Mad people can be executed, a miscarriage of justice, problematic prophecies and William Waste All - February 8-14 Part 2

In this second part of This Week in Tudor History for the week beginning 8th February, historian Claire Ridgway talks about two parliamentary acts that allowed a king to execute his wife and to execute people showing signs of madness; a miscarriage of justice which led to a priest being executed in Elizabeth I’s reign; an Elizabethan astrologer who was ridiculed after his prophecies didn't come true,  and a man known as William Waste-all.

You can see this podcast as a video at the following link:

https://youtu.be/9WrA3ivcjCU

 

11th February 1542 - King Henry VIII gave his assent "in absentia" to an act of attainder against his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, and her lady-in-waiting, Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford. A bill allowing people showing signs of lunacy was also passed, an awful thing, but the king was determined to take revenge.

 

12th February 1584, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I - The executions of five Catholic priests by hanging, drawing and quartering at Tyburn. One of them, James Fenn, suffered a huge miscarriage of justice, being accused of plotting in Rome when he was actually in England, in prison, at the time!

 

13th February 1564, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I - Astrologer and physician John Harvey was baptised at Saffron Walden in Essex. Harvey ended up being ridiculed with his brother, Richard, after their prophecies of apocalyptic events didn't come true.

 

14th February 1492, in the reign of King Henry VII - Death of William Berkeley, Marquis of Berkeley, a man who took part in the last English battle fought between private armies of feudal magnates, but who was nicknamed William Waste All by the family historian.

 

Teasel's Tudor Trivia video on Valentine's Day can be found at https://youtu.be/iSl4Zk7htSc 

 

Videos on other Tudor events for 11-14th February:

February 11 - The birth and death of Elizabeth of York - https://youtu.be/FIeJtsYCvcU

February 11 - Success for George Boleyn - https://youtu.be/m9Gs3tvgCWo

February 12 - The executions of Lady Jane Grey and Lord Guildford Dudley - https://youtu.be/qf7up1CHfJA
February 12 - Blanche Parry, a mother figure to Elizabeth I  - https://youtu.be/eaB9piZbhxs

February 13 - Bess of Hardwick - https://youtu.be/zCehMXaVkqs

February 13 - The Executions of Catherine Howard and Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford - https://youtu.be/4nGL47QKe4k

February 14 - Being a royal favourite doesn't save you - https://youtu.be/5A5CSKvzbhE

February 14 - A dog licks up the king's blood - https://youtu.be/jg-97Zi5ZLs