Claire | May 2, 2023
Today is the anniversary of the arrests of Queen Anne Boleyn, second wife of King Henry VIII, and her brother, George Boleyn, Lord Rochford. By this time, court musician Mark Smeaton had confessed, after spending 24 hours in the custody of Thomas Cromwell, to having slept with the queen, and Henry VIII’s good friend and […]
Claire | May 2, 2022
On this day in Tudor history, 2nd May 1536, Queen Anne Boleyn was called before the king’s council at Greenwich Palace, arrested and taken to the Tower of London. On that very same day, George Boleyn, Lord Rochford, Anne’s brother, was arrested at Whitehall and also taken to the Tower. Let me tell you exactly […]
Claire | May 2, 2020
On 2nd May 1536, with just 17 days left to live, Queen Anne Boleyn became very much aware of trouble at court. At Greenwich Palace, on this day in 1536, the queen was called before the king’s council, arrested, and taken to the Tower of London to be imprisoned. Her brother, George Boleyn, Lord Rochford, […]
Claire | May 2, 2016
On the morning of Tuesday 2nd May 1536, Sir Henry Norris was escorted to the Tower of London. He had been interrogated the previous day by the King himself and George Constantine, one of Norris’s servants, wrote of how the King “promised him his pardon in case he would utter the truth” but that “Mr. […]
Claire | May 2, 2015
The following account of George Boleyn’s arrest is taken from George Boleyn: Tudor Poet, Courtier and Diplomat by Claire Ridgway (me!) and Clare Cherry… George Boleyn was arrested on the afternoon of 2 May 1536 at Whitehall.1 This did not become common knowledge until the following day, which must mean it was orchestrated to be […]
