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Claire | May 11, 2015
Following on from the rulings of the Grand Juries of Middlesex and Kent on the 10th and 11th May 1536, I wanted to share with you an extract from my book The Fall of Anne Boleyn: A Countdown about the indictments and Anne Boleyn’s alleged crimes. If we combine the Kent and Middlesex Indictments, we […]
Claire | May 11, 2015
On 11th May 1536, the Grand Jury of Kent met on 11th May in front of Chief Justice John Baldwin and six of his colleagues at Deptford. They met to rule on the alleged crimes committed at Greenwich Palace, East Greenwich, and Eltham Palace by Queen Anne Boleyn, Sir Henry Norris, Sir William Brereton, Sir […]
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 8, 2015
On 8th May 1536, while Anne Boleyn, Mark Smeaton, Sir Henry Norris, Sir Francis Weston, Sir William Brereton, George Boleyn, Sir Richard Page and Sir Thomas Wyatt were in prison at the Tower of London, courtiers were busy writing letters to put forward their claims for offices and titles that may soon become vacant. In […]
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 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 […]
