Did Henry VIII Cover Up a Violent Crime for Thomas Culpeper?

He was handsome, charming, and one of Henry VIII’s most trusted courtiers, until he fell from grace with Queen Catherine Howard.

But whispers survive of a darker story: an accusation of violence, a royal pardon, and a crime that seemed to vanish from the record.

Was Thomas Culpeper guilty of a shocking offence, and did Henry VIII himself protect him from justice?

 

Or was this just dangerous Tudor gossip, muddled by the existence of two Thomas Culpepers at court?

Join me as I investigate one of Tudor England’s most disturbing mysteries — where power, privilege, and silence could decide a man’s fate.

 

Sources:

- Letter from Richard Hilles to Heinrich Bullinger, Original letters relative to the English Reformation: written during the reigns of King Henry VIII, King Edward VI and Queen Mary, chiefly from the archives of Zurich, ed. Rev. Hastings Robinson, https://archive.org/details/originallettersr01robiuoft/page/226/mode/2up?

- New Insight on the Accusation Against Thomas Culpeper, Gentleman of the Privy Chamber, Jonathan McGovern, Notes and Queries, gjaf112, https://doi.org/10.1093/notesj/gjaf112Published: 17 October 2025.

- "Katherine Howard: The Tragic Story of Henry VIII's Fifth Queen" by Josephine Wilkinson
- "Young and Damned and Fair" by Gareth Russell
- “Catherine Howard: The Queen whose adulteries made a fool of Henry VIII” by Lacey Baldwin Smith