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Claire | May 9, 2015
On 9th May 1536, King Henry VIII sent a message to Thomas Cromwell “commanding him to repair to the King to treat of matters relating to the surety of his person, his honor, and the tranquillity of the realm” and also summoned a number of noblemen and gentlemen to a council meeting. While Henry VIII […]
Claire | May 5, 2015
By 5th May 1536, two other men had been imprisoned in the Tower of London and another courtier had been ordered to London for questioning. In 1538, Robert Hobbes, Abbot of Woburn, made a declaration “as touching the accusations of his adversaries proposed against him unto the King’s most honourable Council” and mentioned Sir Francis […]
Claire | May 4, 2015
Mark Smeaton, Sir Henry Norris, Queen Anne Boleyn and her brother George Boleyn, Lord Rochford, were already imprisoned in the Tower of London and this day in history, 4th May 1536, saw two others being apprehended and added to their number: Sir Francis Weston and William Brereton. Francis Weston was the son of Sir Richard […]
Claire | April 29, 2015
On 29th April 1536, Queen Anne Boleyn had two encounters with male courtiers which she later worried about when imprisoned in the Tower. The first involved court musician Mark Smeaton and the second involved Sir Henry Norris, her husband’s Groom of the Stool and a man who was courting Anne’s cousin, Madge Shelton. Both were […]
Claire | April 28, 2015
Let’s set the scene a little before I tell you about today’s news from 1536. Queen Anne Boleyn’s brother lost out to Nicholas Carew for an appointment to the Order of the Garter, commissions of oyer and terminer (legal commissions used to investigate and try serious criminal offences like treason) have been set up, Anne […]
Claire | April 27, 2015
On 27th April 1536, writs were issued summoning Parliament to meet on 8th June 1536 and a letter written to Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, asking him to attend the Parliament: “Summons to the archbishop of Canterbury to attend the Parliament which is to meet at Westminster, 8 June; and to warn the prior and […]
Claire | April 27, 2015
According to Eustace Chapuys, the imperial ambassador, on 27th April 1536 John Stokesley, Bishop of London, was consulted for advice regarding whether the King could set aside his marriage to Anne Boleyn. Chapuys wrote to Charles V: “The brother of lord Montague told me yesterday at dinner that the day before the bishop of London […]
Claire | April 24, 2015
On 24th April 1536, two commissions of oyer and terminer were set up by Sir Thomas Audley, Lord Chancellor. ‘Oyer and terminer’ comes from the French ‘to hear and to determine’ and denotes a legal commission formed to investigate and prosecute serious criminal offences, such as treason, committed in a particular county. These particular commissions […]
