Explore the intriguing "what-if" scenario of King Henry VIII's potential death after a jousting accident in 1536. Who would have inherited the English throne ..read more

On 3rd May 1536, Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, wrote a letter to King Henry VIII. He was shocked as he'd heard of the allegations made against Queen Anne Boleyn. However, he was careful in what he said to the king. Also, the investigation into the queen wasn't quite going according to plan ..read more

On 2nd Mat 1536, Queen Anne Boleyn was arrested at Greenwich Palace and her brother, George Boleyn, Lord Rochford, was arrested at Whitehall. They were both escorted to the Tower of London for imprisonment ..read more

On 1st May 1536, the annual May Day joust took place at the Tudor royal court. This year, it was at Greenwich Palace. The king wasn't jousting as he'd had a scary accident back in that January, so the challengers were led by George Boleyn, Lord Rochford, Queen Anne Boleyn's brother, and the defenders by Sir Henry Norris, the king's groom of the stool and good friend. Everything seemed normal at first, but something was going on and very soon these two men would find themselves in the Tower ..read more

On 30th April 1536, the first arrest in the fall of Anne Boleyn took place. Court musician Mark Smeaton was taken to Thomas Cromwell's house in Stepney and interrogated there. On the same day, an argument between Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn was witnessed, and later that day, their forthcoming trip to Calais was cancelled ..read more

On 29th April 1536, three days before her arrest, Queen Anne Boleyn had altercations with her husband's groom of the stool, Sir Henry Norris, and court musician Mark Smeaton. Both of these men ended up being beheaded as traitors, accused of sleeping with the queen and plotting with her to kill the king. But what exactly happened on this day in 1536 ..read more

On 28th April 1536, just four days before Queen Anne Boleyn's arrest, it was clear that something was going on at the Tudor court. The king's council was tied up in long meetings, Cromwell was consulting an expert on canon law, and Henry VIII's eldest daughter, Mary, was being told "to be of good cheer" because things were going to get better ..read more

27th April 1536 was a very busy day at the royal court - writs were issued summoning Parliament, a letter was sent to Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, asking him to attend, and a bishop was allegedly consulted regarding whether Henry VIII could abandon his second wife, Anne Boleyn ..read more

Every year, when I start sharing about the events that led up to the execution of Anne Boleynn in the spring of 1536, I receive comments like “she got her just desserts”, “pride comes before a fall”, “Karma”, “She deserved everything she got”, and “she played a game and lost”, and the like ..read more

On 26th April 1536, just a few days before her arrest, Queen Anne Boleyn met with her chaplain, Matthew Parker. It was a meeting he would remember vividly for ever because she made him promise her something, something concerning her daughter, Elizabeth ..read more