Today is the anniversary of the coronation of Elizabeth I. The daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, she was the longest reigning child of Henry VIII, ruling for 44 years. Today, though, I want to talk about why this date was chosen.
John Dee, the well-known Elizabethan mathematician, scholar, and scientist was also an astrologer and alchemist, and he chose the date of January 15 because of its astrological importance. Robert Dudley, Elizabeth’s favorite, actually suggested calling on Dee to devise the best date for the coronation. He came up with what is known as an electional chart. He only had a few months to work with, and he devised a chart that would make the most of positive signs, like the stars signifying good judgement and fortune, while minimizing the effect of negative stars and planets.
Incidentally, today in 1535 is also the date when Henry VIII declared himself the church of England, thus ushering in the Protestant Reformation in England. One of Elizabeth’s first jobs as queen was to come up with a settlement for the church in England – an issue that had been plaguing the country since her father’s fateful decision.
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:
John Dee: Brilliant Scientist and Occult Philosopher
Episode 95: Tudor Times on Robert Dudley
Episode 088: The Henrician Reformation
From the shop:
Celebrations of Elizabeth I Collection
Featuring: Elizabeth I “But first Coffee” Mug
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Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast,  the original Tudor history podcast, started in 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. In 2019 she created Tudorcon, which is now a yearly event, in addition to writing books, and running TudorFair.com - a whimsical Tudor Merch shop. 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.