19th Century Engraving of Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury Execution – Tudor Faces Blog
The Tudor Era was filled with betrayal, bloodshed and bitterness; it was a time where no one, no man nor woman, could truly feel safe in a court where anything said or done could lead to imprisonment or execution and monarchs who were not known for giving second chances. Henry VIII is remembered for sending tens of thousands to their graves and whilst his children accomplished nowhere near the same number of deaths caused by their hand, they still shared his intolerance for betrayal and deceit.
In her first ever post, Amber shall be exploring some of the most famous executions of the Tudor period, excluding those of Anne Boleyn and Katheryn Howard whose deaths, whilst arguably the most tragic, are not the only ones unfortunately lost under the rule of a Tudor monarch. Each execution included takes place under one Tudor monarch, from the first Henry Tudor to the last Elizabeth I, with each death leaving behind a lasting mark on society and history.
Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick
Executed in1499 during the reign of Henry VII - The First Tudor Monarch
Rendering from the "Rous Roll" by John Rous (1483–1485)
Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick was born February 25th, 1475 in Warwick, England. He was the son of George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence and Isabel Neville. This made him nephew to Edward IV and Richard III. Through his father he descended from Edward III through his son Edmund of Langley. His grandmother, Cecily Neville, was descended from Joan Beaufort, the daughter of John of Gaunt.
Warwick’s mother died in 1476 and his father was executed in 1478. Legend has it that his father was condemned to drown in a vat of Malmsey on order of his brother, Edward IV. The children of someone accused of treason lost all rights to lands and titles. Warwick was made a ward of Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset and was a valuable ward to have.
Edward IV embarrassed Warwick when he married Elizabeth Woodville in secret. Their marriage rattled those at court. Warwick was a threat to the Tudors. He was a surviving Yorkist royal male since the Princes in the Tower were presumed dead. Edward IV had two sons of his own so he had no reason to consider Warwick for succession before this.
Warwick was kept under close watch during Richard III’s reign but he was not imprisoned in the Tower like his cousins. With the death of Richard III at Bosworth, Warwick was moved to the Tower. He was only ten when he was imprisoned by Henry VII. Since he was imprisoned from a young age his direct line died out with him.
Warwick’s death was necessary because of the marriage negotiations between Henry VII’s Arthur and Katherine of Aragon. ‘The fame after his [Warwick’s] death sprung that Ferdinand, king of Spain, would never make full conclusion of the matrimony to be had between Prince Arthur and the Lady Catherine his daughter, nor send her into England, as long as this earl lived.’ Ferdinand and Isabella refused to send Katherine to England if Warwick remained alive.
On November 21st, 1499 Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick was tried in front of a jury of his peers at Westminster on charges of treason. Warwick was taken to Tower Hill on November 28th, 1499 and beheaded. He was not afforded a private execution on Tower Green within the Tower like other nobles. Henry VII wanted Warwick’s death to be seen and believed.
The Spanish ambassador in England Rodrigo Gonzales de Puebla wrote to Ferdinand and Isabella after Warwick’s execution: ‘England has never before been so tranquil and obedient as at present. There have always been pretenders to the crown of England; but now that Perkin and the son of the Duke of Clarence have been executed, there does not remain ‘a drop of doubtful Royal blood,’ the only Royal blood being the true blood of the King, the Queen, and, above all, of the Prince of Wales.’
Henry could have saved Warwick, but it would have come at the cost of his son Arthur’s marriage to Katherine of Aragon.
Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham
Executed in 1521 during the reign of Henry VIII - The Tyrant King
Portrait of Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, 1520, at Magdalene College, Cambridge by an unknown artist
Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham was born in Wales on February 3rd 1478 as the oldest son of Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and Katherine Woodville, sister to Elizabeth Woodville. He was the great-great-great-great grandson of Edward III through his son Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester and his wife Eleanor de Bohun. He could also trace his descent back to John of Gaunt through female lines and the same line to Edward I and Henry III. Henry VII came from an illegitimate line through John of Gaunt so it could be argued that Buckingham’s claim was stronger than the Tudors.
Buckingham’s father was executed in 1483 on orders of Richard III. When Henry VII defeated Richard III, Buckingham’s wardship was given to the new king’s mother Margaret Beaufort. Edward was restored to his estates and title of Duke of Buckingham when Henry VII reversed his father’s attainder in November 1485. He was made a member of the king’s Privy Council, but was never particularly close to the king. He was present at the proxy marriage of Henry VIII’s sister, Mary to Louis XII of France.
Buckingham married Eleanor Percy c. 1490 and they had four children. Eleanor was the daughter of Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland. Edward and Eleanor’s son Henry Stafford married Ursula Pole, daughter of Margaret Pole, in 1519. Buckingham had an abrasive personality. The Venetian ambassador believed that Buckingham would rule if Henry VIII died without an heir.
He fell out with the king’s chief minister Cardinal Thomas Wolsey regarding the expenses of the Field of the Cloth of Gold diplomatic summit in 1520. Henry VIII and Francis I were to meet and discuss peace between England and France. Buckingham did not agree to the cost of the event and it did not bring peace. He also did not approve of Wolsey’s rise to the top of government.
Allegedly Buckingham spoke to his servants about stabbing the king with a concealed dagger which was treason. He said that the death of Henry’s first son who died after just three months was revenge for the execution of Edward Plantagenet by Henry VII.
On May 13th 1521 Buckingham was tried for treason in Westminster Hall. Buckingham stated that the charges against him were ‘false, untrue and conspired and forged to be me to my death.’ Buckingham was found guilty for imagining the death of the king. Norfolk announced the sentence of hanging, drawing, and quartering.
Buckingham proclaimed his innocence saying ‘the eternal God forgive you my death, and I do: I shall never sue to the king for life howbeit he is a gracious prince.’ His trial was essentially for show. He believed that people were out to get him like Wolsey.
Henry VIII only seemed to begin executing people when he began to doubt Katherine of Aragon would produce a son. Buckingham’s execution marked Henry VIII’s first noble execution. Buckingham was executed on Tower Hill on May 17th 1521 between 11am-noon. He was escorted from the Tower of London by 500 troops. Not until Anne Boleyn would high profile prisoners be afforded a private execution within the Tower on Tower Green. His sentence had been commuted to beheading from the initial hanging, drawing, and quartering. He was buried in the Church of Austin Friars in London in a wooden coffin carried by six friars.
Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley
Executed in 1549 during the reign of Edward VI - The Child King
Portrait by Nicolas Denisot, 1547
Thomas Seymour was the third surviving son born to Sir John Seymour and Margery Wentworth probably at the family seat of Wolf Hall in Wiltshire in 1508 or 1509. The Seymours were an old family but did not have noble ties until the 16th century. He was the brother of Jane Seymour, Henry VIII’s third wife. The Seymour’s were related to the Boleyns through Thomas’s maternal great-grandmother Elizabeth Cheyney. Thomas Seymour was second cousin to Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard.
Thomas and Edward Seymour had made progress in their careers before the king’s interest in their sister Jane but they likely would not have risen as high without her influence. Thomas did not receive the same level of rewards as his brother Edward when Jane gave birth to Edward VI in 1537. Although he was made a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber on October 2nd, 1536.
Thomas and Catherine Parr seemed to be planning to marry before Henry set his sights on Katherine. Katherine married Henry as was expected of her. However soon after Henry died Catherine and Seymour did marry. It is thought that Thomas and Catherine’s marriage was around May 1547 as it was conducted in secret. Edward VI first suggested Anne of Cleves as a bride for Seymour then decided he should marry his sister Mary.
Catherine Parr had taken Princess Elizabeth into her household on the death of Henry VIII. Lady Jane Grey would also join the household. Seymour gained the wardship of Lady Jane Grey upon promising her father he would have her married to king Edward VI. Princess Elizabeth was sent away from Catherine Parr’s household when Catherine discovered her in an embrace with Seymour.
It is possible Seymour went mad after the death of his wife. Catherine died in September of 1548 after giving birth to their only daughter, Mary. Thomas’s direct line died out as Mary likely died in infancy.
Thomas Seymour’s fall from grace included many factors. His rushed marriage to dowager Queen Catherine Parr, his inappropriate relationship with Elizabeth and plotting to oust Edward VI.
The nail in the coffin was Seymour’s attempt to kidnap Edward VI. He entered the king’s chambers at Hampton Court through the privy garden accompanied by two servants. He was startled by Edward’s dog outside the door to the bedchamber and shot the dog. Seymour was arrested the following day and refused to answer questions.
Elizabeth was questioned over her relationship with Seymour when he was arrested. Her governess Kat Ashley was arrested and questioned about the relationship between Elizabeth and Thomas. Ashley promoted the match with the caveat that the council would have to approve it.
Edward VI wrote a statement against his uncle which was damning. Seymour tried to bribe the king with money. There was overwhelming evidence against Seymour but he was popular.
Somerset was the first to sign the death warrant of his brother and asked for some of his servants to be present to ensure he had a decent burial. Once the warrant was signed Edward VI asked that the execution be carried out without bothering himself or Somerset further. Seymour was beheaded on Tower Hill on March 20th, 1549. It was not enough that he had been executed ‘the council now took pains to ensure that the assault on his reputation continued with a viciousness that matched the manner of his dispatch.’ Similar to Anne Boleyn, although Seymour was dead, they needed his reputation to be sullied.
Lady Jane Grey
Executed in 1554 during the reign of Mary I - Bloody Mary
© Unknown Artist – The National Portrait Gallery
Lady Jane Grey was born in either 1536 or 1537, possibly in London or Leicestershire. Jane was the first of three daughters born to Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk, 3rd Marquess of Dorset and Lady Frances Brandon. She was incredibly intelligent. Jane was a victim of her own mother “a victim of prideful intrigue on the part of Northumberland and her own mother, a reluctant bride who then fell in love with her equally victimized teenaged husband, the martyred Nine Days Queen: a brilliant, bookish child prodigy turned Reformation legend.” She found solace in literature.
John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, was the key “handler” of King Edward. He did not want Mary I, a Catholic, to succeed her brother. Edward signed a change in act of succession naming Jane his heir. John Dudley got Jane’s father to force a marriage between Jane and his son Guilford.
Jane yielded to her parents and those around her pressuring her into accepting the title as queen. Northumberland wanted Jane to marry his son because she would raise their family socially. When the Duke of Northumberland’s mediocre army mustered up to defend Queen Jane fled overnight, and Henry Grey’s forces disintegrated, the whole country agreed that Mary was the rightful queen.
Jane was taken prisoner in the Tower of London after only thirteen days as queen. She was caught between three inexorable forces: John Dudley, for whom she was the totem of his own ambition to remain in power, her mother and her father, the Duke of Suffolk.
Jane and Guilford were both condemned to die for treason, holding out in vain for a pardon from Queen Mary. Mary would have found it hard to clear Jane because of Jane’s intense commitment to the Reformed Religion. There may have been a different outcome if Jane’s father did not join Wyatt’s conspiracy to overthrow Mary.
Mary kept Jane and Guilford in the Tower. Mary and her council believed there would be no peace in England as long as Jane and Guilford were alive. She was also under pressure from Spain to have them executed.
Jane made a statement on the morning of her execution:“The act against the queen’s highness was unlawful, and the consenting thereunto by me; but touching the procurement and desire thereof by me, or on my behalf, I do wash my hands thereof in innocency before God, and the face of you good Christian people this day.”
Shortly before Jane and Guilford’s executions he requested to see her. She replied that their “grief would thereby be the more increased and shortly they would meet in the beyond.”
Guilford was to be executed first. Jane stood at the window and watched as he passed. As the cart took his severed body, Jane cried out. When Jane faced the block, she asked the chaplain if she should recite the fifty-first psalm. Upon his instruction she recited “Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness.”
Jane knew she had been used and acknowledged her wrongdoings in giving into pressure. She reiterated she was pressured and manipulated into usurping the throne meant for Queen Mary. She was forced to marry a man she had never met by his father, who saw Jane solely as a means to an end. She was forced to take the crown despite her protests against it. She was forced to give up her life as a teenager. Her skull was enclosed in a box in the Church of St. Peter at Vincula by the Tower of London where she was buried alongside others who met a similar fate.
Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex
Executed in 1601 during the reign of Elizabeth I - The Virgin Queen
The 2nd Earl of Essex, by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger
Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex was born on November 10th, 1565 to Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex and Lettice Knollys. Lettice was the granddaughter of Mary Boleyn through her daughter Catherine Carey. Essex was cousin to Elizabeth through the Boleyn’s. He was also a descendant of Edward III through a daughter of Edward’s son Thomas of Woodstock.
Essex's father died in 1576 when he was eleven. His mother married Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester in 1578 which angered Queen Elizabeth. Dudley was Elizabeth’s favorite and a possible love of her life. Lettice was one of Elizabeth’s ladies-in-waiting. Essex’s father left him saddled with debt. Much of it was owed to the crown. In 1589 Elizabeth granted him his stepfather’s lease of customs on sweet wines which was lucrative.
When Robert Dudley died in 1588, Essex took over his old position of Master of the House. Essex had been one of her favorites taking over for his stepfather. He angered Elizabeth when he married Frances Walsingham, daughter of Elizabeth’s spymaster Francis Walsingham in 1590. Although he was restored to favor a few months later.
Essex downfall began with his time in Ireland attempting to quell rebellion against Elizabeth there. He did not have resources to launch an attack to defeat them so he sought a truce. There was an implication that he had acted against the queen’s orders. She ordered him to remain in Ireland and sort out the mess he had created.
Essex did not remain in Ireland despite Elizabeth’s orders. He burst into her bedchamber unannounced while Elizabeth was not properly clothed. She had no makeup on or a gown. He was interrogated by the Privy Council and placed under house arrest the same day. He was tried and acquitted but lost his wealth, influence, and Elizabeth’s favor.
The final nail for Essex was his 1601 rebellion. Elizabeth refused to renew his customs license on sweet wines, where he got most of his income. He turned to treason as he would be ruined if Elizabeth remained on the throne. He amassed followers and appealed to James VI for aid. He gained support at his home in Essex House.
Essex claimed that his once close friend Robert Cecil and Sir Walter Raleigh wanted to kill him and his uprising was to prevent it from happening. He hoped his popularity would encourage people to support him. He had been declared a traitor, so anyone to join him would be considered one as well. One of his conspirators had released the Privy Councilors that had been held hostage at Essex House. The rebels who had remained at Essex House dispersed when Essex had been declared a traitor. Essex and his conspirators were besieged in Essex House, but eventually surrendered.
At this point Elizabeth I had no choice but to execute Essex. He could not be spared without her looking weak. He was the last notable execution of her reign. On February 19th, 1601 Essex was tried for treason. This was just eleven days after his failed revolt. Essex claimed he wanted to depose the members of council and not Elizabeth herself.
On February 25th, 1601 at 1am Essex was informed he would be condemned to death the next morning. Essex requested he be executed on the private Tower Green rather than the public Tower Hill. This request was granted by Queen Elizabeth. He spent the morning in prayer.
Essex left his room between 7am and 8am in the morning. He was accompanied by three servants wearing all black. He was beheaded while reciting the 51st psalm. His beheading was botched and it took several strikes to sever his head from his body. There were approximately one hundred people present to watch his execution. He is buried in the chapel St Peter ad Vincula as many others who shared the same fate.
Resources:
Harrison, Helene. “Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick - 1499.” Essay. In Tudor Executions: From Nobility to the Block, 1–17. Philadelphia, PA: Pen & Sword Books, 2024.
Harrison, Helene. “Edward Stafford 3rd Duke of Buckingham - 1521.” Essay. In Tudor Executions: From Nobility to the Block, 18–34. Philadelphia, PA: Pen & Sword Books, 2024.
Harrison, Helene. “Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley - 1549.” Essay. In Tudor Executions: From Nobility to the Block, 103–20. Philadelphia, PA: Pen & Sword Books, 2024.
Bainton, Roland H. Women of the Reformation in France and England. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2007.
Zahl, Paul F.M. “Chapter 4: Jane Grey.” Essay. In Five Women of the English Reformation. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2001.
Harrison, Helene. “Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex - 1601.” Essay. In Tudor Executions: From Nobility to the Block, 172–88. Philadelphia, PA: Pen & Sword Books, 2024.
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