Claire | February 27, 2021
A big thank you to Naomi for her question regarding the executions of Catherine Howard, fifth wife of Henry VIII, and Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford. In Showtime’s “The Tudors” series, it shows Jane Boleyn being executed first, but was that really the case? I look at what really happened on 13th February 1542 and also […]
Claire | February 13, 2018
On this day in history, Monday 13th February 1542, Catherine Howard, fifth wife and queen of King Henry VIII, and her lady, Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford, were executed at the Tower of London after being found guilty of treason by attainder. An eye-witness, London merchant Otwell Johnson recorded that the two women “made the moost […]
Claire | February 13, 2017
On this day in history, 13th February 1542, Queen Catherine Howard and her lady-in-waiting, Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford, “died repentaunt” at the executioner’s hands within the confines of the Tower of London. Catherine Howard was the fifth wife of King Henry VIII, having married him on 28th July 1540, and Lady Rochford was the widow […]
Claire | February 13, 2016
On 13th February 1542, Catherine Howard, fifth wife of Henry VIII, and her lady, Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford, were executed by beheading within the confines of the Tower of London. Chronicler Edward Hall recorded: “And so on the thirtene daie, these twoo ladies were behedded on the Grene, within the Tower with an axe, and […]
Claire | February 13, 2015
On this day in history, 13 February 1542, Catherine Howard, fifth wife of Henry VIII, and Lady Jane Rochford, wife of the late George Boleyn, were executed at the Tower of London. We have an eye-witness account of their executions from a letter written by London merchant Otwell Johnson. “[…] And for news from hence, […]
Claire | February 13, 2014
Today marks the anniversary of the executions of Catherine Howard, fifth wife of Henry VIII, and Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford, one of Catherine’s ladies. The two women had been found guilty of treason by bill of attainder, Catherine for not having a “pure and honest living before her marriage” and wanting “to return to her […]
Claire | February 13, 2013
On 15th February 1542, Otwell Johnson, a London merchant who David Loades describes as “the clothier and victualler whose customers had included many members of the queen’s household”, wrote to his brother regarding the executions of the Queen and Lady Rochford on 13th February. His is the only eye witness account we have and here […]
