On This Day: December 17

King Henry VIII, circa 1535 in a painting by Joos van Cleve.

     In 1538, Pope Paul III excommunicated Henry VIII of England and Ireland. Henry had clashed with the Church for several years over the issues of his first marriage to Catherine of Aragon, his second marriage to Anne Boleyn, and his proclamation of supremacy over the pope in England. But the final straw for Pope Paul was Henry's Dissolution of the Monasteries, in which monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales, and Ireland were disbanded. In this process, the wealth and income of these institutions were redirected to the King and their members were pensioned off. Some of the physical buildings were modified to serve the needs of the Church of England, but many were left to ruin and rot. Under Henry's program, Westminster Abbey would have been among those places destroyed by the new order, but Henry spared it because of its significance to the coronation.  

Sir Francis Drake in a 16th century canvas portrait by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger.

     In 1577, Francis Drake sailed from Plymouth, England on a mission to explore the Pacific coast of the Americas for Elizabeth I of England and Ireland. For his efforts, he was knighted by the Queen in 1581.

The Earl and Countess of Wessex

     In 2007, James Mountbatten-Windsor, Viscount Severn was born. He is the second child and only son of Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex and the Queen’s youngest grandchild.

Photo Credit: Carfax2 via Wikimedia Commons cc