According to a Frenchman writing to Thomas Cromwell, on the day before Queen Anne Boleyn was beheaded at the Tower of London “the wax tapers about Q. Catherine’s tomb had been lighted of their own accord”.
He was referring to the tomb of Catherine of Aragon, first wife of Henry VIII, who had been buried at Peterborough Abbey as Dowager Princess of Wales in January 1536.
Woooooooh! Spooky! If you believe it, that is!
Notes and Sources
- BL Cotton MS Vitellius B Xiv, Fol. 220B. The record for it can be read in A catalogue of the manuscripts in the Cottonian Library deposited in the British Museum (1802), p. 413, available to read online at https://archive.org/
- Photo: Catherine of Aragon’s tomb at Peterborough Cathedral © Copyright Derek Voller and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence, Geograph.org.uk
Some men were sent to investigate but I don’t know what they found. I believe something happened as it was witnessed and noted, but whether it was supernatural or a trick of the light, well who knows.
I wonder if this was reinforced by Anne Boleyn having a miscarriage on the day of Katherine of Aragon’s funeral … or vice versa.