Claire | May 11, 2011
In my articles on the indictments last May, I discussed the views of the historians Eric Ives, Alison Weir and G W Bernard on the dates given for the alleged offences committed by Queen Anne Boleyn, Henry Norris, Sir Francis Weston, William Brereton, Mark Smeaton and George Boleyn. Here is an extract from that article:- […]
Claire | March 30, 2011
I reviewed historian G W Bernard’s “Anne Boleyn: Fatal Attractions” when it first came out last year – click here to read my review – so I was interested to read two new reviews of it, one by my friend Gareth Russell over at his blog “Confessions of a Ci-Devant” and another by Susan Walters […]
Claire | May 11, 2010
On this day in history, the 11th May 1536, the Grand Jury of Kent assembled before Chief Justice John Baldwin and his six colleagues at Deptford. Like the Grand Jury of Middlesex the day before, the Kent Jury found a true bill against the accused on all charges pertaining to the crimes committed at Greenwich […]
Claire | May 10, 2010
The 10th May 1536 was an important day in the countdown to Anne Boleyn’s execution on the 19th May 1536 because it was the day that official legal proceedings against Anne Boleyn began. It was the day that the Grand Jury of Middlesex met at Westminster Hall to “decide prima facie on the offences alleged […]
Claire | February 23, 2010
If you’re like me, you are eagerly awaiting the publication of G W Bernard’s “Anne Boleyn: Fatal Attractions” which comes out in April (May in the USA). Why? Because this is one historian who believes that Anne could actually have been guilty of adultery and worse, incest. Most historians these days are sympathetic to Anne’s […]
Claire | October 22, 2009
I was only actually going to write two posts on Mark Smeaton, but Cynthia came up with a rather interesting theory yesterday as to why Mark did not retract his confession and why he said “Masters, I pray you all pray for me, for I have deserved the death” on the scaffold before he was […]
Claire | April 10, 2009
As part of the 500th Anniversary of Henry VIII’s accession to the throne, the National Archives have set up a special website as an online exhibition of documents from Henry’s reign. Included in these documents is Roll KB8/9, the “Baga de Secretis” or Bag of Secrets, which includes records of the opening of the trial […]
