Claire | May 17, 2011
Today is an awful day, a bloody day, a shocking day. Today has seen the brutal executions of five innocent members of the Tudor Court: Henry Norris, Sir Francis Weston, William Brereton, George Boleyn (Lord Rochford) and Mark Smeaton. The only good news is that all five men were beheaded rather than hanged, drawn and […]
Claire | May 17, 2010
On the 17th May 1536, Henry Norris, Sir Francis Weston, Mark Smeaton, William Brereton and George Boleyn, Lord Rochford were led out of the Tower of London to a scaffold which had been erected on Tower Hill. I cannot imagine how they felt as they surveyed the scene and realised that death was closing in […]
Claire | December 21, 2009
In last week’s post on George Boleyn, I examined the beginning of George Boleyn’s downfall, his arrest and the role that his wife, Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford, had in the downfalls of both George and Anne Boleyn. Today, I’m going to continue George’s story to its tragic end. The Case Against George Boleyn George Boleyn […]
Claire | May 17, 2009
On this day in 1536, Mark Smeaton, Henry Norris, William Brereton, Sir Francis Weston and George Boleyn were all beheaded by axe on Tower Hill. The first four had all been sentenced to hanging, drawing and quartering, but the King commuted their sentences to beheading. Thomas Wyatt reported that George Boleyn made a speech defending […]
