May 17, 1536: A Bloody Day on Tower Hill

Anne Boleyn's brother George, Viscount Rochford, three of Henry VIII's courtiers (Sir Henry Norris, Sir Francis Weston, Sir William Brereton) and court musician Mark Smeaton were executed on Tower Hill on May 17, 1536.

Last year Gareth Russell presented an excellent series of posts on the days between Anne Boleyn's arrest and her execution. He provided great detail about the conduct of these five men on the scaffold--it was indeed a bloody, bloody day. I recommend you go to his blog and peruse his review of these posts, updated this year.