Henry VIII is no doubt England’s most famous King, and he is most remembered for having
six wives.
He was a man who was greatly paranoid and obsessed with being stabbed in the back and
betrayed by his friends.
Eventually Henry turned on many of his own friends including Thomas Cromwell and Sir
Thomas More by ordering their bloody executions on Tower Hill.
But he was right to be fearful as throughout his lands people were plotting to assassinate
and overthrow Henry VIII, especially in response to some of his more divisive policies such
as the Dissolutions of the Monasteries.
But one conspiracy that took place to bring about the overthrow of the Tudor Monarch was
the Exeter Conspiracy, and Henry VIII attacked this with great brutality, ordering a number
of executions including organising the execution of one of his greatest friends.
But what is the story of the BRUTAL plot to Kill Henry VIII?
In 1538, Henry VIII learned of a conspiracy that was aimed to bring about his end as the
King of England.
Previously due to his marriage with Catherine of Aragon not being granted an annulment by
the Pope, he split from Rome and declared himself the Supreme Head of the Church of
England.
This was a huge thing as he forced everyone in England to turn their back on the Pope,
a position which had reigned supreme over the Church for centuries across the nation.
It was now treason to view the Pope in this manner, but Henry would recklessly order scores
of executions across the nation to bring everyone under control.
But Henry VIII was also fearful of other members of the English nobility and their possible
claims to the English throne.
His father Henry VII claimed the crown by right of conquest following defeating the
Yorkist Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field during the Wars of the Roses.
But many believed that the Yorkists had a viable claim to the English throne, and that
they in fact should be ruling rather than Henry VIII.
With this, the King looked down upon possible Yorkist heirs and heiresses, including Margaret
Pole the Countess of Salisbury, who later lost her head inside the Tower of London being
executed as an elderly lady.
But there was one man who seemingly the King viewed as rather harmless, however he did
have royal blood flowing through his veins, and some would say he was more of a King than
Henry VIII.
Henry Courtenay was the 1st Marquess of Exeter, and he was a feudal baron and he was also
the Grandson of King Edward IV, and was also the nephew of the Queen consort Elizabeth
of York.
This made him a first cousin of Henry VIII, and the pair were close as it was said, they
had been brought up of a child with his grace in the chamber.
When his father died, Henry Courtenay was the heir, and he succeeded as the Earl of
Devon and he fought for the King in a number of battles against the French King, and was
seen as a strong military leader.
He was also appointed as a Knight of the Garter, and was given large amounts of land following
the execution of the 3rd Duke of Buckingham Edward Stafford.
Courtenay gained the vacant Duchy of Exeter, Somerset and Cornwall and this made him incredibly
powerful in the south of England.
Many said that he virtually ruled over these areas as a regent himself, and he continued
to be close with Henry VIII and he became the constable of the royal residence of Windsor
Castle.
But on the 18th June 1525, Henry Courtenay was named the Earl of Devon, and also the
Marquess of Exeter.
At this time he was then sent to negotiate with the French, but he was used also as an
ambassador by Henry to try and push through his annulment to Catherine of Aragon.
He tried to carry letters to the Pope to convince him to allow the divorce, but this never occurred.
It is considered that he was so high up in Henry’s regards that Exeter was the second
to the King at the Privy Council meetings following the downfall of Cardinal Thomas
Wolsey, and he even acted as the Commissioner for the deposition of Catherine of Aragon,
when her marriage was declared invalid.
Exeter also was given the stewardship of a number of monasteries during the Dissolutions,
and he was also a commissioner at the trial of Anne Boleyn and was there to hear the evidence
of the charges of incest, adultery and treason against Henry’s second wife.
Anne later lost her head in a shocking execution at the Tower of London based on the judgement
of Henry Courtenay the Marquess of Exeter and the other men who preceded over the trial.
He was also used alongside the Duke of Suffolk to deal with the Pilgrimage of Grace, but
ultimately failed to do this and he had to retreat along with his army.
But by the late 1530s, he was a very powerful figure at court, and was governing most of
the South and West of England, and one of his greatest rivals was Thomas Cromwell.
Cromwell had been the mastermind of the Dissolutions of the Monasteries, and he dug his talons
into many of his rivals at court in a power play for the affection of the King.
However there was suspicion on Exeter’s second wife Gertrud Blount, as she remained
a Roman Catholic, and she supported Elizabeth Barton who was referred to as the Nun of Kent.
This attracted criticism, especially from Cromwell who also pointed at the fact Gertrud’s
father had served as Catherine of Aragon’s chamberlain, and her stepmother had also been
one of her Spanish attendants whilst Catherine was the Princess of Wales.
This affiliation with Catherine of Aragon was very damaging to Exeter, especially through
his wife, and Cromwell began to cast doubt and suspicion about the loyalty of Henry Courtney
the Marquess of Exeter.
As he was a powerful landowner, many people who had been thrown out of their homes by
the Dissolutions had spoken out against Cromwell and his policies, and Exeter listened to these
who suffered, and he began to hate Cromwell.
It was speculated that he may have even allegedly joined an uprising in Devon and Cornwall,
and a rebellion did break out that carried a painted banner, but many historians claim
that there was never a conspiracy or uprising backed by Exeter himself.
It was said that the gathering was ‘less a political party than a group of friends
who loved the old faith, hated Cromwell and longed for a change of policy.
They met and talked treason and sang political songs, they did not trouble themselves about
anything so strenuous and intellectual as a plot.’
It’s believed that Henry Courtenay the Marquess of Exeter fell foul of the King’s hatred
of Reginald Pole.
It was found that Exeter was corresponding with Cardinal Pole who was encouraging rebellion
in England against the religious changes.
With this, it was considered that the Pole family were dangerous, and Henry VIII rounded
up whoever he could related to them including Reginald’s mother Margaret Pole the Countess
of Salisbury.
The King took revenge out on the Pole’s for engaging in treason against the King,
and the Pole family were destroyed completely.
But Henry Courtney’s name came up in the proceedings, and he was the Second Cousin
of Reginald Pole, and Cromwell pleaded to bring him in for arrest and interrogation.
The Powerful Marquess of Exeter was brought to the Tower of London, along with Sir Edward
Neville, Henry Pole the 1st Baron Montagu, and Margaret Pole in November 1538.
He was accused of treason, and the accusations against him were based on the correspondence
he had with Regindal Pole the Catholic Cardinal and possible Yorkist claimant to the throne.
Sir Edward Neville was executed for treason, and in May 1538 Exeter was attainded to be
executed as he was accused of treason.
This meant he lost all of his land in England, and Henry believed this was a good thing as
he feared a Catholic invasion through these lands.
Exeter along with his wife and son are held at the Tower of London, and he was then placed
on trial for the so called Exeter conspiracy.
He was found guilty, and was beheaded by sword on Tower Hill on the 9th December 1538.
It’s believed a sword was used to respect the great and long friendship he had with
Henry VIII, who wanted his execution done quickly and without error.
His wide would later be released, as would his son, but Henry Courtney the 1st Marquess
of Exeter was beheaded in brutal fashion.
What is bizarre is the fact that the Exeter conspiracy seems to be a power play mostly
by Cromwell to stamp out a number of his high profile rivals at court.
It seems he played on the King’s insecurities about his possible assassination and also
about his hatred of Reginald Pole to manufacture a conspiracy featuring arguable the most powerful
land owner in England behind the King, the Marquess of Exeter.
It was a brutal and barbaric thing for Cromwell to do, but later he too would find himself
implicated in conspiracy and plot, and with this he too would lose his head on Tower Hill.
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