Ever wonder where the name for the drink came from?
Well, it came from Mary I, queen of England. Between 1553 and 1558, Mary ascended the throne (executing the 16 year old Lady Jane Grey for having usurped it before Mary got to London) initiated widespread persecution against Protestants, married her cousin (who happened to be the king of Spain), had a phantom pregnancy, lost the last of England's possessions in France, and then died, allowing her protestant sister to become queen and reverse all the religious reforms she had made. During all this, her husband Philip, the king of Spain, was busy building his monastery-mansion outside of Madrid and protecting his possessions in Florida against the French. So...that's Mary and Philip.
(Photo: Columns inside the chapel within the Tower of London; It is said that this is where Lady Jane Grey prayed the night before her execution; Credit: Deborah Marino, 2010)
1550
RULERS & ROYALTY: Edward VI is king of England (13 years old) – Mary Queen of Scots (turns 8 years old on December 14) is being brought up at the French Court, Scotland is in the care of her mother, Mary of Guise – Charles V (House of Habsburg) is Holy Roman Emperor, king of Germany, king of Italy, Archduke of Austria, and king of Spain (Aragon and Castile) – Henry II is king of France – Ivan IV is tsar of Russia (first tsar), Anastasia Romanovna is tsarina – Jiajing is emperor of the Ming dynasty in China
Others in Power:
Albert, of the House of Hohenzollern, is Duke of Prussia, which is in Poland; Hohenzollern Castle, in the Swabian Alps in Germany, is fully built and habitable, and held by the Hohenzollern Family
William the Silent, the founder of the House of Orange-Nassau, is the Prince of Orange, a principality in southern France (now located in the Netherlands in the present day); He turns 17 this year
February 18, Mary I, future queen of England, turns 34
The Council of Trent, held in Trent, northern Italy continues in response to the Protestant Revolution (1545-1563)
September 7, Elizabeth I, future queen of England, turns 17
The Dean of Christ Church in Oxford, hoping to purge the English church of all Catholicism including “superstitious books and images” removed all books out of Duke Humfrey’s library in Oxford
From 1550, many grammar schools are founded in England; This laid the foundations for the "flowering of English culture--and, in particular, drama--that took place in the 1580s and 1590s, the age of William Shakespeare, Edmund Spenser and Christopher Marlowe (Life of Elizabeth I, Pg. 6-7)
A portrait is painted of Prince Philip II of Spain by the famous artist Titian (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)
1551
RULERS & ROYALTY: Edward VI is king of England (14 years old) – Mary Queen of Scots (turns 9 years old on December 14) is being brought up at the French Court, Scotland is in the care of her mother, Mary of Guise – Charles V (House of Habsburg) is Holy Roman Emperor, king of Germany, king of Italy, Archduke of Austria, and king of Spain (Aragon and Castile) –Henry II is king of France – Ivan IV is tsar of Russia (first tsar), Anastasia Romanovna is tsarina – Jiajing is emperor of the Ming dynasty in China
Others in Power:
Albert, of the House of Hohenzollern, is Duke of Prussia, which is in Poland; Hohenzollern Castle, in the Swabian Alps in Germany, is fully built and habitable, and held by the Hohenzollern Family
William the Silent, the founder of the House of Orange-Nassau, is the Prince of Orange, a principality in southern France (now located in the Netherlands in the present day); He turns 18 this year
February 18, Mary I, future queen of England, turns 35
Süleyman (The Magnificent) swells his empire with conquests in Hungary, the Balkans and central Europe, North Africa, where Tripoli falls to him in this year (The Middle Sea 267)
The Council of Trent, held in Trent, northern Italy continues in response to the Protestant Revolution (1545-1563)
September 7, Elizabeth I, future queen of England, turns 18
During the 1500's, the Spanish Royal Audiencias or Royal Courts, are established in the administrative districts of Spanish Americas; They are empowered to hear complaints about viceroys and Captains General (executive officers) and to take appropriate action to curb abuses of power
"Audiencias are also charged by the crown with safeguarding the rights of Indians, and two days a week were allotted to hearing cases involving them, appeals in major cases could be made to the Council of the Indies in Madrid
1552
RULERS & ROYALTY: Edward VI is king of England (turns 15 years old on October 12) – Mary Queen of Scots (turns 10 years old on December 14) is being brought up at the French Court, Scotland is in the care of her mother, Mary of Guise – Charles V (House of Habsburg) is Holy Roman Emperor, king of Germany, king of Italy, Archduke of Austria, and king of Spain (Aragon and Castile) – Henry II is king of France – Ivan IV is tsar of Russia (first tsar), Anastasia Romanovna is tsarina – Jiajing is emperor of the Ming dynasty in China
Others in Power:
Albert, of the House of Hohenzollern, is Duke of Prussia, which is in Poland; Hohenzollern Castle, in the Swabian Alps in Germany, is fully built and habitable, and held by the Hohenzollern Family
William the Silent, the founder of the House of Orange-Nassau, is the Prince of Orange, a principality in southern France (now located in the Netherlands in the present day); He turns 19 this year
February 18, Mary I, future queen of England, turns 36
May 26, Sebastian Münster dies in Basel of the plague (b. 1488); He is best known for his book Cosmographia, the first book to give a detailed explanation of the cultures, cities and maps of Europe (with a major emphasis on Germany, since that was where he was from)
The Council of Trent, held in Trent, northern Italy continues in response to the Protestant Revolution (1545-1563)
September 7, Elizabeth I, future queen of England, turns 19
1553
RULERS & ROYALTY: Edward VI of England dies, aged 15, at Greenwich Palace on July 6, he is buried beneath the alter in the chapel at Westminster Abbey, there is no headstone, and Lady Jane Grey (the nine days Queen) is proclaimed queen on July 10, but is deposed on July 19 and Mary I (the daughter of Henry VIII) ascends the throne of England – Mary Queen of Scots (turns 11 years old on December 14) is being brought up at the French Court, Scotland is in the care of her mother, Mary of Guise – Charles V (House of Habsburg 3) is Holy Roman Emperor, king of Germany, king of Italy, Archduke of Austria, and king of Spain (Aragon and Castile) – Henry II is king of France – Ivan IV is tsar of Russia (first tsar) /Anastasia Romanovna is tsarina – Jiajing is emperor of the Ming dynasty in China
Others in Power:
Albert, of the House of Hohenzollern, is Duke of Prussia, which is in Poland; Hohenzollern Castle, in the Swabian Alps in Germany, is fully built and habitable, and held by the Hohenzollern Family
William the Silent, the founder of the House of Orange-Nassau, is the Prince of Orange, a principality in southern France (now located in the Netherlands in the present day); He turns 20 this year
February 18, Mary I, who is soon to be queen of England, turns 37
July 6, Edward VI, king of England, dies
July 10, Lady Jane Grey, the great niece of King Henry VIII, is proclaimed queen of England
July 19, Mary Tudor, King Henry VIII's eldest daughter, proclaims herself queen of England, and Lady Jane Grey is proclaimed a usurper of the throne, giving her the sobriquet "the nine days queen," she and her husband are thrown into the tower of London
August 3, Queen Mary I of England is welcomed to London by cheering crowds
The Council of Trent, held in Trent, northern Italy continues in response to the Protestant Revolution (1545-1563)
September 7, Elizabeth I, future queen of England, turns 20
1554
RULERS & ROYALTY: Mary I is queen of England – Mary Queen of Scots (turns 12 years old on December 14) is being brought up at the French Court, Scotland is in the care of her mother, Mary of Guise – Charles V (House of Habsburg 3) is Holy Roman Emperor, king of Germany, king of Italy, Archduke of Austria, and king of Spain (Aragon and Castile) – Henry II is king of France – Ivan IV is tsar of Russia (first tsar) /Anastasia Romanovna is tsarina – Jiajing is emperor of the Ming dynasty in China
Others in Power:
Albert, of the House of Hohenzollern, is Duke of Prussia, which is in Poland; Hohenzollern Castle, in the Swabian Alps in Germany, is fully built and habitable, and held by the Hohenzollern Family
William the Silent, the founder of the House of Orange-Nassau, is the Prince of Orange, a principality in southern France (now located in the Netherlands in the present day); He turns 21 this year
February 12, Lady Jane Grey, who was briefly queen of England last year, is executed, aged 16
February 18, Queen Mary I of England turns 38 and a portrait is painted of her by Antonis Mor (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)
July 25, Queen Mary I of England marries Prince Philip II of Spain, a marriage arranged by his father, Charles V, the king of Spain as well as Holy Roman Emperor; The marriage took place in Winchester, England
September 7, Elizabeth I, the future queen of England, turns 21
November 20, The papal Legate Cardinal Reginald Pole, exiled since 1532 in protest against Henry VIII's religious reforms, returns to England; Ten days later, Pole announces absolution, marking England's formal peace with the pope
The Council of Trent, held in Trent, northern Italy continues in response to the Protestant Revolution (1545-1563)
1555
RULERS & ROYALTY: Mary I is queen of England – Mary Queen of Scots (turns 13 years old on December 14) is being brought up at the French Court, Scotland is in the care of her mother, Mary of Guise – Charles V (House of Habsburg 3) is Holy Roman Emperor, king of Germany, king of Italy, Archduke of Austria, and king of Spain (Aragon and Castile) – Henry II is king of France – Ivan IV is tsar of Russia (first tsar) /Anastasia Romanovna is tsarina – Jiajing is emperor of the Ming dynasty in China
Others in Power:
Albert, of the House of Hohenzollern, is Duke of Prussia, which is in Poland; Hohenzollern Castle, in the Swabian Alps in Germany, is fully built and habitable, and held by the Hohenzollern Family
William the Silent, the founder of the House of Orange-Nassau, is the Prince of Orange, a principality in southern France (now located in the Netherlands in the present day); He turns 22 this year; This year, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and king of Spain and Italy, promotes William to a commander of one of his armies, and sends him with 20,000 men to lay siege to the French city, Bayonne
February 18, Queen Mary I of England turns 39; This year she begins her execution of Protestants that will earn her the reputation in English history as "Bloody Mary"; In all, 287 protestants will be slain at her command (Royal Britain, Pg. 115)
September 7, Elizabeth I, future queen of England, turns 22; She is the very, very protestant half-sister of Queen Mary I, who is executing protestants left and right
October 16, Bishops Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley are burned at the stake while Thomas Cranmer watches from his prison cell; Latimer "sounded a resounding note as he comforted his fellow victim...
'We shall this day light such a candle by God's grace in England as I trust shall never be put out.'"
(Royal Britain, Pg. 115)
Also in October, Queen Mary I of England suffers a "phantom pregnancy'; She thinks she is pregnant, but the pregnancy turns out to be false, and it is surmised that the growth of her womb may be due to a tumor; This ordeal raises and then dashes the hope that an heir might be born; In this same month, she is abandoned by her husband, King Phillip II of Spain, as he returns back home; Phillip will not return until July 1557, despite much anguished pleading from Mary (Royal Britain, Pg. 115)
Nostradamus, a French astronomer, publishes his book, Les Propheties, of 942 poetic quatrains allegedly predicting future events
The Council of Trent, held in Trent, northern Italy continues in response to the Protestant Revolution (1545-1563)
1556
RULERS & ROYALTY: Mary I is queen of England, King Phillip of Spain is her husband and therefore "king consort of England" – Mary Queen of Scots (turns 14 years old on December 14) is being brought up at the French Court, Scotland is in the care of her mother, Mary of Guise – Charles V (House of Habsburg 3) is Holy Roman Emperor, king of Germany, king of Italy, Archduke of Austria, and king of Spain (Aragon and Castile) until January 16 when his brother, Ferdinand I takes over as Holy Roman Emperor (Charles V doesn’t die until 1558), Ferdinand I is also King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia – Henry II is king of France – Ivan IV is tsar of Russia (first tsar) /Anastasia Romanovna is tsarina – Jiajing is emperor of the Ming dynasty in China
Others in Power:
Albert, of the House of Hohenzollern, is Duke of Prussia, which is in Poland; Hohenzollern Castle, in the Swabian Alps in Germany, is fully built and habitable, and held by the Hohenzollern Family
William the Silent, the founder of the House of Orange-Nassau, is the Prince of Orange, a principality in southern France (now located in the Netherlands in the present day); He turns 23 this year
February 18, Queen Mary I of England turns 40
September 7, Elizabeth I, the future queen of England, turns 23
Duke Humfrey’s library is taken over by the Faculty of Medicine
The Council of Trent, held in Trent, northern Italy, continues in response to the Protestant Revolution (1545-1563)
1557
RULERS & ROYALTY: Mary I is queen of England, King Phillip of Spain is her husband and therefore "king consort of England" – Mary Queen of Scots (who turns 15 on December 14) is being brought up at the French Court, leaving Scotland is in the care of her mother, Mary of Guise – Ferdinand I (House of Habsburg) is Holy Roman Emperor, king of Germany, king of Italy (Romans), Archduke of Austria, King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia – Henry II is king of France – Ivan IV is tsar of Russia (first tsar), and Anastasia Romanovna is tsarina – Jiajing is emperor of the Ming dynasty in China
Others in Power:
Albert, of the House of Hohenzollern, is Duke of Prussia, which is in Poland; Hohenzollern Castle, in the Swabian Alps in Germany, is fully built and habitable, and held by the Hohenzollern Family
William the Silent, the founder of the House of Orange-Nassau, is the Prince of Orange, a principality in southern France (now located in the Netherlands in the present day); He turns 24 this year
February 18, Queen Mary I of England turns 41
September 7, Elizabeth I, future queen of England, turns 24
The Council of Trent, held in Trent, northern Italy, continues in response to the Protestant Revolution (1545-1563)
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Alchemy and the King of Spain
King Phillip II of Spain (and king consort of England since he is married to Queen Mary I) who will in a few years be building his architectural masterpiece, the Escorial, in which he has eleven rooms "fitted out as laboratories with stoves, ovens, a twenty-foot copper distilling tower and a huge pharmacy filled with essences, mineral suspensions and plant extracts" for experimentation with alchemy is given a small tract by an English Catholic named Richard Stanyhurst who wrote it especially for Phillip titled The Touchstone of Alchemy, which explains how to distinguish between charlatans and the true practitioners of the art; He tells Phillip...
"Be neither unduly credulous nor wholly disbelieving, for the Indies would have gone undiscovered if no one had believed Columbus."
(Spain, The Center of the World, 1519-1692, Pgs. 137-138)
1558
RULERS & ROYALTY: Queen Mary I dies on November 17 and Elizabeth I becomes queen of England – Mary Queen of Scots marries François, son of Henri II of France and heir to the French throne, at Notre Dame (she has no children with him), she turns 16 on December 14 Scotland is in the care of her mother, Mary of Guise – Philip II is king of Spain – Ferdinand I (House of Habsburg) is Holy Roman Emperor, king of Germany, king of Italy (Romans), Archduke of Austria, King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia – Henry II is king of France – Ivan IV is tsar of Russia (first tsar) /Anastasia Romanovna is tsarina – Jiajing is emperor of the Ming dynasty in China
Others in Power:
Albert, of the House of Hohenzollern, is Duke of Prussia, which is in Poland; Hohenzollern Castle, in the Swabian Alps in Germany, is fully built and habitable, and held by the Hohenzollern Family
William the Silent, the founder of the House of Orange-Nassau, is the Prince of Orange, a principality in southern France (now located in the Netherlands in the present day); He turns 25 this year
February 18, Queen Mary I of England turns 42
September 7, Elizabeth I, soon to be queen of England, turns 25
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Queen Mary I Dies, and So Begins the Elizabethan Age
November 17, Early in the morning, Queen Mary I of England, dies, aged 42, at St. James Palace in London; Her husband and king consort, King Phillip II of Spain, is now released from his political marriage that he never wanted in the first place and soon marries Elizabeth of Valois
"Between eleven and twelve o'clock on the morning of 17 November 1558, large crowds gathered outside the Palace of Westminster and at other places in London. Presently, heralds appeared, announced the death, earlier that morning, of Mary I,
and proclaimed her half-sister Elizabeth Queen of England.
Even as they spoke, the Lord Chancellor Nicholas Heath, Archbishop of York, was announcing the new monarch's accession to the House of Lords..."
As noon approached, the Lords of the Privy Council arrive at Hatfield in Hertfordshire, where the princess Elizabeth, "unheeding of the bitter cold, was taking the air in the park surrounding the palace, seated beneath an old oak tree, reading a book."
After being told Mary is dead and she is the new queen, she is stunned and speechless; She sinks to her knees and pronounces in Latin, "This is the Lord's doing: it is marvelous in our eyes" (The Life of Elizabeth I, Prologue)
______________________________
The Council of Trent, held in Trent, northern Italy continues in response to the Protestant Revolution (1545-1563)
1559
RULERS & ROYALTY: Elizabeth I is officially crowned as Queen of England on January 15 at Westminster Abbey – Philip II is king of Spain, Elizabeth of Valois becomes his queen – Ferdinand I (House of Habsburg) is Holy Roman Emperor, king of Germany, king of Italy (Romans), Archduke of Austria, King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia – Ivan IV is tsar of Russia (first tsar), Anastasia Romanovna is tsarina – Jiajing is emperor of the Ming dynasty in China
Others in Power:
Albert, of the House of Hohenzollern, is Duke of Prussia, which is in Poland; Hohenzollern Castle, in the Swabian Alps in Germany, is fully built and habitable, and held by the Hohenzollern Family
William the Silent, the founder of the House of Orange-Nassau, is the Prince of Orange, a principality in southern France (now located in the Netherlands in the present day); He turns 26 this year
January 15, Elizabeth I, daughter of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, is crowned queen of England in Westminster Abbey in London, she's 25 years old
April 18, A letter dispatched to King Philip of Spain from de Feria relates that Queen Elizabeth of England is beginning to be infatuated with Lord Robert Dudley (27 years old), her Master of the Horse,
"During the last few days, Lord Robert has come into so much favor that he does whatever he likes with affairs. It is even said that Her Majesty visits him in his chamber day and night."
(The Life of Elizabeth I, Pg. 70)
September 7, Elizabeth I, queen of England, turns 26
Philip II, King of Spain, and Lord of the Netherlands (his father had created the title and forced his will on the Dutch, which they resented) leaves his illegitimate half-sister Margaret of Parma as Regent in Brussels, incensing the Dutch, who "felt colonized by a haughty Spaniard, a foreigner who imposed his alien will from far away." (Spain, The Center of the World, 1519-1682, Pg. 172)
The Council of Trent, held in Trent, northern Italy continues in response to the Protestant Revolution (1545-1563)
1560
RULERS & ROYALTY: Elizabeth I is on the English throne – Philip II is king of Spain, Elizabeth of Valois is queen – Ferdinand I (House of Habsburg) is Holy Roman Emperor, king of Germany, king of Italy (Romans), Archduke of Austria, King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia – Ivan IV is tsar of Russia (first tsar), Anastasia Romanovna is tsarina until August 7 – Jiajing is emperor of the Ming dynasty in China
Others in Power:
Albert, of the House of Hohenzollern, is Duke of Prussia, which is in Poland; Hohenzollern Castle, in the Swabian Alps in Germany, is fully built and habitable, and held by the Hohenzollern Family
William the Silent, the founder of the House of Orange-Nassau, is the Prince of Orange, a principality in southern France (now located in the Netherlands in the present day); He turns 27 this year
August 7, Tsar Ivan IV’s wife Anastasia Romanovna dies and Ivan suspects she was poisoned by the Boyars; She was aged 29 or 30, leaving behind six children, Anna, Maria, Dmitry, Ivan, Eudoxia, and Feodor (Feodor will become the next Russian tsar)
September 7, Elizabeth I, queen of England, turns 27
September 8, Robert Dudley, the Queen's Master of the Horse whom she has fallen in love with, finds out that his wife, Amy Dudley, has died by falling down the stairs at Cumnor Place near Oxford (the house will be pulled down in 1810), she was 28 years old; This causes a scandal that Robert had organized her death; Because of this, Queen Elizabeth could not marry him
The Council of Trent, held in Trent, northern Italy continues in response to the Protestant Revolution (1545-1563)
Between 1560 and 1650, Germany unleashes a great witch hunt, in which magistrates put to death as many as 30,000 witches, 80 percent of them women, many of these following bad harvests and the plague, “Of course, persecutions always pitted neighbor against neighbor, so that it seemed to one witness that ‘there is no friendship on this earth.’” (Germany, A Nation in its Time Pg. 60-61)
1561
RULERS & ROYALTY: Elizabeth I is queen of England – Philip II is king of Spain, Elizabeth of Valois is queen – Ferdinand I (House of Habsburg) is Holy Roman Emperor, king of Germany, king of Italy (Romans), Archduke of Austria, King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia – Ivan IV is tsar of Russia (first tsar), Maria Temryukovna is tsarina – Jiajing is emperor of the Ming dynasty in China
Others in Power:
Albert, of the House of Hohenzollern, is Duke of Prussia, which is in Poland; Hohenzollern Castle, in the Swabian Alps in Germany, is fully built and habitable, and held by the Hohenzollern Family
William the Silent, the founder of the House of Orange-Nassau, is the Prince of Orange, a principality in southern France (now located in the Netherlands in the present day); He turns 28 this year
August 21, Tsar Ivan IV marries Maria Temryukovna (and immediately regrets it, but they stay married until 1569 when Maria dies)
September 7, Elizabeth I, queen of England, turns 28
Balthasar Castiglione's book The Courtier is translated from Italian into English and becomes a popular book in England, having a major influence on the upper classes; "During the first half of the sixteenth century it had become fashionable for gently-born girls to be educated in the same way as their brothers--[Queen] Elizabeth herself had benefited enormously--but after the publication...the trend was towards proficiency in social skills rather than academic ones." (The Life of Elizabeth I, Pg. 7)
The Council of Trent, held in Trent, northern Italy continues in response to the Protestant Revolution (1545-1563)
1562
RULERS & ROYALTY: Elizabeth I is queen of England – Ferdinand I (House of Habsburg 4) is Holy Roman Emperor, king of Germany, king of Italy (Romans), Archduke of Austria, King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia – Ivan IV is tsar of Russia (first tsar)/Maria Temryukovna is tsarina – Jiajing is emperor of the Ming dynasty in China
Others in Power:
Albert, of the House of Hohenzollern, is Duke of Prussia, which is in Poland; Hohenzollern Castle, in the Swabian Alps in Germany, is fully built and habitable, and held by the Hohenzollern Family
William the Silent, the founder of the House of Orange-Nassau, is the Prince of Orange, a principality in southern France (now located in the Netherlands in the present day); He turns 29 this year
September 7, Elizabeth I, queen of England, turns 29
The Council of Trent, held in Trent, northern Italy continues in response to the Protestant Revolution (1545-1563)
1563
RULERS & ROYALTY: Elizabeth I is on the English throne – Ferdinand I (House of Habsburg) is Holy Roman Emperor, king of Germany, king of Italy (Romans), Archduke of Austria, King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia – Philip II is king of Spain, the Spanish colonies in South America, Central America and North America, including Florida, as well as other Habsburg lands such at the Netherlands – Ivan IV is tsar of Russia (first tsar)/Maria Temryukovna is tsarina – Jiajing is emperor of the Ming dynasty in China
Others in Power:
Albert, of the House of Hohenzollern, is Duke of Prussia, which is in Poland; Hohenzollern Castle, in the Swabian Alps in Germany, is fully built and habitable, and held by the Hohenzollern Family
William the Silent, the founder of the House of Orange-Nassau, is the Prince of Orange, a principality in southern France (now located in the Netherlands in the present day); He turns 30 this year
April 23, The foundation stone is laid for El Escorial after King Philip II of Spain orders a royal palace/monastery be built not far from the hamlet of El Escorial, about 28 miles outside of Madrid; The palace itself will be called El Escorial (it is still in use in the present day), Philip II is part of the counter-Reformation, he is against Martin Luther’s writings and teachings
September 7, Elizabeth I, queen of England, turns 30
November, Juan Bautista de Toledo, the lead architect on Philip II’s palace/monastery, El Escorial, receives news that his wife and children, who were sailing from Naples to be with him, have been captured by Turkish corsairs; In order to escape his grief, Toledo throws himself into the work of building the palace-monastery (Spain, the Center of the World Pg. 131)
The Council of Trent, held in Trent, northern Italy ends, it was held in response to the Protestant Revolution (1545-1563)
1564
RULERS & ROYALTY: Elizabeth I is on the English throne – Ferdinand I (House of Habsburg), Holy Roman Emperor, king of Germany, king of Italy (Romans), Archduke of Austria, King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia, dies, and his son, Maximilian II becomes Holy Roman Emperor (Habsburg 5) – Philip II is king of Spain (Habsburg) – Ivan IV is tsar of Russia (first tsar), Maria Temryukovna is tsarina – Jiajing is emperor of the Ming dynasty in China
Others in Power:
Albert, of the House of Hohenzollern, is Duke of Prussia, which is in Poland; Hohenzollern Castle, in the Swabian Alps in Germany, is fully built and habitable, and held by the Hohenzollern Family
William the Silent, the founder of the House of Orange-Nassau, is the Prince of Orange, a principality in southern France (now located in the Netherlands in the present day); He turns 31 this year
February 15, The Polish astronomer, Galileo Galilei, is born (d. 1642), in Pisa, Italy
April 26, The English playwright, William Shakespeare, is born (d. 1616), in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England
September 7, Elizabeth I, queen of England, turns 31
King Philip II of Spain sends troops to La Florida (in present day Florida, USA) to expel French invaders, and establish outposts to protect Spanish shipping (info plaque at the Castillo de San Marcos fort in St. Augustine, Florida)
Work continues on El Escorial, the royal palace/monastery in Spain on order of King Philip II of Spain
1565
RULERS & ROYALTY: Elizabeth I is queen of England – Mary (Queen of Scots) is queen of Scotland – Charles IX is king of France (1560-1574) – Phillip II is king of Spain (he had been married to Mary I of England until her death in 1558, he is also the namesake of the Philippines) (1556-1598) – Maximilian II is Holy Roman Emperor, king of Italy and king of Germany (or literally the “king of the Teutons” according to Wikipedia) (1564-1576) – Ivan IV is tsar of Russia (first tsar), Maria Temryukovna is tsarina – Jiajing is emperor of the Ming dynasty in China – Nanacacipactzin, the last Aztec king of the city Tenochtitlan and the Aztec Empire dies (he had been installed by Spanish authorities)
Others in Power:
Albert, of the House of Hohenzollern, is Duke of Prussia, which is in Poland; Hohenzollern Castle, in the Swabian Alps in Germany, is fully built and habitable, and held by the Hohenzollern Family
William the Silent, the founder of the House of Orange-Nassau, is the Prince of Orange, a principality in southern France (now located in the Netherlands in the present day); He turns 32 this year
February 15, The Polish Astronomer, Galileo Galilei turns 1
April 26, The English playwright, William Shakespeare turns 1
Mary Queen of Scots marries her second husband, Henry, Lord Darnley, son of Matthew Stewart 4th earl of Lennox, at Holyrood House (she has one son with him)
Work continues on El Escorial, the royal palace/monastery in Spain on order of King Phillip II of Spain
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The Dutch and the Spanish Inquisition
The Dutch, who are tired of being ruled by a foreigner, King Philip II of Spain, send one of their most powerful aristocrats, the Count of Egmont, to Spain, "to negotiate directly with Philip. Egmont returned convinced that the king had offered a more conciliatory policy towards Protestants and freedom of worship in general. He even signed an agreement that hinted at further compromise. But within months, in an infamous document now known as the 'Letter from Segovia Woods', Philip wrote instructing Margaret [his illegitimate half-sister he'd left as Regent in Brussels] that no leniency was to be shown to any 'heretic'.
Far from introducing a new policy of religious tolerance, he was determined to strengthen the Inquisition in the Netherlands."
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King Philip II of Spain sends Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, an able seaman and devout Catholic, to rid Florida of the twin threats of French encroachment and Protestant (or Luteranos in Spanish) heresy; Enroute, all 17 ships that left Cadiz encounter a fierce storm, and only two ships arrive safely in Puerto Rico; Here, he is able to obtain three more ships; He then heads north
August 28, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés’ ships first sight Cape Canaveral on the feast day of St. Augustine of Hippo (this is 55 years before the Mayflower) “Spain was the first to establish a European settlement in North America—St. Augustine, Florida, in 1565. Its initial colonial efforts had been focused on Mexico and Peru, where there was gold to acquire and empires to conquer. The Spanish were penned into Florida by the growth of English colonies to the north and the arrival of the French in New Orleans to the west in 1718.” (A History of the World, Map by Map 152-153) (in present day St. Augustine, there stands a tall cross to mark the spot where the Spanish landed, knelt and prayed)
August 28, Five French ships commanded by Captain Jean Ribault arrived at Fort Caroline on St. John’s River with reinforcements, 28 miles north of where the Spanish are about to settle in St (Fort San Marcos National Parks Service guide)
September 7, Elizabeth I, queen of England, turns 32
September 8, Pedro Menéndez founds a town near the little Timucuan Native American village in Spanish Florida, and names his settlement St. Augustine after the saint honored in the church calendar on August 28, the day he spotted land (Fort San Marcos National Parks Service guide)
As the Spanish build St. Augustine, the French at Fort Caroline are plotting an attack against them (Fort San Marcos National Parks Service guide)
September 11, The French Captain Jean Ribault takes 500 men in five ships and sets out from Fort Caroline to go attack St, Augustine against the advice of Laudonnière who warns him of storms and a possible Spanish attack; A storm does come up and whips them down the coast southwards out of control just before they are about to attack St. Augustine
The Spanish colonies in America had been a drain on Spain’s finances until they discovered silver deposits back in 1545 in Potosí in present day Bolivia, and at Zacatecas in Mexico
Unbeknownst to the Spanish who are conquering the Inca in Peru, the largest burial site of child sacrifices in the world (the skeletal remains of 227 children will begin to be found in 2016) lies just outside of Lima; They were buried around sometime between 665 to 90 years ago during the Chimu period, a pre-Columbian society that thrived between the years 900-1475, when it was conquered by the Inca, the bodies lie facing the Pacific Ocean near a port that had been favored at the time, “The mass grave tells a grim tale. The lead excavator says that the site is similar to nearby burial grounds where large groups of children were interred after they were marched to the coast and stabbed in the chest one by one, the victims are estimated to be 4 and 14 years old when they were killed, and some of the bodies still had traces of skin and hair. He also says the children were likely a sacrifice to the gods that controlled the El Nino phenomenon.” (Inside Edition 2020)
The Spanish Conquest of the Maya continues (1527-1697), (A History of the World, Map by Map, Pg. 156-157)
1566
RULERS & ROYALTY: Elizabeth I is queen of England – Charles IX is king of France – Phillip II is king of Spain – Maximilian II is Holy Roman Emperor, king of Italy and king of Germany (or literally the “king of the Teutons” – Ivan IV is tsar of Russia (first tsar)/Maria Temryukovna is tsarina – Jiajing is emperor of the Ming dynasty in China –
Others in Power:
Albert, of the House of Hohenzollern, is Duke of Prussia, which is in Poland; Hohenzollern Castle, in the Swabian Alps in Germany, is fully built and habitable, and held by the Hohenzollern Family
William the Silent, the founder of the House of Orange-Nassau, is the Prince of Orange, a principality in southern France (now located in the Netherlands in the present day); He turns 33 this year
February 15, The Polish Astronomer, Galileo Galilei turns 2
April 5, "Some 300 armed 'confederates', many of them minor nobles and gentry, forced their way into the royal palace in Brussels. In the name of over 400 aristocrats and other leading subjects,
they insisted that the Inquisition be suspended in the Netherlands.
"Margaret of Parma [King Philip II of Spain's half-sister he left as Regent in Brussels] had little choice but to comply, for all that one of her councillors audibly advised her that she had nothing to fear from these 'Beggars' (Gueux, or Geuzen), who deserved a good thrashing.
"Three days later, the confederates enthusiastically co-opted the insult by holding their famous 'Beggars' Banquet'. Once they were 'well and truly drunk', their leader, Hendrik of Brederode, announced that 'as we have been called Beggars, it is reasonable that we carry begging staffs and drink from wooden bowls'. On cue, a page appeared with a vagrant's satchel, which Brederode put over his head. He picked up a roughly hewn wooden bowl full of wine and drank it down, his voice booming:
'I toast the good grace of the Beggars: Vive les Gueux!' Then the raucous company swore 'by the salt, by the bread, by the satchel, the Beggars will never turn coat!'"
(Spain, The Center of the World 1519-1682, Pg. 176)
April 26, The English playwright, William Shakespeare turns 2
September 7, Elizabeth I, queen of England, turns 33
Nostradamus, The French astrologer, dies in Salon-de-Provence, France
Work continues on El Escorial, the royal palace/monastery in Spain on order of King Phillip II of Spain
1567
RULERS & ROYALTY: Elizabeth I is queen of England – Ivan IV is tsar of Russia (first tsar), Maria Temryukovna is tsarina – Jiajing, emperor of the Ming dynasty in China, dies and Longqing becomes emperor
Others in Power:
Albert, of the House of Hohenzollern, is Duke of Prussia, which is in Poland; Hohenzollern Castle, in the Swabian Alps in Germany, is fully built and habitable, and held by the Hohenzollern Family
William the Silent, the founder of the House of Orange-Nassau, is the Prince of Orange, a principality in southern France (now located in the Netherlands in the present day); He turns 34 this year
January 23, Jiajing, emperor of the Ming dynasty in china, dies and is buried in the Yongling Mausoleum, Ming tombs, Bejing
February 4, Longqing is crowned emperor of the Ming dynasty in China
February 15, The Polish Astronomer, Galileo Galilei turns 3
April 26, The English playwright, William Shakespeare turns 3
September 7, Elizabeth I, queen of England, turns 34
Sir John Thynne’s first house at Longleat in Wiltshire burns to the ground, but he begins rebuilding it immediately, Thynne created England’s first house in the Italianate, or Renaissance, style. Longleat’s façade incorporated the first three classical “orders” or column styles of and ancient Greece and Rome: the Doric, the Iconic and the Corinthian (Castles, Palaces and Stately Homes of Britain and Ireland, Pg. 120 - 121)
Work continues on El Escorial, the royal palace/monastery in Spain on order of King Phillip II of Spain, the main architect dies (possibly from stress) and his chief draughtsman, Juan de Herrera becomes chief architect
Mary Queen of Scots marries her third husband, James, earl of Bothwell, at Holyrood House (she only has stillborn twins with him)
A portrait is painted of Anna of Austria, (b. 1549) daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor, Maximilian II; Anna will eventually become queen consort of Spain by marrying her uncle, King Philip II; Her son becomes King Philip III of Spain (d. 1580, aged 30) (Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons) [In this year, Anna would have been 18 years old, so I'm not sure why she looks so young in this painting?]
1568
RULERS & ROYALTY: Elizabeth I is queen of England – Sigismund II Augustus, of the House of Jagiellon, is king of Poland – Ivan IV is tsar of Russia (first tsar)/Maria Temryukovna is tsarina
Others in Power:
William the Silent, the founder of the House of Orange-Nassau, is the Prince of Orange, a principality in southern France (now located in the Netherlands in the present day); He turns 35 this year
January 18, Just before midnight, King Philip II of Spain puts on his armor and takes a squad of guards to incarcerate his son, the Prince Don Carlos, in his room for plotting a rebellion against him; They avoid a contraption designed by the prince to drop a heavy weight on intruders, and collect his weapons and all his papers; They then board up his windows and leave
February 15, Galileo Galilei, the Polish astronomer, turns 4
______________________________
The Second Duke of Prussia
March 20, Albert, of the House of Hohenzollern and first Duke of Prussia since Prussia was made a Dukedom in 1525, dies, aged 77, at Tapiau Castle in Tapiau, Prussia, and his son...
Albert Frederick becomes the next Duke of Prussia
______________________________
April 26, William Shakespeare, the English playwright turns 4
King Philip II of Spain sends his general, the Duke of Alba, to the Netherlands to stamp out their rebellion against Spain's imposed Inquisition and religious intolerance there; Alba initiates such a terrible persecution that many flee the country, perhaps as many as 60,000 between 1567-1568; Norwich in England alone received 4,000 Flemings; The oldest Dutch Protestant church in continuous use is in Austin Friars, in the City of London; By the Spring of this year, William of Orange, the natural leader of the Dutch patriots in exile, is able to coordinate a series of armed incursions, but he is no match for Alba; As many as 1,700 people are executed and 9,000 are imprisoned, fined, or have their lands confiscated
July 24, King Philip II of Spain's son, the prince Don Carlos, that he had incarcerated, dies in his room
September 7, Elizabeth I, queen of England, turns 35
October 3, Elizabeth of Valois, Queen Consort of Spain as King Philip II's wife, dies after having a miscarriage, aged 23; She was the eldest daughter of King Henry II of France and his wife, Queen Consort Catherine de' Medici; She is buried in El Escorial, the palace-monastery Philip is currently building
Philipp Apian depicts all of Bavaria (German lands) in his Bavarian Panels, a set of 24 sheets beautifully showing off the cities, forests, mountains and rivers he surveyed over six or seven summers (Germany, A Nation in its Time, Pg. 50-51)
1569
RULERS & ROYALTY: Elizabeth I is queen of England – Sigismund II Augustus, of the House of Jagiellon, is king of Poland – Ivan IV is tsar of Russia (first tsar)/Maria Temryukovna is tsarina until
Others in Power:
Albert Fredrick, of the House of Hohenzollern, is the second Duke of Prussia, which is in Poland; Hohenzollern Castle, in the Swabian Alps in Germany, is fully built and habitable, and held by the Hohenzollern Family
William the Silent, the founder of the House of Orange-Nassau, is the Prince of Orange, a principality in southern France (now located in the Netherlands in the present day); He turns 36 this year
February 15, The Polish Astronomer, Galileo Galilei turns 5
April 26, The English playwright, William Shakespeare turns 5
September 1, Tsarina Maria Temryukovna, dies, aged 25, leaving Ivan IV a widower once again
September 7, Elizabeth I, queen of England, turns 36
November, The Catholic English earls, Northumberland and Westmorland, rise up in rebellion of their Protestant queen, Elizabeth I, in the name of the old religion; They ride to Durham Cathedral with their men, where they pull down the communion table, then rip to pieces the English Bible and the Book of Common Prayer before demanding that the Latin Mass be once more performed
"It was the most serious test that Elizabeth had yet faced, with the prospect of civil war dividing the realm made infinitely more dangerous with the introduction of the religious question."
(Tudors, by Peter Ackroyd, Pg. 357)
Bess of Hardwick (who is currently married to the 6th Earl of Shrewsbury and living at Chatsworth House) joins Mary Queen of Scots, who is being held captive at the house for the first time, and the two begin to work on the Oxburgh Hangings together (these now hang in the King’s Room of Oxburgh Hall in Norfolk, England) (Wikipedia) (Photo: Chatsworth House, Credit: Deborah Marino, 2010)
Mercator creates his famous map of the world, “which still influences our sense of the shape of the planet to this day” (Germany, A Nation in its Time)