I'm researching content for a novel and part of the back story takes place in this time. I was wondering specifically if English people would/could speak German or Spanish and if migration was common in this time. The characters are a part of the royal court (though they're not royalty) and consist of Earls; families of nobility. Thank you for any responses.
Edit: Follow-on question. Were there any Earls in history who abruptly fled England during Henry VIII reign?
Cornish was still prominent in Cornwall and wouldn't begin it's terminal decline for another hundred years although it had lost the borderlands around Plymouth. Welsh marcher lords may well have spoken a smattering of Welsh, likewise those on the border of Scotland and the Scots language/dialect. If there was a visiting Scottish highland or island noble then they may well have spoken Scots Gaelic but with Scotland independent of England in this period, it'd take some figuring out as to why they were in England. Prominent nobles throughout the kingdom would have spoken French as most educated or rich public figures did so into the 19th century. German and Spanish would have been much rarer. English dialects would have been thicker and less comprehensible, so if you're trying to use languages a plot device you might be able to use an English dialect instead, although some like Scouse had yet to form, so don't make the mistake of writing a character with a Scouse twang ;)
Those of a poor background would have only spoken English (unless Cornish, Welsh or Scottish) unless possibly they happened to live in London as others have mentioned but even then foreign languages would likely have been restricted to affluent members of society as widespread migration wasn't that common in this period. For instance it took five days to travel from London to Exeter in 1750 (London in the Eighteenth Century, Jerry White) and this was via stagecoach, the time it took for a poorer person to reach London from the English provinces in 1500s would have been even longer. The only 'quick' form of transport was by sea and most people did not have access to this nor were there the colonial companies of the 1600s that created a market for exporting people. These factors along with the problem of financing such a move obviously negates the chance of widespread migration in England during this period although during the latter half of the century there is the stirring of English North American migration.
The "Evil May Day" riots of May 1517 were targeted at affluent foreigners in London, mostly of French descent but also of Jewish, Genoese and Dutch origin, so it's fair to conclude that in London at least there would have been people speaking French, Italian and Dutch.