The Tower of London, (Vol. 1 of 2)Gower, Ronald Sutherland, Lord
History
The Tower of London, (Vol. 1 of 2)
Gower, Ronald Sutherland, Lord
Tower of London (London, England)
“Such,” writes Lord de Ros in his “Memorials of the Tower,” “was
the end of this most unfortunate lady, who but three years before
had entered the Tower in triumph as the idol of the King, and the
admiration of all around her. Levities, which even now would be
thought slight and pardonable, but which in that coarse and licentious
Court could hardly deserve a moderate censure, were the only offences
found against her, unless the extorted accusation of Smeaton was to
be regarded as proof of any deeper guilt.” At about the time of
Anne’s execution, her brother, Lord Rochford, and three gentlemen of
the Court, Brereton, Western, and Norris, were sentenced to death
as accomplices in the crime of which she was accused. Mark Smeaton,
a musician who, on the promise of pardon, had confessed his and the
Queen’s guilt whilst under torture, was hanged. The accusation against
Anne Boleyn and her brother, Lord Rochford, consisted only of the
charge that he had one morning entered his sister’s chamber, and,
whilst conversing with her in the presence of her attendants, had
rested his hand upon the bed. Rochford died declaring his innocence, as
did the other gentlemen who died with him. They were all buried in the
churchyard of the Chapel of St Peter.
The day after Anne Boleyn’s execution, Henry married Jane Seymour.
There is a tradition that the King had ordered a gun to be fired from
the roof of the White Tower, then mounted with cannon, which he could
see from his palace, as a signal that Anne Boleyn had ceased to live.
When Queen Victoria visited the Tower for the first time, and was shown
the place on the Green on which the scaffold had stood where Jane Grey
and Anne Boleyn had been executed, and where the grass, tradition said,
never grew, Her Majesty ordered the brass tablet that now records those
tragic events, to be placed on the spot, with the words, “Site of the
ancient scaffold: on this spot Queen Anne Boleyn was beheaded on the
19th May 1536.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account