Click the flag for our US Resource Page
Click the flag for our UK/Europe Resource Page
Claire | June 18, 2013
On 18th June 1546, Anne Askew, a young woman from Lincolnshire who we know now as a Protestant martyr and poet, was arraigned for heresy at London’s Guildhall along with Nicholas Shaxton, Nicholas White and John Hadlam (Adlams or Adams). They were all found guilty and condemned to death. Chronicler and Windsor Herald Charles Wriothesley
[… Read More]
Claire | June 15, 2013
On 15th June 1560, William Somer (Sommers), former court fool to Henry VIII, Edward VI and Mary I died in Shoreditch, London. He was buried at St Leonard’s Church, Shoreditch. Somer served as Henry VIII’s fool from June 1535 and just a month later got into trouble with the King. In July 1535, Eustace Chapuys,
[… Read More]
Claire | June 15, 2013
The 15th June 1519 is the date traditionally given for the birth of Henry Fiztroy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset, in Blackmore, Essex. Richmond was the acknowledged illegitimate son of Henry VIII by his mistress Elizabeth (Bessie) Blount. Bessie had been sent by Cardinal Wolsey to reside at the prior’s house of the Priory of
[… Read More]
Claire | June 12, 2013
On 12th June 1540, Thomas Cromwell, who was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his arrest on 10th June for treason, wrote to King Henry VIII regarding his “most miserable state”, asking for mercy and pleading his innocence. You can read the full letter in my article from last year – click here. Cromwell
[… Read More]
Claire | June 10, 2013
At 3pm on 10th June 1540, while the Privy Council were in session at Westminster, the Captain of the Guard strode into the council chamber with a royal warrant for the arrest of Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, for treason. A furious Cromwell threw his cap to the ground, asked those gathered if “this was
[… Read More]
Claire | June 3, 2013
On this day in 1535, Thomas Boleyn, Thomas Audley, Thomas Cromwell and the Duke of Suffolk visited Sir Thomas More in the Tower of London to interrogate him regarding his views on the royal supremacy. More wrote the following letter to his daughter, Margaret Roper, about the visit: “Writes, as it is likely she has
[… Read More]
Claire | May 25, 2013
As so many of you enjoyed my rundown on the Anne Boleyn programme, I thought I’d do the same for the Cromwell programme. It’s a sacrifice you know as it is impossible to hold a glass of wine while scribbling frantically and trying to balance both notepad and cat on one’s lap! All of the
[… Read More]
Claire | May 23, 2013
As many of you know, I spent last weekend in London so that I could visit the Tower on 19th May and also see the play Fallen In Love: The Secret Heart of Anne Boleyn. As part of my weekend away, I visited Westminster Abbey on Saturday. I hadn’t been since I was a child,
[… Read More]
