Richard Roose
Roose’s case was unprecedented for more than just the method of execution. Roose was not a prominent man and was simply a common criminal — at most, he was the cook of Fisher’s household. Kesselring notes he did not receive a trial, and his rights were stripped the moment he was sentenced to death for treason. Three years later, in 1534, a woman named Elizabeth Barton, who apparently had mystical experiences and was outspoken against Henry VIII’s matrimonial policy, was also condemned to death without a trial.
We cannot tell the story of Richard Roose without mentioning Fisher. Many speculated Henry VIII and the Boleyn family paid Roose to poison Fisher — after all, Fisher was a prominent political enemy. In response to these rumors, Kesselring says Henry reacted angrily. But that does not explain why the crime was labeled treason or why boiling was chosen as the method of execution. In the drafts of the “Acte of Poisoning,” we perhaps find an answer. Since poisoning was already a felony, one draft introduced death by boiling as punishment.
However, the decision to label poisoning treason was out of Henry VIII’s volition. He wanted to send a message to anyone who wished to poison anyone in the future:
“The decision to label the offence treason, one suspects, emerged from the King’s desire to bar the benefit of clergy to subsequent offenders.”
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