Also in November 1585
8th: The relics of St Rumbold are restored to St Rumbold’s Cathedral in Mechelen, the Belgian city in which he was martyred. Removed from the cathedral during a period of political and religious conflict in the region, the bones are now solemnly placed in a tomb under the instructions of the second Archbishop of Mechelen, Joannes Hauchin. 11th: An expedition led by Francis Drake to capture the island of Santiago (in the present-day Cape Verde Islands) begins. With Drake’s fleet positioned off the coast, the military commander Christopher Carleill lands on the beach at night with around 1,000 men. From there, the English forces advance on and sack the capital Cidade Velha, soon gaining control of the island.
16th: Gerald Fitzgerald, the 11th Earl of Kildare, dies in London at the age of 60. A staunch Catholic who found himself locked up in the Tower of London during much of the reign of Elizabeth I, Fitzgerald’s interest in alchemy earned him the nickname of the ‘Wizard Earl’ among those who believed he had magic powers. c20th: Gilbert Gifford, a young catholic priest involved in machinations to assassinate Elizabeth I and put Mary, Queen of Scots on the throne, is arrested as he arrives from France. On being questioned by Elizabeth’s spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham, Gifford agrees to become a double agent, so helping to uncover the Babington Plot.
28th: The Spanish composer Hernando Franco dies in Mexico. Born in the Extremadura region of Spain, Franco moved in the 1550s to central America, where he became maestro de capilla of the cathedrals of Santiago de Guatemala and, later, Mexico City. His compositions included 20 motets and 16 settings of the Magnificat.