March 28 – The birth of the amazing Raphael and the death of Anne Boleyn’s chaplain and almoner John Skip

Can just imagine that sunday hundreds of years ago when John Skip addressed the crowd in the royal chapel, the queen smirking at Cromwell who must have sat glowering in his seat for he knew all too well it was aimed at him, was Henry V111 aware of it, was it Anne’s idea probably? But the message carried a very real threat and here we have two powerful people at odds with each other, Anne had tried to make herself popular with the people by involving herself in many charitable works, by sewing clothes for the poor with her ladies, by trying to help women in need, now she was rightfully alarmed that the riches from the monasteries, instead of being used to fund the poor, was making its way into the treasury, Henry V111 had inherited a very rich kingdom from his father but he had lived a flamboyant lifestyle and had lost most of it, the money from the monasteries made his greedy eyes twinkle and Cromwell was of like mind, thus he incurred Anne’s wrath, her downfall was partly due to Cromwells enmity I think, he convinced the king she had to die he did not plead for her life, he had the awful task of ridding the king of her but he could have chosen a different path that would have seen her maybe, banished to a monastery instead of the scaffold, John Skip must have loved his mistress truly and he did not desert her in her hour of need, at the end he was with her praying throughout her final night, he must have wept at her death and like Mathew Parker he remained faithful to her memory, the sad thing is Anne failed and the vast wealth from the sacked monasteries did go the crown, it is repugnant when we know the wealth Henry V111 lived in, ancient kings like their modern descendants today lived in luxury, Henry V111 even had a velvet padded toilet, now people are not poor like those who lived in Tudor times, although some may think they are if they cannot afford a second holiday, in the reign of Henry V111 and his children there was still a vast class divide, the very poor simply lived in tiny dwellings and grew their own vegetables which was their staple diet, whereas the king and his court dined on a magnificent arrange of food, all kinds of meats fowls and fish, the poor also worked long hours and was destined to die young, one would have thought Henry V111 would have liked to have aided his subjects who after all, still lined the streets and country lanes when he rode by in his carriage, and cheered him and blessed him a long and hearty life.