Overnight tonight, into the 10th, Henry Stuart Lord Darnley was killed in Kirk-o-Field, Scotland. He was just a few hundred yards from where Mary and her infant son James were staying, and he had been staying in the house recovering from an illness. His enemies were filling the basement of the house with gunpowder, and at 2am the house exploded. The explosion was heard throughout Edinburgh, and Henry was found in the garden next to a pear tree, with a knife next to him. Historians say that it appears that Henry actually may have actually been strangled, possibly being awoken by something before the blast, and escaping.
Mary observed 40 days of mourning, but many questioned how sincere she was, and it wouldn’t be long before she was implicated in the murder itself.
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 085: Tudor Times on Mary Queen of Scots
Episode 29: Mary Queen of Scots
Want more Tudor in your life? Join the Tudor Learning Circle - the only social network devoted solely to Tudor History. Sign up free at TudorLearningCircle.com! And why not Tudorfy your YouTube algorithm by getting exclusive videos and content on Heather's YouTube channel!
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.