On this day in Tudor history Richard Rouse, official cook for Bishop John Fisher was boiled to death. Rouse, a commoner, admitted to poisoning porridge that was subsequently served to Fisher and several guests visiting him. Because Fisher was virulently against Henry VIII divorce from Catherine of Aragon and his desire to marry Anne Boleyn, many were quick to blame her for the poisoning which resulted in several deaths. The poisoning has been portrayed in Hollywood versions of Anne's story including The Tudors which implied that Thomas Boleyn provided Rouse with the poison. Fortunately, there is no evidence to support this claim and Henry VIII did not belief gossip at the time.
Primary source evidence references the event in several locations, this excerpt is from the Letters and Papers of Henry VIII:
"On the Eighteenth day of February, 1531, one Richard Roose, of Rochester, Cook, also called Richard Cooke, did cast poison into a vessel of yeast to baum, standing in the kitchen of the Bishop of Rochester's Palace, at Lambeth March, by means of which two persons who happened to eat of the pottage made with such yeast died".
So he confessed, but did he say why?
ReplyDeleteHe famously refused to name who paid him to do so or what his own personal motivations for participating in the killing were. We can assume that he was handsomely compensated and thought he would never be caught, it was a situation that would have been tempting for someone who was experiencing extreme poverty.
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