Episode 206 – Thomas Cromwell’s Book of Hours Discovered!

Hever Castle’s amazing curatorial team has found Thomas Cromwell’s book of hours! This is the very same book seen in his famous portrait by Hans Holbein.

© The Frick Collection, photo by Michael Bodycomb

In 2021, Kate McCaffrey’s groundbreaking research revealed that Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn had copies of the same prayer book printed in 1527 by the prolific French printer, Germain Hardouyn. Cromwell’s book of hours is from this same batch! His book also retains its original silver-gilt and bejewelled binding.

Photo courtesy of Trinity College, Cambridge.

Tune into the latest episode of Talking Tudors to hear all about this amazing discovery.

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View a digitised copy of Thomas Cromwell’s prayer book here.

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