On 20th April 1534 Elizabeth Barton, a Benedictine nun who became known as “the Nun of Kent” or “the Holy Maid of Kent”, was hanged for treason at the gallows at Tyburn along with Father Edward Bocking (a monk and Barton’s spiritual adviser), Richard Masters (her parish priest), Richard Risby (warden of the Observant Friary at Canterbury) and Hugh Rich (warden of the Observant Friary at Richmond).
They had all been attainted of high treason in January 1534 after Barton had prophesied that if Henry proceeded with his divorce from Catherine of Aragon and married Anne Boleyn, then he would lose his kingdom within a month and “should die a villain’s death”.
You can read the full story of the nun’s prophecies and how Thomas More became implicated in the whole affair in my article Elizabeth Barton, the Nun of Kent.
