Something was definitely going on at the court of Henry VIII by 28th April 1536! Long council meetings, experts consulted, the Lady Mary being given hope for the future… Anne Boleyn was definitely in danger.
Find out what the primary sources tell us about what was going on at court…
On this day in 1603, the last Tudor monarch, Anne Boleyn’s daughter, Queen Elizabeth I, was laid to rest at Westminster Abbey in a lavish funeral.
Find out more about it in this video…
And on this day in 1548 (some sources say 6 May), courtier, diplomat, soldier and Keeper of Oatlands Palace, Sir Anthony Browne, died at Byfleet in Surrey. He had been one of Henry VIII’s most important and richest courtiers and was also involved in the falls of two queens: Anne Boleyn and Anne of Cleves.
Find out more about this man and how he was involved in the falls of the two Annes…
And finally, on this day in 1558, an 82-year-old priest was executed in Scotland…
Strange but just how Anne Boleyn eclipsed Katharine of Aragon in real life, so does her daughter eclipse her rivals daughter in eternal rest, the marble effigy of Elizabeth is magnificent, and it was raised to her from her grateful successor James 1st for leaving him her beloved throne, I read J Neale’s biography on Elizabeth 1st many years ago and I remember the words he quoted from John Stowe, ‘there was such a general signing groaning and weeping as the like hath not been seen in the memory of man’, those words particularly stuck in my mind and it shows all to clearly, the deep love and affection the queens subjects had for her, there could have been some in the crowds that day who were alive when she ascended the throne in 1558, a fresh faced young woman with rippling golden red hair and dazzling white skin, she had guided them through some tumultuous times in her reign, the defeat of the armada when it seemed the dreaded inquisition could have ravaged England in blood and sword, the Catholic uprisings the rebellion of her one time favourite the Earl of Essex, he had tried to unseat the queen by calling on the people of London to rise up against her, no such thing happened the Londoners shut their windows and barred their doors against him and his army of traitors, she had been their Good Queen Bess for decades why should they wish to rebel against her? Essex had betrayed her too many times and his death from treason was inevitable, to these subjects Elizabeth was held in deep affection like her father before her, both father and daughter had the common touch and it was said of her by many, that she had many mannerisms familiar to Henry V111, tall for a woman she had his regal air his commanding presence, his colouring and like him, she dressed opulently and lavishly, she had resided over a golden age and to many in the weeping crowd that day, it must have seemed that it was coming to a close, it was the end of an era but according to some there was eager anticipation of the new king, there was some curiosity about James what does he look like etc, perfectly normal of course, Elizabeth was laid to rest in the lady chapel of her grandparents the first Tudor monarch and his yorkist Queen, whom she was named after, before James 1st raised a more magnificent one in her memory and honour, the first Elizabethan age was over, the reign of the Tudors had come to a close as finally as the staves that were dropped onto the old queens coffin, it was the beginning of the reign of a new dynasty – the Stewart’s.