Claire | June 19, 2022
On this day in Tudor history, 19th June 1535, in the reign of King Henry VIII, three monks of the Carthusian Order of London Charterhouse were hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn. Their names were Sebastian Newdigate, William Exmew and Humphrey Middlemore and they were executed for refusing to accept King Henry VIII as supreme […]
Claire | June 9, 2022
On this day in Tudor history, 9th June 1549, in the reign of King Edward VI, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer’s Book of Common Prayer was used for the very first time. The Archbishop of Canterbury’s publication was used at Whitsun services all around England. This was a huge day for the English Reformation as it meant […]
Claire | May 24, 2022
On this day in Tudor history, 24th May 1546, letters were sent from the Privy Council to the future Protestant martyr Anne Askew and her estranged husband, Thomas Kyme. The couple were ordered to appear in front of the council within fourteen days. But why? What was going on? And what happened next? Here are […]
Claire | April 1, 2018
Happy Easter! Today, Christians around the world celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This was a day that was also important in the Tudor church calendar. On Easter Sunday, people would go to church and the church candles and those around the Easter sepulchre were extinguished and then the church candles were re-lit by the […]
Claire | March 30, 2018
As I explained in yesterday’s article on Maundy Thursday, Anne Boleyn owned a copy of William Tyndale’s 1526 English translation of the New Testament. She kept a copy of it open in her apartments and encouraged her ladies to read it. On Good Friday, I am sure that Anne would have sat and read the […]
Claire | March 21, 2018
On this day in history, 21st March 1556, the third of the Oxford Martyrs, Thomas Cranmer, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, leader of the English Reformation and ‘architect’ of the Book of Common Prayer, was burnt at the stake in Oxford. Cranmer had been found guilty of heresy at a trial in September 1555 and […]
Claire | October 2, 2017
On 2nd October 1528 English reformer and Bible translator William Tyndale published his most influential book, The Obedience of the Christian Man and How Christian Rulers Ought to Govern. This book features in a story about Anne Boleyn, which is told by both George Wyatt, grandson of Thomas Wyatt the Poet, and the 17th century […]
Claire | September 12, 2017
On this day in history, Thursday 12th September 1555, Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, was tried for heresy at the University Church of St Mary the Virgin at Oxford. The court was presided over by James Brooks, Bishop of Gloucester and the representative of the Pope, and Dr Martin and Dr Storey, Queen Mary I’s […]
