October 10 - The funeral of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, Elizabeth I's favourite

On this day in Tudor history, 10th October 1588, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, was buried in the Beauchamp Chapel of the Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick, according to his instructions.

His funeral was well-attended and his widow, Lettice, a woman known by Elizabeth I as "the she-wolf", erected a monument to "her best and dearest husband" in the chapel, which was also the resting place of the couple's young son, Robert, "the noble impe".

Find out more about Leicester's funeral and resting place, and see some photos of his tomb, in today's talk from historian Claire Ridgway. You can see this podcast as a video at the following link:

https://youtu.be/jQQhMB0S1m0

Also on this day in Tudor history, 10th October 1562, twenty-nine-year-old Queen Elizabeth I was taken ill at Hampton Court Palace. It was thought that it was just a bad cold, but it turned out that the queen had smallpox. Elizabeth became seriously ill and it was thought that she would die, causing panic over the succession, but Elizabeth recovered and reigned until 1603. She was nursed by her good friend, Mary Sidney, who also came down with smallpox and was badly disfigured by it. Find out more in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/ohpybHXcxiM