When Henry VIII came onto the throne in April 1509, no-one knew what the King of England
would do during his almost 3 decade long reign. In that time 70,000 people would be executed inside
his kingdom, but no-one expected that two of these would include the Queens of the country.
Henry is most known for having 6 wives, and also for the fact he split from the Catholic Church and
Rome. He is regarded as the most famous King of England, and he even executed some of his closest
friends and advisors if they disagreed with him. But who were his first high profile executions?
Join us today as we look at Henry VIII’s first executions and remember to support our channel,
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On the 17th August 1510, two high profile men who were considered hated within England
left the Tower of London through the gates and made the short walk north to Tower Hill.
The was the site where public beheadings took place in the capital,
and Sir Edmund Dudley and Sir Richard Empson walked past the people of London
before they arrived and were handed over to the axeman who would take their heads.
Sir Edmund Dudley was the father of John Dudley who later became the Duke of Northumberland,
and his grandson was Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester who was regarded as a favourite
of Queen Elizabeth I. He had served Henry VII as a close advisor and Privy Councillor
and also as the Speaker of the House of Commons and the President of the King’s council.
Sir Richard Empsom had also served Henry VII as the Speaker of the House,
but also the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Both of these two had been
prominent members of the King’s council, and were linked to the finances of the country.
Both Empsom and Dudley were regarded as unpopular people within England, as they became the Kings
most trusted ministers, and they were the chief orchestrates of the King’s financial policy. It
was said that ‘they were seen to have been almost universally hated throughout England. They were
accused of acting illegally when they extorted large sums of money from wealthy landowners,
and of not only obtaining this money for the King but of enriching themselves in the process.’
This meant that both of them were involved in increasing the revenue of the King,
which was needed at the time, but they did it by imposing harsh and unfair taxes
on the country. This caused for people to suffer, and the pair were also accused of pocketing
money for themselves from the good people of England. These two people were so unpopular,
that for Henry VIII to target them shortly after he came into power was a smart thing.
Henry VII died on the 21st April 509, and Empsom and Dudley were arrested 3 days after. This shows
how reviled they were across the country, and they were imprisoned within the Tower of London.
They were both accused of plotting to, ‘hold, guide and govern the King and his council,
but assembling men to undertake a coup d’etat.’ It’s likely that this was untrue,
and that the men were made scapegoats for the unpopular financial measures imposed by Henry VII.
Whilst at the Tower’s plans were drawn up to help the pair escape, but Dudley in particular
then abandoned his plan to escape. Parliament were hesitant initially to confirm the act of
attainder, legislation passed that would allow the pair to be executed without any trial.
Whilst inside the Tower, it’s considered their imprisonment was rather comfortable,
but Dudley wrote ‘the Tree of Commonwealth,’ a treatise of government and society,
and he hoped this would gain him favour with the new King Henry VIII.
This stated that the roots of government and policy are in peace, justice and godliness.
However Henry showed no mercy to the pair. On the 17th August 1510, the pair made
their way to Tower Hill and by Henry VIII’s standards their execution was a win for him.
By ordering the executions of the two, he was in a sense gaining a huge amount of favour with the
people as they were so despised. Both of them were taken up to Tower Hill where the public beheading
spot had been prepared, and walking through the short walk they were flanked by guards.
As soon as they arrived at the scaffold, their execution was prepared, they were asked to say
their final words and were then beheaded in swift fashion by the axe. With the swing of the axe,
people cheered as the hated figures were no more, and Henry instantly won favour.
The executions of Empson and Dudley were the first high profile ones of Henry VIII’s reign,
in which he would execute two of his Queens, and some of his closest friends and advisors.
The pair were hated across the nation, and with the swing of the executioners axe,
the old regime of Henry VII was no more. However the people on Tower Hill that
day would never have expected to see what would happen over the course of the next 4
decades as Henry reigned and became the most famous and brutal King England has ever had.
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