On 22nd June 1535, John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, was beheaded on Tower Hill.
Fisher, who had served Henry VIII’s grandmother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, was executed for treason for refusing to accept Henry VIII as the supreme head of the church.
He had been arrested on 26th April 1534, and his words to Richard Rich were used as evidence against him. He said "that the King was not, nor could be, by the Law of God, Supreme Head in earth of the Church of England".
The Pope tried to save Fisher by making him Cardinal-Priest of San Vitale but this simply provoked the king, who joked that Fisher would have to wear the Cardinal’s red hat on his shoulders. Horrible.
You can find out more about Bishop Fisher's fall and execution in an article I wrote over on The Anne Boleyn Files by clicking here.
Also on this day in Tudor history...
Image: A sketch of Bishop John Fisher by Hans Holbein the Younger.
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