May 13 – Henry Percy gets cross and Anne Boleyn is on her way out

| May 13, 2022

May 13 – Henry Percy gets cross and Anne Boleyn is on her way out

On this day in Tudor history, 13th May 1536, Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, got rather cross and exasperated with Thomas Cromwell and refused to be bullied in any way. Poor Cromwell, Percy wouldn’t play ball! Find out what Thomas Cromwell was trying to get Percy to do and why, and what it had to […]

13 May 1536 – A pre-contract denied and a household broken up

| May 13, 2017

13 May 1536 – A pre-contract denied and a household broken up

On this day in history, 13th May 1536, we have two significant events in the fall of Anne Boleyn. Firstly, we have the breaking up of the queen’s household. Queen Anne Boleyn had not even been tried yet, but four men had been found guilty of high treason for having sexual relations with her and […]

13 May 1536 – The breaking up of Queen Anne Boleyn’s household

| May 13, 2016

13 May 1536 – The breaking up of Queen Anne Boleyn’s household

On 13th May 1536, two days before her trial, Queen Anne Boleyn’s household was broken up, and her staff discharged, by Sir William Fitzwilliam, Treasurer of the King’s Household, and Sir William Paulet, Comptroller of the Household.1 Fitzwilliam and Paulet would only have dared to do this on the King’s orders. Of course, Sir Francis […]

8 December 1538 – Death of William Coffin, Anne Boleyn’s Master of the Horse

| December 8, 2015

8 December 1538 – Death of William Coffin, Anne Boleyn’s Master of the Horse

On this day in history, 8th December 1538, Sir William Coffin, courtier and Master of the Horse to Queens Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour, died at Standon in Hertfordshire. It is thought that he died of the plague because his wife Margaret wrote to Thomas Cromwell saying that Coffin had “died of the great sickness, […]

13 May 1536 – Queen Anne Boleyn’s household is broken up

| May 13, 2015

13 May 1536 – Queen Anne Boleyn’s household is broken up

On 13th May 1536, Sir William Fitzwilliam, Treasurer of the King’s Household, and Sir William Paulet, Comptroller of the Household, broke up the Queen’s household at Greenwich and discharged her staff.1 Anne had not even been tried yet, but four of her alleged lovers and conspirators had been found guilty so her guilt was a […]

6 August 1504 – Birth of Matthew Parker, Chaplain to Anne Boleyn and Archbishop of Canterbury

| August 6, 2014

6 August 1504 – Birth of Matthew Parker, Chaplain to Anne Boleyn and Archbishop of Canterbury

On 6th August 1504, Matthew Parker, chaplain to Anne Boleyn and Archbishop of Canterbury in her daughter’s reign, was born in the parish of St Saviour, Norwich. Parker was the son of worsted weaver William Parker and his wife Alice Monings [Monins] from Kent. Parker was educated at Corpus Christi College in Cambridge, where he […]

13 May 1536 – The Breaking up of the Queen’s Household, and Percy Gets Cross

| May 13, 2014

13 May 1536 – The Breaking up of the Queen’s Household, and Percy Gets Cross

On 13th May 1536, four days before her trial, Queen Anne Boleyn’s royal household at Greenwich Palace was broken up and her servants were discharged. Some of her servants would be back at court in just a few weeks serving the new queen, Jane Seymour. Those who served both Anne and Jane included William Coffin, […]

13 May 1536 – Anne Boleyn’s Household is Broken Up

| May 13, 2013

13 May 1536 – Anne Boleyn’s Household is Broken Up

Anne Boleyn hadn’t even been tried and found guilty yet, but her household was broken up on this day in 1536. Chronicler Charles Wriothesley recorded: “And the morrowe after, beinge Satterdaie, and the thirtenth daie of Maie, Maister Fittes-Williams [Sir William Fitzwilliam], Treasorer of the Kinges howse, and Mr. Controoler [Sir Edward Poynings], deposed and […]

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