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1:54 am
November 18, 2010
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What if the Anne purge never happened? How would Norrris have fared in a Anne-inspired later Henrican court?
It's always bunnies.
8:22 pm
February 24, 2010
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Sir Henry Norris was very close to Henry. He had been with the king since he was a young man, and had been granted many offices by Henry. He was Groom of the Stool, and he was Henry’s confident. Norris became close to Anne’s faction, which in the end put him at odds with Cromwell. In 1529 he received a grant for the see of Winchester. In 1531 he was made chamberlain of North Wales. In 1534 he was made constable of Beaumaris Castle in Wales. Norris was the elder of the gentleman who died with Anne. He was about 54 when he died. Between Brereton and Norris there was a lock on Wales, yes? Would Cromwell still want him gone too? Henry was so fickle, I’m not sure how Norris would have made out had Anne lived. Hopefully he would have survived and married Madge.
Another question is would Cromwell have survived?
1:14 pm
April 9, 2011
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Thanks for the info on Norris and Brereton you’ve supplied Sharon. I’m finally understanding why the men who were accused of sexual relations with Anne were chosen. I mean I figure Smeaton was chosen to be tortured and get the fake confession, George was chosen to show just how terrible Anne was (plus to totally destroy the Boleyn faction) but I had no idea why Cromwell chose the other men. And now I do.
7:16 pm
December 5, 2009
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I get so caught up with Anne and George that I sometimes overlook the other 4 men who tragically lost their lives. In Thomas Wyatt’s verses about the five men who died as Anne’s co-accused, he portrays Henry Norris as a man who was liked by everyone. Even Cavendish in his tortuous, pious poetry can’t find anything bad to say about him. Poor Henry seemed to be a universally well liked man. He was one of Henry’s best friends, yet was sacrificed none-the-less. Enough said……
7:22 pm
December 5, 2009
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Of the other four men who died as Anne’s co-accused, other then George, I think my sympathies are mostly with Henry Norris because he seems to have been such a decent man, and Francis Weston. I think both he and Norris would have continued in Henry’s services as two of his favourites if the May tragedy had never have happened. I think my sympathy is with Francis, partly because of his age, partly because of how he is portrayed in Wyatt’s poem, but also because his is the only letter which remains which was written to his parents and wife following his condemnation. You would have to have a heart of stone not to get snuffly when you read his heart felt apology. For God’s sake, he was innocent!!
This should have been on the Francis Weston bit…I really shouldn’t be let loose on a computer without supervision
11:01 pm
February 24, 2010
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Bill, 
You are welcome.
When I was reading Wyatt’s poem about these two, my heart went out to them. Norris seemed like a very likable gentleman. I couldn’t find anything at all bad about him. Weston was much the same way. I think it was Cavendish who said Weston was the man about town, but for heaven’s sake he was only 24 or 25. His letter to his wife and parents brought tears to my eyes.
I understand what Cromwell was doing. I don’t like it but I get it. But how Henry was able to allow these five men to be destroyed is beyond me. He must have known they were innocent just like his wife was innocent and yet he let them die. These men were his friends. They had been with him for a long time. Weston started as a page. All because he wanted a male child. The jerk!
