December 2 - Elizabeth I relents and agrees to execute Mary, Queen of Scots

On this day in Tudor history, 2nd December 1586, following a joint petition from the Houses of Lords and Commons, Elizabeth I finally agreed to a public proclamation of sentence against Mary, Queen of Scots: death.

 

Mary had been found guilty of high treason back in October 1586, but Elizabeth had not wanted to contemplate regicide. However,  Parliament believed that if Mary, Queen of Scots, was not executed, that she'd continue to plot against Elizabeth and would utterly "ruinate and overthrow the happy State and Common Weal of this most Noble Realm". She was too much of a danger and needed dealing with once and for all.

 

Find out what Parliament said and what happened next in today's talk from historian Claire Ridgway.

 

September 26 - The man Elizabeth I wanted to murder Mary, Queen of Scots - https://youtu.be/AH956PwobRs 

 

Also on this day in Tudor history, 2nd December 1546, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, poet, courtier, soldier and the eldest son of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, was arrested after a former friend gave evidence against him. King Henry VIII had just weeks to live and was increasingly paranoid, so the 'evidence' was just what Surrey's enemies needed to bring the earl down.
Find out more about the Earl of Surrey's downfall, and how his father managed to keep his head in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/qgOp-iremGg