Claire | December 20, 2022
On this day in Tudor history, 20th December 1541, in the reign of King Henry VIII, Agnes Tilney, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, begged the king for forgiveness. The dowager duchess, who was described as “very sickly” at this time, was imprisoned in the Tower of London. She’d been arrested and accused of misprision of treason […]
Claire | November 7, 2017
On this day in history, 7th November 1541, Henry VIII’s fifth wife, Catherine Howard, received important visitors in her apartments at Hampton Court Palace. The visitors were Archbishop Thomas Cranmer and Catherine’s uncle, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, and they hadn’t come to exchange pleasantries or pass on a message from the king, they […]
Claire | November 6, 2016
6th November was quite a busy day in Tudor history! We have Mary Tudor’s entry into Paris, following her coronation on this day in 1514; we have the first meeting of Catherine of Aragon and Arthur Tudor, on this day in 1501; and then we have Henry VIII abandoning Catherine Howard at Hampton Court Palace […]
Claire | November 2, 2016
All Souls’ Day is the feast day when forgotten souls, those souls in purgatory who might not have any masses or prayers being said for them, are remembered and it was at the special All Souls’ mass of 1541 that Henry VIII’s happy world came crashing down. Previous to this, Henry VIII had been blissfully […]
Claire | December 22, 2015
On this day in 1541, members of the Howard and Tilney family, plus their staff, were tried for misprision of treason for covering up the “unlawful, carnal, voluptuous, and licentious life” of Queen Catherine Howard while she lived with the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk at Lambeth. The people listed in the trial documents included Lord […]
Claire | December 1, 2015
On 1st December 1541, Francis Dereham, secretary to Queen Catherine Howard, and Thomas Culpeper, a member of the king’s privy chamber, were tried for treason at Guildhall. Both men were found guilty and condemned to death. Chronicler and Windsor Herald Charles Wriothesley records: “This yeare, the fyrst daye of December, was arrigned at the Guyld […]
Claire | November 7, 2015
On 7th November 1541, Queen Catherine Howard received important visitors to her apartments at Hampton Court Palace, and they weren’t welcome ones. Archbishop Thomas Cranmer and Catherine’s uncle, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, had been sent to interrogate the Queen and to arrange that she should be confined to her chambers. Eustace Chapuys, the […]
Claire | November 2, 2015
Happy All Souls’ Day! Unfortunately, back in 1541 All Souls’ Day was not a happy day for Henry VIII and any thoughts or prayers he had for departed loved ones were soon forgotten when he attended All Souls’ mass and found a letter left for him in the Holy Day Closet at Hampton Court Palace. […]
