Claire | July 8, 2022
On this day in Tudor history, on 8th July 1503, Thomas Boleyn, father of Anne Boleyn, left Collyweston in Northamptonshire to undertake an important job for King Henry VII. Thomas Boleyn had been appointed to serve in a retinue escorting Princess Margaret Tudor, the king’s eldest daughter, to Scotland. Margaret was travelling there for her […]
Claire | July 2, 2022
On this day in Tudor history, 2nd July 1536, Master Secretary, Thomas Cromwell, the king’s chief advisor, was formally appointed Lord Privy Seal. The previous holder, Thomas Boleyn, Earl of Wiltshire and Ormond, had been stripped of the office following the falls and executions of two of his children, Queen Anne Boleyn and George Boleyn, […]
Claire | June 22, 2022
On the night of 22nd June 1509, during the celebrations for the forthcoming coronation of King Henry VIII and Queen Catherine of Aragon, the king rewarded twenty-six men for their loyal service to the crown by making them Knights of the Bath. One of these men was Thomas Boleyn, father of Anne Boleyn, the woman […]
Claire | February 18, 2022
One of my very favourite books on the Boleyns is Dr Lauren Mackay’s “Among the Wolves of Court”, a dual biography of Thomas Boleyn and George Boleyn, so I’m very excited to have Lauren as a speaker at my “Anne Boleyn, the Woman who Changed England” online event. REGISTER TODAY DOORS CLOSE 25th FEBRUARY Here’s […]
Claire | August 18, 2021
Episode 1 of BBC Two’s new three-part series on the Boleyn family – The Boleyns: A Scandalous Family – aired on Friday 13th August, and episodes 2 and 3 have already been released on BBC iPlayer. It is a wonderful series and well worth watching because it introduces a very different Boleyn family. Gone are […]
Claire | March 12, 2021
On this day in history, 12th March 1539, at the Boleyn family home, Hever Castle, Thomas Boleyn, Earl of Wiltshire and Ormonde, died. His servant, Robert Cranwell, wrote to Thomas Cromwell the following day to give him news of Wiltshire’s death, writing: “My good lord and master is dead. He made the end of a […]
Claire | November 7, 2020
In this latest edition of my Questions about Anne Boleyn series, I consider whether Anne Boleyn and her cousin, Catherine Howard, were pawns of their families and whether the Boleyns and Howards deserve to be blamed for their subsequent executions. Did Thomas and Elizabeth Boleyn, and Elizabeth’s brother, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, force […]
Claire | June 22, 2020
As you know, I’m doing daily “on this day in Tudor history” videos for the Anne Boleyn & Tudor Society YouTube channel based on research I did for my book, On This Day in Tudor History. Today, 22nd June, has two Boleyn-related events, so I thought I’d share them with you here. On this day […]
