drawn and quartered. Both men pleaded for mercy; Culpeper, presumably because of his former closeness to the King, received a commuted sentence of simple beheading. Dereham received no such mercy. Culpeper was executed along with Dereham at Tyburn on 10 December 1541, and their heads were put on display on London Bridge. Culpeper was buried at St Sepulchre-without-Newgate church in London. Queen Catherine Howard and Lady Rochford were both executed on 13 February 1542, and were buried in the Church of St Peter ad Vincula, within the Tower of London. Portrayal Culpepper is referenced in nearly all biographies of Henry VIII and Catherine Howard. He is less well-represented in popular fiction, where he is often unrepresented except for his relationship with Catherine. He is portrayed in several plays and several writings, always closely associated with Catherine. Historiography In the book A Tudor Tragedy; The Life and Times of Catherine Howard, by Lacey Baldwin Smith, the author writes that there were rumours during the time period that Thomas Culpeper and Catherine Howard intended to be married before Henry VIII set his sights on her. The book describes Thomas Culpeper as a young man in his 20s, hence his appeal to Catherine, who, during the time of her marriage to Henry VIII, witnessed his steadily declining physical state and overall health. This was in conjunction with his steadily declining sanity; during his last year with Catherine Howard, Henry VIII was seen as more and more emotionally erratic. The affair seems to have always attracted the attention of authors who are looking to write about scandal. One such particular writer was a Spanish chronicler who may have been at King Henry VIII's court, who wrote his very romantic – and for the greater part inaccurate – interpretation of Catherine's career. In his version of the story, he portrays King Henry VIII as the cruel, selfish husband, who bullied the unwilling Catherine into marrying him against her will, despite her previous involvement with Thomas Culpeper, who is portrayed as the devoted and heartbroken hero who resisted his love for Catherine for as long as he possibly could, until one day he secretly slipped her a note declaring his love for her. When their love was discovered by the King, Thomas was arrested but, according to the writings, he stated: “Gentlemen, do not seek to know more than that the King deprived me of the