#OnThisDay 1534 Upon hearing false rumours that his father had been executed in the Tower of London, Silken Thomas 10th Earl of Kildare publicly renounced his allegiance to King Henry VIII, his cousin, by throwing his sword down at a King’s Council at St. Mary’s Abbey in Dublin. Thomas declared;
“I am none of Henrie his deputie, I am his fo.”
The chancellor, with tears in his eyes pleaded with him not to be so rash but Thomas retorted; “I will take the market as it ryseth, and will choose rather to die with valiantnesse and libertie, than to live under King Henry in bondage and villanie’.
No sooner had Silken Thomas started his rebellion against Henry than the truth emerged: his father had not been beheaded. But it was too late now. Ultimately, Thomas, his uncles and father were to be beheaded in the Tower of London.
PS: Silken Thomas was named so because his soldiers/ galloglas wore silk fringes on their helmets.
