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Saturday, October 19, 2013

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

October 17, 1551: Anne, Duchess of Somerset, is rowed from Sion to the Tower, where she is imprisoned, along with William Crane and his wife Barbara, "for devising . . . treasons." No formal charges were ever brought against her, although Crane implicated her in a scheme to arrest John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, and William Parr, Marquess of Northampton. Thomas Norton, writing to the reformer John Calvin over a year later, wrote that "some parties are of opinion that she was not imprisoned for having committed a crime, but to prevent her from committing one." Her mother, Lady Page, was later allowed to stay with her in the Tower, and she received visits from the reformer Bishop John Hooper, who would later be burned during Queen Mary's reign. Soon after her arrival at the Tower, the duchess requested that various articles of clothing and plate be sent to her, including "a gown of black velvet edged with jennets, or else the gown of black satin edged with black jennets." Anne also asked for "three little books covered with black velvet." The duchess was released in August 1553 by Queen Mary, with whom Anne had been friendly.
Posted by Bulcranium at 11:07 AM

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