Queen Anne Boleyn was put on trial on 15 May 1536. According to Imperial ambassador Eustace Chapuys, she was tried “by a tribunal composed of the principal lords of the kingdom … the Duke of Norfolk presiding over it .” The trial took place in the Tower rather than in Westminster Hall, “yet the trial… Read more The Trial of Anne Boleyn
On the surface Anne Boleyn’s judicial murder seems quite straightforward. Henry VIII wanted to marry a new, hopefully more fertile, son producing wife, and so he ordered Thomas Cromwell to rid him of his troublesome and miscarrying second queen. Cromwell, a brilliant legal mind, soon came up with a way to dispatch Anne and a… Read more The Plot Against Anne Boleyn
On 12 May 1536 four men — Henry Norris, Francis Weston, William Brereton, and Mark Smeaton — were condemned for treason, found guilty of having had sex with Queen Anne Boleyn. Although Smeaton confessed to sleeping with the queen on three occasions, he was the only man low-born enough to be tortured, so his confession… Read more A Clear Case for Murder
Historians and history-buffs alike have strong opinions about facts and persons and those opinions aren’t universal. Nevertheless, there tends to be enough commonality that two “camps” will spring up regarding an event. For those interested in the Tudor era, there is often a spilt into (let’s overly-simplify it for the sake of argument) people who… Read more What Anne Boleyn Did That Jane Seymour Didn’t
Anne Boleyn was left isolated from her friends and miserable the entire time she was in the Tower awaiting her unjust death. Thanks to the informants surrounding her in her imprisonment, she was (ironically and cruelly) condemned more by her own words than anything else her enemies could come up with. Thomas Cromwell had assigned… Read more Cunning is Not the Word for Anne Boleyn
King Henry VIII’s widow, Kateryn Parr, married the king’s third wife’s brother Thomas Seymour on 4 May 1547, just a few months after her royal husband had bitten the dust. The former queen had loved Seymour even before she had been coerced into marrying Henry, and thus she must have been very happy, but frankly she… Read more Unlucky in Love
Cecily Neville, Duchess of York was born (or at least Christened) on 3 May 1415. Her father was Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland and her mother, Joan Beaufort, Countess of Westmorland, was the granddaughter of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster and Katherine Swynford. Thus Cecily was the great-granddaughter of King Edward III.… Read more Cecily Neville, Duchess of York
Queen Anne Boleyn was arrested on 2 May 1536. The befuddled queen was told she was suspected of adultery (which was treason) with Henry Norris, King Henry VIII’s friend and groom of the stool, and with lowly court musician Mark Smeaton, as well as one other unidentified man, but given no other details of her… Read more The Sudden Arrest of Anne Boleyn
Edmund de la Pole, 3rd Duke of Suffolk, 6th Earl of Suffolk – fourth born but now oldest surviving son of John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk and his wife Elizabeth of York, grandson of Richard, 3rd Duke of York and nephews of King Edward IV and King Richard III, and thus the… Read more The Execution of Edmund de la Pole
Mary, Queen of Scots wed François, the Dauphin of France, at Notre Dame de Paris in a lavish ceremony (did they have any other kind for a royal wedding??) on 24 April 1558. The young couple, who had been raised together since Mary was 5 years old and the Dauphin only 4, seem to be… Read more Mary Marries Merrily