Friday, April 08, 2011

Question from Anonymous - Secret murders by the Tudors

Do we have any evidence to suggest that any of the Tudors had people secretly murdered?

7 comments:

Roland H. said...

There was Elizabeth I - well almost. She had hoped that Mary Queen of Scots' jailer Sir Amyas Paulet would kill Mary in secret (so Elizabeth could evade the responsibility of formally ordering her cousin's execution). Sir Amyas refused.

Well, there is also Mary herself, if one believes that she was involved in the murder of her husband Lord Darnley.

shtove said...

Tomb uncovered in Ireland in the 19thC, two skeletons inside with an inscription - I think it was in Tipperary, can't find the reference (local history journal) - but the conclusion was that they were female cousins of Anne Boleyn on the Ormond side.

Killed because their existence complicated the succession. Not sure during which reign - H8 or Ed6.

I have read there was a widespread campaign of assassination under H8 related to the succession, but don't know much about it.

Elizabeth came under alot of pressure on that issue - Gorboduc was performed in 1561 and 1601, each time as a warning about the tyranny of the Stuarts. Didn't work!

Gregory House said...

An interesting question, though I'm sure a few tudor opponents were 'encouraged' to shuffle off the mortal coil sooner than they normally would have. However Henry VIII prefered at least a legal fiction for his slayings.
Ie the duke of buckingham, Ann Boleyn, the various Poles. It is also mentioned that he tried to have Cardinal Pole assasinated so maybe tht counts.

Rachael said...

there is also the suggestion that elizabeth I had her lover; Robert Dudley's wife, Amy Robsart from Syderstone, Norfolk, killed so that she could be free to marry him. not sure on the proof of this but there are a few mentions in books i've read..

Anonymous said...

Possibly. If you count Anne Boleyn as a Tudor, then yes. She tried to poisen Bishop Fisher once, and Cardinal Wolsey. She did it for obvious protection reasons, but it is strongly believed that she ordered the initial act.

Foose said...

Some sources I looked at suggested that Henry masterminded the gruesome assassination of Scotland's Cardinal Beaton in 1546. Mostly these were older sources; the more modern ones seem to agree that Beaton's murder was committed by a group of Scots enraged by the cardinal's burning of the heretic George Wishart. The English were reported to be very joyful at the news of the assassination, as Beaton had been a steadfast opponent of Henry VIII's attempts to control Scotland by conquest or policy.

SanctAndri said...

There is quite a large amount of evidence to prove that the Cardinal's murder had been long planned and was paid for by Henry VIII. It was his final blow against the Churchman and Statesman who had long thwarted his plans for Scotland and her Queen.
His death scene being widely (mis) reported by his enemies led the real facts to be speculation until more evidence came to light.
(eg the evidence in Sanderson's Cardinal of Scotland.)