Claire | May 17, 2021
On this day in Tudor history, 17th May 1536, courtiers George Boleyn, Henry Norris, Sir Francis Weston, William Brereton and Mark Smeaton were beheaded on Tower Hill for high treason. All five had been found guilty of treason, for their alleged affairs with Queen Anne Boleyn, and for plotting with her to kill her husband, […]
Claire | May 15, 2021
On this day in Tudor history, 15th May 1536, Queen Anne Boleyn and her brother, the courtier, poet and diplomat, George Boleyn, Lord Rochford, were tried in the King’s Hall at the Tower of London. They were tried separately by a jury of their peers presided over by their uncle, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of […]
Claire | April 23, 2021
On this day in Tudor history, 23rd April, less than a month before he was executed, George Boleyn, Lord Rochford, a man who had been in high favour and was a friend of his brother-in-law the king, lost to courtier Nicholas Carew in the Order of the Garter elections. Why would the queen’s brother lose […]
Claire | April 2, 2021
Thank you so much to Omar from Leeds for the excellent questions regarding Showtime’s The Tudors series for my Fan Q&A series on YouTube. Omar wanted to know if William Compton and Thomas Tallis, and George Boleyn and Mark Smeaton really had sexual relationships. I consider whether these storylines were just fictional devices and look […]
Claire | January 30, 2021
I fell under George Boleyn’s ‘spell’ when I started working with Clare Cherry on our book, George Boleyn: Tudor Poet, Courtier and Diplomat. Clare had told me that George was just as fascinating as his sister, Anne Boleyn, and she was right! His life may have been cut short, but he packed lots into it, […]
Claire | November 11, 2020
On this day in Tudor history, 11th November 1534, Philippe de Chabot, Seigneur De Brion and Admiral of France, landed on English soil. The purpose of the diplomatic mission he was leading was to renew Anglo-French relations. George Boleyn, Lord Rochford, brother of Queen Anne Boleyn, had been put in charge of meeting the admiral […]
Claire | May 17, 2020
On 17th May 1536, Queen Anne Boleyn may have still had two days to live, but, for the accused men, this was execution day. Mark Smeaton, William Brereton, Sir Francis Weston, Sir Henry Norris, and George Boleyn, Lord Rochford, were executed by beheading on Tower Hill on the morning of 17th May 1536. They were […]
Claire | April 23, 2020
On 23rd April 1536, St George’s Day, elections were held to fill a vacancy in the Order of the Garter, England’s highest order of chivalry. Queen Anne Boleyn’s brother, George Boleyn, Lord Rochford, expected to secure the place, but, unfortunately, the very man who was helping Jane Seymour appeal to King Henry VIII was voted […]
