tudor elliott and rowland

On the 13th December 1535, Chapuys wrote that Catherine of Aragon ‘has recovered and is now well’ (Tremlett, Pg. 417) but on the 29th December Dr Ortiz, Catherine’s doctor, sent an urgent message to Chapuys alerting him to the fact that she had ‘had a serious relapse’ and that he should immediately seek permission to visit Catherine at Kimbolton Castle.

This Chapuys did with great haste, seeking permission from Henry the very next day at Greenwich. Henry gave Chapuys permission to visit Catherine but he was not as generous with Mary, instead turning down her request to visit her mother on her deathbed (Tremlett, Pg. 418).

Henry was bankrupt and needed to find money. He ordered Thomas Cromwell to shut down all of the monasteries and take their land and wealth. Parliament passed an act "dissolving" or getting rid of the monasteries. They sent the priests away, seized the money and treasures and destroyed the buildings.

1601, the Tower of London bore witness to the executions of seven famous prisoners: Lord Hastings in 1483, Queen Anne Boleyn in 1536, Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury in 1541, Queen Katherine Howard in 1542, Jane Parker, Lady Rochford in 1542, Lady Jane Grey in 1554 and Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex in 1601.

Over time a number of stories emerged about the manner in which these ‘traitors’ lost their heads, perhaps none quite so gruesome – and embellished – as the story surrounding the execution of Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury.

Background

Portrait of an unknown woman traditionally thought to be Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury
Margaret was born in 1473, the daughter of George of Clarence, the younger brother of King Edward IV, and Isabella Neville. Her childhood was marred by tragedy. In 1476, her mother died in childbirth and in 1478 Edward IV ordered the execution of his own brother, Margaret’s father, for treason

In an unbelievable twist of fate, Jane Seymour, the woman that had come to court as a lady in waiting to Queen Catherine of Aragon and then served as a lady in waiting to Queen Anne Boleyn after the first queen fell from favour, was now on the brink of becoming queen herself.

There is much debate surrounding whether Jane Seymour was simply a political pawn that her powerful family manoeuvred into position when Anne Boleyn failed to provide the king with a male heir or whether she was in fact as ambitious as Anne had once been and willingly sought to replace the queen by enticing Henry with her outward façade of modesty and virtue.

Either way, on the 30th May 1536, Henry VIII married Jane Seymour in the Queen’s Closet at Whitehall Palace and she was publicly declared queen on the 4th June 1536.

Jane was not given the lavish coronation that Henry’s two previous queens enjoyed even though she did what her predecessors did not, she provided the king with his long wished for son.

In early 1537, rumours of Queen Jane’s pregnancy were confirmed and celebrations held in honour of this wondrous event. In early October, Jane retired to Hampton Court Palace for her ‘lying-in’ and on the 12th October 1537, after a long and arduous labour, Jane gave birth to a baby boy

life… Sound familiar? The basic sentiment could have been my daughter’s or any one of her friends’ at that age. But Lady Jane Grey lived in Tudor England and her parents’ actions ended up costing her head. So who was Lady Jane Grey?

The Execution of Lady Jane Grey by Paul Delaroche
Images and impressions of Lady Jane Grey abound, the tragedy of her short life capturing the imagination of artists and storytellers from her time to our own. Of all the depictions, the one that touches me most deeply is that of the Romantic painter, Delacroche. Sixteen year old Jane faces death for High Treason. Her crime: Being forced by her ambitious parents to wear a crown she never wanted. She kneels, garbed in a martyr’s flowing white gown. A blindfold blots out the last light she will ever see. While details of the painting aren’t accurate, the emotional impact of Jane’s death is well portrayed—an innocent girl is about to die for

Mary Stuart was a cousin to Elizabeth and a rival to the throne. Mary was queen of Scotland and catholics thought she should be queen of England as well. There was a rebellion in Scotland in 1567 and Mary fled to England. She became the centre of attempts to kill Elizabeth. Elizabeth imprisoned her in England. A letter was found that was about a plot to kill Elizabeth and make Mary queen. Mary was found guilty of treason and executed at Fotheringay Castle in February 1587.