Editing Pontefract Castle (section)

===Tudor Era===

In 1536,  the castle's guardian, [[Thomas Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy de Darcy]] handed over the castle to the leaders of the [[Pilgrimage of Grace]], a Catholic rebellion from northern England against the rule of King [[Henry VIII of England|Henry&nbsp;VIII]].  Lord Darcy was executed for this alleged "surrender", which the king viewed as an act of treason.

[[Henry VIII|King Henry VIII of England]] stayed at the castle arriving on 23 August 1541 during his summer [[Royal entry|royal progress]] of the North. It was alleged during his visit that Henry VIII's fifth wife, [[Catherine Howard]], committed her first act of adultery with Sir [[Thomas Culpeper]] at Pontefract Castle, for which she was later apprehended and beheaded at the [[Tower of London]] without trial. [[Mary, Queen of Scots]] was lodged at the castle on 28 January 1569, travelling between Wetherby and Rotherham.<ref>''Calendar State Papers Scotland'', vol.2 (1900), p.612</ref>