Ferdinand Magellan was born in Portugal in 1480. As a boy, he worked in the Queen’s household. This allowed him to hear about all the discoveries that were being made. In 1505, Magellan finally got to go to sea on a military expedition to India to install Francisco de Almeida as the Portuguese viceroy. As [...]

Francis Drake was born in the parish of Crowndale, Devon, in February, 1540. He was the eldest of the twelve sons of Edmund Drake, a Protestant farmer who later became a preacher, and his wife Mary Mylwaye. Francis Drake’s maternal grandfather was Richard Mylwaye. Francis Drake first married Mary Newman and later Elizabeth Sydenham. His [...]

Elizabeth I was born on September 7, 1533 at Greenwich Palace. Her birth was possibly the greatest disappointment of her father’s life, as he had wanted a son and heir to succeed him, and he already had a daughter, Mary, by his first wife, Katherine of Aragon. Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry VIII and [...]

On October 1, 1553, Mary was formally crowned Mary I, Queen of England. As the daughter of Catherine of Aragon, Mary was Catholic. John Dudley, Head of the Regency Council, feared Mary would restore Catholicism and undo Edward’s reforms. So, he convinced Edward VI, Mary’s half brother, to exclude her and Elizabeth from the line [...]

Edward VI became king of England and Ireland upon the death of his father Henry VIII in 1547. Edward was Henry’s only son with his third wife Jane Seymour. He was crowned Edward VI on February 20, 1547. As he was only nine years old, a Regency Council had been appointed by his father just [...]

Henry VIII was born at Greenwich on June 28, 1491, the third child of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. Henry was the second monarch of the House of Tudor, succeeding his father. But he only became heir to the throne on the death of his elder brother, Prince Arthur, in 1502 and succeeded in [...]