Claire | May 17, 2013
“These bloody days have broken my heart”, wrote the famous Tudor poet, Thomas Wyatt, after witnessing the executions of the five men, and then Anne Boleyn, from his prison in the Tower of London’s Bell Tower. Those days of May 1536 were indeed “bloody” and the 17th May saw the executions of five men, all […]
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 | May 7, 2011
On entering the Tower on the 2nd May 1536, after her arrest, Queen Anne Boleyn asked Sir William Kingston “Shall I die without justice?”, to which Sir William Kingston responded “The poorest subject the King has, has justice”. But is this true? Will Queen Anne receive justice? Here at The Anne Boleyn Files, we’re not […]
Claire | May 5, 2011
News has just reached us here at The Anne Boleyn Files that the celebrated poet, Sir Thomas Wyatt, has been arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London1. He is not the only one to be taken to the Tower, Sir Richard Page, a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber and a former favourite of Thomas […]
Claire | November 14, 2010
In 1873, Robert Marsham edited and described a manuscript owned by his brother, Charles Marsham, 3rd Earl of Romney, in “On a Manuscript Book of Prayers in a Binding of Gold Enamelled, said to have been given by Queen Anne Boleyn to a lady of the Wyatt Family: together with a Transcript of its Contents” […]
Claire | November 10, 2010
In Part Six, I wrote about how the first recorded sighting of Anne Boleyn at the English Court was on the 1st March 1522, at the Château Vert Shrovetide pageant. Contrary to the scene in “The Tudors”, Henry VIII did not fall in love with Anne at this pageant, he was actually having an affair love […]
Claire | October 11, 2010
On this day in history, 11th October 1542, Tudor poet, Sir Thomas Wyatt the Elder, died at Sherborne in Dorset. Wyatt was just 39 years old at his death but his poetry, and that of his friend, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, is still enjoyed the world over today, although the majority of his work […]
