Today we visited Antony House, the home of the Carew family. There is a painting of Charles I at his trial displayed in the main hall. John Carew was one of the 59 men who signed King Charles I’s death warrant. When Charles II took the throne, he vowed to execute all the men who had signed his father’s death warrant. Although many fled the country, John Carew remained, and was executed.
Sir Alexander Carew had fought for the parliamentarians, but when the war seemed to be going badly for them, he switched sides. He was executed by the parliamentarians.
The Sir Anthony Standen Adventures have not yet reached the English Civil War period. However there is a connection. Charles I’s wife was Henrietta Maria, daughter of Maria de Medici and Henry IV of France. She appears in The Suggested Assassin, albeit briefly, and may appear in book 5, which I am currently researching. I think a theme is coalescing in my mind for book 5, and that is suggesting the inciting moment. I shall start working on it seriously when we get home.
There were copies of Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, on a table in the library of Antony House. Sir Nicholas Carew is certainly a character who features in Bring Up the Bodies. Sir Nicholas was a great friend of Henry VIII and master of horse to him. However Sir Nicholas grew to dislike Ann Boleyn, and became a champion of Princess Mary. He was tried and executed for his alleged involvement in the Exeter Conspiracy. The conspirators sought to overthrow King Henry VIII and replace him with Henry Courtenay, 1st Marquis of Exeter.
I haven’t yet discovered any ancestors who lost their heads, but Sir Anthony Standen came perilously close to it.