last year’s special feature from the Podcast Magazine.
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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.