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Claire | May 20, 2013
At 9am on 20th May 1536, just one day after the execution of his second wife, Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII became betrothed to Jane Seymour, daughter of Sir John Seymour, soldier and courtier, and of Margery Wentworth. Jane had served both of the King’s previous wives as a lady-in-waiting, having come to court in around
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Claire | May 14, 2013
At some point between Jane’s arrival at Chelsea and Anne Boleyn’s execution, Henry VIII wrote to Jane regarding some pamphlets which were being spread around London deriding their relationship. It is understandable that speculation and gossip were rife: the Queen was in the Tower awaiting trial and yet Henry VIII was having a relationship with
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Claire | May 14, 2013
On this day in 1536, while his wife was imprisoned in the Tower of London waiting to be tried for treason, King Henry VIII sent Sir Nicholas Carew to take Jane Seymour to a house in Chelsea, a property that was within a mile of his own lodgings. Until this point, the King had kept
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Claire | April 1, 2013
On the 1st April 1536, Chapuys reported to his master, Emperor Charles V, that King Henry VIII had sent Jane Seymour “a purse full of sovereigns.” He also reported Jane’s reaction, writing that on receiving the purse, Jane had kissed the letter and begged the messenger to tell the King that she could not take
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Claire | February 13, 2013
On 15th February 1542, Otwell Johnson, a London merchant who David Loades describes as “the clothier and victualler whose customers had included many members of the queen’s household”, wrote to his brother regarding the executions of the Queen and Lady Rochford on 13th February. His is the only eye witness account we have and here
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Claire | January 31, 2013
On this day in 1510 disaster struck Catherine of Aragon and her first pregnancy. According to her confessor, Fray Diego, after suffering pain in her knee on the night of 30th January, Catherine “brought forth prematurely a daughter” on the morning of 31st January. Catherine’s biographer, Julia Fox, refers to this pregnancy as “disastrous”, but
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Claire | January 29, 2013
On 29th January 1536, Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s first wife, was buried at Peterborough Abbey, now Peterborough Cathedral. The annulment of her marriage to Henry VIII in 1533 had led to her being denied the denied of Queen and being given the title of Dowager Princess of Wales, referring to her first marriage to
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Claire | January 7, 2013
On 7th January 1536, at two o’clock in the afternoon, Catherine of Aragon, first wife of King Henry VIII, died at Kimbolton Castle. You can read all about her death in my article “The Death of Catherine of Aragon”. Catherine of Aragon was laid to rest on the 29th January 1536 at Peterborough Abbey, which
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