Timeline for Why was the swordsman of Calais chosen as Anne Boleyn's executioner?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
18 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2, 2019 at 13:38 | comment | added | TheHonRose | This is probably another question rather than a comment, but I've always been puzzled by Henry's employment of a swordsman. He wasn't famous for showing mercy - although he did have Thomas More beheaded rather than hanged drawn and quartered as a commoner. | |
| Jul 5, 2016 at 19:44 | history | edited | Tom Au | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added 17 characters in body
|
| Jul 5, 2016 at 19:30 | history | edited | Tom Au | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added 366 characters in body
|
| Oct 2, 2015 at 17:41 | comment | added | steelersquirrel | @TomAu I was just inquiring because it's an interesting theory on why she made that comment. | |
| Oct 2, 2015 at 17:38 | comment | added | Tom Au | @steelerfan: What little I've read on this subject I read in the 1970s (in Pittsburgh), and more recently, indicates that Anne had a preference for the sword. Not "joy" in the usual sense. But imagine the reaction of some who is told that s/he will be shot in the head (instant death) rather than in the stomach (a painful lingering death). | |
| Oct 2, 2015 at 17:03 | comment | added | steelersquirrel | @TomAu so, you are claiming that the letter written by William Kingston to Thomas Cromwell describing that Anne Boleyn has much joy in death was because she was being executed by a sword rather than an axe? | |
| Oct 2, 2015 at 1:40 | comment | added | Tom Au | There are no "contemporary" sources. The version of "A History of the English speaking Peoples" that I checked in the library was a bit "different" from the version I read over 40 years ago. So I've edited the post. | |
| Oct 2, 2015 at 1:39 | history | edited | Tom Au | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added 87 characters in body
|
| Oct 2, 2015 at 1:36 | history | undeleted | Tom Au | ||
| Oct 1, 2015 at 15:52 | history | edited | Tom Au | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added 184 characters in body
|
| Oct 1, 2015 at 15:46 | history | edited | Tom Au | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added 184 characters in body
|
| Oct 1, 2015 at 15:04 | history | deleted | Tom Au | via Vote | |
| Oct 1, 2015 at 14:59 | comment | added | steelersquirrel | @Semaphore yeah, I agree. I have never heard of Anne reqesting the swordsman on her accord. This is why I asked for a link from the user who answered the question. | |
| Oct 1, 2015 at 14:48 | comment | added | Semaphore | @steelerfan There is no contemporary evidence that Anne Boleyn made any such request. In fact sources such as the Spanish Chronicle states that Henry VIII sent for the Calais swordsmen before Anne was even put on trial ("He had sent a week before to St. Omer for a headsman who could cut oft the head with a sword instead of an axe, and nine days after they sent he arrived. The Queen was then told to confess, as she must die the next day" - Anne was tried on the 15th of May and executed on the 19th). | |
| Oct 1, 2015 at 14:40 | comment | added | Tom Au | @steelerfan: Here's a link to my source: amazon.com/Churchills-History-English-Speaking-Peoples-Arranged/… | |
| Oct 1, 2015 at 14:33 | comment | added | steelersquirrel | @TomAu Wow. Interesting. I have studied the Tudor period for 15 years and have never heard this claim. Could you provide a direct link to this source? | |
| Oct 1, 2015 at 14:23 | comment | added | Semaphore | That Anne Boleyn made the request is a very surprising claim. Can you quote the passage in question? | |
| Oct 1, 2015 at 14:13 | history | answered | Tom Au | CC BY-SA 3.0 |