5 May, 1536: More Arrests

4 May, 1536: William Brereton, a powerful figure in the North who was strangely distant from Anne to be viewed as a 'lover', is arrested. I recommend this article by Claire of The Anne Boleyn Files.

TODAY in 1536, the last arrests of the queen's 'lovers' were made, thus committing to the Tower Richard Page and Thomas Wyatt. Both men would escape the scaffold that Anne, George, Henry Norris, Francis Weston, William Brereton and Mark Smeaton were doomed to, based on presumed friendships with Cromwell. Wyatt, who had been in love with Anne all her life and had written dozens of poems about her, was highly affected and described the executions of her lovers in verse. The fact that based on the favor Cromwell showed him he managed to evade death, to me, is a testament of just how much control Cromwell wielded in the coup.

Regarding Sir Francis Weston, a man commonly accused of homosexuality/bisexuality with George Boleyn (although there is little-no evidence to suggest this) -- he was arrested back on 3rd May (I forgot to make mention of this) and Anne Boleyn's hysterically nervous reaction convinced many that she actually had been involved in a steamy affair with the handsome twenty-five-year old. However, Gareth Russell suggests that the nervous breakdown occurred for an innocent reason in his article here.