Today in 1541 Agnes Tilney, and her family, both the Howard side and the Tilney side, were arrested for having covered up the “unlawful, carnal, voluptuous, and licentious life” that Queen Catherine Howard had lived while in the household of Agnes. Most of the people indicted were found guilty, and were forced to give up their goods, and stay in prison perpetually, but Agnes, who was older and quite sick, wasn’t tried.
It was a bad time all around for the Howard family, who grew to prominence after having supported the wrong king at Bosworth, and despite that became one of the leading families of the early 16th century. Their family saw two queens beheaded – Anne Boleyn was also a Howard through her mother. At one point, marrying into the Howard clan was a really good move. At this point, you couldn’t blame anyone for second-guessing that idea.
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:
Autumn 2018 Tudor Summit: Claire Ridgway on Katherine Howard
James Boulton on Tudor Queens
From the shop:
Tudor Women Charm Jewelry Collection
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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 30 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history (how exciting when she got to interview Alison for the first time!). In addition to history, she is passionate about travel, and has lived in 3 countries and 4 states (not counting her perpetual state of confusion), and her family (who help her host her YouTube channel occasionally).
