Could You Really Get Away with Murder at Henry VIII's Court? - Tudor True Crime

In April 1532, Sir William Pennington was cut down on the very edge of Westminster sanctuary—and his killers walked away with a manslaughter verdict, a £1,000 pardon, and glittering careers. In this Tudor true-crime deep dive, I unpack the fight, the politics, and the legal loopholes that made it possible.



What’s inside:

• The argument and fight, from Westminster Hall to the sanctuary precinct


• How sanctuary should have worked—and how it was bent


• The official indictment vs. Carlo Capello’s explosive diplomatic report


• Cromwell’s intervention and the price of a royal pardon


• Holbein’s 1537 portrait: the scar carried from the fight


• What this case tells us about power, patronage, and Tudor justice

Sources & further reading:

• Shannon McSheffrey, “The Slaying of Sir William Pennington: Legal Narrative and the Late Medieval English Archive" - https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/flor/article/view/21566/25053


• Venetian ambassador Carlo Capello’s report, Calendar of State Papers Relating To English Affairs in the Archives of Venice, Volume 4, 1527-1533, 761 - https://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/venice/vol4/pp331-334


• Hans Holbein: preparatory sketch & portrait of Richard Southwell (1537) - https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Hans_Holbein_d._J._060.jpg and https://www.rct.uk/collection/912242/sir-richard-southwell-15023-1564

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Tell me in the comments: Was this justice, or a cover for court politics?



#TudorHistory #TrueCrime #HenryVIII #ThomasCromwell #AnneBoleyn #Westminster #Sanctuary #Holbein #RichardSouthwell #SirWilliamPennington