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English politicians convicted of crimes

  • Thomas Percy, 7th Earl of NorthumberlandThomas Percy, 7th Earl of Northumberland, stood on a scaffold in York on the 22nd of August 1572 and refused to save his own life.
  • George Boleyn, Viscount RochfordGeorge Boleyn, Viscount Rochford, stepped onto Tower Hill on the morning of the 17th of May 1536 to face the axe. The crowd watching was, by all accounts…
  • John Dudley, 1st Duke of NorthumberlandJohn Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, died on the 22nd of August 1553 with a curious phrase on his lips: "I have deserved a thousand deaths." He had just…
  • Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of SomersetEdward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, rose from a minor English noble family to become the effective ruler of England for two years, all because his sister…
  • Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of EssexRobert Devereux entered the world on the 10th of November 1565 at Netherwood in Herefordshire. He was the eldest son of Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex…
  • Thomas Wyatt the YoungerThomas Wyatt the Younger was born on the 10th of September 1521 into a family already famous for shaping English culture.
  • Thomas MoreThomas More climbed the scaffold at Tower Hill on the 6th of July 1535 and, finding the structure so rickety it might collapse, told the waiting official: "I…
  • Nicholas Carew (courtier)Nicholas Carew entered the household of the future King Henry VIII at six years old. He shared his education with the boy who would become England's most…
  • Walter RaleighWalter Raleigh spent the final morning of his life handling the axe that was about to kill him. "This is a sharp Medicine," he reportedly said, "but it is a…
  • Thomas CromwellThomas Cromwell was a blacksmith's son from Putney who died on Tower Hill with his head set on a spike above London Bridge.
  • Edmund DudleyEdmund Dudley died on Tower Hill on the 17th of August 1510, executed by the very dynasty he had spent his career enriching.
  • Richard EmpsonRichard Empson died on the 17th of August 1510 with an axe, not a trial verdict, as the final word on his career. A lawyer who rose from Northamptonshire…