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William of Worcester's Chronicle of England
William of Worcester, born around 1415, and died around 1482 was secretary to John Fastolf, the renowned soldier of the Hundred Years War, during which time he collected documents, letters, and wrote a record of events. Following their return to England in 1440 William was witness to major events. Twice in his chronicle he uses the first person: 1. when writing about the murder of Thomas, 7th Baron Scales, in 1460, he writes '… and I saw him lying naked in the cemetery near the porch of the church of St. Mary Overie in Southwark …' and 2. describing King Edward IV's entry into London in 1461 he writes '… proclaimed that all the people themselves were to recognize and acknowledge Edward as king. I was present and heard this, and immediately went down with them into the city'. William’s Chronicle is rich in detail. It is the source of much information about the Wars of the Roses, including the term 'Diabolical Marriage' to describe the marriage of Queen Elizabeth Woodville’s brother John’s marriage to Katherine, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, he aged twenty, she sixty-five or more, and the story about a paper crown being placed in mockery on the severed head of Richard, 3rd Duke of York.
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1533 Buggery Act is in 1532-1535 Marriage and Coronation of Anne Boleyn.
In 1533 Parliament, steered by Thomas Cromwell 1st Earl Essex (age 48), passed the 1533 Buggery Act, formally known as An Acte for the punishment of the vice of Buggerie, in which buggery was punishable by death.
In 1553 the 1533 Buggery Act was repealed by Catholic Queen Mary I of England and Ireland (age 36) who preferred such matters to be dealt with by Ecclesiastical Courts.
In 1563 the 1553 repeal of the 1533 Buggery Act was rescinded by Queen Elizabeth I of England and Ireland (age 29).
In 1810 two men were hanged and six pilloried, known as the Vere Street Coterie, for offences against the 1533 Buggery Act. The club had been operating for less than six months.
On 8th July 1810 the Bow Street police raided the White Swan on Vere Street in London that had been established as a molly-house in early 1810 by two men, James Cook and Yardley. Twenty-seven men were arrested, but the majority of them were released (perhaps as a result of bribe); eight were tried and convicted. On 27th September 1810 six men were pilloried at the Haymarket. On 7th March 1811 John Hepburn (46) and Thomas White (16), a drummer boy, were hanged at Newgate Prison, London [Map] despite not being present on the night of the raid.
On 27th November 1835 James Pratt and John Smith were the last two men to be executed under the 1828 Offences Against the Person Act which had replaced the 1533 Buggery Act. They were hanged in front of Newgate Prison, London [Map].
The 1861 Offences against the Person Act reduced the act of buggery to a non-captital offence.
Chronicle of Abbot Ralph of Coggeshall
The Chronicle of Abbot Ralph of Coggeshall (Chronicon Anglicanum) is an indispensable medieval history that brings to life centuries of English and European affairs through the eyes of a learned Cistercian monk. Ralph of Coggeshall, abbot of the Abbey of Coggeshall in Essex in the early 13th century, continued and expanded his community’s chronicle, documenting events from the Norman Conquest of 1066 into the tumultuous reign of King Henry III. Blending eyewitness testimony, careful compilation, and the monastic commitment to record-keeping, this chronicle offers a rare narrative of political intrigue, royal power struggles, and social upheaval in England and beyond. Ralph’s work captures the reigns of pivotal figures such as Richard I and King John, providing invaluable insights into their characters, decisions, and the forces that shaped medieval rule. More than a simple annal, Chronicon Anglicanum conveys the texture of medieval life and governance, making it a rich source for scholars and readers fascinated by English history, monastic authorship, and the shaping of the medieval world.
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On 5th December 1640 Bishop John Atherton (age 42) was hanged at St Stephen's Green, Dublin for offences against the 1533 Buggery Act a law he had pushed for in Ireland.
On 28th July 1540 Walter Hungerford 1st Baron Hungerford Heytesbury (age 37) was beheaded at Tower Hill [Map]. He was attainted; Baron Hungerford of Heytesbury forfeit. He, together with his chaplain, a Wiltshire clergyman named William Bird, Rector of Fittleton and Vicar of Bradford, who was suspected of sympathising with the pilgrims of grace of the north of England, was attainted by act of parliament. Hungerford was charged with employing Bird in his house as chaplain, knowing him to be a traitor; with ordering another chaplain, Hugh Wood, and one Dr. Maudlin to practise conjuring to determine the king's length of life, and his chances of victory over the northern rebels; and finally with committing offences forbidden by the 1533 Buggery Act.
On 14th May 1631 Mervyn Tuchet 2nd Earl Castlehaven (age 38) was beheaded at Tower Hill [Map]. His English titles Baron Audley of Heighley in Staffordshire and Baron Tuchet were forfeited as a result of his attainder. His son James (age 14) succeeded to his Irish titles 3rd Earl Castlehaven, 3rd Baron Audley of Orier in England.
He was executed for the unnatural crime of sodomy in accordance with the 1533 Buggery Act, committed with his page Laurence (or Florence) FitzPatrick, who confessed to the crime and was executed; and assisting Giles Browning (alias Broadway), who was also executed, in the rape of his wife Anne, Countess of Castlehaven (age 51), in which Lord Castlehaven was found to have participated by restraining her.