Page 35 - All About History - Issue 52-17

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Bo e yn Sisters

Social court climbers

The movers and shakers in Henry VIII’s court

C a rdinalW o lsey C h arlesBrandon

Thomas Wolsey was the son of an Ipswich Charles Brandon’s father died at Bosworth Field,
Henry Carey, 1st Baron butcher. He prospered under Henry VIII, becoming fighting for Henry VII and he was raised at court.
Hunsdon, who was rumoured archbishop of York and lord chancellor, while the As Henry VIII’s closest friend and jousting partner,
to be the son of Henry VIII
pope appointed him a cardinal and papal legate. he was created duke of Suffolk. In 1515 he secretly
Henry VIII relied upon him, but he fell from favour married Henry VIII’s sister, Mary, becoming one of
he would (as he wrote) cast “off all others than yourself when he failed to secure the king’s divorce. the wealthiest and most influential courtiers.
out of mind and affection, and to serve you only.” Anne,
who wanted to marry well, was not interested in becoming
Henry’s concubine. She was shocked when – desperate to
have her at any cost – the king did the unthinkable and
proposed marriage. Anne was back at court by 5 May 1527
when Henry led her out publicly as his dancing partner for
the first time. Just 12 days later, a secret ecclesiastical court 35
opened in London to try the validity of his marriage to
Katherine of Aragon.
Neither Henry nor Anne can have realised quite how
difficult securing an annulment of the king’s marriage would
be. Relying on a Biblical prohibition against marriage to a E liz abethBarton
dead brother’s wife, Henry argued that his marriage had been T h omasCromwell
invalid from the start. His wife, however, was not prepared to
go quietly, enlisting her powerful nephew, the Holy Roman Thomas Cromwell, the son of a Putney blacksmith Elizabeth Barton was a servant from Kent who
claimed she had heavenly visions. With the pope,
Emperor, Charles V, who was prepared (as he said) to “defend and a self-confessed ‘ruffian’ in his youth, rose to Cardinal Wolsey, Thomas More and several bishops
become Henry VIII’s chief minister. He was one of
the queen’s just cause.” Katherine and Anne, who remained the architects of the Reformation, but was blamed heeding her words, she was influential in attacking
in the Spanish queen’s household, were soon bitter rivals, for Henry’s disastrous marriage to Anne of Cleves. the king’s marriage to Anne Boleyn. She was
although Henry kept up the pretence of his relationship with He was executed in 1540. sentenced to hang by a furious Henry VIII.
Katherine, continuing to dine with her and, even, requiring
her to carry out the wifely duty of making his shirts.
Henry instructed his chief minister, the wily Cardinal
Wolsey, to find a way to end his marriage. Anne, who blamed
the cardinal for the end of her relationship with Henry Percy,
was prepared to work with him to secure her desires, but the
pair were not friends. In private, Wolsey referred to her as a
“serpentine enemy” who whispered in the ear of the king.
Anne, for her part, worked to reduce the cardinal’s influence
over his master. She was resident at court with her mother
and sister. The Boleyn women kept abreast of the news from
Rome, actively seeking out ambassadors who had returned C a therineP a rr SirW illiamP a get
from Henry’s embassies to the Pope.
While the fiery Anne quarrelled with her uncle, the Duke
of Norfolk, and other members of the court, she relied on Catherine Parr was a twice-widowed courtier’s William Paget, who was the son of a London bailiff,
her family for support. Her father was granted his maternal daughter when she caught Henry VIII’s eye in 1543. received an excellent education at St Paul’s School,
rising to become chief secretary of the Privy
As his sixth wife, she served as regent of England
grandfather’s earldom of Ormond in 1529, something that he and was the first Englishwoman to publish under Council. On his deathbed, the king would see no
had sought for 14 years. He also received the English earldom her own name. Although beloved by the royal one else, allowing Paget to help secure Edward VI’s
of Wiltshire. children, she had no role in Edward VI’s regency. regency for his colleague, Edward Seymour.
Anne also attempted to assist her sister, Mary, who was
suddenly widowed in 1528 when William Carey was struck