Curated playlist
16th-century English nobility
- Elizabeth Howard, Duchess of NorfolkElizabeth Howard, Duchess of Norfolk, reportedly hid letters to Queen Catherine of Aragon in oranges.
- Mary Percy, Countess of NorthumberlandMary Percy asked to end her marriage in 1532 by claiming her husband had once been promised to Anne Boleyn.
- Gertrude Courtenay, Marchioness of ExeterGertrude Courtenay once wore a disguise to visit an imprisoned ambassador.
- Elizabeth Boleyn, Countess of WiltshireElizabeth Boleyn outlived two of her children by barely two years. Both were executed in one week of May 1536.
- Henry VIIIHenry VIII broke England from Rome after the pope would not annul his first marriage.
- Jane SeymourJane Seymour once returned King Henry the Eighth's purse of gold without breaking its seal.
- John Dudley, 1st Duke of NorthumberlandJohn Dudley's "wicked Duke" label was largely built because Queen Mary needed a villain.
- Mary BoleynMary Boleyn married a penniless soldier, and her sister the queen disowned her. She was banished from court in 1534.
- 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.
- William Cecil, 1st Baron BurghleyWilliam Cecil signed a document barring Elizabeth from the throne, then served her as chief adviser.
- 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.
- Lady Jane GreyLady Jane Grey was queen of England for only nine days in July 1553. Her own Privy Council then turned on her.
- Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of EssexOne account says the Earl of Essex walked in on Queen Elizabeth not yet properly wigged or gowned.
- Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of SalisburyDying Queen Elizabeth I scolded Robert Cecil for telling her she must go to bed. She called him "little man" in 1603.
- 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…
- Edward VIEdward VI was king at nine and dead at fifteen. In those years he helped turn England's church Protestant.
- Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of NorfolkThe Duke of Norfolk sentenced his own niece Anne Boleyn to death. Thomas Howard presided at her 1536 trial.
- William Paulet, 1st Marquess of WinchesterWilliam Paulet, 1st Marquess of Winchester, was once asked how he had come through so many storms at court not merely unhurt but climbing the whole time. His reply was five words long: "By being a willow, not an oak". The question was…
- Thomas CromwellHenry VIII beheaded Thomas Cromwell, then called him his most faithful servant.
- Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of SouthamptonShakespeare dedicated two poems to the Earl of Southampton. The earl was sentenced to death in 1601 but freed in 1603.
- Arthur, Prince of WalesPrince Arthur died six months after his wedding, and England's church later split from Rome.
- Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of SuffolkCharles Brandon died on the 60th anniversary of the battle that killed his father.
- Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of OxfordEdward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, was buried in an unmarked grave in 1604. Some still say he wrote Shakespeare's plays.