Abell, Thomas

Abell or Abel, Thomas both: āˈbəl [key], d. 1540, English priest, chaplain to Katharine of Aragón. In 1528 he served as Katharine's secret envoy to her nephew, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, in connection with Henry VIII's proposed divorce. Abell vigorously opposed the divorce. He was imprisoned for six years in the Tower of London and was finally executed for upholding the validity of Henry's first marriage.

See J. E. Paul, Catherine of Aragon and Her Friends (1966).

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