16th Century in Wales - Events

Events

1501

• 14 November - Arthur, Prince of Wales, marries Catherine of Aragon at St Paul's Cathedral.
• 21 December - The Prince and Princess of Wales leave London for their seat at Ludlow Castle. Sir Richard Pole is among the retinue that accompany the couple.

1502

• 23 April - Three weeks after his sudden death, Arthur, Prince of Wales, is buried at the Abbey of St Wulfstan in Worcester. His widow Catherine is too ill to attend her husband's funeral, suffering from the same mystery illness that is thought to have killed him.
• August
  • William Smyth, Bishop of Lincoln, becomes President of the Council of Wales and the Marches.
  • King Henry VII of England is believed to have visited Troy House, near Monmouth, the home of Blanche Herbert and her second husband, Sir William Herbert, an illegitimate son of William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke.

1503

• Catherine of Aragon, Dowager Princess of Wales, is formally betrothed to her brother-in-law, Prince Henry. Catherine comes out of mourning.

1504

• 18 February - Henry, Duke of York is invested as Prince of Wales.
• 30 August - John Penny is appointed Bishop of Bangor.

1505

• 11 May - Robert Sherborne is consecrated Bishop of St David's.
• Sir William Herbert of Troy (illegitimate son of the late Earl of Pembroke) gives an undertaking to keep the peace with his half-brother, Sir Walter Herbert of Raglan (who was brother-in-law of Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham), and with Henry Myles, his brother-in-law (the father of Blanche Parry).

1506

• April - The betrothal to Prince Henry to the Dowager Princess of Wales (1503) is declared invalid (Henry's age at the time is used as a pretext).

1507

• Restrictions in the borough of Caernarfon are eased: the Welsh are allowed to live inside the town walls.

1508

• 18 September - Robert Sherborne, Bishop of St David's, is translated to the see of Chichester. St David's remains without a bishop until the following year.
• 22 September - John Penny, Bishop of Bangor, is translated to the see of Carlisle; Bangor remains without a bishop until the following year.
• The lordship of Dyffryn Clwyd is sold to King Henry VII of England by the incumbent Richard Grey, 3rd Earl of Kent.
• Chepstow Castle becomes the property of Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester.
• Construction of Hendre'r Ywydd Uchaf farmhouse, now an exhibit at St Fagans National History Museum.

1509

• 21 April - Following his father's death, the Prince of Wales becomes King Henry VIII of England.
• 17 June - Thomas Skevington is consecrated Bishop of Bangor.
• 22 July - Edward Vaughan is consecrated Bishop of St David's.

1510

• Elis Gruffydd joins the English army.

1512

• Bishop Godfrey Blyth replaces Bishop Smyth as President of the Council of Wales and the Marches.

1516

• Sir Thomas Phillips is appointed High Sheriff of Carmarthenshire.
• Sir William Herbert of Troy Parva is knighted; his wife, Blanche Herbert, is thereafter called Lady Troy.

1517

• Lady Catherine Gordon marries her third husband, Matthew Craddock, and obtains permission to live with him in Wales when not at court.

1519

• Sir John Puleston is granted the lordship of Denbigh and Denbighland by King Henry VIII.

1526

• Princess Mary, heir to the throne, is sent to Ludlow Castle to preside over the Council of Wales and the Marches. Her retinue includes Susan Clarencieux.

1531

• Rhys ap Gruffudd of Carew Castle is executed for treason.

1534

• May - The notoriously anti-Welsh bishop Rowland Lee is appointed President of the Council of Wales and the Marches.
• 22 July Henry Somerset is appointed chief justice in eyre of Newport, Wentllwg and Machen.

1536

• Thomas Cromwell appoints Bishop Rowland Lee to the presidency of the Council of Wales and the Marches.
• An Acte for Lawes & Justice to be ministred in Wales in like fourme as it is in this Realme (27 Henry VIII c. 26) "unites" Wales with England and gives Wales parliamentary representation.

1541

• Foundation of Christ College, Brecon.

1542

• An Acte for certaine Ordinaunces in the Kinges Majesties Domynion and Principalitie of Wales (34 and 35 Henry VIII c. 26) extends the effects of the 1536 Act of Union.

1550

• Walter Devereux is created Viscount Hereford.

1551

• 10 October - William Herbert is created Baron Herbert of Cardiff.

1553

• Nicholas Heath is made President of the Council of Wales and the Marches by Queen Mary I of England.

1557

• 8 July - The will of Geoffrey Glyn leaves a bequest leading to the foundation of Friars School, Bangor.

1558

• November - Thomas Parry, faithful servant of Princess Elizabeth, is made Comptroller of the Household on her accession to the throne, as well as receiving a knighthood.

1559

• 5 January - Sir Thomas Parry is elected MP for Hertfordshire.
• George Constantine is made Archdeacon of Brecon.

1565

• Blanche Parry is appointed Keeper of the Queen's Books and Jewels.

1568

• 26 May - A "congress of bards and musicians" takes place at Caerwys, on the orders of a commission appointed by Queen Elizabeth I of England.

1571

• Foundation of Jesus College, Oxford, by David Lewis.

1573

• The first publication of the Cambriae Typus in the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum; the earliest map of Wales.

1574

• Re-foundation of Ruthin School by Gabriel Goodman.

1576

• The route for the weekly post to Ireland established by Queen Elizabeth I is switched from Liverpool to Holyhead.

1577

• Mary Sidney marries Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke.

1578

• Maurice Clenock becomes Warden of the English College, Rome.

1584

• 23 September - Robert Sidney marries heiress Barbara Gamage, at St Donat's Castle, the home of her guardian Sir Edward Stradling.
• Copper-working begins at Aberdulais Falls.

1595

• February - A riot breaks out in Cardiff as the result of the activities of Sir William Herbert (a relative of the Earl of Pembroke) and his henchmen.

1596

• Sir William and Nicholas Herbert are convicted by the Court of Star Chamber, imprisoned in the Fleet, and fined 1000 marks for their part in the affair.