Claire | November 7, 2022
On this day in Tudor history, Monday 7th November 1541, in the reign of King Henry VIII, Queen Catherine Howard, received a visit from Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury. The king’s fifth wife had been confined to her chambers at Hampton Court Palace after an investigation had been launched into allegations about her past. It […]
Claire | June 9, 2022
On this day in Tudor history, 9th June 1549, in the reign of King Edward VI, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer’s Book of Common Prayer was used for the very first time. The Archbishop of Canterbury’s publication was used at Whitsun services all around England. This was a huge day for the English Reformation as it meant […]
Claire | May 3, 2022
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 […]
Claire | May 3, 2021
On this day in history, 3rd May 1536, Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, crafted a careful letter to Henry VIII expressing his shock at the news of Queen Anne Boleyn’s arrest. As Cranmer was writing his very carefully worded letter, the investigation, if it can be called that, wasn’t going so well as the men […]
Claire | May 3, 2020
On this day in 1536, 3rd May, Queen Anne Boleyn had just 16 days to live and she was now imprisoned in the Tower of London, albeit in the lavish Queen’s apartments. Her good friend, Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, had heard news of Anne Boleyn’s arrest, and wrote to King Henry VIII regarding what […]
Claire | May 28, 2018
On this day in history, just four days before the coronation of Queen Anne Boleyn, and just the day before the coronation celebrations kicked off, Thomas Cranmer, the recently appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, proclaimed the validity of the marriage of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. This proclamation at Lambeth Palace was the result of a […]
Claire | September 12, 2017
On this day in history, Thursday 12th September 1555, Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, was tried for heresy at the University Church of St Mary the Virgin at Oxford. The court was presided over by James Brooks, Bishop of Gloucester and the representative of the Pope, and Dr Martin and Dr Storey, Queen Mary I’s […]
Claire | May 17, 2017
On the same day that George Boleyn, Sir Henry Norris, Sir Francis Weston, William Brereton and Mark Smeaton were executed on Tower Hill, the marriage of King Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn, was annulled. At a special court at Lambeth Palace, in the presence of Sir Thomas Audley, Lord Chancellor; Charles Brandon, […]
