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Curated playlist

16th-century English knights

  • Richard Page (courtier)Sir Richard Page was accused of adultery with Queen Anne Boleyn and walked out of the Tower alive.
  • Thomas Percy, 7th Earl of NorthumberlandThomas Percy refused to renounce Catholicism to save his life on a York scaffold in 1572.
  • George Boleyn, Viscount RochfordGeorge Boleyn's execution crowd fell almost completely silent to hear his scaffold speech.
  • John Dudley, 1st Duke of NorthumberlandJohn Dudley's "wicked Duke" label was largely built because Queen Mary needed a villain.
  • Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of SomersetA king's marriage to his sister made Edward Seymour ruler of England. He governed for a nine-year-old king.
  • Francis WestonFrancis Weston was beheaded at 25 for treason, still protesting his innocence. He had beaten King Henry VIII at games.
  • William Cecil, 1st Baron BurghleyWilliam Cecil signed a document barring Elizabeth from the throne, then served her as chief adviser.
  • Ralph Warren (Lord Mayor)Ralph Warren, a London mercer, served as Lord Mayor twice, in 1536 and 1543. Henry VIII knighted him in his first year.
  • Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of LeicesterQueen Elizabeth I kept a letter from Robert Dudley until she died. She labeled it "his last letter" in her own hand.
  • Francis DrakeFrancis Drake climbed a tree in Panama and became the first Englishman to see the Pacific.
  • Henry Carey, 1st Baron HunsdonHenry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon, was dying when Queen Elizabeth I offered to make him Earl of Wiltshire. He refused, and his reply carried a sting: "Madam, as you did not count me worthy of this honour in life, then I shall account myself…
  • Walter RaleighWalter Raleigh sent settlers to Roanoke Island but never set foot in North America.
  • Henry Percy, 5th Earl of NorthumberlandHenry Percy, 5th Earl of Northumberland, died in debt despite being one of England's richest nobles.
  • Philip SidneyPhilip Sidney died at 31 from a thigh wound, leaving a romance that stops mid sword fight.
  • Richard EmpsonWithin months of Henry VIII taking the throne in 1509, Richard Empson was in prison. He had raised money for Henry VII.
  • William Carey (courtier)William Carey was chatting about a hunting trip hours before he died. The sweating sickness took him on June 22, 1528.
  • Henry Percy, 6th Earl of NorthumberlandHenry Percy sat on Anne Boleyn's jury in 1536 and collapsed at the verdict. He had once been betrothed to her.
  • Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of WiltshireWas Thomas Boleyn a ruthless father who used his daughters, or a diplomat who had already earned his rise?
  • Henry FitzRoy, Duke of Richmond and SomersetHenry VIII's son was made a double duke at six years old. No illegitimate child had had one before.
  • Thomas LucySir Thomas Lucy was knighted in 1565 by the queen's favorite, not by the queen. He may have clashed with Shakespeare.

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