The Death By Boiling Of Richard Roose
Not much is known about Richard Roose, besides his profession.
He served as a cook to the Bishop of Rochester John Fisher, during the reign of King Henry VIII.
On the 18th of February 1531, Roose cooked a large meal for Fisher, catering for around sixteen guests, as well as the beggars who tended to gather at Fisher’s home for alms.
Not long after, all of them became severely ill, and two of those ~ a man named Curen and a widow Alice Tryppt, died.
It was declared that the soup they had all been served by Roose had been poisoned.
The only person not made ill by the soup was Fisher himself, who had chosen not to dine for some unknown reason.
The poisoning at Fisher’s residence had dire consequences for Roose.
He was put on the rack and tortured until he admitted that he had poisoned the soup.
He claimed it had been a mere prank, meant to make the diners ill and evacuate their bowels, nothing more.
King Henry VIII, however, was having none of it.
He wanted to ensure that Roose faced as severe a punishment as possible.
Two people had died because of Roose’s ‘prank’ and King Henry was unwilling to settle for a manslaughter or murder charge.
He wanted something more…..
The only crime worse than murder was treason.
The only problem was Roose hadn’t committed treason.
To get round this, King Henry changed the meaning of treason!
Soon after Roose’s confession, Henry had two of his councilors write a bill that expanded the definition of treason.
The bill essentially added eleven new crimes under the charge of “treason”.
Murder by poisoning, no matter the status of the victim, was from that point onwards treated as high treason.
The punishment?
Death by boiling.
Anyone found guilty, was to be boiled alive.
But why was Henry going to so much trouble to punish Roose?
Many people suspected Henry himself had paid Roose to poison the food.
It was well known Henry was no longer a fan of Bishop Fisher, and people suspected that Henry wanted him dead.
These people suspected that Henry’s harsh treatment of Roose was simply an effort to get rid of him, before Roose could implicate the King.
Others believed it was Anne Boleyn’s family who wanted Fisher dead.
This theory revolves around the idea that it was Anne’s family who paid Roose to poison Fisher.
Bishop Fisher was a staunch supporter of Katharine of Aragon….
Henry’s harsh treatment of Roose was supposedly an attempt to protect Anne Boleyn and her family, from any potential confession Roose might make.
Finally, it was also well known that Henry was incredibly paranoid about poisoning in general.
Despite the fact poisonings in England at the time were incredibly rare, Henry had a phobia of being poisoned.
Some people simply believe Henry went so far with Roose simply because poisoners held a particular place in the King’s paranoia.
Roose was quickly found guilty of treason.
Roose didn’t receive a trial, he was simply served an attainder that stated he was guilty.
His sentence was carried out in Smithfields on 5th April 1532.
Roose was tied up in chains, gibbeted and then lowered in and out of the boiling water until he died.
It was a brutal, drawn-out death that many spectators found uncomfortable to watch.
It took approximately two hours……
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