Page 30 - All About History - Issue 180-19

Hever Castle was the
© Alamy
Cardinal Wolsey on his way
to Westminster Hall
2x © Getty Images
to you for sending her than you can be to me for
receiving her.” Anne blossomed during her time
in Margaret’s service, continuing her education
and perfecting her command of French, which
she demonstrated in her letters to her father. She
was extremely bright, and proved herself to be
a skilled needlewoman who excelled in dancing
and music and was fond of poetry. Anne had been
in Margaret’s household for around 18 months
when, in the autumn of 1514 her father – always
ambitious – perceived a better opportunity for
her elsewhere. Leaving Margaret’s court behind,
Anne travelled to France to join the entourage
of Henry VIII’s younger sister Mary, who had
married the ageing King of France, Louis XII. Here
she was reunited with her own sister Mary, who
had accompanied the new Queen of France from
England. The time that the Boleyn sisters spent
as Mary’s ladies was, though, short-lived. After
just three months of marriage, on 1 January 1515
Louis died, and it was probably in the middle of
the following month that Mary secretly remarried
Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. When the
formerly disgraced couple returned to England in
the spring, the Boleyn sisters remained in France
30
traditional family home
of the Boleyns and
where Mary and Anne
Boleyn grew up
Anne was the apple of
Henry’s eye – for a while
The coronation of Anne
as queen of England was
the pinnacle of power
and influence the Boleyn
family had achieved
Archbishop Thomas
Cranmer declared
Henry’s marriage to
Catherine of Aragon
happened to have
void. He previously
been the Boleyns’
family chaplain
where they joined the household of the new to France to embark on diplomatic service. It
queen, Claude, wife of François I. may also have been around this time that a
Anne spent the next seven years in France, marriage was arranged for him with Jane Parker,
during which time her personality took shape the daughter of Henry, Lord Morley. Sadly, it was
and she developed a grace and poise that were not a happy match.
highly influenced by the sophistication of the In 1526 everything changed for the Boleyns.
French court. This was clearly in evidence when The King had long since tired of Anne’s sister,
she returned to England in 1522, now a highly and in February he appeared at a joust wearing
accomplished young woman. Before long a place a magnificent gold embroidered costume that –
had been found for both Anne and her sister in in the style of courtly love – sported the words
Catherine of Aragon’s household, and the sisters ‘Declare I dare not’. Nobody was left in any doubt
regularly participated in court entertainments. that he had a new love interest, but the object of
Before long Anne’s sister had become embroiled his desire was as yet unknown. It was not long,
in an affair with the king, and as a result her however, before it became clear: Anne Boleyn.
father’s favour continued to rise. In April 1522 he Though with her swarthy complexion Anne
was appointed treasurer of the royal household, was not considered beautiful by contemporary
and further honours were soon heaped upon him. standards, Henry found her wit and charm
On 18 June 1525 Thomas’s ambitions appeared irresistible. Neither was he the first to have
to have been recognised when he was raised been entranced by her, for she had earned other
to the peerage and created Viscount Rochford. admirers including the poet Thomas Wyatt and
His son George also seemed set to follow in his Henry Percy, heir of the Earl of Northumberland.
footsteps: in 1516 George had joined the royal Anne had hoped to marry the latter, but the king’s
household as a page, and in around 1524 had been chief advisor, Cardinal Wolsey, had broken off the
admitted to the King’s Privy Chamber. He would match, earning him Anne’s enmity. But she now
later emulate Thomas’s example by travelling had an infinitely more powerful suitor.