On this day in Tudor history, 1st December 1541, Thomas Culpeper, a member of King Henry VIII’s privy chamber, and Francis Dereham, a secretary to Queen Catherine Howard, were tried for high treason at Guildhall, London. Both men had been linked romantically with the queen.
They were both found guilty of treason and sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered.
But what about Catherine Howard and her lady, Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford, who had also been arrested. What was happening with them? Find out more about them, and the trial of Dereham and Culpeper, in today's talk.
You can find out more about Catherine Howard, her downfall, and Lady Rochford in these videos:
Also on this day in history:
- 1530 – Death of Margaret of Austria at Mechelen. She was buried alongside her second husband, Philibert II, Duke of Savoy, in their mausoleum at Bourg-en-Bresse.
- 1539 – Execution of Thomas Marshall, Abbot of Colchester, at Colchester. Marshall was hanged, drawn and quartered for treason for his opposition to the dissolution of the monasteries, his refusal to accept Henry VIII as the Supreme Head of the Church in England and his belief that those carrying out the King's wishes regarding religion and the monasteries were heretics.
- 1581 - Alexander Briant, Roman Catholic priest, was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn, along with Ralph Sherwin and Edmund Campion, after being found guilty of high treason for plotting against Queen Elizabeth I.