Could You Really Get Away with Murder at Henry VIII’s Court? – The Case of Sir William Pennington

In April 1532, courtier Sir William Pennington was murdered in the Westminster sanctuary.

His killers? They walked away with a manslaughter verdict, a £1,000 pardon, and glittering careers.

That's Tudor justice for you!

In this video, I explore:

• The argument and fight, from Westminster Hall to the sanctuary precinct
• How sanctuary should have worked,and how it was bent
• The official indictment vs. Carlo Capello’s explosive diplomatic report
• Cromwell’s intervention and the price of a royal pardon
• Holbein’s 1537 portrait: the scar carried from the fight
• What this case tells us about power, patronage, and Tudor justice

Sources & further reading:

• Shannon McSheffrey, “The Slaying of Sir William Pennington: Legal Narrative and the Late Medieval English Archive" - https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/flor/article/view/21566/25053
• Venetian ambassador Carlo Capello’s report, Calendar of State Papers Relating To English Affairs in the Archives of Venice, Volume 4, 1527-1533, 761 - https://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/venice/vol4/pp331-334