William Featherstone or Fetherstone (died 1557) was an imposter who claimed to be Edward VI of England.
Chronicle accounts of the reign of Mary I of England and the diary of Henry Machyn mention an imposter, William Featherstone, the 18-year-old son of a miller and a servant of Peter Meutas. [1] He claimed to be Edward VI in February 1555. [2] Featherstone was arrested in Southwark and questioned at Hampton Court by the Privy Council. He claimed to have been directed by other, but was disbelieved and sent to the Marshalsea prison as a "lunatic fool". [3]
He was shown to the people in Westminster Hall in May 1555, whipped and released. Subsequently he claimed that Edward VI was still alive and he had spoken to him. Featherstone was convicted of high treason, and hanged and quartered at Tyburn on 13 March 1557. [4] His head was placed on London Bridge. [5]
Anne of Cleves was Queen of England from 6 January to 12 July 1540 as the fourth wife of Henry VIII. Little is known about Anne before 1527, when she became betrothed to Francis, Duke of Bar, son and heir of Antoine, Duke of Lorraine, although their marriage did not proceed.
The Battle of the Spurs or (Second) Battle of Guinegate took place on 16 August 1513. It formed a part of the War of the League of Cambrai of 1508 to 1516, during the Italian Wars. King Henry VIII of England and Emperor Maximilian I were besieging the French town of Thérouanne in Artois. Henry's camp was at Guinegate. A large body of French heavy cavalry under Jacques de La Palice was covering an attempt by light cavalry to bring supplies to the besieged garrison. English and Imperial troops surprised and routed the French cavalry. The battle resulted in the precipitate flight and extensive pursuit of the French. During the pursuit, a number of notable French leaders and knights were captured. After the fall of Thérouanne, Henry VIII besieged and took Tournai.
Sir John Cheke was an English classical scholar and statesman. One of the foremost teachers of his age, and the first Regius Professor of Greek at the University of Cambridge, he played a great part in the revival of Greek learning in England. He was tutor to Prince Edward, the future King Edward VI, and also sometimes to Princess Elizabeth. Of strongly Reformist sympathy in religious affairs, his public career as provost of King's College, Cambridge, Member of Parliament and briefly as Secretary of State during King Edward's reign was brought to a close by the accession of Queen Mary in 1553. He went into voluntary exile abroad, at first under royal licence. He was captured and imprisoned in 1556, and recanted his faith to avoid death by burning. He died not long afterward, reportedly regretting his decision.
Richard Grafton was King's Printer under Henry VIII and Edward VI. He was a member of the Grocers' Company and MP for Coventry elected 1562/63.
John Brydges, 1st Baron Chandos was an English courtier, Member of Parliament and later peer. His last name is also sometimes spelt Brugge or Bruges. He was a prominent figure at the English court during the reigns of Kings Henry VIII and Edward VI and of Queen Mary I.
Edward Hall was an English lawyer and historian, best known for his The Union of the Two Noble and Illustre Families of Lancastre and Yorke—commonly known as Hall's Chronicle—first published in 1548. He was also several times a member of the Parliament of England.
Thomas Wentworth, 2nd Baron Wentworth was an English peer, courtier, administrator and military commander during the reigns of Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I. His reputation suffered through the surrender of Calais in 1558, which occurred under his command.
Thomas Wharton, 2nd Baron Wharton (1520–1572), of Wharton and Nateby, Westmoreland, Beaulieu alias New Hall, Essex and Westminster, Middlesex, was an English peer.
Henry Machyn was an English clothier and diarist in 16th century London.
John White was a Headmaster and Warden of Winchester College during the English Reformation who, remaining staunchly Roman Catholic in duty to his mentor Stephen Gardiner, became Bishop of Lincoln and finally Bishop of Winchester during the reign of Queen Mary. For several years he led the college successfully through very difficult circumstances. A capable if somewhat scholastic composer of Latin verse, he embraced the rule of Philip and Mary enthusiastically and vigorously opposed the Reformation theology.
In July 1482 an English army invaded Scotland during the Anglo-Scottish Wars. The town of Berwick-upon-Tweed and its castle were captured and the English army briefly occupied Edinburgh. These events followed the signing of the Treaty of Fotheringhay, 11 June 1482, in which Alexander Stewart, Duke of Albany, the brother of James III of Scotland declared himself King of Scotland and swore loyalty to Edward IV of England. The follow-up invasion of Scotland under the command of Edward's brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester failed to install Albany on the throne, but Berwick has remained English ever since the castle surrendered on 24 August. The English army left Edinburgh with a promise for the repayment of the dowry paid for the marriage of Princess Cecily of England to the Scottish Prince.
Sir William Garrard (1518–1571), also Garrett, Gerrarde, etc., was a Tudor magnate of London, a merchant citizen in the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers, who became alderman, Sheriff (1552–1553) and Lord Mayor of London (1555–1556) and was returned as an MP for the City of London. He was a senior founding officer of the Company of Merchant Adventurers to New Lands in 1554/55, having been involved in its enterprises since the beginnings in King Edward VI's time, and for the last decade of his life was one of its permanent governors. He worked hard and invested largely to expand English overseas trade not only to Russia and the Levant but also to the Barbary Coast and to West Africa and Guinea.
Sir Richard Page was an English courtier. He was a gentleman of the Privy Chamber at the court of Henry VIII of England, and Vice-Chamberlain in the household of Henry VIII's illegitimate son, Henry FitzRoy. Page was imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1536 during the downfall of Anne Boleyn. He married Elizabeth Bourchier, the mother-in-law of the Protector Somerset
John Cardmaker was an English Protestant martyr.
Edward Lewknor was the representative of a branch of a prominent Sussex family, in an armigerous line descending in the distaff side from the Camoys barony. Having attained standing as a member of parliament and by a position of service in the royal household, his career was ended abruptly by his involvement in Henry Dudley's conspiracy against Queen Mary I, and his consequent attainder. His children were restored in blood by Queen Elizabeth I.
Sir William Hewett was a prominent merchant of Tudor London, a founding member and later Master of the Worshipful Company of Clothworkers of London as incorporated in 1528, and the first of that Company to be Lord Mayor of London, which he became in the first year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. His career arched across the first four decades of the Company's history, and drew him inexorably, if sometimes reluctantly, into the great public affairs of the age.
Sir George Barne was an English businessman in the City of London who was active in developing new trading links with Russia, West Africa and North America, far outside what had been traditional English trading patterns. Created a knight in 1553, he served as Sheriff of London and Lord Mayor of London. He was the father of Sir George Barne and grandfather of Sir William Barne. Nicholas Culverwell was probably a nephew.
Mary I of England died on 17 November 1558 at St James's Palace in London. She was 42 years old. Mary was buried in Westminster Abbey on 14 December.
The coronation of Edward VI as King of England and Ireland took place at Westminster Abbey, London, on 20 February 1547. Edward ascended the throne following the death of King Henry VIII.
Jacques Granado was a Flemish soldier and a courtier in England.