Claire | May 16, 2014
On 16th May 1536, George Boleyn, Sir Francis Weston, Sir Henry Norris, Sir William Brereton and Mark Smeaton prepared for their deaths by confessing their sins to Dr Allryge (or Alridge), the chaplain sent to them. Sir Francis Weston wrote out a list of his debts, which can be found in Letters and Papers, and […]
Claire | May 12, 2014
On 12th May 1536, Sir Henry Norris, Sir Francis Weston, William Brereton and Mark Smeaton were brought before a special commission of oyer and terminer at Westminster Hall and arraigned for high treason. Smeaton pleaded “guilty”, while the others pleaded “not guilty”. Although the jury included Thomas Boleyn, Earl of Wiltshire, who would certainly not […]
Claire | May 10, 2014
On 10th May 1536, Sir William Kingston, Constable of the Tower of London, was ordered “to bring up the bodies of Sir Francis Weston, knt. Henry Noreys, esq. William Bryerton, esq. and Mark Smeton, gent.” for trial at Westminster on 12th May. These four men, as commoners, were going to be tried by a special […]
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 16, 2013
On this day in 1536, the five men condemned to death for high treason prepared for their executions, which were scheduled for the following day. Sir William Kingston wrote to Thomas Cromwell on 16th May regarding preparations for the building of the scaffold for Anne Boleyn’s execution and mentioning that the men were waiting to […]
Claire | May 12, 2013
Things had moved incredibly fast in the spring of 1536, the fall of Anne Boleyn. The first arrest had taken place on 30th April and now, one day after the Grand Jury of Kent met at Deptford, four men were being tried for high treason. On 12th May 1536, Sir Henry Norris, Sir Francis Weston, […]
Claire | May 11, 2013
The day after the Grand Jury of Middlesex met at Westminster, the Grand Jury of Kent met at Deptford in front of Sir John Baldwin (Chief Justice of the Common Pleas), Sir Walter Luke and five other Justices. Their task was to rule on the alleged crimes of Queen Anne Boleyn, Sir Henry Norris, Sir […]
Claire | May 4, 2013
Following the arrest of George Boleyn, Lord Rochford, his wife, Jane, wrote him a letter of comfort, promising to “humbly [make] suit unto the king’s highness”1 for him. This meant that she was going to petition the King on George’s behalf. There is no record of her doing so, but then the records from this […]
