The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn (48 page)
Read The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn Online
Authors: Eric Ives
In dividing the pageants prepared for Anne into religious and classical, it is important not to overdo the contrast; the categories overlap. This was very much the case with the recurring humanist motif that Anne was the harbinger of a new age. Each of the classical pageants deliberately cited the prophecy in Virgil’s fourth
Eclogue
of the return of the Just Virgin who will usher in the reign of Saturn, that is, innocence and plenty. At the Gracechurch Street tableau, Apollo hailed Anne as the inspiration of the Golden Age, and the verses with which the Muses greeted Anne repeat the theme and announce her arrival as the start of eternal spring. At the Conduit in Cornhill, the third of the Graces, Euphrosyne, promised:
Eclogue
of the return of the Just Virgin who will usher in the reign of Saturn, that is, innocence and plenty. At the Gracechurch Street tableau, Apollo hailed Anne as the inspiration of the Golden Age, and the verses with which the Muses greeted Anne repeat the theme and announce her arrival as the start of eternal spring. At the Conduit in Cornhill, the third of the Graces, Euphrosyne, promised:
Long fruition with daily increasement
Of Joy and honour, without diminishment.
Never to decay, but always to arise!
37
So far the theme appears classical, but the relevant Vergil passage had been understood ever since the fourth century to refer to the advent of the Blessed Virgin, the mother of the Messiah, whose victory has ushered in the new heaven and the new earth. Hence, above the three Sybils at St Paul’s Gate with their Marian reference was the legend
Regina Anna! Prospere, procede et regna!
(‘Queen Anne! Prosper, go forward and reign!’), and at their feet a long scroll with the inscription (again in Latin), ‘Queen Anne, when thou shalt bear a new son of the King’s blood, there shall be a golden world unto thy people.’ And the religious symbiosis of Mary and Anne was reinforced by the three ladies having supplies of wafers to throw to the crowds, wafers which carried not religious images but the message of the long scroll in letters of gold.
Regina Anna! Prospere, procede et regna!
(‘Queen Anne! Prosper, go forward and reign!’), and at their feet a long scroll with the inscription (again in Latin), ‘Queen Anne, when thou shalt bear a new son of the King’s blood, there shall be a golden world unto thy people.’ And the religious symbiosis of Mary and Anne was reinforced by the three ladies having supplies of wafers to throw to the crowds, wafers which carried not religious images but the message of the long scroll in letters of gold.
The most impressive demonstration of an interest in the new fashion for antiquity was, unfortunately, not part of the work of Udall and Leland, and thus is known only by descriptions and not by the text. This was the bringing together of the 200 children on specially built staging at the western front of St Paul’s School, overlooking the churchyard. They declaimed a series of translations from the Latin poets, praising both Anne and Henry. It is also the one episode to which we know Anne’s spontaneous reaction on the day. She ‘said “Amen” with a joyful smiling countenance’.
38
38
Comparison with subsequent royal pageants, real and abortive, demonstrate how distinctive the set pieces for Anne’s coronation procession were and endorse the conclusion that they reflected her personal taste. The syllabus which survives for the abortive coronation of her successor, Jane Seymour, describes twelve of the intended pageants in detail. One was a display of caged singing birds in a meadow, one a maiden with a unicorn by a fountain, and a third the new queen’s badge and motto. All the rest used traditional religious themes — the Vision of St John, the Coronation of the Virgin, the Transfiguration and so on — with not a classical allusion in sight.
39
Edward VI’s coronation procession was largely cobbled up from the programme devised for Henry VI in 1432, though one Latin speech was scripted and the rear of one stage featured the Golden Fleece.
40
Where Edward’s did copy Anne was in the descent of a heraldic bird, this time the Seymour phoenix.
41
Much less is known of Mary’s coronation procession, where the three ‘mightiest’ pageants (and the only sign of classicism) were provided by foreign merchants — the Genoese, the Hanse and the Florentines.
42
Her husband’s entry in 1554 was more Latinate — not surprisingly, since Philip had limited English — but only one of the four principal pageants was on a classical theme.
43
Elizabeth’s coronation procession in 1559 exploited no classical motifs, though plenty of material in Latin.
44
39
Edward VI’s coronation procession was largely cobbled up from the programme devised for Henry VI in 1432, though one Latin speech was scripted and the rear of one stage featured the Golden Fleece.
40
Where Edward’s did copy Anne was in the descent of a heraldic bird, this time the Seymour phoenix.
41
Much less is known of Mary’s coronation procession, where the three ‘mightiest’ pageants (and the only sign of classicism) were provided by foreign merchants — the Genoese, the Hanse and the Florentines.
42
Her husband’s entry in 1554 was more Latinate — not surprisingly, since Philip had limited English — but only one of the four principal pageants was on a classical theme.
43
Elizabeth’s coronation procession in 1559 exploited no classical motifs, though plenty of material in Latin.
44
The distinctive classicism of Anne Boleyn’s entry in 1533 should almost certainly be traced to her time in France, where this newer style was beginning to evolve. At first the fashion was for chivalric myth and religious analogy, as in Queen Claude’s ‘annunciation’, and where classicism did appear it was anything but pure. The entry of Mary Tudor into Paris in 1514 had had Bacchus facing Ceres inside a ship (the city’s badge), while a display of heraldry had the morality play characters ‘Justice’, ‘Truth’ and ‘Unanimity’ in discussion with Minerva, Diana and Apollo.
45
However, at Lyons in 1515, Francis I was depicted as Hercules gathering fruit in the garden of the Hesperides, and at Rouen in 1517 there was a depiction of the battle between the gods and the Titans.
46
Then in 1520 came the entry into Cognac of Queen Claude, with Anne Boleyn almost certainly in attendance. Claude was met by Mercury, who declared that the gods had come down to greet her, and her cavalcade encountered first Diana and her nymphs, and then Apollo, before being arrested by flames issuing from the forge of Vulcan. Next Venus arrived, followed by Saturn, Jupiter and Mars. At the city’s river bridge, Neptune appeared, escorted by dolphins, and when dusk fell, Pluto, Cerberus, Charon and the Furies.
47
It is true that the mythological continuity was twice interrupted by knightly feats of arms, but the classical entry had arrived.
48
45
However, at Lyons in 1515, Francis I was depicted as Hercules gathering fruit in the garden of the Hesperides, and at Rouen in 1517 there was a depiction of the battle between the gods and the Titans.
46
Then in 1520 came the entry into Cognac of Queen Claude, with Anne Boleyn almost certainly in attendance. Claude was met by Mercury, who declared that the gods had come down to greet her, and her cavalcade encountered first Diana and her nymphs, and then Apollo, before being arrested by flames issuing from the forge of Vulcan. Next Venus arrived, followed by Saturn, Jupiter and Mars. At the city’s river bridge, Neptune appeared, escorted by dolphins, and when dusk fell, Pluto, Cerberus, Charon and the Furies.
47
It is true that the mythological continuity was twice interrupted by knightly feats of arms, but the classical entry had arrived.
48
Anne’s procession reflected her French background in another way. The very first of the tableaux (not by Udall and Leland) was built against the east wall of St Gabriel’s in Fenchurch, where the procession had to split either side of the church. It was peopled entirely with children dressed as merchants and they ‘welcomed her to the City with two proper prepositions both in French and English’.
49
Even more flattered was Anne’s interest in music. Apart from the playing of the Muses in Gracechurch Street, the ballad of the falcon, the singing at the Judgement of Paris and the instrumental music at the Fleet Street Conduit (augmented by a carillon and a children’s choir), ‘great melody with speeches’ was also provided at the Great Conduit.
50
An ensemble of voices and instruments was grouped on top of the Standard in Cheapside and a choir of men and boys on the roof of St Martin’s, Ludgate, sang ‘new ballads made in praise of her’.
51
Finally, at Temple Bar a choir of men and boys stood ready to serenade Anne’s departure.
49
Even more flattered was Anne’s interest in music. Apart from the playing of the Muses in Gracechurch Street, the ballad of the falcon, the singing at the Judgement of Paris and the instrumental music at the Fleet Street Conduit (augmented by a carillon and a children’s choir), ‘great melody with speeches’ was also provided at the Great Conduit.
50
An ensemble of voices and instruments was grouped on top of the Standard in Cheapside and a choir of men and boys on the roof of St Martin’s, Ludgate, sang ‘new ballads made in praise of her’.
51
Finally, at Temple Bar a choir of men and boys stood ready to serenade Anne’s departure.
In the twenty-first century a little symbolism goes a long way. Thus, what the modern mind would ask of the iconography and symbols mobilized for Anne Boleyn’s coronation procession is what the contemporary observer made of it all. Would the ordinary Londoner have known enough to catch these esoteric significances? The answer is probably no. Though undoubtedly more aware of symbols than later generations desensitized by literacy, all that the Tudor generality was expected to absorb was the overall magnificence of the occasion. The detail and complexity was an ‘in-language’ intended for the social groups that mattered, the leading citizens and the attendant gentry, and they were expected to be able to deconstruct all or at least part of what was being said. Comparison with Anne’s daughter, Elizabeth, is helpful here. Her well-known pose as ‘Gloriana’ was not simply what today would be called ‘media hyperbole’. It was underpinned by a language of ideas, metaphor and symbol even more elaborate and complex than her mother’s presentation in 1533.
Iconography and symbolism was a form of communication found across Europe, but the seeds of some of Elizabeth’s images can clearly be traced to her mother. Sometimes the identity is exact. Elizabeth continued to use the falcon and roses badge, a message of life from the dead which her own early dangers had now made doubly poignant.
52
A famous painting of Elizabeth by the monogrammist HE (dated 1569) takes as its theme ‘The Judgement of Paris’, and depicts the queen confronting the three goddesses, just as Anne had done in Cheapside thirty-three years earlier.
53
The classicism is now better integrated with the compliment; Elizabeth has absorbed the role of Paris and, instead of the apple going to Venus and the crown to Anne, the apple is now the orb of England and is retained by the queen against all divine competition. Nonetheless, the essential exploitation of the myth is the same. Another parallel is the identification of both daughter and mother with the nymph Astraea and the new golden age.
54
The lord mayor’s pageant in 1591 would say:
52
A famous painting of Elizabeth by the monogrammist HE (dated 1569) takes as its theme ‘The Judgement of Paris’, and depicts the queen confronting the three goddesses, just as Anne had done in Cheapside thirty-three years earlier.
53
The classicism is now better integrated with the compliment; Elizabeth has absorbed the role of Paris and, instead of the apple going to Venus and the crown to Anne, the apple is now the orb of England and is retained by the queen against all divine competition. Nonetheless, the essential exploitation of the myth is the same. Another parallel is the identification of both daughter and mother with the nymph Astraea and the new golden age.
54
The lord mayor’s pageant in 1591 would say:
Lo, the Olympus’ king, the thundering Jove,Raught hence this gracious nymph, Astraea fair:Now once again he sends her from above,Descended through the sweet transparent air;And here she sits in beauty fresh and sheen,
Shadowing the person of a peerless queen.
55
Perhaps most striking of all — in view of the intervening hardening of religious identities — is that Elizabeth, like Anne, was identified with the Virgin Mary.
56
Gloriana was the offspring of ‘the falcon white’ — or as assiduous a follower of the European cult of majesty as her mother had been.
56
Gloriana was the offspring of ‘the falcon white’ — or as assiduous a follower of the European cult of majesty as her mother had been.
16
ART AND TASTE
T
HE twenty-first century draws a clear distinction between normal living and occasions for spectacle. Royal pomp, ceremony at an installation, or even private display at a wedding is one thing, day-to-day ostentation another. Sixteenth-century Europe believed otherwise. Society was hierarchical and lifestyle exemplified rank and value. The exterior revealed the interior — does not Christ say ‘by their fruits you shall know them?’
1
Kings and queens had to live the part and hence magnificence was a regal virtue, an external proof of the right to rule. This was the lesson Anne had learned from Margaret of Austria and Queen Claude, and she was a prize pupil.
HE twenty-first century draws a clear distinction between normal living and occasions for spectacle. Royal pomp, ceremony at an installation, or even private display at a wedding is one thing, day-to-day ostentation another. Sixteenth-century Europe believed otherwise. Society was hierarchical and lifestyle exemplified rank and value. The exterior revealed the interior — does not Christ say ‘by their fruits you shall know them?’
1
Kings and queens had to live the part and hence magnificence was a regal virtue, an external proof of the right to rule. This was the lesson Anne had learned from Margaret of Austria and Queen Claude, and she was a prize pupil.
Her gold and silver plate provides the first indication. In Tudor society that was always the most visible demonstration of wealth and status. The
pièce de résistance
at the 1532 Calais banquet to launch Anne in Europe was a display of seven shelves of gold plate - not a single piece of silver or silver-gilt — plate which Henry either took over with him specially or else borrowed from the town. However, as we have seen, by February 1533 Henry was bragging about the amount of plate Anne owned personally, and this included a cup-board display of gold that Chapuys described as the best ever seen.
2
Indeed, in the inventories of Henry’s property which were drawn up in his son’s reign, over 120 items of plate apparently associated with his second wife can still be traced.
3
This is remarkable, given that a deliberate attempt had been made to obliterate Anne’s memory, but either the king was not embarrassed by or was protected by his household from reminders of his second wife. In some cases pieces were evidently saved from the smelting pot by the value of the workmanship. Despite being ‘stricken’ with Anne’s arms, one silver-gilt chandelier was even remade some three years after her death, evidently because it belonged to a set of three with the sockets for the candles made ‘like drones’.
4
True, in a few cases where the inventories mention ‘Queen Anne’ there may be a confusion with Anne of Cleves, but not many items are likely to have been produced for her in a marriage to Henry which lasted only 185 days.
5
pièce de résistance
at the 1532 Calais banquet to launch Anne in Europe was a display of seven shelves of gold plate - not a single piece of silver or silver-gilt — plate which Henry either took over with him specially or else borrowed from the town. However, as we have seen, by February 1533 Henry was bragging about the amount of plate Anne owned personally, and this included a cup-board display of gold that Chapuys described as the best ever seen.
2
Indeed, in the inventories of Henry’s property which were drawn up in his son’s reign, over 120 items of plate apparently associated with his second wife can still be traced.
3
This is remarkable, given that a deliberate attempt had been made to obliterate Anne’s memory, but either the king was not embarrassed by or was protected by his household from reminders of his second wife. In some cases pieces were evidently saved from the smelting pot by the value of the workmanship. Despite being ‘stricken’ with Anne’s arms, one silver-gilt chandelier was even remade some three years after her death, evidently because it belonged to a set of three with the sockets for the candles made ‘like drones’.
4
True, in a few cases where the inventories mention ‘Queen Anne’ there may be a confusion with Anne of Cleves, but not many items are likely to have been produced for her in a marriage to Henry which lasted only 185 days.
5
Despite the banquets of 1532 and 1533, by the time the inventories were taken most plate in the king’s possession was no longer gold but silver-gilt. However, of the gold spoons Henry owned at his death, three can certainly be linked to Anne. Two were a pair, one decorated with a (no doubt Tudor) rose and the other with a crowned falcon.
6
One large gold item which appears to have been melted down before the king’s death was a bowl with a cover, weighing 40 troy ounces (0.91 kilograms), with Queen Anne’s cipher on it, supplied to Henry by the Flemish goldsmith, Thomas Trappers, for
£
90.
7
Where gold was lavishly used was as decoration. One item which escaped the inventory of pieces to be sold by James I in 1620 was:
6
One large gold item which appears to have been melted down before the king’s death was a bowl with a cover, weighing 40 troy ounces (0.91 kilograms), with Queen Anne’s cipher on it, supplied to Henry by the Flemish goldsmith, Thomas Trappers, for
£
90.
7
Where gold was lavishly used was as decoration. One item which escaped the inventory of pieces to be sold by James I in 1620 was:
one basin and layer [small jug] of mother of pearl garnished with gold, the backside only of the basin silver gilt, enamelled with scriptures and devices of cosmography, the layer having a falcon in the top, being in a case of black velvet, garnished with a parsivent lace [a fret] of Venice silver, with four joints and one handle of white silver, weight, the basin and layer only, one hundred and four score and five ounces scant.
8
Among the silver-gilt items in the inventory, one of the most magnificent was:
a pair of [silver-]gilt bottles, the feet and body chased in panes, with branches of two sundry works having the king’s arms in a plate on the one side, and on the other the king’s arms and the arms of Queen Anne in a plate together, having on either side an angel with a great chain and a small [one] on either bottle, their necks graven with branches, the knobs or ‘stopples’ having double roses and thereupon crowns imperial.
Made by the king’s jeweller, Morgan Wolf, they were a present to either Henry or Anne on New Year’s Day 1536 and weighed together 6.35 kilograms.
9
Another craftsman working for Anne was Cornelius Hayes, the king’s Flemish goldsmith. It was he who, as we have seen, made the highly elaborate but unused silver cradle ordered in 1534.
10
Several pieces of the plate associated with Anne were in the antique, that is, Renaissance style — a standing cup ‘wrought with antique work’; a little standing cup ‘having a naked boy in the top holding a staff in the one hand and a plain shield in the other’; ‘three gilt bowls chased with long bullions having antique heads in the bottom’.
11
By miraculous chance, one piece which Anne owned has survived. It is a silver cup and cover (314 millimetres high) made in 1535 (plate 36), now among the treasures of Cirencester parish church. The cover is topped by the falcon on the tree-stump, but its chief interest is the design, which picks up once again the interest in humanist fashion. It attempts to achieve in silver a form characteristic of contemporary Venetian glass.
12
At least two other cups ‘glass fashion’ and associated with Anne were in the royal collection in 1547. One of them was also decorated in classical style:
9
Another craftsman working for Anne was Cornelius Hayes, the king’s Flemish goldsmith. It was he who, as we have seen, made the highly elaborate but unused silver cradle ordered in 1534.
10
Several pieces of the plate associated with Anne were in the antique, that is, Renaissance style — a standing cup ‘wrought with antique work’; a little standing cup ‘having a naked boy in the top holding a staff in the one hand and a plain shield in the other’; ‘three gilt bowls chased with long bullions having antique heads in the bottom’.
11
By miraculous chance, one piece which Anne owned has survived. It is a silver cup and cover (314 millimetres high) made in 1535 (plate 36), now among the treasures of Cirencester parish church. The cover is topped by the falcon on the tree-stump, but its chief interest is the design, which picks up once again the interest in humanist fashion. It attempts to achieve in silver a form characteristic of contemporary Venetian glass.
12
At least two other cups ‘glass fashion’ and associated with Anne were in the royal collection in 1547. One of them was also decorated in classical style:
one Cup glass fashion, gilt, chased with H A, upon the top of the cover a woman holding in the one hand a ball and in the other hand a shield.
13
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