29 September 1528 – Cardinal Campeggio arrives in England

| September 29, 2015

29 September 1528 – Cardinal Campeggio arrives in England

On this day in history, 29th September 1528, the papal legate, Cardinal Lorenzo Campeggio, landed at Dover on the Kent coast. He had been made papal legate in June 1528 in preparation for hearing the case for the annulment of the marriage of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon at a special legatine court. Click […]

21 June 1529 – Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon at the Legatine Court

| June 21, 2015

21 June 1529 – Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon at the Legatine Court

On this day in history, 21st June 1529, Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon appeared in front of Cardinals Wolsey and Campeggio at the Legatine Court at Blackfriars. Cardinal Wolsey’s biographer and gentleman usher, George Cavendish, describes how the King sat under a cloth of estate and Catherine “sat some distance beneath the king”. Also […]

29 September 1528 – Cardinal Campeggio Lands at Dover

| September 29, 2014

29 September 1528 – Cardinal Campeggio Lands at Dover

On 29th September 1528 Cardinal Lorenzo Campeggio, papal legate, landed at Dover on the Kent coast. He had arrived in preparation for hearing the case for the annulment of the marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, at a special legatine court. You can read more about this in my article […]

21 June 1529 – And to God I commit my cause!

| June 21, 2014

21 June 1529 – And to God I commit my cause!

On 21st June 1529 King Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon appeared in front of Cardinals Wolsey and Campeggio at the Legatine Court at Blackfriars. In 1528, Cardinal Wolsey had been made the Pope’s vice-regent in order “to take cognisance of all matters concerning the King’s divorce” and Campeggio had been made […]

18 June 1529 – Catherine of Aragon’s First Appearance at the Legatine Court

| June 18, 2014

18 June 1529 – Catherine of Aragon’s First Appearance at the Legatine Court

On 31st May 1529, a legatine court had opened at Blackfriars in London following Pope Clement VII’s papal bull of April 1528 empowering Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, as the Pope’s viceregent, “to take cognisance of all matters concerning the King’s divorce” along with Cardinal Lorenzo Campeggio, who had been made papal legate in June 1528. Campeggio […]

21 June 1529 – Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon Appear at the Legatine Court

| June 21, 2013

21 June 1529 – Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon Appear at the Legatine Court

Three days after Catherine of Aragon had appeared at the Legatine Court at Blackfriars to lodge her appeals against the court proceedings into the validity of her marriage to Henry VIII, she again appeared in front of Cardinals Wolsey and Campeggio, and this time her husband was present. Cardinal Wolsey’s biographer and gentleman usher, George […]

18 June 1529 – Proceedings Begin at the Legatine Court

| June 18, 2013

18 June 1529 – Proceedings Begin at the Legatine Court

A special legatine court had been set up at Blackfriars on 31st May 1529 by Cardinal Wolsey and Cardinal Campeggio, the papal legate, to examine Henry VIII’s case for the annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. Both Henry and Catherine had been summoned to appear before the Cardinals on 18th June but only […]

31 May 1529 – Opening of the Legatine Court at Blackfriars

| May 31, 2013

31 May 1529 – Opening of the Legatine Court at Blackfriars

On 31st May 1529, the formal trial to investigate Henry VIII’s case for an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon was opened at Blackfriars. A papal bull in April 1528 had given Cardinal Wolsey the authority to “to take cognisance of all matters concerning the King’s divorce” in England, with the assistance of […]

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