Claire | May 5, 2021
Thank you so much to Sarah from the UK for her questions regarding Thomas Culpeper’s brothers and sisters, and whether he really had a brother called Thomas Culpeper. Sarah also asked whether Catherine Howard had got pregnant before her marriage and whether she got pregnant during her marriage to Henry VIII. Could she even have […]
Claire | December 10, 2018
On 10th December 1541, just a month and eight days after an investigation into Queen Catherine Howard’s past was ordered, two men were executed at Tyburn. They were Thomas Culpeper, a gentleman of the privy chamber, and Francis Dereham, a member of the queen’s household. Both men had been tried for treason at Guildhall on […]
Claire | November 14, 2018
On this day in history, 14th November 1541, an inventory was taken “of the goods and chattels, lands and fees of Thos. Culpeper, the younger”, a member of the king’s privy chamber who had been having secret meetings with the queen and who Francis Dereham claimed had replaced him in the queen’s affections. By 14th […]
Claire | December 10, 2017
On this day in history, 10th December 1541, Thomas Culpeper, a gentleman of King Henry VIII’s privy chamber, and Francis Dereham, secretary to Queen Catherine Howard, were executed for treason at Tyburn. Both had been found guilty of high treason for their relationships with the queen at their trial on 1st December 1541 and had […]
Claire | December 1, 2017
On 1st December 1541, Thomas Culpeper, a member of King Henry VIII’s privy chamber, and Francis Dereham, secretary to Queen Catherine Howard, were tried for high treason at Guildhall, London. They had both been linked romantically with the queen. Eustace Chapuys, the imperial ambassador, recorded that “after a long discussion lasting six hours” the two […]
Claire | November 14, 2017
By 14th November 1541, things were not looking good for Thomas Culpeper, a member of the king’s privy chamber and a man who Francis Dereham, secretary to Queen Catherine Howard, had claimed “had succeeded him in the Queen’s affections”. It was on this day that an inventory was taken “of the goods and chattels, lands […]
Claire | December 10, 2016
On 10th December 1541, Thomas Culpeper, gentleman of the Privy Chamber, and Francis Dereham, secretary to Queen Catherine Howard, were executed for treason at Tyburn. Dereham suffered a full traitor’s death, being “hanged, membered, bowelled, headed, and quartered” while Culpeper’s sentence was commuted to beheading. Their heads were then set on pikes and displayed on […]
Claire | December 1, 2016
On this day in history, 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 in London. Both men were found guilty and condemned to death. Chronicler and Windsor Herald Charles Wriothesley records: “This yeare, the fyrst daye of […]
