March 23 – The last abbey is dissolved and the Pope issued a bull proclaiming Catherine of Aragon to be England’s true queen

On this day in Tudor history, 23rd March 1540, Waltham Abbey, an Augustinian house in Essex, was surrendered to the Crown.

It was the last abbey to be dissolved in Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell's dissolution of the monasteries.

Find out more about this historic abbey, its origins and what's left today, and also who profited from its lands, in this talk...

Also on this day in Tudor history, 23rd March 1534, the Pope issued a bull proclaiming Catherine of Aragon to be England's true queen and Mary the heir to the throne, while the English Parliament declared Anne Boleyn to be England's rightful queen and her daughter, Elizabeth, the heir.

Find out more about this strange situation in this video...