The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn (43 page)
Read The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn Online
Authors: Eric Ives
Plate 52
Thomas Wolsey,
by an anonymous painter. National Portrait Gallery, London.
Thomas Wolsey,
by an anonymous painter. National Portrait Gallery, London.
Plate 53
‘Mistress Anne sends her tablet of gold’
by Dr Butts to the sick Wolsey: an Elizabethan illustration for
Thomas Wolsey late Cardinall, his lyffe and deathe,
by George Cavendish. The Bodleian Library, Oxford, MS Douce 363, fol. 76r. The messenger is Dr Butts; Wolsey is shown in bed on the right.
‘Mistress Anne sends her tablet of gold’
by Dr Butts to the sick Wolsey: an Elizabethan illustration for
Thomas Wolsey late Cardinall, his lyffe and deathe,
by George Cavendish. The Bodleian Library, Oxford, MS Douce 363, fol. 76r. The messenger is Dr Butts; Wolsey is shown in bed on the right.
Plate 54
Thomas Howard, duke of Norfolk,
by Hans Holbein the younger. The Royal, Collection © 2004, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Thomas Howard, duke of Norfolk,
by Hans Holbein the younger. The Royal, Collection © 2004, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Plate 62
Mary Tudor, Queen of France, and Charles Brandon, duke of Suffolk,
by an anonymous painter. By kind permission of the Duke of Bedford and the Trustees of the Bedford Estates. Copyright is assigned to the Duke of Bedford and the Trustees of the Bedford Estates.
Mary Tudor, Queen of France, and Charles Brandon, duke of Suffolk,
by an anonymous painter. By kind permission of the Duke of Bedford and the Trustees of the Bedford Estates. Copyright is assigned to the Duke of Bedford and the Trustees of the Bedford Estates.
Plate 63
Nicholas Carewe,
by Hans Holbein the younger. Oeffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel, Kupferstichkabinett.
Nicholas Carewe,
by Hans Holbein the younger. Oeffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel, Kupferstichkabinett.
Plate 64
Princess Elizabeth
aged about thirteen by an anonymous painter. The Royal Collection © 2004, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Princess Elizabeth
aged about thirteen by an anonymous painter. The Royal Collection © 2004, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Anne had been fully involved in the attempt to postpone the meeting between Henry and Francis proposed for the summer of 1534, and the expected arrival of a French embassy in the following November was prepared for with care and enthusiasm.
73
The admiral of France was, however, bringing an imperial suggestion for a settlement between Charles and Francis which involved the marriage of Mary to the dauphin. This shocked Anne because it implied that her patron, Francis, considered that Mary had a better claim to the English throne than her own daughter, and matters were made even worse when the French were lukewarm at Henry’s counter-proposal for a marriage between Elizabeth and Francis’s third son. The result was a perceptible coolness on the side both of the French envoy and the queen. Anne nevertheless did her best to improve matters towards the end of the mission, and we hear of her entertaining the admiral at the final great banquet, while Henry sought out Gontier, the ambassador’s secretary and a man of considerable influence, to come to talk with his wife. It was a different story two months later, when she saw Gontier on his return with the answer to the proposal about Elizabeth.
74
Anne upbraided him for the time he had taken, which had aroused all Henry’s suspicions. If the French did not allay them at once, her own position would become impossible, for she felt herself more precarious than even before she was married; she could say no more, with everyone watching, including Henry, and she could not write to the envoy or see him again. She then withdrew, and Henry went off dancing.
73
The admiral of France was, however, bringing an imperial suggestion for a settlement between Charles and Francis which involved the marriage of Mary to the dauphin. This shocked Anne because it implied that her patron, Francis, considered that Mary had a better claim to the English throne than her own daughter, and matters were made even worse when the French were lukewarm at Henry’s counter-proposal for a marriage between Elizabeth and Francis’s third son. The result was a perceptible coolness on the side both of the French envoy and the queen. Anne nevertheless did her best to improve matters towards the end of the mission, and we hear of her entertaining the admiral at the final great banquet, while Henry sought out Gontier, the ambassador’s secretary and a man of considerable influence, to come to talk with his wife. It was a different story two months later, when she saw Gontier on his return with the answer to the proposal about Elizabeth.
74
Anne upbraided him for the time he had taken, which had aroused all Henry’s suspicions. If the French did not allay them at once, her own position would become impossible, for she felt herself more precarious than even before she was married; she could say no more, with everyone watching, including Henry, and she could not write to the envoy or see him again. She then withdrew, and Henry went off dancing.
We have to remember that in sixteenth-century diplomacy - if not in diplomacy generally - what is said often had an ulterior motive, and in February 1535 the intention of the English was certainly to frighten the French.
75
However, on this occasion Anne’s concern convinced Gontier: ‘I assure you, my lord, by what I can make out, she is not at her ease.’
76
And there is no doubt that she had good cause to fear the loss of French support, as their hard bargaining caused Henry to press Francis for more and more public commitment to his cause.
77
Nor were matters improved by a banquet given by the resident French ambassador, where many of Anne’s critics were present to hear gruesome tales of the persecution of unorthodox religious opinions then in full swing in Paris.
78
Eventually a meeting of representatives was arranged for Calais in May 1535. Cromwell was at first to go himself, but he fell ill, and the Boleyn interest was represented instead by Rochford - characteristically, Chapuys suggested that Cromwell was evading the responsibility for any failure.
79
And fail the negotiations did, despite a rapid return to England by Rochford in search of further instructions.
80
When he arrived, it was significant that he first had a long discussion with his sister before reporting to the king himself; and it was noted that Anne’s conversation had suddenly become bitterly anti-French. Nor did she stop at talk. Within a fortnight she had put on a notable entertainment at Hanworth, with a guest list both large and select, but she pointedly omitted the French resident, who was duly and satisfactorily incensed.
81
Soon after, Bishop Fisher and Thomas More were executed, and Francis I’s reaction to the news, laced with comments about Anne’s morals, lowered the temperature of Anglo-French relations still further.
82
Anne might be ‘wholly French’, but by the summer of 1535 this threatened to become yet another liability, and a serious one.
75
However, on this occasion Anne’s concern convinced Gontier: ‘I assure you, my lord, by what I can make out, she is not at her ease.’
76
And there is no doubt that she had good cause to fear the loss of French support, as their hard bargaining caused Henry to press Francis for more and more public commitment to his cause.
77
Nor were matters improved by a banquet given by the resident French ambassador, where many of Anne’s critics were present to hear gruesome tales of the persecution of unorthodox religious opinions then in full swing in Paris.
78
Eventually a meeting of representatives was arranged for Calais in May 1535. Cromwell was at first to go himself, but he fell ill, and the Boleyn interest was represented instead by Rochford - characteristically, Chapuys suggested that Cromwell was evading the responsibility for any failure.
79
And fail the negotiations did, despite a rapid return to England by Rochford in search of further instructions.
80
When he arrived, it was significant that he first had a long discussion with his sister before reporting to the king himself; and it was noted that Anne’s conversation had suddenly become bitterly anti-French. Nor did she stop at talk. Within a fortnight she had put on a notable entertainment at Hanworth, with a guest list both large and select, but she pointedly omitted the French resident, who was duly and satisfactorily incensed.
81
Soon after, Bishop Fisher and Thomas More were executed, and Francis I’s reaction to the news, laced with comments about Anne’s morals, lowered the temperature of Anglo-French relations still further.
82
Anne might be ‘wholly French’, but by the summer of 1535 this threatened to become yet another liability, and a serious one.
14
INFLUENCE, POWER AND WEALTH
I
T is a reflection on the essential maleness of history, of those who made most of it and those who have written most of it, that we still do not know enough about the position of the queen consort in England. Of her place beside the king in public appearances, yes; of her success or failure as a mother, yes; but very little about the queen in her own right, and this despite the fact that in the royal household ‘the king’s side’ was always matched by a smaller but parallel ‘queen’s side’. Some studies are appearing, principally of individual consorts, but much of the necessary record material no longer exists or is almost inextricably mixed up with the king’s archive.
T is a reflection on the essential maleness of history, of those who made most of it and those who have written most of it, that we still do not know enough about the position of the queen consort in England. Of her place beside the king in public appearances, yes; of her success or failure as a mother, yes; but very little about the queen in her own right, and this despite the fact that in the royal household ‘the king’s side’ was always matched by a smaller but parallel ‘queen’s side’. Some studies are appearing, principally of individual consorts, but much of the necessary record material no longer exists or is almost inextricably mixed up with the king’s archive.
This partial submerging of a queen in the overall royal entourage is one explanation for there being less notice of Anne Boleyn’s active participation in public affairs after 1533. Her influence on Henry could now be exercised in private. She also attracted less attention from observers because marriage had settled the issues in which she had been personally a combatant. There are nevertheless sufficient signs that her influence remained, even though exercised behind the scenes. Indeed, for many, Anne mattered precisely because of her closeness to Henry. A petition to the king in 1535 describes her as having ‘the name to be a mediatrix betwixt your grace and high justice’.
1
Anne’s remarkable achievement in securing the grant to her uncle, the duke of Norfolk, of the wardship and marriage of the king’s own son, the duke of Richmond, free, gratis and for nothing, demonstrates how effective she could be.
2
She saw influence as something to be used with circumspection, as her refusal to seek a customs exemption for Lady Lisle in 1532 had demonstrated, but it was there.
3
1
Anne’s remarkable achievement in securing the grant to her uncle, the duke of Norfolk, of the wardship and marriage of the king’s own son, the duke of Richmond, free, gratis and for nothing, demonstrates how effective she could be.
2
She saw influence as something to be used with circumspection, as her refusal to seek a customs exemption for Lady Lisle in 1532 had demonstrated, but it was there.
3
The queen was, however, more than a seductive voice on a pillow. As early as 1531 the duke of Milan was advised that he should treat her as a force in her own right, and equip his ambassador with some novel and flashy Italian knick-knacks for her, worth 1200 crowns or so.
4
We have already seen her involvement in diplomatic contacts with France, and it is notable how English envoys seem anxious to keep in with her.
5
Then again, when Lord Leonard Grey returned to Ireland in the autumn of 1535 with considerable forces and substantial rewards from the king, Anne was present at the final briefing session; she gave Grey the chain round her waist, worth 100 marks, and a purse of twenty golden sovereigns.
6
Above all, Anne was very active in religious matters, as will appears.
7
4
We have already seen her involvement in diplomatic contacts with France, and it is notable how English envoys seem anxious to keep in with her.
5
Then again, when Lord Leonard Grey returned to Ireland in the autumn of 1535 with considerable forces and substantial rewards from the king, Anne was present at the final briefing session; she gave Grey the chain round her waist, worth 100 marks, and a purse of twenty golden sovereigns.
6
Above all, Anne was very active in religious matters, as will appears.
7
Following marriage, Anne’s potential as a patron grew too. One of Lord Lisle’s correspondents assured him that, ‘I have moved a friend of mine about the queen concerning Master Howard’s matter, and I mistrust not but that I shall obtain your desire in that behalf.‘
8
On another occasion she wrote, apparently to Cromwell, asking him to assist the career of a young man deserted by his family and saying that he could not ‘do a better deed for the increase of your eternal reward in the world to come’.
9
She would also act directly. The dean and chapter of Exeter, expecting soon to have a farm to rent out on the expiry of a lease, found themselves invited by Anne to grant a new sixty-year term to a nominee of hers at the existing rent; a letter from Anne was reckoned in 1531 to smooth matters at Calais for her uncle Lord Edmund Howard, the controller there; when she became aware of an excessive delay in one chancery suit, she thought nothing of writing to the chancellor, requesting speedier action.
10
A dispute between rival claimants to a vacancy in the Calais garrison, in which Cromwell and everybody who mattered at court seem to have had one special interest or another, found Anne too initially supporting one of the candidates. Then she changed her mind and issued letters in favour of George Gainsford, a relative of her receiver-general, George Taylor, which were described ‘as a stay’ if ‘the worst fall’ - in effect, a veto.
11
In all this too, Anne presumably received her share of the gratuities which custom dictated that suppliants should offer. The vicar of Halifax, in contention with Sir Richard Tempest and his own parishioners, allegedly declared that he has ‘cast such a flower’ into the queen’s lap that he would be listened to as readily as Sir Richard.
12
8
On another occasion she wrote, apparently to Cromwell, asking him to assist the career of a young man deserted by his family and saying that he could not ‘do a better deed for the increase of your eternal reward in the world to come’.
9
She would also act directly. The dean and chapter of Exeter, expecting soon to have a farm to rent out on the expiry of a lease, found themselves invited by Anne to grant a new sixty-year term to a nominee of hers at the existing rent; a letter from Anne was reckoned in 1531 to smooth matters at Calais for her uncle Lord Edmund Howard, the controller there; when she became aware of an excessive delay in one chancery suit, she thought nothing of writing to the chancellor, requesting speedier action.
10
A dispute between rival claimants to a vacancy in the Calais garrison, in which Cromwell and everybody who mattered at court seem to have had one special interest or another, found Anne too initially supporting one of the candidates. Then she changed her mind and issued letters in favour of George Gainsford, a relative of her receiver-general, George Taylor, which were described ‘as a stay’ if ‘the worst fall’ - in effect, a veto.
11
In all this too, Anne presumably received her share of the gratuities which custom dictated that suppliants should offer. The vicar of Halifax, in contention with Sir Richard Tempest and his own parishioners, allegedly declared that he has ‘cast such a flower’ into the queen’s lap that he would be listened to as readily as Sir Richard.
12
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