Alice Arden
Encyclopedia
Alice Arden was the daughter of John Brigantine and Alice Squire, who conspired to have her husband, Thomas Arden of Faversham
, murdered so she could carry on with a long-term affair with a tailor, Richard Moseby. The murder took place on 14 February 1551. She was tried, convicted, and burnt at the stake for her part in the murder.
and later had entries in both The Newgate Calendar
and the Chambers Book of Days
. Alice Brigantine married Thomas Arden on an unknown date. They made their home at Faversham Abbey
, which had been dissolved in 1536. They had at least one daughter, Margaret, who was born in 1538.
According to these accounts, Alice was "young, tall, and well favoured of shape and countenance". She began an affair with a tailor, Richard Mosbye, and then she plotted to kill her husband. Thomas Arden was a "private gentleman". His rival Mosbye (or "Mosbie") was in the service of Edward North, 1st Baron North
, before setting shop in London
. Mosbye frequented the house of the Ardens and the affair was carried rather openly. Thomas had to turn a blind eye, unwilling to sever relations with Alice's family. In time Alice came to loathe her husband and considered disposing of him. She made an early attempt on his life by poisoning him. She mixed milk and poison within a porringer
, serving it to Thomas for breakfast. She had failed to account for the taste of the poison used. Thomas only took "a spoonful or two" before quitting his breakfast and complaining of its quality.
Alice had to find an accomplice for her further efforts. Holinshed simply mentions: "They employed as their confederates one John Green, a Faversham tailor; George Bradshaw, a goldsmith
of the same town; and one Black Will, of Calyce (Calais
), a murderer, which murderer was privily sent for to Calyce by the earnest sute, appoyntment, and confederate of Alice Arden and Thomas Mosbye." The Newgate Calendar gives a more extensive account. She found her accomplice in the person of Mr. Green, a local man who had personal grievances with Thomas Arden. Green had claimed a piece of land on the back side of Faversham Abbey. Arden claimed the vicinity of his residence as part of his own property, successfully wresting control of Green's land. The two men had exchanged blows and threats before. Green still hated his enemy and was willing to work for his murder. Since both were inexperienced in the art of murder, they decided to hire someone else to do the deed, resolving to pay the mercenary ten pounds
for the completed murder.
Green was employed by Sir Anthony Agers. Agers had business in London
. He was already there for a while before asking Green to join him there. Green was reluctant to travel alone and hired Mr. Bradshaw to accompany him. Bradshaw was a local goldsmith
and veteran soldier, having served under Sir Richard Cavendish during the Sieges of Boulogne. In their travel they chanced on an old acquaintance of Bradshaw, known as "Black Will". Will was also a veteran soldier but one who had committed "several robberies and horrid murders" in France
. Armed "with a sword
and buckler
", Will was apparently making his living as a highwayman
since leaving military service. Green decided he had found his mercenary, hiring Will for the murder.
.
The Newgate Calendar again expands on the basic narrative. Black Will followed Green to London. The duo soon met Thomas Arden who had traveled there for his own purposes. Green used a walk to Old St Paul's Cathedral
to have Will take a close look at his intended victim. Arden was accompanied by a servant called Michael or Marry who was loyal to Alice. Green wanted to use the servant to gain access to Arden's lodgings in London. Black Will offered to kill both master and servant instead. Green informed the servant on this threat to his own life. This backfired. The servant was terrified of Black Will, making sure to bolt the doors of their lodgings at night, preventing Will or anyone else from entering.
An attempt to ambush Arden on his return journey also failed. The servant pretended that his horse went lame, having Arden travel alone. Instead, Arden convinced various acquaintances to travel with him, never actually being isolated enough for Will to ambush him. Arden returned home safely.
Arden had business with Thomas Cheney
, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports
in South-East England. He had his servant travel to the Isle of Sheppey
and meet Cheney. The servant returned with a letter from Cheney. Alice concealed the letter and had the servant claim to have lost it. This had the intended effect. Thomas decided to travel to the Isle of Sheppey and meet Cheney in person. Black Will and George Shakebag, a fellow highwayman, were instructed by Alice to ambush him on his way there "in a broom-close between Feversham and the Ferry". Unfamiliar with the area, the highwaymen set their ambush at the wrong location, failing to meet Arden either at his journey to the Isle or on his return.
Another idea to accomplish the deed was stillborn. Valentine's Day
was approaching and there would be a fair
. Moseby would have to pick a fight with Thomas in public and then end the life of his rival in a duel
. With Thomas' known reluctance to fight, the idea of him accepting a challenge was deemed absurd.
, which was groat and broad, and therewith cut the said Arden’s throat."
Alice herself stabbed the body seven or eight times. Will helped drag the body into the closet. He then received eight pounds for his services. Cicely Pounder later helped transferring the body to the Almery Croft, a meadow behind the house. Finishing the task, "the doubly wicked Alice and her companions danced, and played on the virginals
, and were merrie." All this noise had a purpose. They wanted to have the neighbours think that Thomas Arden was still alive and entertaining friends. The corpse dressed in night-clothes would convince them of the hour of its death.
From here, the Newgate Calendar account diverges considerably. At last, Alice and her fellow conspirators decided to kill Thomas within the walls of their house. She arranged for most of their servants to be sent on various tasks outside the residence, "except those who were privy and consenting to the villainous design". She had Black Will hide in a closet located at the parlour
of the residence, waiting for a pre-arranged signal to come out. At about 7 p.m, Thomas returned home to find Moseby already there. He was told their supper was not ready yet. The two men agreed to a game of backgammon
while waiting for Alice to call them.
The two men were in the parlour, with Arden having his back turned to the closet. Moseby kept him distracted until voicing the signal "Now I may take you, Sir!". Will rushed from the closet and started strangling
their victim with a towel. Moseby struck Arden with a fourteen-pound pressing iron. He was knocked out. The two men then transferred their victim to his counting house
. There, Will finished him. Will stole the money from the corpse's pockets and stripped it of its rings
. Alice paid him his ten pounds and Green provided him with a horse to make his escape.
Alice, to make certain that her husband was indeed dead, stabbed him seven or eight times. Then she and had the parlour cleaned and the blood wiped away with a cloth. The bloody knife and cloth were then discarded. When everything was prepared, guests started arriving for a delayed supper. They included Moseby's sister, Cicely. Alice feigned ignorance at the reasons her husband was taking so long to return home. "When supper was over, Mrs Arden made her daughter play on the virginals
, and they danced, and she amongst them."
Alice made sure to keep her guests around as long as possible while constantly reminding them of the suspicious absence of her spouse. Then she sent most of the servants out to look for their master. Meanwhile, Alice, her daughter Margaret Arden, Cicely Pounder and the maid Elizabeth Stafford would transport the corpse outside the house. They "carried it out into a field adjoining to the churchyard, and to his own garden wall, through which he went to church." They laid it down "about ten paces from the door of that garden", making it seem that Thomas was murdered outside.
The Newgate Calendar gives a rather different account. That night, Alice made a show of her supposed worry for her spouse's disappearance. She had her servants search for him late into the night, wept and lamented, alerted the neighbours. At last the local mayor was informed and a town-wide search was contacted. When the corpse was discovered, the people involved with the search started doubting the innocence of Alice. It was a cold winter night and there was fresh snow
on the ground. But the body was only dressed in "its night-gown
and slippers". Making it unlikely he was going about his business in town when killed. The fresh snow had preserved footprint
s of several people in the distance between the location of the body and the residence of the Ardens, making it plain the body had been transported from the house to its current position.
Suspicions immediately fell on Alice. She was confronted by the mayor and "very strictly examined" on the murder of her husband. She initially denied any knowledge of the deed. But the people of the town contacted further searches near the house. Discovering hair and blood of the victim, the bloody knife and the cloth. Discarded but poorly hidden. Alice was at length forced to confess to her guilt. Also naming her associates. The two Arden ladies (mother and daughter), the servant and the maid were immediately arrested and sent to prison. Moseby was not present. He was found sleeping at the "Flower-de-Luce" (Fleur-de-lis
, the house of Adam Fowle which he frequented. With blood found on his stocking
s and coin purse
, this conspirator was also arrested.
A bit more controversial was the arrest of Bradshaw. He was mentioned in the correspondence between Alice and Green as the man who introduced them to Black Will. The goldsmith was then accused of being a "procurer
of Black Will". He was otherwise unconnected to the case. The rest of the accused claimed to have never even met the man, much less conversed or conspired with him. But his protests of innocence failed to convince the court.
) and burnt at the stake in Canterbury
.The crime caused a sensation and her execution was a huge event attended by people from many distant towns. It is reported that she went bravely to the stake which had been set up in a field outside the city. The execution took place at one o'clock in the afternoon and was over by three. Alice went out on foot dressed in a black gown and knelt praying for a few minutes in front of the stake. Then she was helped to her feet by a priest and she removed her shoes, her black gown and her petticoat and dressed in a simple black, sleeveless shift she was led to the stake and climbed onto a stool called the trivett that stood in front of it. Chains were fastened around her waist, thighs, knees,ankles and chest to hold her firm, and her wrists were chained together behind the stake. At this point the executioner removed the stool on which Alice was standing and she was left hanging in the chains about three feet above the ground. Wood bundled together in fagots was pushed quickly under her and set alight. At first she remained calm and coughed a little with the smoke but when the flames reached her feet she lost control of herself and cried out piteously while struggling to escape. Alice was not strangled during the execution as was sometimes done in those days and she suffered the full horror of her sentence as small amounts of wood were added to the fire to burn her slowly to death. Reports at the time suggest that she survived at the stake for over and hour before dying. Her co-conspirators were all rounded up and executed by various means and at different locations. Michael Saunderson was drawn and hanged
. or hanged in chains
at Feversham. Elizabeth Stafford, the maid, was burned at the stake in Faversham. She did not meet her end with the composure of her mistress and was dragged howling and screaming to the stake. It took three men to chain her to it although she was a slim girl and only 16 years old. She too was burned alive rather than being strangled during the execution but mercifully seems to have died more quickly than Alice, the execution being over within an hour. Richard Mosbye and Cicely Pounder, brother and sister, were hanged at Smithfield, George Bradshaw was hanged in chains at Canterbury.
There are two accounts given on the fate of John Green. Hollinshed simply mentions that Green was hung at Faversham. The Newgate Calendar has him evading arrest for some years. He was eventually caught and "hanged in chains in the highway between Ospringe
and Boughton
". Before he died, Green attempted to clear the name of Bradshaw proclaiming the innocence of the long-dead goldsmith.
Black Will ended his life on a scaffold. Hollinshed mentions that Will "escaped for many years, but was at length taken, and 'brent on a seaffolde at Flushing'". This could be Flushing, Cornwall
. The Newgate Calendar agrees on the manner of death but places the execution at Flushing
, Zeeland
. Adam Fowle was also implicated and incarcerated for some time at Marshalsea
. He alone was found innocent and discharged.
s of the times, attributed this to the murder; while others declared that 'the field he hadde cruelly taken from a widow woman, who had curst him most bitterly, even to his face, wishing that all the world might wonder on him.' "
In 1592, the events were dramatized in the play "Arden of Faversham
". The paternity of the play has been long disputed, with William Shakespeare
being the most prominent candidate put forward. The play was later adapted by George Lillo
into a domestic tragedy
.
Faversham
Faversham is a market town and civil parish in the Swale borough of Kent, England. The parish of Faversham grew up around an ancient sea port on Faversham Creek and was the birthplace of the explosives industry in England.-History:...
, murdered so she could carry on with a long-term affair with a tailor, Richard Moseby. The murder took place on 14 February 1551. She was tried, convicted, and burnt at the stake for her part in the murder.
Conspirators
The murder was described by Raphael HolinshedRaphael Holinshed
Raphael Holinshed was an English chronicler, whose work, commonly known as Holinshed's Chronicles, was one of the major sources used by William Shakespeare for a number of his plays....
and later had entries in both The Newgate Calendar
The Newgate Calendar
The Newgate Calendar, subtitled The Malefactors' Bloody Register, was a popular work of improving literature in the 18th and 19th centuries....
and the Chambers Book of Days
Chambers Book of Days
The Chambers Book of Days was written by the Scottish author Robert Chambers and first published in 1864.A new version was published by Chambers Harrap known as the Chambers Book of...
. Alice Brigantine married Thomas Arden on an unknown date. They made their home at Faversham Abbey
Faversham Abbey
Faversham Abbey was a Cluny style monastery immediately to the north-east of the town of Faversham in the county of Kent in England.It was founded by King Stephen and his queen Matilda of Boulogne in 1148. A party of monks from Bermondsey Abbey provided the nucleus and the first abbot.The Abbey was...
, which had been dissolved in 1536. They had at least one daughter, Margaret, who was born in 1538.
According to these accounts, Alice was "young, tall, and well favoured of shape and countenance". She began an affair with a tailor, Richard Mosbye, and then she plotted to kill her husband. Thomas Arden was a "private gentleman". His rival Mosbye (or "Mosbie") was in the service of Edward North, 1st Baron North
Edward North, 1st Baron North
Edward North, 1st Baron North was an English peer and politician. He was the Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire 1559–1564 and Clerk of the Parliaments...
, before setting shop in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Mosbye frequented the house of the Ardens and the affair was carried rather openly. Thomas had to turn a blind eye, unwilling to sever relations with Alice's family. In time Alice came to loathe her husband and considered disposing of him. She made an early attempt on his life by poisoning him. She mixed milk and poison within a porringer
Porringer
A porringer is a small dish from which Europeans and colonial Americans ate their gruel or porridge, or other soft foods.Porringers were shallow bowls, between 4" to 6" in diameter, and 1½" to 3" deep; the form originates in the medieval period in Europe and they were made in wood, ceramic, pewter...
, serving it to Thomas for breakfast. She had failed to account for the taste of the poison used. Thomas only took "a spoonful or two" before quitting his breakfast and complaining of its quality.
Alice had to find an accomplice for her further efforts. Holinshed simply mentions: "They employed as their confederates one John Green, a Faversham tailor; George Bradshaw, a goldsmith
Goldsmith
A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Since ancient times the techniques of a goldsmith have evolved very little in order to produce items of jewelry of quality standards. In modern times actual goldsmiths are rare...
of the same town; and one Black Will, of Calyce (Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
), a murderer, which murderer was privily sent for to Calyce by the earnest sute, appoyntment, and confederate of Alice Arden and Thomas Mosbye." The Newgate Calendar gives a more extensive account. She found her accomplice in the person of Mr. Green, a local man who had personal grievances with Thomas Arden. Green had claimed a piece of land on the back side of Faversham Abbey. Arden claimed the vicinity of his residence as part of his own property, successfully wresting control of Green's land. The two men had exchanged blows and threats before. Green still hated his enemy and was willing to work for his murder. Since both were inexperienced in the art of murder, they decided to hire someone else to do the deed, resolving to pay the mercenary ten pounds
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
for the completed murder.
Green was employed by Sir Anthony Agers. Agers had business in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. He was already there for a while before asking Green to join him there. Green was reluctant to travel alone and hired Mr. Bradshaw to accompany him. Bradshaw was a local goldsmith
Goldsmith
A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Since ancient times the techniques of a goldsmith have evolved very little in order to produce items of jewelry of quality standards. In modern times actual goldsmiths are rare...
and veteran soldier, having served under Sir Richard Cavendish during the Sieges of Boulogne. In their travel they chanced on an old acquaintance of Bradshaw, known as "Black Will". Will was also a veteran soldier but one who had committed "several robberies and horrid murders" in France
Early Modern France
Kingdom of France is the early modern period of French history from the end of the 15th century to the end of the 18th century...
. Armed "with a sword
Sword
A sword is a bladed weapon used primarily for cutting or thrusting. The precise definition of the term varies with the historical epoch or the geographical region under consideration...
and buckler
Buckler
A buckler is a small shield, 15 to 45 cm in diameter, gripped in the fist; it was generally used as a companion weapon in hand-to-hand combat during the Medieval and Renaissance, as its size made it poor protection against missile weapons but useful in deflecting the blow of...
", Will was apparently making his living as a highwayman
Highwayman
A highwayman was a thief and brigand who preyed on travellers. This type of outlaw, usually, travelled and robbed by horse, as compared to a footpad who traveled and robbed on foot. Mounted robbers were widely considered to be socially superior to footpads...
since leaving military service. Green decided he had found his mercenary, hiring Will for the murder.
Failed Attempts
Holinshed mentions a number of failed attempts on Thomas' life. "The conspirators watched Master Arden walking in Poule’s (St. Paul’s Cathedral, the nave of which was a public promenade in those days), but could not find an opportunity to murder him; they then lay in wait for him on Rainham Down, and a second time in the Broomy Close (two places near Faversham), but on all these occasions failed in obtaining an opportunity." Rainham Down probably being Rainham on the North DownsNorth Downs
The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. The North Downs lie within two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty , the Surrey Hills and the Kent Downs...
.
The Newgate Calendar again expands on the basic narrative. Black Will followed Green to London. The duo soon met Thomas Arden who had traveled there for his own purposes. Green used a walk to Old St Paul's Cathedral
Old St Paul's Cathedral
Old St Paul's Cathedral is a name used to refer to the medieval cathedral of the City of London which until 1666 stood on the site of the present St Paul's Cathedral. Built between 1087 and 1314 and dedicated to St Paul, the cathedral was the fourth church on the site at Ludgate Hill...
to have Will take a close look at his intended victim. Arden was accompanied by a servant called Michael or Marry who was loyal to Alice. Green wanted to use the servant to gain access to Arden's lodgings in London. Black Will offered to kill both master and servant instead. Green informed the servant on this threat to his own life. This backfired. The servant was terrified of Black Will, making sure to bolt the doors of their lodgings at night, preventing Will or anyone else from entering.
An attempt to ambush Arden on his return journey also failed. The servant pretended that his horse went lame, having Arden travel alone. Instead, Arden convinced various acquaintances to travel with him, never actually being isolated enough for Will to ambush him. Arden returned home safely.
Arden had business with Thomas Cheney
Thomas Cheney
Sir Thomas Cheney KG was the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports in South-East England, from 1536 until his death.-Early life:...
, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports
Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports
The Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports is a ceremonial official in the United Kingdom. The post dates from at least the 12th century but may be older. The Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports was originally in charge of the Cinque Ports, a group of five port towns on the southeast coast of England...
in South-East England. He had his servant travel to the Isle of Sheppey
Isle of Sheppey
The Isle of Sheppey is an island off the northern coast of Kent, England in the Thames Estuary, some to the east of London. It has an area of . The island forms part of the local government district of Swale...
and meet Cheney. The servant returned with a letter from Cheney. Alice concealed the letter and had the servant claim to have lost it. This had the intended effect. Thomas decided to travel to the Isle of Sheppey and meet Cheney in person. Black Will and George Shakebag, a fellow highwayman, were instructed by Alice to ambush him on his way there "in a broom-close between Feversham and the Ferry". Unfamiliar with the area, the highwaymen set their ambush at the wrong location, failing to meet Arden either at his journey to the Isle or on his return.
Another idea to accomplish the deed was stillborn. Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day
Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day, is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496...
was approaching and there would be a fair
Fair
A fair or fayre is a gathering of people to display or trade produce or other goods, to parade or display animals and often to enjoy associated carnival or funfair entertainment. It is normally of the essence of a fair that it is temporary; some last only an afternoon while others may ten weeks. ...
. Moseby would have to pick a fight with Thomas in public and then end the life of his rival in a duel
Duel
A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two individuals, with matched weapons in accordance with agreed-upon rules.Duels in this form were chiefly practised in Early Modern Europe, with precedents in the medieval code of chivalry, and continued into the modern period especially among...
. With Thomas' known reluctance to fight, the idea of him accepting a challenge was deemed absurd.
Murder
Holinshed continues: "The wicked wife then laid a plot for murdering her husband in his own house. She procured the services of Mosbye’s sister, Cicely Pounder, and of two of Arden’s domestic servants, Michael Saunderson and Elizabeth Stafford. On a particular day selected Sunday, Black Will was hidden in a closet at the end of Arden’s parlour. After supper, Arden sat down to play some kind of game with Mosbye; Green stood at Arden’s back, holding a candle in his hand, to shaddowe Black Will when he should come out; and the other conspirators had their cue. At a given signal in the game, Black Will came with a napkyn in his hand, anal sodenlye came behind Arden’s back, threw the said napkyn over his hedd and face, and strangled him; and forthwith Mosbye stept to him, and strake him with a taylor’s great pressing iron upon the scull to the braine, and immediately drew out his daggerDagger
A dagger is a fighting knife with a sharp point designed or capable of being used as a thrusting or stabbing weapon. The design dates to human prehistory, and daggers have been used throughout human experience to the modern day in close combat confrontations...
, which was groat and broad, and therewith cut the said Arden’s throat."
Alice herself stabbed the body seven or eight times. Will helped drag the body into the closet. He then received eight pounds for his services. Cicely Pounder later helped transferring the body to the Almery Croft, a meadow behind the house. Finishing the task, "the doubly wicked Alice and her companions danced, and played on the virginals
Virginals
The virginals or virginal is a keyboard instrument of the harpsichord family...
, and were merrie." All this noise had a purpose. They wanted to have the neighbours think that Thomas Arden was still alive and entertaining friends. The corpse dressed in night-clothes would convince them of the hour of its death.
From here, the Newgate Calendar account diverges considerably. At last, Alice and her fellow conspirators decided to kill Thomas within the walls of their house. She arranged for most of their servants to be sent on various tasks outside the residence, "except those who were privy and consenting to the villainous design". She had Black Will hide in a closet located at the parlour
Parlour
Parlour , from the French word parloir, from parler , denotes an "audience chamber". In parts of the United Kingdom and the United States, parlours are common names for certain types of food service houses, restaurants or special service areas, such as tattoo parlors...
of the residence, waiting for a pre-arranged signal to come out. At about 7 p.m, Thomas returned home to find Moseby already there. He was told their supper was not ready yet. The two men agreed to a game of backgammon
Backgammon
Backgammon is one of the oldest board games for two players. The playing pieces are moved according to the roll of dice, and players win by removing all of their pieces from the board. There are many variants of backgammon, most of which share common traits...
while waiting for Alice to call them.
The two men were in the parlour, with Arden having his back turned to the closet. Moseby kept him distracted until voicing the signal "Now I may take you, Sir!". Will rushed from the closet and started strangling
Strangling
Strangling is compression of the neck that may lead to unconsciousness or death by causing an increasingly hypoxic state in the brain. Fatal strangling typically occurs in cases of violence, accidents, and as the auxiliary lethal mechanism in hangings in the event the neck does not break...
their victim with a towel. Moseby struck Arden with a fourteen-pound pressing iron. He was knocked out. The two men then transferred their victim to his counting house
Counting house
A counting house, or compting house, literally is the building, room, office or suite in which a business firm carries on operations, particularly accounting. By a synecdoche, it has come to mean the accounting operations of a firm, however housed...
. There, Will finished him. Will stole the money from the corpse's pockets and stripped it of its rings
Ring (jewellery)
A finger ring is a circular band worn as a type of ornamental jewelry around a finger; it is the most common current meaning of the word ring. Other types of metal bands worn as ornaments are also called rings, such as arm rings and neck rings....
. Alice paid him his ten pounds and Green provided him with a horse to make his escape.
Alice, to make certain that her husband was indeed dead, stabbed him seven or eight times. Then she and had the parlour cleaned and the blood wiped away with a cloth. The bloody knife and cloth were then discarded. When everything was prepared, guests started arriving for a delayed supper. They included Moseby's sister, Cicely. Alice feigned ignorance at the reasons her husband was taking so long to return home. "When supper was over, Mrs Arden made her daughter play on the virginals
Virginals
The virginals or virginal is a keyboard instrument of the harpsichord family...
, and they danced, and she amongst them."
Alice made sure to keep her guests around as long as possible while constantly reminding them of the suspicious absence of her spouse. Then she sent most of the servants out to look for their master. Meanwhile, Alice, her daughter Margaret Arden, Cicely Pounder and the maid Elizabeth Stafford would transport the corpse outside the house. They "carried it out into a field adjoining to the churchyard, and to his own garden wall, through which he went to church." They laid it down "about ten paces from the door of that garden", making it seem that Thomas was murdered outside.
Discovery
According to Hollinshed, Alice waited until the following morning to alert the town that her husband went missing. The towns-people contacted a search and the corpse was discovered. "Some of the people saw a 'long rushe or two from the parlour floor there were no carpets in those days, stuck between one of his slippers and his foot. Suspicion being aroused, the house was searched, and it was soon found that Arden had been murdered in his own parlour.' Very likely Alice’s conduct as a wife had already attracted public attention; for she was at once accused of the murder."The Newgate Calendar gives a rather different account. That night, Alice made a show of her supposed worry for her spouse's disappearance. She had her servants search for him late into the night, wept and lamented, alerted the neighbours. At last the local mayor was informed and a town-wide search was contacted. When the corpse was discovered, the people involved with the search started doubting the innocence of Alice. It was a cold winter night and there was fresh snow
Snow
Snow is a form of precipitation within the Earth's atmosphere in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of a multitude of snowflakes that fall from clouds. Since snow is composed of small ice particles, it is a granular material. It has an open and therefore soft structure, unless packed by...
on the ground. But the body was only dressed in "its night-gown
Nightgown
A nightgown is a loosely hanging item of nightwear. Nowadays the term is almost exclusively applied to women's nightwear. A nightgown is typically made from cotton, silk, satin, or nylon...
and slippers". Making it unlikely he was going about his business in town when killed. The fresh snow had preserved footprint
Footprint
Footprints are the impressions or images left behind by a person walking. Hoofprints and pawprints are those left by animals with hooves or paws rather than feet, while "shoeprints" is the specific term for prints made by shoes...
s of several people in the distance between the location of the body and the residence of the Ardens, making it plain the body had been transported from the house to its current position.
Suspicions immediately fell on Alice. She was confronted by the mayor and "very strictly examined" on the murder of her husband. She initially denied any knowledge of the deed. But the people of the town contacted further searches near the house. Discovering hair and blood of the victim, the bloody knife and the cloth. Discarded but poorly hidden. Alice was at length forced to confess to her guilt. Also naming her associates. The two Arden ladies (mother and daughter), the servant and the maid were immediately arrested and sent to prison. Moseby was not present. He was found sleeping at the "Flower-de-Luce" (Fleur-de-lis
Fleur-de-lis
The fleur-de-lis or fleur-de-lys is a stylized lily or iris that is used as a decorative design or symbol. It may be "at one and the same time, political, dynastic, artistic, emblematic, and symbolic", especially in heraldry...
, the house of Adam Fowle which he frequented. With blood found on his stocking
Stocking
A stocking, , is a close-fitting, variously elastic garment covering the foot and lower part of the leg. Stockings vary in color, design and transparency...
s and coin purse
Coin purse
A coin purse is a small money bag or pouch, similar to a wallet, but typically used by women and include a compartment for coins. In some countries, it is known simply as a purse...
, this conspirator was also arrested.
A bit more controversial was the arrest of Bradshaw. He was mentioned in the correspondence between Alice and Green as the man who introduced them to Black Will. The goldsmith was then accused of being a "procurer
Procuring (prostitution)
Procuring or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer. Examples of procuring include:*trafficking a prostitute into a country for the purpose of soliciting sex...
of Black Will". He was otherwise unconnected to the case. The rest of the accused claimed to have never even met the man, much less conversed or conspired with him. But his protests of innocence failed to convince the court.
Execution
Alice Arden was found guilty of the crime of murder (Petty treasonPetty treason
Petty treason or petit treason was an offence under the common law of England which involved the betrayal of a superior by a subordinate. It differed from the better-known high treason in that high treason can only be committed against the Sovereign...
) and burnt at the stake in Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
.The crime caused a sensation and her execution was a huge event attended by people from many distant towns. It is reported that she went bravely to the stake which had been set up in a field outside the city. The execution took place at one o'clock in the afternoon and was over by three. Alice went out on foot dressed in a black gown and knelt praying for a few minutes in front of the stake. Then she was helped to her feet by a priest and she removed her shoes, her black gown and her petticoat and dressed in a simple black, sleeveless shift she was led to the stake and climbed onto a stool called the trivett that stood in front of it. Chains were fastened around her waist, thighs, knees,ankles and chest to hold her firm, and her wrists were chained together behind the stake. At this point the executioner removed the stool on which Alice was standing and she was left hanging in the chains about three feet above the ground. Wood bundled together in fagots was pushed quickly under her and set alight. At first she remained calm and coughed a little with the smoke but when the flames reached her feet she lost control of herself and cried out piteously while struggling to escape. Alice was not strangled during the execution as was sometimes done in those days and she suffered the full horror of her sentence as small amounts of wood were added to the fire to burn her slowly to death. Reports at the time suggest that she survived at the stake for over and hour before dying. Her co-conspirators were all rounded up and executed by various means and at different locations. Michael Saunderson was drawn and hanged
Hanged, drawn and quartered
To be hanged, drawn and quartered was from 1351 a penalty in England for men convicted of high treason, although the ritual was first recorded during the reigns of King Henry III and his successor, Edward I...
. or hanged in chains
Gibbet
A gibbet is a gallows-type structure from which the dead bodies of executed criminals were hung on public display to deter other existing or potential criminals. In earlier times, up to the late 17th century, live gibbeting also took place, in which the criminal was placed alive in a metal cage...
at Feversham. Elizabeth Stafford, the maid, was burned at the stake in Faversham. She did not meet her end with the composure of her mistress and was dragged howling and screaming to the stake. It took three men to chain her to it although she was a slim girl and only 16 years old. She too was burned alive rather than being strangled during the execution but mercifully seems to have died more quickly than Alice, the execution being over within an hour. Richard Mosbye and Cicely Pounder, brother and sister, were hanged at Smithfield, George Bradshaw was hanged in chains at Canterbury.
There are two accounts given on the fate of John Green. Hollinshed simply mentions that Green was hung at Faversham. The Newgate Calendar has him evading arrest for some years. He was eventually caught and "hanged in chains in the highway between Ospringe
Ospringe
Ospringe is a village and civil parish in the English county of Kent. It has a population of 715. Located south of Faversham, Ospringe forms part of the Borough of Swale...
and Boughton
Boughton under Blean
For other "Boughtons" in Kent see Boughton Aluph; Boughton Malherbe; and Boughton MonchelseaBoughton under Blean is a village and civil parish between Faversham and Canterbury in southeast England...
". Before he died, Green attempted to clear the name of Bradshaw proclaiming the innocence of the long-dead goldsmith.
Black Will ended his life on a scaffold. Hollinshed mentions that Will "escaped for many years, but was at length taken, and 'brent on a seaffolde at Flushing'". This could be Flushing, Cornwall
Flushing, Cornwall
Flushing is a coastal village in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated three miles south of Penryn and eleven miles south-east of Truro. It faces Falmouth across the Penryn river, an arm of the Carrick Roads...
. The Newgate Calendar agrees on the manner of death but places the execution at Flushing
Flushing, Netherlands
Vlissingen is a municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the former island of Walcheren. With its strategic location between the Scheldt river and the North Sea, Vlissingen has been an important harbour for centuries. It was granted city rights in 1315. In the 17th century...
, Zeeland
Zeeland
Zeeland , also called Zealand in English, is the westernmost province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the south-west of the country, consists of a number of islands and a strip bordering Belgium. Its capital is Middelburg. With a population of about 380,000, its area is about...
. Adam Fowle was also implicated and incarcerated for some time at Marshalsea
Marshalsea
The Marshalsea was a prison on the south bank of the River Thames in Southwark, now part of London. From the 14th century until it closed in 1842, it housed men under court martial for crimes at sea, including those accused of "unnatural crimes", political figures and intellectuals accused of...
. He alone was found innocent and discharged.
Aftermath
The Chamber Book of Days mentions the event entering local legend. "It was long said that no grass would grow on the spot where Arden’s dead body was found; some, in accordance with the superstitionSuperstition
Superstition is a belief in supernatural causality: that one event leads to the cause of another without any process in the physical world linking the two events....
s of the times, attributed this to the murder; while others declared that 'the field he hadde cruelly taken from a widow woman, who had curst him most bitterly, even to his face, wishing that all the world might wonder on him.' "
In 1592, the events were dramatized in the play "Arden of Faversham
Arden of Faversham
Arden of Faversham is an Elizabethan play, entered into the Register of the Stationers Company on 3 April 1592, and printed later that same year by Edward White. It depicts the murder of one Thomas Arden by his wife Alice Arden and her lover, and their subsequent discovery and punishment...
". The paternity of the play has been long disputed, with William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
being the most prominent candidate put forward. The play was later adapted by George Lillo
George Lillo
George Lillo was an English playwright and tragedian. He was a jeweler in London as well as a dramatist. He produced his first stage work, Silvia, or The Country Burial, in 1730. A year later, he produced his most famous play, The London Merchant...
into a domestic tragedy
Domestic tragedy
In English drama, a domestic tragedy is a play in which the tragic protagonists are ordinary middle-class or lower-class individuals. This subgenre contrasts with classical and Neoclassical tragedy, in which the protagonists are of kingly or aristocratic rank and their downfall is an affair of...
.
Further reading
- Newgate Calendar entry
- Chambers Book of DaysChambers Book of DaysThe Chambers Book of Days was written by the Scottish author Robert Chambers and first published in 1864.A new version was published by Chambers Harrap known as the Chambers Book of...
November 23rd - Arden of Feversham--a play