Early Modern

Holbein's portrait of Anne of Cleves, 1539

On 9 July 1540, Henry VIII had his marriage to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, annulled after just six months of marriage. Following the death of his favourite wife Jane Seymour,and under the advice of Thomas Cromwell, Henry had set about finding a…

Tudor

Paul Delaroche: 'The Execution of Lady Jane Grey'

The Rise and Fall of Lady Jane Grey

On 10 July 1553, four days after the death of her cousin Edward VI, Lady Jane Grey became queen of England. It would be short lived: within nine days, she would step down and be placed in the Tower under charges of treason. History has painted Jane…

Tudor

Thomas Cromwell: A Tudor Villain?

Thomas Cromwell was the infamous adviser to Henry VIII. Born around 1485, he was executed without trial on 28 July 1540 for heresy and treason. Down through history, he has been viewed as a cynical, Machiavellian upstart, who drove through reform…

Subscribe to Early Modern

Fact of the Day

The average height of the average male in the twelfth century was five-foot-seven.

Quote of the Day

"A Conservative government is an organised hypocrisy. "

~ Benjamin Disraeli

On This Day

1390 The first secular witch trial in Paris took place, when the well-known peasant divine Jehenne de Brigue was tried for concocting a potion to torment her husband. Her torture led to the trial of further women, and she was finally burnt at the stake in 1391.

1618 Sir Walter Ralegh, the famous poet, courtier, spy, and explorer - well-known for his search for El Dorado and for popularising tobacco in England - was executed on the orders of James I, for his crew's unauthorised attack on the Spanish outpost of Santo Tomé de Guayana. After his execution, Ralegh's embalmed head was given to Ralegh's wife, who allegedly kept it in a velvet bag until her own death twenty-nine years later.

1923 Turkey became a republic following the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire.

1929 Share prices on the New York stock exchange collapsed, finished the downward spiral that had begun in earnest on 24 October 1929. The Wall Street Crash and subsequent Great Depression had a significant effect on economies and politics across the world.

1938 The Munich Agreement was signed (technically early in the morning of 30th, but dated today). It gave the Sudetenland to Nazi Germany.

1941 The Babi Yar massacre began. Almost 34,000 Jewish men, women and children were shot in Ukraine.