On this day in 1536, 3rd May, Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, sat down and wrote to King Henry VIII regarding what he’d heard about Queen Anne Boleyn. He was shocked by what he’d heard regarding the allegations made against her but had to be careful in what he said to the king.
Meanwhile, the investigation into the queen wasn’t quite going according to plan as the arrested men were not ‘playing ball’.
I give details on what happened on 3rd May 1536, including how Queen Anne Boleyn unwittingly got courtier Sir Francis Weston into big trouble…
And on this day in history, 3rd May 1415, a woman who was the matriarch of the House of York and mother of two kings, was born. Her name was Cecily Neville.
Find out about this Duchess of York, and how she is linked to royalty and the Tudors…
Also on this day in Tudor history, 3rd May 1568, courtier, member of Parliament, and privy councillor, Sir Edward Rogers, died.
Rogers had a long and successful royal career, serving three of the Tudor monarchs, and he managed to keep his head too.
Find out more about him, and how he even survived being implicated in rebellion and opposing Mary I…
Thomas Cranmer in fact was the only person who did stand up for Anne, a keen reformist, she was his patron, he had declared the kings first marriage unlawful and had validated his second, he had crowned Anne with the ancient crown of King Edward, baptised the baby Elizabeth and stood as one of her godparents, he was a friend of the Boleyn family and trusted by the king, he also visited her in the Tower and must have offered her solace in her most wretched moments, it is heartening to know that she did have this champion but of course, being the kings servant he could not dare express his feelings too much on this very delicate matter, we can understand his shock at the dreadful news and how it must have made him feel, and he wrote the king this carefully worded letter, so carefully worded was it as he knew his masters temper, he wished to express his shock at the queens arrest and the vile charges against her, but also he did not want to over reach himself, Cranmer knew the queen well he did not believe she was guilty, but he had to keep his innermost feelings to himself, in his letter he wrote he was ‘clear amazed for I never had better opinion of woman than I had of her’, those who were of the queens intimate household, her family her friends knew how pious she was, how much she loved god and he knew how long both she and the king had waited for their marriage and for Anne to be officially recognised as his queen, would such an intelligent pious god fearing woman throw all that away ? How is it possible a woman who had refused to sleep with the king for seven long years, would turn into such an immoral creature after they had wed, that she would risk her crown her very position as his wife all to satisfy her carnal lust, his mind must have been in turmoil as the days followed and more men were taken to the Tower of London, Cranmer, whose own ending years later was to be as violent as Anne’s, could only watch helplessly as the marriage he had helped bring about, was ruthlessly crushed as his queens good name and character was bandied all over England and overseas, he was to witness the kings further five hopeless adventures into wedlock and was with him at his deathbed, but he deeply mourned the one queen whom he had revered above all others.