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 | October 11, 2014
On this day in history, 11th October 1542, Sir Thomas Wyatt the Elder, poet and diplomat, died at Clifton Maybank House, the home of his friend Sir John Horsey, in Sherborne Dorset. He had been complaining of severe headaches since 1539 and he was just 39 years old at the time of his death. You […]
Claire | September 19, 2014
Before Anne Boleyn became romantically involved with Henry VIII, her name was linked to two courtiers: Henry Percy, son of the Earl of Northumberland and a member of Cardinal Wolsey’s household, and Thomas Wyatt the Elder, the famous Tudor poet. I want to share with you today two videos I did as sample “Claire Chats” […]
Claire | May 5, 2014
On 5th May 1536, Sir Thomas Wyatt, the Elder, the renowned court poet, and Sir Richard Page, a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber, were arrested and imprsoned in the Tower of London. There were now 8 prisoners in the Tower of London in the coup against the Boleyns: Anne Boleyn, George Boleyn, Mark Smeaton, Sir […]
Claire | May 5, 2013
By 5th May 1536, two further arrests had taken place: courtier, poet and diplomat Sir Thomas Wyatt, and Sir Richard Page, a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber. Neither man was named in the indictments of May 1536 and they were subsequently released. You can find out more about Page in my article Sir Richard Page […]
Claire | October 11, 2011
On this day in history, 11th October… 1521 – Title of Fidei Defensor, “Defender of the Faith”, conferred by Pope Leo X on Henry VIII. This was a reward for Henry VIII writing his pamphlet “Assertio septem sacramentorum adversus Martinum Lutherum” (“Declaration of the Seven Sacraments Against Martin Luther”), defending the Catholic Church against the […]
Claire | August 26, 2011
True poets are created in times of love. Although some people are born with the ability to speak and write with eloquence, the intensity of romance and the heartbroken yearning afterwards, shapes a true bard. Thomas Wyatt’s life saw enough forlorn longing to carry over to his daily existence as well as his verses. He […]
Claire | August 26, 2011
Thomas was born to Sir Henry Wyatt and Anne Skinner in 1503 at Allington Castle, Kent. Being the son of a man who dutifully served Henry VII and would go on to serve Henry VIII, Thomas’s life looked prosperous even peering out of his cradle. There is sparse surviving knowledge about his childhood, but it […]
