The Fall of Anne Boleyn: A Countdown (2 page)

George Boleyn, Lord Rochford (c1504-1536)

George Boleyn was born around 1504 and was the younger brother of Anne Boleyn. He was a courtier, poet, diplomat, royal favourite and member of the King's privy chamber. He was married to Jane Parker, the daughter of Henry Parker, Lord Morley. George was influential in Parliament and carried out many important diplomatic missions on behalf of the King. His frequent mention in the privy purse expenses show that he regularly played dice, bowls and cards with Henry VIII and was a member of the King's circle of friends. He was also a zealous reformer and gifted poet.

George was executed on 17th May 1536 after being found guilty of treason and of incest with his sister, Queen Anne Boleyn. Popular fiction makes him out to be homosexual, but there is actually no evidence of this.

Thomas Boleyn, Earl of Wiltshire and Earl of Ormond (c.1477-1539)

Thomas was the eldest of ten children. His parents were Sir William Boleyn and Lady Margaret Butler. His paternal grandfather was Geoffrey Boleyn, the Lord Mayor of London, and his maternal grandfather was Thomas Butler, the 7th Earl of Ormond.

Margaret Butler was a descendant of Eleanor de Bohun and her first husband James Butler, 1st Earl of Ormond; interestingly, Eleanor de Bohun was the granddaughter of Edward I and his first wife, Eleanor of Castile.

In 1498 or 1499, Thomas Boleyn married Lady Elizabeth Howard, daughter of Thomas Howard, the Earl of Surrey (and later the 2nd Duke of Norfolk). The couple had at least five children: Mary, Anne, George, Thomas and Henry. Only Mary, Anne and George survived childhood. Thomas's flair for languages, his probable legal training and his intelligence made him indispensable at court and he served the King as an ambassador, privy councillor and Lord Privy Seal. Thomas was also a Reformer and supported his godson Thomas Tebold in the latter's travels around Europe in 1535 and 1536, spreading the news that Thomas Boleyn was a patron of the new learning and new religion.

Thomas Cromwell (1485-1540)

Thomas Cromwell was born in Putney circa 1485 and was the son of Walter Cromwell, blacksmith, cloth merchant and fuller. He studied law and was fluent in French, Italian and Latin, which helped him to become employed by Cardinal Wolsey in around 1514. After Wolsey's fall, and due partly to the patronage of Anne Boleyn, Cromwell quickly rose to be the King's right hand man. In this role, Cromwell assisted the King in his quest to have his marriage to Catherine of Aragon annulled as well as in the dissolution of the monasteries. He became the King's official principal secretary and chief minister in 1534. There is controversy concerning his actual role in the downfall of Anne Boleyn. It's unclear whether Cromwell instigated the plot or whether he simply carried out the King's wishes.

Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk (c1484-1545)

Charles Brandon was one of Henry VIII's best friends. He was born circa 1484 to Sir William Brandon and Elizabeth Bruyn, and his father died carrying Henry VII's standard at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. It is thought that Brandon grew up in the household of his uncle, Sir Thomas Brandon, a leading courtier in the reign of Henry VII. By 1507, Brandon himself was serving the King as an esquire of the body. Although he was seven years older than Henry VIII, Brandon became the King's lifelong friend, and was made Duke of Suffolk in 1514. He was forgiven for marrying the King's favourite sister, Mary Tudor, Queen of France, in 1515, without the King's permission. The couple had four children: Henry, Frances, Eleanor and a second Henry after the death of their first son. Mary died in June 1533 and their second son died in 1534. Brandon married for the fourth time in September 1534; his new wife was his 14 year old ward, Catherine Willoughby. Brandon had poor relations with Anne Boleyn, his sympathy being with Catherine of Aragon.

Thomas Audley, Lord Chancellor (1487/8-1544)

Thomas Audley was born around 1487/8 in Earls Colne, Essex. He came to the attention of Henry VIII in 1523 after taking Cardinal Wolsey's side in Parliament when Sir Thomas More defended the rights of the common people. He rose quickly from that point, and on 20th May 1532 he was knighted and made keeper of the great seal after Sir Thomas More resigned as Lord Chancellor. On 26th January 1533, he was officially named as Lord Chancellor. Audley is thought to have been responsible for smoothing the passage through Parliament of legislation regarding the King's break with Rome and the supremacy.

Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset (1519-1536)

Henry Fitzroy was the illegitimate son of Henry VIII by his mistress Elizabeth (Bessie) Blount. He was born at the priory of St Lawrence in Blackmore, Essex, around June 1519. In 1525, he was elected Knight of the Garter and made Earl of Nottingham and Duke of Richmond and Somerset. This was followed, by him being made Warden General of the Marches and Lord Admiral of England. In 1529 he became Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and in October 1532 he accompanied Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn to their meeting with Francis I in Calais. On 26th November 1533, he married Mary Howard, daughter of the Duke of Norfolk, but it is believed that the marriage was never consummated due to the couple's youth.

Eustace Chapuys, Imperial Ambassador (c1491-1556)

Eustace Chapuys was the second son of Louis Chapuys, a notary of Annecy in the duchy of Savoy, and of Guigone Dupuys. He became a doctor of civil and canon laws after studying at Turin University. By August 1526 he was the Duke of Bourbon's ambassador to Charles V's court in Granada. In the summer of 1527, after the death of the Duke of Bourbon in the sack of Rome, Chapuys joined the imperial service, working under Nicholas de Perrenot, seigneur de Granvelle. He arrived in England in September 1529 to begin working as Catherine of Aragon's adviser in negotiations regarding the annulment. He was her link to the Emperor and to Rome. He detested Anne Boleyn, never referring to her by name but as "the concubine" or "the putain" [whore].

Jane Seymour (c1508/09-1537)

Jane Seymour was born in 1508 or 1509, probably at the family seat, Wolf Hall in Wiltshire. She was the daughter of Sir John Seymour, soldier and courtier, and of Margery Wentworth. Like all of Henry VIII's wives, she was descended from Edward III. It is thought that she arrived at court around 1529. She served Catherine of Aragon and then Anne Boleyn as a lady-in-waiting. Her brothers, Edward and Thomas Seymour, were on the rise in the 1530s and it is thought that they and Sir Nicholas Carew coached Jane to appeal to the King.

The Lady Mary, formerly Princess Mary (1516-1558)

Mary was born on 18th February 1516 at Greenwich Palace and was the only surviving child of the marriage of Catherine of Aragon and Henry VIII. She lost both her legitimacy and her title of Princess when her parents' marriage was annulled in 1533. She refused to recognise her father's second wife, Anne Boleyn, as queen, saying that she knew of no queen apart from her mother.

Princess Elizabeth (1533-1603)

Elizabeth was born on 7th September 1533 at Greenwich Palace, the only surviving child of the marriage of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII. She was given her own household of staff at Hatfield, Hunsdon and then Eltham, and was put into the care of Lady Margaret Bryan. She was just two years old when her mother was executed in May 1536 and she was made illegitimate.

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500-1558)

Charles was born on 24th February 1500 to Joanna of Castile (Juana la Loca), sister of Catherine of Aragon, and to Philip I of Castile. His maternal grandparents were the Catholic Reyes, Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, and his paternal grandparents were Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, and Mary of Burgundy. He became King of Spain in 1516 and Holy Roman Emperor in 1519.

In 1521 Charles became betrothed to five year old Princess Mary, daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. However, in 1525, he married Isabella of Portugal. The couple had seven children: Philip II of Spain, Maria of Spain, Isabella, Ferdinand, Joan of Spain, John and Ferdinand.

Henry Courtenay, Marquis of Exeter (1498/9-1538)

Henry Courtenay was born circa 1498-9 and was the son of William Courtenay, Earl of Devon, and of Katherine, daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. In 1519 he married his second wife, Gertrude Blount, daughter of William Blount, fourth Baron Mountjoy, the Queen's chamberlain. Gertrude was a pious Catholic, associated with Elizabeth Barton, the Nun of Kent, and both Henry and Gertrude were religious conservatives whose sympathies lay with Catherine of Aragon.

Elizabeth Fitzgerald, Countess of Kildare (d.1548)

Elizabeth Fitzgerald (née Grey) was the daughter of Thomas Grey, first Marquess of Dorset, and of Cicely Bonville. She was the widow of Gerald Fitzgerald, ninth Earl of Kildare, who died in 1534. In 1536 she was a supporter of the Lady Mary.

Henry Pole, Baron Montagu (1492-1539)

Henry Pole was the eldest son of Sir Richard Pole and of Margaret Plantagenet, daughter of George, Duke of Clarence. His mother, Margaret Pole, was the Countess of Salisbury. She was a member of Catherine of Aragon's household and godmother and governess of the Lady Mary. His brother was Cardinal Reginald Pole. The family's sympathies lay with Catherine of Aragon.

John Skip (d.1552)

John Skip was a Norfolk man who studied at Gonville Hall, Cambridge, where he became a member of a group of Reformers who met at the White Horse tavern. He supported the King's annulment and became chaplain and almoner to Queen Anne Boleyn in 1535.

Sir Nicholas Carew (c.1496-1539)

Sir Nicholas Carew was born circa 1496 and was the eldest son of Sir Richard Carew of Beddington, Surrey, and of Maline Oxenbridge. Carew was brought up at court and was serving the King as a groom of the privy chamber by 1511. In 1515 he became an esquire of the body and in 1518 he became a gentleman of the privy chamber. His wife, Elizabeth, was the daughter of Sir Thomas Bryan, vice chamberlain of Catherine of Aragon, and of Lady Margaret Bryan who was governess to the Princess Mary and then to Princess Elizabeth.

Carew was best friends with his brother-in-law, Sir Francis Bryan. In 1535 he sheltered the King's fool who had angered the King by calling Anne Boleyn "a ribald" and the Princess Elizabeth "a bastard". He thus showed his clear sympathy with the Catholic conservatives, Catherine of Aragon and the Lady Mary.

Matthew Parker (1504-1575)

Matthew Parker was born in Norwich on 6th August 1504 and was educated at Corpus Christi College in Cambridge, where he became friends with a group of Reformers and was linked to Lutheran Thomas Bilney. He became one of Queen Anne Boleyn's chaplains in 1535, and Anne's patronage led to him being appointed Dean of the collegiate church of Stoke by Clare in Suffolk.

Sir Henry Norris (late 1490s-1536)

Sir Henry Norris was the son of Richard Norris. He married Mary Fiennes sometime before 1526 and the couple had three children before Mary's death circa 1530. Norris was Henry VIII's Groom of the Stool and was one of the King's best friends. By 1536, he was courting Anne Boleyn's cousin, Margaret Shelton.

Mark Smeaton (d.1536)

Mark was a talented musician who had been a member of Cardinal Wolsey's choir before joining the King's Chapel Royal. He became a Groom of the Privy Chamber in 1529 and was a member of the Boleyn circle.

Sir Francis Weston (c.1511-1536)

Sir Francis Weston was the son of Sir Richard Weston and Anne Sandys, a former lady-in-waiting to Catherine of Aragon. He became a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber in 1532 and was a popular courtier and member of the Boleyn circle.

Sir William Brereton (c.1487/1490-1536)

Sir William Brereton was the sixth son of a leading, landowning Cheshire family and himself became an important man in Cheshire and North Wales. He was married to Elizabeth Savage, daughter of Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester. He had a colourful reputation and was not a member of the Boleyn circle of friends.

Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury (1489-1556)

Thomas Cranmer was born in Nottinghamshire in 1489 to Thomas and Agnes Cranmer. At the age of 14 he attended Jesus College, Cambridge, where he studied for a Bachelor of Arts degree, followed by a Masters. He was then elected to a fellowship but had to relinquish this when he married. Unfortunately, his wife, Joan, died in childbirth. He married his second wife, Marguerite, in 1532.

In 1526, Cranmer was awarded a Doctorate of Divinity and from 1527 he was involved in the proceedings to get Henry VIII's first marriage to Catherine of Aragon annulled. He was consecrated as Archbishop of Canterbury on 30th March 1533 and opened a special court for the annulment proceedings on 10th May 1533. On 23rd May, Cranmer ruled that the marriage between Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon was against the will of God, the marriage was declared null and void. Five days later, on 28th May, Cranmer declared the marriage between Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn valid and on the 1st June he crowned Anne Boleyn Queen of England. In September 1533, he had the pleasure of baptising the couple's daughter, Elizabeth, and becoming her godfather.

Sir Thomas Wyatt the Elder (1503-1542)

Sir Thomas Wyatt, "the Father of English Poetry", was born in 1503 at Allington Castle, Kent. He was the son of Sir Henry Wyatt and Anne Skinner. In 1520, Wyatt married Elizabeth Brooke, the daughter of Lord Cobham. In 1521, the couple had a son, Thomas Wyatt the Younger.