This is a list of prominent people executed by the state during the reign of the Tudors. The list is not exhaustive.
| Convict | Date of Execution | Details | |
|---|---|---|---|
| William Catesby | 25 August 1485 | Chancellor of the Exchequer and Speaker of the House of Commons for King Richard III. Executed in Leicester after the Battle of Bosworth Field. | |
| Humphrey Stafford | 8 July 1486 | Executed for leading the Stafford and Lovell rebellion. | |
| Joan Boughton | 28 April 1494 | Burnt at the stake in Smithfield for adhering to John Wycliffe's Lollard theology. | |
| Simon Mountford | c. 30 January 1495 | Executed for supporting the rebellion of Perkin Warbeck. | |
| William Stanley | 16 February 1495 | Beheaded for supporting the pretender Perkin Warbeck's rebellion. | |
| Michael An Gof | 27 June 1497 | Executed for their roles in the Cornish Rebellion | |
| Thomas Flamank | |||
| James Tuchet, 7th Baron Audley | 28 June 1497 | Beheaded for treason after being captured in the Battle of Deptford Bridge. | |
| Ralph Wulford | 12 February 1499 | Executed as a pretender to the Earl of Warwick. | |
| Perkin Warbeck | 23 November 1499 | Flemish impostor-pretender as the lost Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York. Captured in Hampshire after leading several rebellions and hanged in Tyburn. | |
| Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick | 28 November 1499 | Claimant to the English throne as heir male to the House of York. Executed for treason at Tower Hill after allegedly plotting to escape prison with Perkin Warbeck. | |
| James Tyrrell | 6 May 1502 | Executed for treason for supporting Yorkist claimant Edmund de la Pole. |
See also: English Reformation.
| Convict | Date of Execution | Details | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edmund Dudley | 17 August 1510 | Member of the Council Learned in the Law, Speaker of the House of Commons, and President of King's Council under Henry VII. Executed for constructive treason. | |
| Sir Richard Empson | Speaker of the House of Commons and knight of the shire for Northamptonshire in the English Parliament under Henry VII. Convicted by attainder for constructive treason. | ||
| Edmund de la Pole, 6th Earl of Suffolk | 30 April 1513 | Leading Yorkist claimant to the throne. Extradited to England by Philip the Handsome and executed for treason at Tower Hill. | |
| Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham | 17 May 1521 | Member of the Henry VIII's Privy Council and descendant of the Plantagenet Dynasty. Executed for alleged treason at Tower Hill. | |
| Rhys ap Gruffydd | 4 December 1531 | Arrested after threatening Lord Ferrers at knifepoint and accused of plotting to overthrow the English administration in Wales. Executed for treason at Tower Hill. | |
| Elizabeth Barton | 20 April 1534 | Catholic nun executed after prophesizing against Henry VIII's marriage to Anne Boleyn. | |
| Edward Bocking | Benedictine monk executed for supporting Barton. | ||
| Richard Risby | Franciscan friar executed for treason. | ||
| John Houghton | 4 May 1535 | Carthusian hermits from the London Charterhouse executed for refusing to sign the Oath of Supremacy swearing allegiance to the King as the Supreme Governor of the Church of England and renouncing papal primacy before a royal commission under the Act of Supremacy. Some of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1970. | |
| Robert Lawrence | |||
| Augustine Webster | |||
| Humphrey Middlemore | 19 June 1535 | Carthusian hermits from the London Charterhouse executed for refusing to sign the Oath of Supremacy before a royal commission under the Act of Supremacy. | |
| William Exmew | |||
| Sebastian Newdigate | |||
| John Fisher | 22 June 1535 | Bishop of Rochester, former Chancellor of Cambridge University, and Cardinal-Priest of San Vitale. Hanged, drawn, and quartered for treason after refusing to accept Henry VIII as Supreme Governor of the Church of England under the First Succession Act and supporting his former wife Catherine of Aragon during their divorce. Canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1935. | |
| Sir Thomas More | 6 July 1535 | Lord High Chancellor of England, author of Utopia, and opponent of the Protestant Reformation. Executed for refusing to take the Oath of Supremacy. Canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1935 and declared patron saint of statesmen and politicians by Pope John Paul II in 2000. | |
| George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford | 17 May 1536 | Beheaded for false charges of high treason and incest with his sister Anne Boleyn. | |
| Henry Norris | Groom of the Stool. Beheaded for false charges of high treason and adultery with Boleyn. | ||
| William Brereton | Groom of the Privy Chamber. Beheaded for false charges of high treason and adultery with Boleyn. | ||
| Mark Smeaton | Court musician. Beheaded for false charges of high treason and adultery with Boleyn. | ||
| Francis Weston | Gentleman of the Privy Chamber. Beheaded for false charges of high treason and adultery with Boleyn. | ||
| Anne Boleyn | 19 May 1536 | Former Queen consort of England. Beheaded at White Tower for false charges of adultery, incest, and high treason engineered by Thomas Cromwell after she was unable to bear King Henry VIII a male heir. | |
| John Hussey, 1st Baron Hussey of Sleaford | early 1537 | Chief Butler of England, member of the House of Lords, and chamberlain to Mary I. Executed for role in the Pilgrimage of Grace. | |
| Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare and his five uncles | 3 February 1537 | Executed under an act of attainder after leading a rebellion against English rule in Ireland. | |
| John Rochester | 11 May 1537 | Publicly hanged in York for refusing to sign the Oath of Supremacy. | |
| Sir Thomas Percy | 2 June 1537 | Hanged, drawn and quartered for treason at Tyburn after leading Bigod's rebellion. | |
| Francis Bigod | Leader of Bigod's rebellion. | ||
| Thomas Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy de Darcy | 30 June 1537 | Opponent of the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Executed for high treason on Tower Hill after delivering Pontefract Castle to rebels of the Pilgrimage of Grace. | |
| Robert Constable | 6 July 1537 | Hanged for treason in Hull after the Pilgrimage of Grace. | |
| Robert Aske | 12 July 1537 | Hanged for treason at Clifford's Tower after leading rebellion against dissolution of lesser monasteries in Yorkshire. | |
| Thomas Johnson | 20 September 1537 | Carthusian hermit executed by starvation for treason at Newgate Prison. | |
| Mabel Brigge | April 1538 | Executed for treason after committing to a black fast. | |
| Edward Neville | 8 December 1538 | Executed for treason. | |
| Henry Courtenay, Marquess of Exeter | 9 December 1538 | Feudal baron of Okehampton and Plympton, grandson of King Edward IV. Beheaded for treason after being implicated in the Exeter Conspiracy to overthrow the King. | |
| Henry Pole, 1st Baron Montagu | 9 January 1539 | ||
| Nicholas Carew | 3 March 1539 | Beheaded for treason after being implicated in the Exeter Conspiracy to overthrow the King. | |
| Hugh Faringdon | 14 November 1539 | Benedictine Abbot of Reading Abbey. Hanged, drawn, and quartered for treason at the inner gatehouse. | |
| John Eynon | 15 November 1539 | Hanged, drawn, and quartered for treason at the inner gatehouse of Reading Abbey. | |
| Adam Damlip | early 1540s | Executed for seditious libel and treason in Calais. | |
| Thomas Cromwell | 28 July 1540 | Former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Principal Secretary, Master of the Rolls, Lord Privy Seal, Governor of the Isle of Wight, and Lord Great Chamberlain. Executed for treason and heresy at Tower Hill after arranging King Henry VIII's marriage to Anne of Cleves. | |
| Walter Hungerford | Executed for misprison of treason and buggery due to his support for Cromwell. | ||
| Thomas Abel | 30 July 1540 | ||
| Giles Heron | August 1540 | Executed for treason at Tower Hill. | |
| Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury | 27 May 1541 | Executed after being imprisoned in the Tower of London for two years. | |
| Sir John Neville | 15 June 1541 | Executed for treason for failing to report a planned rebellion. | |
| Leonard Grey | 28 July 1541 | Lord Deputy of Ireland. Executed for treason after allegedly aiding his nephew Gerald FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Kildare's escape to France. | |
| Francis Dereham | 10 December 1541 | Executed for adultery with Catherine Howard. | |
| Thomas Culpeper | |||
| Catherine Howard | 13 February 1542 | Former Queen consort of England. Executed for treason under an ex poste facto act of attainder requiring queen consort to reveal their sexual history within 20 days of their marriage to the King and forbidding inciting adultery. | |
| Jane Boleyn | Sister in law of Anne Boleyn and also the widow of Lord Rochford (George Boleyn) lady-in-waiting to Anne of Cleves and Catherine Howard. Executed for treason. | ||
| German Gardiner | 7 March 1544 | Executed for treason. | |
| Anne Askew | 16 July 1546 | Burned at the stake in Smithfield for heresy | |
| Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey | 19 January 1547 | Executed for treason. Final execution of King Henry VIII. |
| Convict | Date of Execution | Details | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley | 20 March 1549 | Executed for treason after breaking in to the King's apartments at Hampton Court Palace. | |
| Robert Kett | 7 December 1549 | Hanged for treason in Wymondham after leading Kett's Rebellion. | |
| Humphrey Arundell | 27 January 1550 | Hanged, drawn, and quartered at the Tower of London for treason after leading the Prayer Book Rebellion. | |
| Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset | 22 January 1552 | Lord Protector of the Realm during the King's minority. Executed for felony after a coup d'état led by John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland. |
| Convict | Date of Execution | Details | |
|---|---|---|---|
| John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland | 22 August 1553 | Lord President of the Council under King Edward VI. Executed for not recognizing Mary as Queen and attempting to support his daughter-in-law Lady Jane Grey's rival claim to the throne. Renounced Protestantism and converted to Catholicism before his death. | |
| Sir John Gates | Executed for leading military expedition against Queen Mary in East Anglia. Renounced Protestantism and converted to Catholicism before his death. | ||
| Sir Thomas Palmer | Executed for not recognizing Mary as Queen. Refused to convert to Catholicism before his death. | ||
| Lady Jane Grey | 12 February 1554 | Former de facto Queen of England and Ireland. Executed for high treason at Tower Hill under the Third Succession Act and the Treason Act 1547 establishing Queen Mary as the legitimate heir to the throne. | |
| Guilford Dudley | Former de facto king consort of England and Ireland. Executed for high treason at Tower Hill. | ||
| Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk | 23 February 1554 | Beheaded for high treason after supporting his daughter Lady Jane Grey's claim to the throne. | |
| Sir Henry Isley | February 1554 | Executed for role in Wyatt's Rebellion. | |
| Sir Thomas Wyatt | 11 April 1554 | Executed for leading anti-Spanish rebellion against Queen Mary in protest of her marriage to King Philip II. | |
| Sir William Thomas | 18 May 1554 | Welsh member of the Privy Council and scholar of the Italian language and history. Hanged, drawn, and quartered for treason. | |
| John Rogers | 4 February 1555 | Burned at the stake for heresy for role in drafting the Matthew Bible. | |
| John Hooper | 9 February 1555 | Anglican Bishop of Gloucester and Worcester. Burnt at the stake in Gloucester during the Marian Persecutions. | |
| Nicholas Ridley, Bishop of London | 16 October 1555 | Anglican Bishop of London. One of the Oxford Martyrs burnt at the stake. | |
| Hugh Latimer | Anglican Bishop of Worcester. One of the Oxford Martyrs burnt at the stake. | ||
| Thomas Cranmer | 21 March 1556 | Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury. Author of the Book of Common Prayer and prominent supporter of Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine of Aragon and the Acts of Supremacy. Executed for heresy. |
| Convict | Date of Execution | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk | 2 June 1572 | Executed for treason at Tower Hill for his role in the Ridolfi Plot. |
| Thomas Percy, 7th Earl of Northumberland | 22 August 1572 | Publicly beheaded for treason in York for his role in the Rising of the North, a rebellion of Catholic Northern English nobles to place Mary, Queen of Scots on the English throne. |
| Edmund Campion | 1 December 1581 | English Catholic priests hanged, drawn, and quartered for treason in Tyburn. One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1970. |
| Alexander Briant | ||
| Ralph Sherwin | ||
| Francis Throckmorton | 10 July 1584 | Executed for high treason for leading the Throckmorton Plot |
| William Parry | 2 March 1585 | Executed in Old Palace Yard after confessing to a plot to assassinate the Queen. |
| Sir Anthony Babington | 20 September 1586 | Hanged, drawn, and quartered for participating in the Babington Plot. |
| Chidiock Tichborne | ||
| Sir Thomas Salisbury | 21 September 1586 | |
| John Ballard | ||
| Henry Donn | ||
| Mary, Queen of Scots | 8 February 1587 | Beheaded for treason at Fotheringhay Castle after being implicated in the Babington Plot. |
| George Errington | 29 November 1596 | Hanged, drawn and quartered in York for treason. Beatified as one of the Eighty-five martyrs of England and Wales by Pope John Paul II in 1987. |
| William Knight | ||
| William Gibson | ||
| Henry Abbot | 4 July 1597 | |
| Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex | 25 February 1601 | Beheaded for treason at Tower Green after leading Essex's Rebellion. The final person to be beheaded at the Tower of London. |
| Sir Gelli Meyrick | 13 March 1601 | Hanged for treason in Tyburn for participating in Essex's Rebellion. |
| Sir Henry Cuffe | ||
| Sir Christopher Blount | 18 March 1601 | Beheaded for treason at Tower Hill for participating in Essex's Rebellion |
| Sir Charles Danvers |