Hey, this is Heather from the Renaissance English History Podcast, and this is your Tudor Minute for December 20.
Today in 1541 Agnes Tilney was imprisoned in the Tower of London. She was 64 years old, and the reason she was in prison was because of the lax care she provided to her step granddaughter Catherine Howard, when young Catherine was in her household. She was the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, and it was her household where Catherine Howard was raised, and got into so much trouble with Francis Dereham, and her music teacher Henry Manox. Agnes was interrogated, as were other members of the household, and while Henry wanted to convict her for treason, the council urged leniency. Enough of her family had been killed, and she was eventually released in 1542. She died just a few years later, a broken woman.
That’s your Tudor Minute for today. Remember you can dive deeper into life in 16th century England through the Renaissance English History Podcast at englandcast.com.