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Life of Anne Boleyn

From the painting by an unknown artist in the National Portrait Gallery.

Anne Boleyn.

[Frontispiece.

The Life of Anne Boleyn

By Philip W. Sergeant

Author of "Cleopatra of Egypt," "The Empress
Josephine," etc., etc.

WITH 16 ILLUSTRATIONS

LONDON: HUTCHINSON & CO.
PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C.

1923

PREFACE

It is a melancholy feature, to a student of the Tudor period of
history, that no attempt is made by the contemporaries of
the leading men and women in it to judge them dispassionately,
according to their merits ; the verdict is decided solely by
reference to their religious views. It is not character which
counts as a title to praise or blame, to love or hatred, but one
thing only, whether the man or woman was a friend or foe ot
the ruling Church. This is the touchstone to distinguish
between gold and base metal. Any error, any duplicity,
almost any crime can be forgiven to " right views." When
the end comes, as so often, in a cruel way, if the sufferer is
orthodox, from the writer's standpoint, he is a martyr ; other-
wise, si periret, vile damnum — he is a pernicious heretic, and
there is no more to be said about it.

This is melancholy, but not surprising, in a time of such
bitter religious dissension. Not surprising, that is to say, to
anyone who appreciates the danger of deep " conviction " in
so imperfect and ill-balanced an organ as the human brain.
What is surprising is that, at such a distance of time from the
Tudor days as now, the same false method of judgment should
hold sway, that the ghosts of those who lived and wrote under
Henry VIII and his immediate successors should be allowed
to guide the pens of their descendants. With such a wealth
of evidence before them as has been revealed by patient re-
search among the actual documents of the period, the general
body of historians still continue to find the test of worth in
" Catholicism " or " Protestantism," and to shut their eyes to
what really matters, the character — the soul if you like —
beneath the label. Thus, according to religious classification,
we get whole rows of saints and sinners, who were really just
ordinary men and women, far removed from sainthood, and
no more sinful, in the majority of cases, than the men and
womenof to-day.

Preface

I trust that it is not necessary, to those who have read my
" Little Jennings and Fighting Dick Talbot," for me to assert
that I have no bias against the Church of Rome. The Duke
of Tyrconnel was a Roman Catholic ; and I was at considerable
pains to establish that he was not the scoundrel that Whig-
Protestant historians, and their arch-priest Macaulay in
particular, represented him to be. I endeavoured (with
inadequate success, perhaps) to show him as a man, not a
religious bogey. I claim the same privilege with regard to
Anne Boleyn. That she was a sympathizer with the Re-
formers, their patron and their " nurse," as Anne's most bitter
enemy Chapuys called her, has nothing whatever to do with
her moral worth or worthlessness. There were good Reformers
and bad Reformers ; and, as far as I can see, their religious
opinions neither made them good nor made them bad. It
was not his views on the Church — which it would be difficult
to define apart from his views on his own infallible perfection
— that made Henry a bad man.

Anne Boleyn's fate in history has been more extraordinary
than that of the mass of her contemporaries, in that the esti-
mate of her formed by her religious opponents has not only
been perpetuated by those who are antagonized by her
Lutheranism,* but also to a large extent accepted by writers
whom one has no reason to suspect of such prejudice. Even
the monstrous tales of Nicholas Sanders have been given
credit, down to the present day, by historians who have no
interest, as Sanders had, in traducing the characters of Anne
and her daughter Elizabeth with any lie which might serve
the purpose. Why ? It is incomprehensible ; except that

* The enduring nature of the religious hatred against Anne, outside
literature, is illustrated by the facts mentioned in " Notes and Queries "
some sixty years ago (2nd Series, Vol. VI., page 525, and 3rd Series, Vol.
IV., pages 245, 504) that " Anna Bolena " was used as a term of op-
probrium in Spain and elsewhere, and that in Sicily her soul was
popularly supposed to be confined under Etna — a strange successor
to the Titan Enceladus !

Whether it is a compensation that " Anna Bolena " was the name
of the filly which won the Poule des Pouliches at Longchamps this
year, is doubtful.

Preface

vii

to reject the oft-repeated tales of history seems to require an
effort too great for the intellectual indolence of most of us.

Of course, it is quite possible to dismiss Anne Boleyn's
religious opinions and still to regard her as a bad woman.
Whether or not this is a just view depends on a careful examina-
tion of the evidence. That is what I have striven after. I do
not hold with Bishop Burnet, that, if an historian " but
slightly touches the failings of his friends, and severely
aggravates those of the other side," it does not blacken him.
If, therefore, I have passed over any evidence against Anne,
it has not been of intent. In the pages which follow, the con-
clusion to which I have come (concerning the worth of which
I expect no one else to have any illusions) may stand forth.

If three lines only were allowed in which to sum up the
character of Anne Boleyn, I would choose those which
Euripides puts into the mouth of Medea :

MtjScic fii (pavXriv icacrSivrj vop.iZir<o
/xtjS' r}<rv\aiav, aXXa Sarepov rpoirov,
fiapeiav l\^polg ical (piXoiaiv ev/HEvrj.

But Anne had withal, it is evident even through the clouds of
the Sixteenth Century, more feminine charm than Euripides
has attributed to the Princess of Colchis.

Philip W. Sergeant.

St. John's Wood,
October ist, 1923.

Note. — Acknowledgment has, I think, been sufficiently made, in
the body of this work, of the sources to which I have been
indebted for information. I should like, however, to make
special mention here of five of the more recent authors who
have devoted attention to Anne Boleyn's history : P.
Friedmann, J. S. Brewer, James Gairdner, J. H. Round
and M. A. S. Hume. For not being able always to see eye
to eye with one, or any, of these, I need not, perhaps, apolo-
gize ; since neither do their eyes all look the same way.

CONTENTS

CHAP. PAGE

Preface v

I. — The Boleyn Family. . . . i

II. — Anne's Early Days ir

III. — At the Court of England .... 25

IV. — Mistress Anne and Queen Katharine . . 37
V. — The Royal Lover 49

VI. — Awaiting the Legate 65

VII. — The Defeat of Wolsey 85

VIII. — The Boleyns' Triumph 103

IX. — The Break with Rome 116

X. — Fighting Home Opposition .... 132

XI. — The Marchioness of Pembroke . . . 146

XII. — Anne makes her Marriage .... 159

XIII. — The Coronation Festivities . 171

XIV. — The Birth of Elizabeth 186

XV. — The Approach of Danger .... 200

XVI. — The Dawn of the Terror .... 224

XVII. — The Death of Katharine of Aragon . . 244

XVIII. — The Plot against Anne 257

XIX. — The Mine explodes 269

XX. — Trial and Death 283

Appendix A. — Anne and Mary Boleyn .... 301
Appendix B. — The Age of George Boleyn, Viscount

Rochford 304

Appendix C. — The Death of Anne Boleyn's Mother . 306

Appendix D. — Letters of Anne and Thomas Boleyn . 308

Index a, 311

ix b

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Anne Boleyn Frontispiece

From the painting by an unknown artist in the National
Portrait Gallery.

Mary Tudor, the French Queen .... Facing p. 14
From a painting, of the French School, in the National
Gallery.

Thomas Boleyn, afterwards Earl of Wiltshire and
Ormonde 24
From the portrait by Holbein.

Henry VIII 40

From the painting by Holbein at the New Palace of
Westminster.

Thomas Wyatt 62
From an engraving by Bartolozxi or Cadon, after Holbein's
portrait at Windsor.

Pope Clement VII „ 92

From an engraving by Maloeuvre, after Titian's painting.

Thomas, Cardinal Wolsey . . . . ,, 114

From the painting by an unknown artist in the National
Portrait Gallery.

Marguerite de Valois, Queen of Navarre . . . „ 142
From an engraving by N. H. Jacob.

Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury . . „ 160
From the painting by Gerlach Flick in the National Portrait
Gallery.

Thomas Howard, Third Duke of Norfolk . . 170
From the painting by Holbein, in the Royal Collection at
Windsor.

Francis I „ 188

From the painting, after Titian, in the Louvre.

Mary Tudor, Daughter of Henry VIII. . . . ,, 208
From the painting by an unknown artist in the National
Portrait Gallery.

Thomas Cromwell, afterwards Earl of Essex . . „ 232
From an engraving by Houbraken, after a painting by
Holbein.

Jane Seymour ........ 246

From an engraving by W. Bond, after Holbein's painting
in the Duke of Bedford's collection.

Katharine of Aragon . . . . . „ 256

From the painting, probably after Johannes Corvus, in the
National Portrait Gallery.

Anne Boleyn „ 284

From an engraving by Houbraken, after a painting by
Holbein.

THE LIFE OF ANNE BOLEYN

CHAPTER I

THE BOLEYN FAMILY

THE story of the hapless second wife of Henry
VIII., the mother of England's greatest Queen,
begins with a mystery which has given rise to
controversy of considerable proportions. There is no
reasonable doubt as to her parentage ; for the infamous
suggestion of Nicholas Sanders* is not in need of refuta-
tion to-day. The date of her birth, however, and her
position in the order of the Boleyn family are matters
of opinion, apparently incapable of definite con-
firmation.

Thomas Boleyn, the father of Anne, came of an
old Norfolk family, for which, after her rise to tem-
porary splendour, a Norman origin was claimed,
to the disgust of many people at Court. At any rate,
the first of the fine to bring it into prominence was
Geoffrey Boleyn, variously stated to have been the
son or the grandson of Thomas Boleyn, of Salle, Norfolk,
and Anne, daughter of Sir John Bracton, a Norfolk
knight. Geoffrey seems to have been brought up
to London by his father and apprenticed to the trade

* See page 19 (note).

The Life of Anne Boleyn

of a mercer. He succeeded in business, and in 1424
was Master of the Mercers' Company, while in 1457
he was Lord Mayor of London, being then a knight.
Moreover, he made a good marriage, taking to wife
Anne, daughter of Lord Hoo and Hastings. With
her he probably acquired money, as he certainly did
in one way and another ; for when he died in 1471
he left £1,000 in London charities. He was buried
at the church of St. Lawrence Pountney.

Sir Geoffrey and his wife had a son William, who
was born about 145 1. In the " Calendar of Inquisi-
tions post Mortem M of the reign of Henry VII.
are two entries concerning a certain Thomas Hoo,
owner of the manor of Offeley, Hertfordshire, who
died on October 8th, i486. The manor, it appears,
had been remaindered to Anne, wife of Geoffrey
Boleyn, and, she being dead, it thus came to her son.
In the second entry, a writ dated October 17th, 1487,
it is stated that " Wm. Boleyn, knt., aged 36 and more,
is his [Thomas Hoo's] cousin and heir, viz., son of
Anne, daughter of Lord de Hoo and Hastynges, his
brother."

William Boleyn had been knighted by Richard III.
at his coronation. He was, no doubt, a fairly rich
man on his father's death, when he himself was only
twenty. Somewhere about the beginning of
Henry VII. 's reign, he made a good marriage, with
Margaret Butler, daughter of Sir Thomas Ormonde,
as he was at the time styled, afterwards seventh Earl
of Ormonde. This marriage was good from the
point of view of blood, and it was destined to be good
from that of money also ; but, at the time when Sir
William Boleyn married, his father-in-law's family

The Boleyn Family

were under attainder, he was a younger son, and his
pecuniary resources were for long so poor that he
was even compelled to borrow money from his son-in-
law. The latter, however, could afford to lend, and
by doing so he certainly did not lose in the long run,
after Ormonde became the seventh Earl, more
especially when he died and left to his two daughters
his considerable estates in England.

In the same " Calendar of Inquisitions post Mortem "
already quoted is a writ dated November 29th, 1485,
in connection with the death of Anne, wife of " Thomas
Ormond, knt." which states that ** Anne, wife of J as.
Selynger [i.e., St. Leger], Esq., aged 23 and more,
and Margaret, wife of William Bolyn, knt., aged 20
and more, are their daughters and heirs." The age
thus assigned to Margaret Boleyn is a puzzle ; for we
know by Thomas Boleyn's own statement, at the
time of the divorce proceedings between Henry VIII.
and Katharine of Aragon in 1529, that he was then
fifty-two years of age.* He must, therefore, have
been born about 1477, so that his mother could not
possibly have been but twenty in 1485. Thomas
Boleyn was the eldest, or at least eldest surviving,
son of his parents. His first public appearance was
in 1497, when he accompanied his father in arms
against the Cornish rebels who were threatening
London.

In 1505 Sir William Boleyn died. In the " Calendar
of Patent Rolls " of Henry VII. is a license, dated
February, 1506, of " entry without proof of age for
Thomas Boleyn, esquire, son and heir of William

* See Deposition of Thomas, Viscount Rochford, at the Friars
Minors, July 15th, 1529, in " Letters and Papers, Henry VIII. '*

The Life of Anne Boleyn

Boleyn, knight, deceased, tenant in chief on all the
lands of the said William in England, Wales, Calais
or Ireland." Dame Margaret Boleyn was still alive ;
but Thomas was now a rich man, with the properties
left to him by his father. This made a very con-
siderable difference to him, as we may gather from a
letter which he wrote over thirty years later to Thomas
Cromwell. The Earl of Wiltshire, as he had then
become, said : " When I married I had only 50/.
a year to live on for me and my wife as long as my
father lived, and yet she brought me every year a
child."* This is an interesting sidelight on the early
circumstances of a man of whom the French diploma-
tist Gabriel de Grammont, Bishop of Tarbes, was
later to quote the Bishop of Worcester as saying that
" he would sooner act from interest than from any
other motive," and who proved the truth of this verdict
throughout his career.

Unfortunately for the historians, the Earl of Wilt-
shire did not mention to Cromwell how long he was
married before his father's death raised him above
an income of £50 a year ; and so we are without
knowledge as to when plain Thomas Boleyn took to
wife the Lady Elizabeth Howard, daughter of Thomas,
afterwards second Duke of Norfolk. He kept up the
family tradition of aristocratic marriages. But, lest
it should surprise us that Thomas Boleyn, even with
his expectation of riches some day, should be able
to make a match with a family connected with royalty
itself, it must be remembered that Thomas Howard
was in prison for four years after the battle of Bos-

* " Letters and Papers, Henry VIII. ,"- Vol. XI., page 13. This letter
is quoted again below, page 289M.

The Boleyn Family

worth, and on his release in 1489 was only restored
to the earldom of Surrey, not being allowed to take
the dukedom of Norfolk until twenty-five years
later. Nor was he wealthy yet. Therefore, Thomas
Boleyn, like his father, made somewhat of a matri-
monial gamble, marrying blood, with a possibility of
money to come later.

In the Pardon Roll of the first year of Henry VIII.
Thomas Boleyn appears as of Blickling, Norfolk,
Hever, Kent, New Inn without Temple Bar, and
Hoo, Bedfordshire ; while in the Patent Rolls
two years earlier he is described as " yeoman of the
crown " in connection with the port of " Lenne,"
Norfolk. When the new reign began he had the
position of a man of property, and the scene was set
for his climbing ambition.

Such was Anne Boleyn's ancestry ; and it can
be seen, therefore, that her family could scarcely
with fairness be described as " upstarts," even if
the pretensions to a Norman origin were more shadowy
than, say, the Tudor claims to derivation from Welsh
princes.

When we come to the question of Anne's birth,
we are no longer in clear regions. It is very remark-
able that there should be such doubts as there are
with regard to the age of a lady who was for over
three years Queen of England. Camden, the historian
of her daughter Elizabeth, states that she was born
in 1507 ; and, though he himself was not born until
fifteen years after Anne's death, he is an authority
who cannot easily be rejected. Moreover, a writer
named Henry Clifford, who was at one time in the
service of old Lady Jane Dormer, a friend of Queen

The Life of Anne Boleyn

Mary, distinctly states that Anne at the time of her
execution was not twenty-nine years of age. Clifford
was not born until about 1570 ; but his patroness was
born in 1538 and thus establishes a link with the
reign of Henry VIII. Clifford, doubtless, preserves
the Dormer family tradition — which in other respects
was decidedly unfavourable to Anne Boleyn.

These two writers are the only ones who give a
date, and their statements harmonize. Unfortunately,
however, a very strong conflict of evidence is found
on the point whether Anne was younger or older
than her sister Mary, they being variously described
in the nearest approach which we get to contemporary
documents.* The matter is of importance with regard
to Anne's age. If she were the elder she must have
been born earlier than 1507, because of what we know
about Mary Boleyn. Eminent modern historical
writers are seriously divided on the question, and
it is only with extreme diffidence that one can agree
with some and differ from the others. On the whole,
the balance of probabilities seems to be in favour
of (he view that Mary was the elder sister, as will
apj ear in the course of the next chapter.

Thomas and Elizabeth Boleyn had one other child
that grew up besides these two daughters, namely, a
son George, afterwards Viscount Rochford, who died
on Tower Hill on May 17th, 1536. His age relative
to his sisters is nowhere stated. A poem written
on the occasion of his death says that before he was
twenty-seven he was " preferred into the privy coun-
cell ; but a record of his first preferment to the
Council is wanting. He was of the King's privy

"^See Appendix A. f See Appendix B.

The Boleyn Family

chamber at least as early as 1525, but this can scarcely
be what the poem refers to. If he was of the
Council, it would not have been before he became
Viscount Rochford, after his father's attainment
of the earldom of Wiltshire at the end of 1529. This
would make him born not ear her than 1503. Whether
he was the " Master Bollyn " who appears imme-
diately after " Master Sir Thos. Bollyn " in the Revel
Accounts for the mummery on Christmas Day, 1514,*
is uncertain.

It is variously claimed that Anne was born on her
father's property at Blickling, Norfolk, which her
great-grandfather had purchased from the well-known
Sir John Fastolf, and on his other estate at Hever,
Kent, also first acquired for the family by Geoffrey
Boleyn. There is nothing beyond tradition to support
either claim. Blickling, it is true, used to be haunted,
in popular legend, by Anne's ghost, as also used the
old church at Salle, whence Geoffrey's father came
to start the fortunes of the Boleyns in London. What
the ghost did, however, is not evidence.

By her name Anne recalled at least two of her
ancestors, Anne Bracton and Anne Hoo, as well as
one of her father's sisters and her grand-aunt, Anne
St. Leger.

If we accept the date 1507 as the date of her birth,
Anne Boleyn was about two when Henry VIII.,
aged eighteen, ascended the throne of England.
Thomas Boleyn was then " Squire for the Body "
to the new King, in which capacity he figured at the
funeral of Henry VII. With his wife he was present
at the coronation of Henry VIII., Elizabeth Boleyn's

• " Letters and Papers, Henry VUI.» a Vol. II., page 1501.

The Life of Anne Boleyn

name appearing among the Baronesses in the list of
the Queen's Chamber. A tangible proof of his master's
favour, the start of which is unknown, had already
come to Thomas Boleyn. On June 22nd, he was among
the twenty-six honourable persons ordered to repair
to the Tower of London to serve the King at dinner
and to bear dishes, " in token that they shall never
bear none after that day ; " for on the morrow they
were made Knights of the Bath. The Tower of
London, which was to have such sinister associations
with the name of Boleyn, saw the courtier Sir Thomas
firmly set on his upward career.

In connection with Lady Boleyn, a curious point
must be noted. Miss Strickland, in her " Lives of
the Queens of England," misreading a note by Thorns
the antiquarian on a story told about Queen Elizabeth
by Sir Nicholas L' Estrange, and combining this error
with a wrong date given in a privately printed memorial
of the Howard family, made Elizabeth Howard die
in 15 1 2 and her husband marry at some subsequent
unknown date u a Norfolk woman of humble origin."*
Thus she furnished Anne Boleyn with a stepmother,
to whom " there is reason to believe Anne was tenderly
attached " and by whom she was " much beloved."
Other writers have followed Miss Strickland's mistake.
But, apart from the constant allusions in contemporary
documents to Lady (or Dame) Boleyn after 1512,
and subsequently to Lady Wiltshire, as Anne's mother,
we cannot get away from the fact that the Lady
Wiltshire who died on April 3rd, 1538, was interred
in the Howard aisle of Lambeth church four days
later. In the Record Office there is preserved a letter

* See Appendix C.

The Boleyn Family

from one John Husee to Lady Lisle, dated April gth,
1538, which says, " My Lady Wiltshire was buried
at Lamehithe on the 7th ; " and there was formerly
on a tomb in the Howard aisle the inscription, " Eliza-
beth Howard, some time Countess of Wiltshire."

We may dismiss Anne Boleyn' s stepmother, there-
fore, as a fiction, and restore a mother, daughter of
one and sister of another Duke of Norfolk, who survived
her daughter by nearly two years. With regard
to her character, we have really no authentic informa-
tion ; but her notions of maternal responsibility would
certainly seem to have been lax, though in that respect
she was not a rare exception in her times.

It is a fact that, as Miss Strickland says, Sir Thomas
Boleyn' s name is never mentioned in the ** Howard-
book." The book referred to is an account-book
at Tendring Hall, Suffolk, the chief country residence
of Thomas, Earl of Surrey, afterward third Duke of
Norfolk. Amongst other details recorded in this
book were the names of presumably all the visitors
to the house between 1513 and 1524, when the Earl
succeeded to the dukedom. If the list of names
is complete, then the Boleyns never visited Tendring
Hall during the whole of the eleven years. But this
is very far from showing that Sir Thomas Boleyn's
absence was due to the fact that his wife had died and
he had remarried. It is abundantly clear that there
was an antipathy between the brothers-in-law, and
that the Duke of Norfolk was subsequently at enmity
not only with his sister's husband, but also with at
least one of her children. This will appear later ;
but we may quote here what Norfolk wrote when he
was a prisoner in the Tower in 1546 and was only

The Life of Anne Boleyn

saved from execution by the death of Henry VIII.
Addressing the Lords of the Council, Norfolk then
said : " What malice both my nieces that it pleased
the King's Highness to marry did bear me is not
unknown to such Lords as kept them in this house,

as my Lady , my Lady Tyrwhitt, my Lady

Kingston and others ; which heard what they said
of me." Anne Boleyn and Katharine Howard had
truly little cause to love their uncle, well described
in the " Dictionary of National Biography " as " hot-
tempered, self-seeking and brutal."

It is not improbable that a difference of religious
views alienated the Boleyns and Norfolk. Of Thomas
Boleyn, his son George, and the more celebrated of
his daughters we know that they, for one cause or
another, developed sympathy with the Reformers.
Norfolk was a steadfast supporter of the Church j
though, as we shall see, he allowed himself great lati-
tude of speech concerning the Pope. Lady Boleyn's
attitude is a matter of conjecture ; but her close
association with Anne for so many years of her
life makes it seem probable that she inclined rather
to her husband's opinions than to her brother's. The
attack upon her reputation made by Nicholas Sanders
encourages this view.

CHAPTER II

anne's early days

FOR the first seven years of her life at least, we
hear nothing concerning Anne Boleyn. Lord
Herbert of Cherbury, who published his " Life and
Raigne of King Henry the Eighth " in 1649, an( i,
therefore, was very far from being a first-hand authority,
preserves what we may, perhaps, call the Elizabethan
tradition of Anne's early years. " This Gentlewoman,"
he says, " was from her childhood of that singular
beauty and towardnesse that her Parents took all care
possible for her good education. Therefore, besides
the ordinary parts of vertuous instructions, wherewith
shee was liberally brought up, they gave her teachers
in playing on musicall Instruments, singing and
dancing ; Insomuch that when she composed her
hands to play and voice to Sing, it was joyned with
that sweetnesse of countenance that three harmonies
concurr'd ; likewise, when she danced, her rare
proportions varied themselves into all the graces that
belong either to Rest or Motion."

That Anne Boleyn had a taste for music (which was,
no doubt, part cause of Henry's attraction to her)
and was a good dancer, is supported from other sources ;
and we may accept Lord Herbert's rather flowery
description as in the main correct. We have not,

The Life of Anne Boleyn

however, much that throws light on " the ordinary
parts of vertuous instructions, wherewith shee was
liberally brought up." Such of her letters as survive,
apart from the very early one in French which is
quoted below, seem to indicate ability of expression
with the pen ; and, seeing that she received her
finishing education at the polished Court of France,
we may presume that she was fully up to the standard
of her age when she returned to England, whatever
her attainments had previously been.

With the advent of the year 15 14 the perplexities
with regard to Anne's early life thicken. Her father
had been making steady progress in his career. In
151 1 he was appointed Governor of Norwich Castle,
in conjunction with Sir Henry Wyatt. In 15 12 he
was sent on a mission to the Low Countries with the
Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Young, and Sir Robert Wingfield,
in connection with the scheme for an alliance with
the Emperor Maximilian against France. In Brussels
Boleyn met that remarkable woman, the twice-widowed
Margaret of Austria, who governed the Low Countries
for her father, and who wrote to him in October
mentioning the visit of the u sieur de Boullan " and
his two colleagues. The upshot of this meeting was
that Boleyn arranged to place one of his daughters
with the Princess Margaret ; and a letter of the
Princess's is preserved, in which she speaks ot this
daughter's arrival in Brussels :

" I have received your letter by the Esquire Bouton,
who presented to me your daughter, who was very
welcome to me, and I hope to treat her in such a
fashion that you will have reason to be content with

Anne's Early Days

it • at least be sure that until your return there need
be no other intermediary between you and me than
she ; and I find her of such good address and so pleasing
in her youthful age that I am more beholden to you
for having sent her to me than you are to me."*

In a list of the maids of honour to Margaret of
Austria the name of M Bullan " occurs. It has been
assumed by some writers that this was none other
than Anne Boleyn ; but that is only probable if
Anne was Boleyn's elder daughter and born before
the date assigned by Camden and Clifford ; and,
even then, it would be very strange that none of her
contemporaries mention a sojourn with the celebrated
Margaret of Austria, whereas so many references
exist to her education in France. It seems better to
suppose that it was Mary Boleyn who went to Brussels,
some time after her father's return to England.

In 1513 Sir Thomas accompanied Henry VIII.
to the war in France, taking with him a retinue of
men ; and when peace came about further honours
awaited him and his family. Part of the price of
peace was the marriage of the King's sister Mary
to the old King Louis XII. of France. Mary asked
Boleyn that one of his daughters should go in her
suite to France, and he wrote in all haste to Margaret
of Austria. This letter, dated from " the Royal Court
of Grynewiche," August 14th, 1514, has been preserved,
and is a very curious document, in very curious
French. | Boleyn says that his treschiere et tres

* A. J. G. Le Glay, " Correspondance de l'Empereur Maximilien I>r
et de Marguerite d'Autriche." Le Glay gives no date for this extract.
He also mentions the list of the maids of honour.

t See Appendix D.

The Life of Anne Boleyn

redoubtee dame will be very pleased to know the sister
of the King his master, Madame Marie, Queen affianced
of France, desires to have with her his daughter,
la petitte boulain, who is at present with her, and
therefore he very humbly begs his tres redoubtee dame
to be pleased to give and grant his daughter leave
to return with his people whom he has sent to
her.

La petitte boulain must have hurried over from
Brussels to England on receipt of this letter, for in
October, 15 14, Mary Tudor left Dover for France,
and in her suite was a Boleyn. The list of " Gentle-
women which were appointed to have abidden in
France with the French Queen " reads as follows :

" Dame Guylford, lady of honor, Lady Eliza-
beth Grey, Eliz. Ferrys, M. Ann Devereux, Grey

of Wilton, M. Boleyne, M. Wotton, Alice Denys and
Anne Jerningham, chamberers."

Again, a list of those who were retained by the old
King to do service to his wife when, on the day after
their marriage, he dismissed the rest of her suite,
shows the following six names :

" Mesdemoiselles Grey, Mary Finis, Elizabeth [Grey],
Madamoyselle Boleyne, Maistres Anne Jenyngham,
femme de chambre, and Jeanne Barnesse, chamberiere."

The poor new Queen of France was very distressed
at this dismissal of her ladies, and wrote to her brother
that she had lost all " except such as never had experiens
nor knowlech how to advertyse or gyfe me counsell
yn any tyme of nede," particularly lamenting the
departure of "my mother Guldeford" (Dame or
Lady Jane Guildford), whom Henry and Cardinal
Wolsey had advised her to consult in everything*

om a painting, of the French School, in the National Ga

JVIary Tudor, the French Queen.

To face p. 14.

Anne's Early Days

An amusing letter has been preserved,* in which the
Earl of Worcester writes to give Louis's explanation
of the dismissal, as made to him. If his wife needed
counsel or to be ruled, the King said, he was able to
do it. As soon as Lady Guildford landed in France,
she began to take upon her not only to rule the Queen,
but also to prevent her coming to him except in the
presence of herself. So she began to " set a murmur
and banding among ladies of the Court." Never man
better loved his wife, declared Louis, but before he
would have such a woman about her he would liefer
be without her !

So the six names in the second list above are those
of the less experienced in Queen Mary's original suite.
Who, then, was the " Madamoyselle Boleyne," who
was among those exempted from Louis's ban upon
his wife's gentlewomen ? Apparently the same as
la petitte boulain, who had been fetched from Brussels
to attend on Mary Tudor. Now we have seen reason
to believe that it was Mary Boleyn who went to the
Court of Margaret of Austria ; and therefore we might
assume that it is she whose name appears in the two
lists quoted. As a matter of fact, we do know that
Mary Boleyn was in France in her youth. This
question was settled definitely by Professor James
Gairdner's discovery of a letter written on March ioth,
1536, from the Bishop of Faenza, papal nuncio in
France, reporting to Rome certain scandal about the
English Court, in which he said that " that woman "
(Anne Boleyn) had pretended to have miscarried of a
son when she was not really with child at all, and

* Both these letters are printed in Ellis's " Original Letters,'- 8 the
Queen's in 1st Series, Vol. L, Worcester's in 2nd Series, Vol. L

The Life of Anne Boleyn

that to keep up the deceit she would allow no one to
attend on her but her sister, whom the French King
knew when she was in France per una grandissima
ribalda et infame sopra tutte. The Bishop was not
telling the truth about the miscarriage ; but that
is no reason for doubting him when he says that Mary
Boleyn had been known at the French Court.

Nevertheless, a strong attempt has been made to
identify the " Madamoyselle Boleyne " who accom-
panied Mary Tudor in 15 14 with Anne. Certainly
the evidence looks good. A verse " Epitre " relating
to the trial and execution of Anne appeared in manu-
script just after her death in 1536, though it was not
printed till nine years later. In this the author, who
is supposed to be L. D. Carles, Bishop of Riez, says
that it is well known that " Anne Boullant first left
this country [England] when Marie departed from it
to go to seek the King in France, to accomplish the
alliance between the two Kings."

Then a sixteenth century writer, Charles de Bourge-
ville, who wrote a sort of diary under the name of
" Recherches et Antiquites de la Province de Neustrie,"
published in 1583, mentions in an entry for the year
I 533 " a lady named Anne Boullene who had been
brought up in France and came there when King
Louis XII. married Queen Marie, sister of the King
of England."

Finally, Lord Herbert says of Anne :

" She had liv'd some time in France, whither, in the
Train of the French Queen and company of a sister of
the Marquis Dorset, shee went Anno Domini 15 14."

And again :

" Mistris Anne Bolen went to France with Mary

Anne's Early Days

the French Queen 15 14 (as is proved by divers prin-
cipal Authors, both English and French, besides the
Manuscripts I have seen)."

A solution of the difficulty has been proposed, that
both sisters went to France in 15 14, but that only
the elder was included among the Queen's gentlewomen,
the other being too young to hold such a position.
Alternatively, it is suggested that Anne really went
later, but that there was quite early a confusion
between the dates of their visits, so that Mary's date
was erroneously attributed to Anne.

It might appear that all this discussion about the
identity of the " Madam oyselle Boleyne " who attended
Mary Tudor is superfluous ; but it will be seen that it
is of the utmost importance to the character of Anne
that she should not be called upon to bear the load
of her sister's misdeeds, which her enemies did their
best to make her bear.

There is in existence an actual letter written by Anne
to her father, and preserved at Corpus Christi College,
Cambridge (to which it was bequeathed by her chap-
lain), in which Anne seems to allude to an impending
visit to the French Court. It is, unfortunately, un-
dated, but is obviously a childish production, written in
extraordinary French, with evidence from the spelling
of having been taken down by Anne from dictation by
the person who is called by her Semmonet. She writes :

" Sir, — I understand by your letter that you desire
that I shall be a worthy woman when I come to the
Court and you inform me that the Queen will take
the trouble to converse with me, which rejoices me
much to think of talking with a person so wise and
worthy. This will make me have greater desire to

The Life of Anne Boleyn

continue to speak French well and also spell, especially
because you have so enjoined it on me, and with my
own hand I inform you that I will observe it the best
I can. Sir, I beg you to excuse me if my letter is
badly written, for I assure you that the orthography
is from my own understanding alone, while the others
were only written by my hand, and Semmonet tells
me the letter but waits so that I may do it myself,
for fear that it shall not be known unless I acquaint you,
and I pray you that the light of [?] may not be allowed
to drive away the will which you say you have to
help me, for it seems to me that you are sure [??]
you can, if you please, make me a declaration of your
word, and concerning me be certain that there shall
be neither [??] nor ingratitude which might check
or efface my affection, which is determined to [?]
as much unless it shall please you to order me, and
I promise you that my love is based on such great
strength that it will never grow less, and I will make
an end to my [?] after having commended myself
right humbly to your good grace. Written at [?
Veure] by

" Your very humble and very obedient daughter,

" Anna de Boullan."

The translation is, naturally, conjectural in parts.*
The place from where the letter was written, apparently
Veure, has been assumed to be Hever, though Pro-
fessor Gairdner has suggested V eure (5 heures), five
o'clock.

Whatever help this letter gives us as showing that
Anne Boleyn, at an early age, was going to meet

* See Appendix D for the French.

Anne's Early Days 19

the French Queen, it does not aid us to determine the
year or the occasion. It is consistent with the suppo-
sition that she went to Mary Tudor in France at the
age of seven ; but it does not preclude the possibility
of her having gone later. What is certain is that, if
she went to Mary in France, she must have gone in 15 14,
for at the very beginning of 15 15 Louis XII. died, and
Mary returned to England with the task of reconciling
her brother to her sudden secret marriage to the man
of her heart, Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk.

The " Epitre " in verse, which appeared immediately
after Anne's death, says that when the widowed Queen
Mary returned to England Anne was kept in France
by the new Queen, Claude, wife of Francis I. Similarly
Lord Herbert of Cherbury says that she was" received
in a place of much honour with the other Queen/'

Now we come to the testimony, if such it may
be called, of Nicholas Sanders, styled by an opponent,
not unjustly, "Dr. Slanders," who refrained from
no evil-speaking which might damage the reputation
of Queen Elizabeth and her mother. In his Latin
tract, " De Origine Schismatis Anglicani," he says
that at the age of fifteen* Anne Boleyn had so dis-

* This figure is interesting in view of Sanders's amiable theory,
which he adopted even if he did not invent, that Anne Boleyn was
really a daughter of Henry VIII., not of Thomas Boleyn. Now
Henry was only born in 1491 ; so that Sanders, by making Anne
go to France at the age at which we know she really left that country,
makes his theory still more grotesque. David Lewis, Sanders's editor
in 1877, evidently saw the difficulty of reconciling Anne's age with
the theory, for he put the date of Anne's birth as late as 1510 or 1511,
which would make her visit to France as late as 1525 or 1526 — a
beautiful example of ingenuity (?) defeating itself ! See what is said
in the Preface with regard to religious rancour and the perversion
of Tudor history.

The Life of Anne Boleyn

graced herself by profligacy at home that she was
sent to France and at the expense of the King
[Henry VIII.] placed under the care of a certain
nobleman at a place which has variously been ren-
dered by Sanders's translators as Brie and Briare.
Soon afterwards, he continues, she appeared at the
French Court, where he relates that her shameless
behaviour got her the name of u the English mare,"
etc., and then, after alleging an intimacy with King
Francis, he concludes : " She embraced the heresy
of Luther to make her life and opinions consistent."
Truly the scorpion's sting is in the tail !

Sanders lived from 1527 to 1581, and was nine
when Anne was executed. He could not, therefore,
and did not, claim first-hand knowledge of what he
was writing about the unhappy lady. The character
of his aspersions on her is such as to arouse wonder
that any unprejudiced reader could pay attention
to them. Yet historians claiming to be above pre-
judice have given them credence, so that it has been
necessary to refer to them here. It remains to be
seen what made it possible for the story of Anne's
conduct in France to be so put about.

We cannot well rescue the character of Mary Boleyn,
though a still existing letter by her, quoted later
on, indicates a not altogether unamiable personality.
But there is the evidence of the Bishop of Faenza,
written as early as March, 1536, as to her bad character
when at the French Court ; and there is the fact of
her relations with Henry VIII., which we must ap-
parently accept on his own confession. If what the
Bishop wrote had at least a grain of truth in it, it is
easy to see that Sanders may have transferred his

Anne's Early Days

story of " the English mare " from Mary to Anne,
not being concerned to attack the less famous sister,
but eager to seize on any weapon against Anne.

Mary Boleyn had left France by February, 1520,
for on the 4th of that month she was married to William
Carey, a grandson of the Devonshire knight Sir
William Carey, who was beheaded after the battle of
Tewkesbury, and a gentleman of King Henry's privy
chamber. In the King's Book of Payments for
the month we find a quaint entry, " The King's
offering on Saturday [4th February], at the marriage
of Mr. Care and Mary Bullayn, 6s. 8d."* At the
Field of the Cloth of Gold, in the same year, the list
of Squires for the Body to the King included " Wm.
Carey in the Inner Chamber," while " Mistress Cary "
was in attendance upon Queen Katharine.

Thus one of Sir Thomas Boleyn's daughters, whom
we would naturally take to be the elder, was provided
for in England. The other remained in France.
Queen Claude of France, as Mr. Friedmann points
out, was a very good woman, who took pleasure in
superintending the education of girls and had large
numbers of them at Court, under the tuition of the
best masters. With her, according to the verse
" Epitre," Anne " so improved her graces that you
would never have judged her English in her fashions,
but native French." How long she remained with
Claude we do not know ; but Lord Herbert records
that she went from her to the Duchess of Alencon
— the famous Marguerite de Valois, sister of King

* Another curious entry is in the King's Book of Payments for
1 5 19 : "To young Carre, on Twelfth Eve, playing money for the
King, 1000 cr., at 4s. 2d.' 1

The Life of Anne Boleyn

Francis — " where she stayed until some difference
grew between our King and Francis ; therefore,
as saith Du Tillet, and our Records, about the time
when our Students at Paris were remanded she like-
wise left France." We find, indeed, Francis writing
in January, 1522, that the English seemed by various
indications to be intending war with France, and that
the English scholars at Paris and the daughter of
" Mr. Boullan " had returned to their own country.*

There is little more known in connection with Anne's
stay in France. Her father in 15 18 was on a mission
to France, and near the beginning of 15 19 he was
appointed English Ambassador to that country, from
which he did not return until the following March,
after his other daughter's marriage to Carey. He
was again in France for the Field of the Cloth of Gold,
as were Lady Boleyn, in attendance upon the Queen,
and the Careys. Anne must have seen something of
her family during these visits. Some writers indeed,
rejecting the story that she went to the French Court
in 15 14, would make out that she was taken over by
her father in 1518 or 1519; but we have seen the
evidence in favour of the date 15 14.

In 1520 we hear of a scheme to marry the son of
the Earl of Ormonde to the daughter of Sir Thomas
Boleyn — which daughter must be Anne, for it was in
September that Henry VIII. himself wrote to the
Earl of Surrey in Ireland on the subject ; and Mary
Boleyn, we know, was already disposed of in February.
The Earl of Ormonde in question was the former Sir
Piers Butler. His kinsman, the seventh Earl, Anne's
great-grandfather, had died in 1515, and the daughters,

* " Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.,"- Vol. III., 1994.

Anne's Early Days 23

Dames Anne St. Leger and Margaret Boleyn, had a
dispute with Sir Piers, who as heir-male claimed the
title. He also seized the Irish estates, to which they
asserted their rights as co-heiresses of their father.
Now Sir Piers was looked upon by the English Govern-
ment as useful in the struggle with " the wild Irish,"
and for that reason they were unwilling to take too
much notice of his high-handed conduct, preferring
to try diplomacy. Whether it was Surrey or the
King himself who first conceived the scheme, Henry
in September, 1520, asked Surrey to ascertain whether
the Earl of Ormonde was minded to make the marriage.
He would himself advance the matter with Sir Thomas
Boleyn. In the following month Surrey and the
Council of Ireland wrote to Cardinal Wolsey, expressing
their opinion that the marriage would be advantageous.
The young James Butler was in England ; but, as
Anne was still in France, they did not meet. An
interval occurs in the correspondence. In November,
1521, Wolsey wrote from France to the King, saying
that on his return he would talk with him how to bring
the match about, which would be a good pretext for
delaying to send the Earl's son back to Ireland. (He
was, no doubt, useful as a hostage for his father's good
behaviour.) After this we only find one more allusion
to the project, to which we shall come later ; but
it was not necessarily dropped yet. Early in 1523,
however, it must have been definitely shelved, as Piers
Butler then, according to a letter from the Earl of
Kildare to Henry VIII., made bonds with his former
enemies among the Irishry and intended to maintain his
title to the earldom, right or wrong. He was no longer
to be kept quiet by the bait of a match for his son.

The Life of Anne Boleyn

That King Henry, apart from the diplomatic side
of the matter, took considerable interest in the domestic
affairs of his subject, Sir Thomas Boleyn, is obvious.
But it must be remembered that Sir Thomas was a
favourite of his from the beginning of his reign, and
that he had already entrusted him with several missions
of importance. The marks of favour were to be still
more notably shown in the next few years ; and
unhappily it cannot be believed that they were un-
connected hereafter with the King's attentions first
to one daughter and then to the other. Wolsey's
solicitude as to Anne's marriage was due, no doubt,
to the position which he saw the father to hold in the
King's esteem. Also Sir Thomas was associated with
him in his French mission in 15 21.* The great
Cardinal had ample occasion to rue later that he had
not succeeded in bringing about the Butler-Boleyn
match.

* On the relations between Sir Thomas Boleyn and the Cardinal,
there is an instructive letter in "Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.,"
Vol. III., No. 223, in which Boleyn, then on embassy in France, shows
great anxiety lest in his absence someone else should secure the coming
vacancy in the treasurership of the household, which he maintains
to have been promised to him by the King. He asks Wolsey to con-
sider what a discouragement it will be to him and his friends, to whom
he has disclosed his hopes, if he is thus disappointed. He points out
that if his absence is a bar to his holding the post he had better have
stayed at home, and supposes that Wolsey has perceived some fault
in him and therefore will promote a worthier man ! Boleyn ultimately
got the post, but not until it had been held for a brief while by another.

[To face p. 24.

CHAPTER III

AT THE COURT OF ENGLAND

ANNE BOLEYN, if the date we have accepted
for her birth be correct, was only fifteen when
she came home to England. Very soon after she is
found taking part in a Court revel, for which the
bill is preserved in the Record Office.* A very re-
markable revel it appears to have been. It was held
in " the manor of York " — Cardinal Wolsey's house,
York Place, Westminster — on March 4th, 1522, and
boats were employed to bring the materials for it to
the Cardinal's and back again. The principal feature
was a pageant, for which was constructed a castle,
called in the manuscript, the " Schatew vert," the
base of which was of timber, but the battlements of
green tinfoil, while two reams of green paper were
used for covering the castle, etc. Items in the cost
were hundreds of nails varying from 3d. to 5d. the
100 ; 800 tacks at id. the 100 ; nearly i81b. of ver-
digris at iod. a lb. ; 5 gallons of vinegar for tempering
the verdigris, at 3d. the gallon ; 8 quarters of coal at
4|d. a quarter, for heating the colours and " drying
the pageant ; " and so on. The workmen's wages
for building the castle between February 20th and
March 4th were : carpenters and painters 8d. and 6d.,
labourers 5d. a day ; and the barge, with four oars

* " Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.,' ! Vol. III., pages 1558-9.

The Life of Anne Boleyn

and a steersman, to carry the pageant, cost 13s. 40I.
for two days and two nights.

Curious also are the items for the ladies' dresses.
One tradesman supplied 24 yards of fine yellow satin,
at 8s., for making 192 " resuns " for their garments,
and 8 cauls of Venice gold for their heads, at 8s. each.
The accounts rather mysteriously state that " these
things remain with the French Queen, the Countess
of Devonshire, Mistress Anne Boleyn, Mistress Karre
[probably Mary Carey], Mistress Parker [Anne's future
sister-in-law] " and three others. The " French
Queen " is Mary, now wife of the Duke of Suffolk,
who was still styled in official documents Queen Dowa-
ger of France. Anne was, therefore, one of the seven
ladies who took part with her former patron in one of
the scenes of the pageant. Whether they danced,
in their clothes with the yellow satin " resuns " and
their cauls of Venice gold, does not appear j but there
was a platform for the musicians in the castle. It is
recorded that eight other silk cauls of divers colours,
at 2s. 8d. each, were supplied ; and unfortunately
of these three were " lost by the children of my Lord's
chapel, by casting down out of the castle," which seems
to show that the choristers — " twelve singing chil-
dren " Cavendish tells us that the Cardinal had in
his chapel — grew merry.

The holding of the revel at York Place need cause
no surprise, for Cavendish (who was a gentleman
usher to Wolsey, and supplies many invaluable details
of the events of his career) records that Henry VIII.
used " to repair unto the Cardinal's house . . . divers
times in the year," and that " banquets were set
forth, with masks and mummeries, in so gorgeous

At the Court of England 27

a sort and costly manner that it was a heaven to
behold."

It is perhaps time now to give some description of
Anne, though not all the statements brought together
are applicable to her in 1522. First we may take the
hostile Sanders. He says :

" Anne Boleyn was rather tall of stature, with black
hair and an oval face of a sallowish complexion, as
if troubled with jaundice. She had a projecting tooth
under the upper lip, and on her right hand six fingers.
There was a large wen under her chin, and therefore
to hide its ugliness she wore a high dress covering her
throat. ... She was handsome to look at [he
continues somewhat surprisingly], with a pretty
mouth, amusing in her way, playing well on the lute,
and was a good dancer. She was the model and
mirror of those at Court, for she was always well
dressed and every day made some change in the
fashion of her garments."

We take next the description by George Wyatt in
" Some Particulars of the Life of Queen Anne Boleigne,"
written towards the end of the sixteenth century.*
Wyatt was a son of Sir Thomas Wyatt the younger,
and thus a grandson of Sir Thomas Wyatt the poet,
Anne's warm admirer, who ran some risk of losing
his head for her sake in 1536. George Wyatt in his
youth had collected notes concerning Anne, " not
without an intent to have opposed Sanders." The

* It is readily accessible in S. W. Singer's edition of Cavendish's
" Life of Cardinal Wolsey," Vol. II., page 179.

The Life of Anne Boleyn

poet, no doubt, helped to inspire his grandson's en-
thusiasm for her. The description runs :

" In this noble imp the graces of nature graced by
noble education seemed even at the first to have
promised bliss unto her aftertimes. She was taken at
that time [sc., when she first came to Court] to have
a beauty not so whitely as clear and fresh above all
we may esteem, which appeared much more excellent
by her favour passing sweet and cheerful ; and these,
both also increased by her noble presence of shape and
fashion, representing both mildness and majesty more
than can be expressed. There was found, indeed,
upon the side of her nail upon one of her fingers some
little show of a nail, which yet was so small, by the
report of those that have seen her, as the workmaster
seemed to leave it an occasion of greater grace to her
hand, which, with the tip of one of her other fingers,
might be and was usually by her hidden without any
least blemish to it. Likewise there were said to be
upon some parts of her body certain small moles
incident to the clearest complexions."

Another testimonial to Anne's looks is given by John
Barlow, dean of Westbury, who was chaplain to
Thomas Boleyn about the time when Anne began to
be prominent at Court. In June, 1532, one Heyl-
wigen, of the Emperor's Council in Brabant, met
him at supper at the porter's lodge of the castle of
Louvain. They discussed the two ladies for whom
King Henry had shown such admiration, Anne Boleyn
and Lady Tailebois. On Heylwigen asking Barlow
whether he knew them and whether they were beautiful,

At the Court of England 29

worth the King leaving his wife for, Barlow replied
that he knew them both, and that Lady Tailebois was
eloquent, gracious and beautiful ; but the other was
more beautiful still.*

An Italian critic, writing of her in 1532, finds her
M not one of the handsomest women in the world . . .
of middling stature, dark complexion, long neck, wide
mouth, not very full bosom . . . eyes black and
beautiful"!

Other references to Anne's appearance at some
particular period will be found in their due place.
From all that we read we can have no doubt that she
was dark, both in hair and complexion, bearing out
the lines about her attributed to King Francis I. :

" Venus etait blonde, Von m'a dit :
L'on voit bien qu'elle est brunette."

The portrait of Anne Boleyn in the National Portrait
Gallery supports what Sanders says of her oval face-
The projecting tooth is not shown in this (though it
is true that one would not expect it to be), nor is it
mentioned by anyone except Sanders. The " six
fingers on the right hand " are clearly derived from
the slight deformity of one nail, of which Wyatt speaks ;
and the " wen " is, no doubt, the exaggeration of a
mole. We hear nowhere else of a high dress covering
her throat.

Moderately tall, therefore, and dark, with a good
complexion and fine eyes, we may assume Anne Boleyn
to have been, and her hair among her chief attrac-
tions ; for both when she was created Marchioness

* Ortiz to the Emperor, June 16th, 1532. (" Letters and Papers,
Henry VIII.")

t " Calendar of Venetian State Papers," Vol. IV., page 365.

The Life of Anne Boleyn

of Pembroke and at her coronation she wore it flowing.
She was a strong contrast to Queen Katharine, whom
she was destined to supplant. The latter was rather
short, and inclined to be corpulent as she grew older.
Her hair was fair, in spite of her Spanish extraction,
and her complexion light. The difference between the
two women probably had much influence with the
King, as he tired of Katharine, six years his senior,
and already in her thirty-seventh year at the time when
Anne Boleyn returned to England.

It is unnecessary to say, however, that it was not the
attraction of Anne that began the estrangement of
Henry from his first wife. Long before Anne's ap-
pearance at Court, he had entered into his intrigue
with Eleanor Blount, Lady Tailebois, who in 1519,
bore him a son, Henry Fitzroy, afterwards Duke of
Richmond, and thus gave him a satisfaction which
poor Katharine, in spite of five confinements, had
been unable to give him. The affair with Mary
Boleyn, to mention no other (since this work is not
a record of the amours of Henry VIII.), preceded the
King's infatuation with her sister. The period of
that affair is uncertain ; but it may have begun soon
after Mary's marriage with " young Carey," of his
privy chamber, as Mary then appears to have been
attached to the Queen's household, accompanying
Katharine, as we have seen, to the Field of the Cloth
of Gold. The fact of Mary's relations with the King
was made to assume a place of much importance in
the last agony of her sister at the Tower ; but how
that came about may be left to be related in its proper
place.

We have seen the appearance of Mistress Anne

At the Court of England 31

Boleyn at the revel at York Place in March, 1522,
attested by a still existing document of the time.
Then she disappears again, with no further clue as to
how or whither she went than is afforded by Cavendish,
the gentleman usher and biographer of Cardinal
Wolsey. Fortunately we have no reason to doubt
Cavendish's general good-faith in his account of the
matter ; and it is possible to make the account square,
as regards dates, with what seems to be the likely
course of Anne's life following her return from France.

Cavendish, moralizing on the downfall of his master,
after his attainment of that splendid position of whose
pomps and luxuries he gives so vivid a picture, con-
jectures that Fortune " began to wax something
wroth with the Cardinal's prosperous estate, and
thought she would devise a means to abate his high
port ; wherefore she procured Venus, the insatiate
goddess, to be her instrument."

Then Cavendish introduces Anne Boleyn, who, he
says, " being very young, was sent into the realm
of France," and, being again with her father, was
through his means " admitted to be one of Queen
Katharine's maids, among whom, for her excellent
gesture and behaviour, she did excel all other " — with
the result that the King was smitten by her, though
this was not at first known to anyone, hardly even by
herself.

Now Cardinal Wolsey had in his household, as was
the custom dating back from much earlier times in
the households of great ecclesiastics, a certain number
of " young Lords," who lived with him nominally
as pages or servitors, but largely in fact for purposes
of education. Among these was Lord Henry Algernon

The Life of Anne Boleyn

Percy, son of the fifth Earl of Northumberland. In
1522, this young man was probably about twenty
years of age. When the Cardinal went to Court,
Cavendish relates, Henry Percy used to accompany
him, and " would resort for his pastime unto the
Queen's chamber and there fall into dalliance with the
Queen's maidens." He became better acquainted
with Mistress Anne Boleyn than with the rest, and at
length such love grew up that they " insured together,
intending to marry."

The matter came to the King's ears, and he was
much offended. Cavendish asserts that he was now
unable to hide his own secret affection for the maid,
and spoke to the Cardinal as to the breaking of the
" precontract " between Percy and Anne Boleyn.
Wolsey called Percy to him in the gallery of York
Place, and in the presence of " his servants of his
chamber " (who included Cavendish himself), rated
him for his peevish folly in tangling himself with
a foolish girl of the Court, mentioning her by name.
With many words he pointed out to the young man
the wrong he had committed, and warned him that
neither his father, the Earl of Northumberland, nor
the King would permit the match. His Majesty, in
fact, " intended to have preferred Anne Boleyn to
another person," with whom he had already discussed
the matter and with whom he had almost come to
an agreement. " Although she knoweth it not,"
added Wolsey, " yet hath the King, most like a politic
and prudent prince, conveyed the matter in such sort
that she, upon the King's motion, will be, I doubt
not, right glad and agreeable to the same."

Percy, " all weeping," protested that he had known

At the Court of England 33

nothing of the King's wishes, that he thought himself
of age to provide himself with a wife, and that the
lady was of right noble parentage. He besought the
Cardinal's aid on his behalf with the King.

When Wolsey appealed to the company standing
round against " this wilful boy," and told him that
he expected entire submission, Percy replied that he
had gone so far and before so many worthy witnesses
(in the matter of the precontract) that he did not know
how to discharge his conscience if he obeyed.

Did he think, asked Wolsey, that the King and he
(not ego et rex mens this time !) did not know what to
do in so weighty a matter ? And when Percy promised
to submit to the King's will, if only his conscience
could be eased in the matter of the precontract, the
Cardinal announced that he would send for the Earl
of Northumberland from the North. In the mean-
time he commanded him, in the King's name, not to
presume once to resort into her company, if he intended
to avoid His Majesty's high indignation.

The Earl of Northumberland came to London in
answer to the summons, and called at once upon the
Cardinal, with whom he had a long secret talk and
a cup of wine. Then the Earl had an interview with
his son, before the Cardinal's attendants, as Cavendish
avers. Addressing him as a " proud, presumptuous,
disdainful and very unthrift waster," Northumberland
threatened to cut him off from the succession for the
crime he had committed — the crime of having risked
bringing on his father the King's displeasure and
indignation, which were " sufficient to cast me and all
my posterity into utter subversion and dissolution ! "
He appealed to those round to be friends to his son

The Life of Anne Boleyn

and tell him his fault ; and then, turning to Percy
again, he bade him see that he did his duty.

The contract was then undone, Cavendish says,
" wherewith Mistress Anne Boleyn was greatly
offended, saying that if it lay ever in her power she
would work the Cardinal as much displeasure." He
also says : " Even as my Lord Percy was commanded
to avoid her company, even so she was commanded
to avoid the Court and sent home to her father for a
season, whereat she smoked [i.e., fumed, raged] : for
all this while she knew nothing of the King's intended
purpose."

We can only reject Cavendish's story if we believe
him to have invented the scenes of which he professed
to be an eye-witness ; and the reading of his " Life
of Cardinal Wolsey " does not inspire us with distrust.
We may be allowed to doubt, however, whether
Henry VIII. paid any attention to Anne Boleyn at
so early a period. It is possible that Cavendish, knowing
Anne's subsequent history when he wrote the " Life,"
imputed a motive to the King which did not exist
in 1522. We have seen that Henry had been interested
in a scheme to marry Anne to young James Butler,
and it is likely that the disregarding of this project
was what annoyed the " politic and prudent prince."

A point which Cavendish does not mention is that
Henry Percy was not free to engage himself to Anne
Boleyn, his father having (as early, it is said, as 1516)
arranged with the Earl of Shrewsbury to marry him
to Mary Talbot, Shrewsbury's daughter ; but this need
not have prevented Percy from contracting himself
to Anne, though such contract might be illegal by the
law of the day.

At the Court of England 35

It is a curious thing that the question of a " pre-
contract " between Anne and Henry Percy came up
again. After he had been forced to break with her,
he was given duties in the north of England, becoming
in October, 1522, Deputy Warden of the Marches,
which effectually removed him from the dangerous
neighbourhood of Mistress Anne. At the end of
1523 or in the following year he obeyed his father's
wishes by marrying Mary Talbot. The union was
a most unhappy one, and his wife left him, to return
to her father, and to become his bitter enemy. After
he had become sixth Earl of Northumberland, in
1527, there was no closing of the breach. In 1532
she brought up the subject of the precontract with
Anne Boleyn, and her father mentioned it to the Duke
of Norfolk, with the result that the Earl of Northum-
berland very solemnly denied the accusation. Again
in 1536 the question arose, when, as we shall see,
Northumberland repeated to Cromwell his denial of a
precontract. The passage of years, perhaps, made a
difference in the aspect with which Northumberland
looked upon his engagement with Anne Boleyn.

The whole episode appears as an innocent love-affair
between two young people, the spoiling of which left
them both aggrieved, Anne against Cardinal Wolsey
and Percy against the marriage into which he was
forced. He has fared rather ill at the hands of writers,
both of his own period and later. He seems to have
been sickly in body, and he was not strong of will, it
may be admitted ; but there does not appear ground
for calling him worthless. Some of the early animus
against him is doubtless due to his being suspected
of sympathy with the Reformers. He did not pay

The Life of Anne Boleyn

so dearly for that as did his youthful sweetheart in
her turn.

So, very soon after her arrival at Court, Anne left
again, in disgrace over an affair which her traducers
have magnified into a stain on her reputation — as
though it were a crime to fall in love with an honourable
suitor ! She went to her father's house, at Hever
according to tradition, though evidence is wanting,
and " smoked." Mystery involves her existence again.
Bishop Burnet, in his " History of the Reformation,"
was of opinion that she was back in France after the
end of the war and did not return finally to England
until brought by her father in 1527. For this opinion
he gave no authority. Evidently influenced by Burnet,
Miss Strickland favoured the view that Anne revisited
France in 1525 and stayed once more with the Duchess
of Alencon, taking part in the fetes at the French
Court when King Francis was freed from his captivity
in Spain. No traces, however, have been found of
such a visit, apart from Burnet's statement, and,
even if it were a fact, the interval between 1522 and
1525 remains unaccounted for.

CHAPTER IV

MISTRESS ANNE AND QUEEN KATHARINE

IN the period of Anne's disappearance from view
the fortunes of the Boleyn family continued to
increase. Indeed, from April, 1522, onwards, as Mr.
J. S. Brewer has pointed out, honours fell thick on
Sir Thomas. In that month he obtained the post
he so coveted of Treasurer of the Household (of which
the annual value was assessed at £1,100, in lands,
wages and fees), and was also made steward of Tun-
bridge, master of the hunt there, constable of the
castle, and chamberlain of Tunbridge, receiver and
bailiff of Bradsted, and keeper of the manor of Pens-
hurst. In 1523 he was appointed keeper of the parks
of Thundersley, Essex and Westwood, Notts ; and
in 1524 steward of Swaffham, Norfolk. Finally, in
June, 1525, when King Henry created Henry Fitzroy,
his son by Lady Tailebois, Duke of Richmond, he
revived for Sir Thomas's benefit the Butlers' title of
Rochford, making him a Viscount, however, not a
Baron.*

The astute Thomas Boleyn, a typical product of the
Tudor era, was still climbing and still amassing money.

* The barony of Rochford had fallen in abeyance on the death
in 15 15 of Thomas, seventh Earl of Ormonde, Piers Butler only laying
claim, as heir male, to the Irish title of Ormonde. Rochford Hall,
Essex, had come to Boleyn through his wife, when her father died

The Life of Anne Boleyn

For a man who at marriage had " only 50/. a year
to live on," with a wife who brought him " every year
a child," he had done passingly well already. He
had discovered, too, that children might be a blessing ;
for it is impossible not to connect his accumulation
of favours from the King with the fact that Henry's
eyes had fallen on Mistress Carey, the former Mary
Boleyn, and that she did not reject his advances,
little to her own profit, it would seem, but much to
her father's. That Thomas Boleyn had considerable
ability need not be doubted, since he was constantly
employed by the King on delicate and confidential
missions abroad, as well as in his various offices at
home. He was also one of Henry's regular boon-
companions. But there was a dark secret behind
as well, which ceased afterwards to be a secret to many
people ; and when Mistress Carey, in 1526, bore a son,
Henry, the future Lord Hunsdon, one of Elizabeth's
favourites, rumour was busy with regard to the
child's paternity.

As has been said, we cannot well rescue the character
of Mary Boleyn. It is clearly hopeless to attempt
a defence of Sir Thomas. There is nothing, however,
to connect Anne with this discreditable episode in her
family's history previous to her reappearance at
Court. It is all in her favour that she appears to have
been out of contact with the Court at this time.

The circumstances of Anne's return to Katharine's
service are obscure. Cavendish writes as if it were
not long after the Percy affair that she was ** revoked
unto the court ; " but, as he is only interested in her
so far as she enters into the story of his master, Wolsey,
we must not look to him for strict historical accuracy

Mistress Anne and Queen Katharine 39

with regard to her doings. Indeed, he gives no dates.
According to Miss E. O. Benger, who wrote her
" Memoirs of the Life of Anne Boleyn " a hundred
years ago, local tradition at Hever then still related
how Henry VIII. used to ride down to the castle
on some frivolous pretext, hoping to catch sight of his
subject's daughter ; whereon the father, " alarmed,"
sedulously withdrew her from the King's view and
made her keep her room, on the plea of indisposition.
Legends persist a long time, it is true ; but in this case
it is a matter of three hundred years, and we can only
accept the tale for what it is worth — which we have
no means of judging. All that we do know is that
she went back to Court again, at some date between
1525 and 1527, and that, according to Cavendish,
she was in daily attendance upon Queen Katharine.
Though she was still at first unaware of the King's
great affection for her, Cavendish says, when she grew
aware of it she began to look very haughty and wore
all manner of jewels and rich apparel, while her
influence with the King made her sought after by
those who had suits to press with him. The Queen,
he continues, saw how matters were going, but showed
no grudge or displeasure against either. She had,
indeed, " Mistress Anne in more estimation for the
King's sake than before, declaring herself thereby
to be a perfect Griselda."

In view of Cavendish's neglect of dates and the
absence of any documentary evidence, we cannot
tell how quickly the affair progressed after Anne's
restoration to Court. We have now to see how it
developed into an event of national concern.

The story of the divorce of Katharine of Aragon,

The Life of Anne Boleyn

with the complicated intrigues and tortuous negotia-
tions which characterized it, has been fully told in
modern times, notably by Mr. M. A. S. Hume in his
" Wives of Henry the Eighth," where it may be said
that he does not treat Anne Boleyn with the same
impartiality as he treats Katharine. His account of
the beginning, growth and consummation of the idea
of the divorce, however, is admirable and must be
studied by all who wish to understand the underlying
importance in English history of the repudiation of
Katharine. He points out that if the question of
religious reform had not complicated the situation
and Henry, instead of marrying Anne Boleyn, had
taken as his second wife some Roman Catholic princess,
probably little difficulty would have been made about
the divorce. Henry's wish to have a son and heir,
which Katharine could not give him, was understood
and indeed met with sympathy. The danger, as it
seemed in the general opinion of England, of a marriage
between Henry's only legitimate child, the Princess
Mary, and a French prince, either Francis I. or a son,
was imminent more than once. An alternative was
the recognition of Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond,
as heir, to which his father, no doubt, at one time in-
clined ; but his illegitimacy was a serious bar.

Had the King, then, merely followed numerous
royal precedents and put Katharine aside, to replace
her by another princess for the sake of continuing the
dynasty, the stir would certainly have been less,
though it is not probable that even then Katharine
would have surrendered her position and her daughter's
rights without a great struggle ; and her personal
popularity, both as a representative of the anti-French

From the painting by Holbein at the Xew Palace of Westminster.

Henry VIII.

[To /ace p. 40.

Mistress Anne and Queen Katharine 41

interests and as a charitable and merciful queen —
London was devoted to her after her intercession on
behalf of the riotous apprentices of May Day, 15 17 —
would have made her cause strong in any event.
But, handled tactfully, Katharine might have been
persuaded in the end to retire, with some guarantee
for her daughter's future. So, at least, it is possible
to conjecture. She must have foreseen the likelihood
of such a demand upon her when all hope of bearing a
son faded away, and the King ceased to cohabit with
her any longer.

It is generally said that the suggestion of a divorce
first arose in 1526 or early in 1527, though the idea
must surely have occurred to Henry and his advisers
earlier still, Katharine being forty-one years old in
1526 and having been a wife in name only for over a
year. According to Cardinal Pole, the Boleyn party
suggested it first ; but Thomas Boleyn could not until
later have aspired to replace Katharine by his own
daughter, and it is not clear why his guiding motive
of " interest " should prompt him otherwise to get
rid of the Queen. Henry's own story was that the
subject of the validity of his marriage with Katharine
was raised by the French envoy, the Bishop of Tarbes,
when he came to England in early 1527 for the be-
trothal ceremonies between the little Princess Mary
and the widower King Francis. It was necessary, of
course, that there should be no doubt about Mary's
legitimacy.

If this was really the seed of Henry's alleged appre-
hension that his first marriage was illegal and that he
had been living in " mortal sin " ever since 1509, it
germinated with surprising rapidity. In April Henry

The Life of Anne Boleyn

was in consultation with his advisers on the point ;
and on May 17th came the meeting at York Place,
where the King was cited to appear before the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury, assisted by Wolsey, Gardiner
and others, to show the legality of his marriage. These
proceedings were soon dropped. But the struggle
had begun which only ended six years later, after a
complete break between Henry and Rome. We shall
not touch upon the steps in that struggle save where
they directly concern the career of Anne Boleyn. We
may stop, however, at this point to consider the
character of the woman whom Anne was destined to
supplant, on which the work of Mr. M. A. S. Hume
has thrown so much light.

While it is impossible not to feel sympathy with
Katharine of Aragon and indignation at the infamous
treatment which she received at Henry's hands, at the
same time it is difficult to see what claims she has to
be called a saint. To be the victim of brutality and
injustice is not the monopoly of saints, and does not
confer sainthood, any more than to be massacred makes
a martyr. From the religious-historical point of
view, it would appear, a saint is a right-living pietist
whose creed is the same as yours, or sufficiently like it
to allow your admiration ; while a martyr is a person,
not necessarily so right-living, who suffers death rather
than gainsay opinions with which you are more or
less in sympathy. So the list of saints and martyrs
is capable of almost indefinite expansion, according to
the bias of the writer. It was possible in the late
Tudor times, just as to regard Katharine of Aragon as
a saint, so to regard Anne Boleyn as a martyr — because
her sympathies with the Reformers undoubtedly helped

Mistress Anne and Queen Katharine 43

in her ruin. The truth was, however, that they were
both women, victims of a satyr-hearted tyrant, of
whom Sir Walter Raleigh well said that, if all the
patterns of a merciless prince had been lost to the
world, they might have been found in this one king.

Katharine was brave, haughty, tactless, ambitious,
not over-scrupulous ; though excess of scruple was
not to be expected of the daughter of Ferdinand and
grand-daughter of John II. of Aragon. She was
pious to austerity. Her life in England was a night-
mare. Brought over at the age of sixteen (after
infinite wr anglings and prevarications over her dowry
between that well-matched pair, Ferdinand and Henry
VII., both clever, greedy cheats, ever suspicious of
being cheated), married to the fifteen-year-old Arthur,
Prince of Wales, and widowed in six months ; kept
in England in poverty and wretchedness (her dowry
still at issue) until her second marriage in 1509, when
she was twenty-four and Henry VIII. but eighteen ;
disappointed of a living child until she herself was
thirty, and then that child a daughter ; knowing her
husband faithless both before and after the Princess
Mary's birth ; deprived of the custody of her daughter ;
finally — but indeed it was not finally, for worse had
yet to come — middle-aged, stout and in sickly health,
she found herself threatened with the humiliation of a
divorce which impugned her eighteen years of married
life and would make her daughter not future Queen of
England, but a bastard.

In this pass she put up a gallant fight, saw the great
Cardinal Wolsey fall because he could not accomplish
her removal, but found the Cardinal's successors more
astute than he ; and, rejecting all overtures to

The Life of Anne Boleyn

mitigate the circumstances of her removal from the
throne, she drained the bitter cup to the dregs.

Had Anne Boleyn been really responsible for this
cruel degradation of her predecessor on the throne,
a heavy burden of guilt would rest upon her name.
But her actual share in it was small. It is clear that,
with or without the presence on the scene of Anne
Boleyn, Henry was determined to change his wife.
The difficulty was the choice of a successor to
Katharine. Wolsey, persistent in his endeavours to
strengthen the alliance with France, may have been
inclined to favour a French princess, such as Renee,
daughter of Louis XII. and sister-in-law of Francis.
Then there might be a double bond, with Henry
united to a French wife and his daughter Mary to
Francis. A grave obstacle to this scheme was that,
if Katharine were repudiated on the ground that she
had never been Henry's lawful wife, their daughter
Mary would not be legitimate, and Francis would not
marry her. There was scarcely any alternative on
the Continent to a French marriage for Henry, since,
the Emperor Charles being Katharine's nephew, her
divorce would close many doors to the King of Eng-
land. The problem facing Henry was a very tangled
one. But his anxiety to have a son to succeed him
and his weariness of Katharine made him bent on
solving it. A third motive gave him the driving
power to force a solution. This was his infatuation
with Anne Boleyn.

Anne's return to attend upon the Queen saw all
her family directly in the Royal service. Viscount
Rochford, being Treasurer of the Household, had rooms
at the Palace for himself and his wife, who was still

Mistress Anne and Queen Katharine 45

one of Katharine's ladies. George Boleyn, probably
in 1525, was appointed to the King's privy chamber,
and having married Mistress Parker — Jane, grand-
daughter of the well-known Henry Parker, Lord
Morley and Monteagle — had an extra annual allow-
ance of £20 for the support of himself and his wife.*
Of Mary, the wife of William Carey, we do not hear.
She may have fallen out of the King's favour ; but
her husband was still at the Palace. Thus the fortunes
of the Boleyns (or at least of the elder branch of the
Boleyns, for Thomas had brothers, one of whom,
Edward, was not unknown at Court) were all embarked
on one ship. Like a dexterous pilot, Thomas, Lord
Rochford, was steering that ship to his own further
advancement. He had sacrificed one daughter, and
was ready to sacrifice the other. Anne, however,
had no notion of falling a sacrifice like her sister. She
was not ambitious to become a King's mistress.
Whatever view may be taken of her character, it must
be admitted that she played a most difficult game
with extreme skill, and only yielded when the prize
was in sight. Considering that the other player was
an amorous autocrat, who had power of life and death
over her whole family, and that she withstood him,
without losing him, for six years, Anne Boleyn's
story is one of the most remarkable instances of a
woman's finesse. The subtlety of Queen Elizabeth's
character stamps her as a true daughter of her mother,
whatever she may have inherited from the Tudors.

Mr. Hume suggests that it was in the spring of 1527
that the idea first came to Anne that she might become
Queen of England. If so, it must indeed have been,

* See Appendix C.

The Life of Anne Boleyn

as he says, secretly, for Wolsey had no intention of
breaking the King's first marriage in order to replace
Katharine with a Boleyn. Cavendish tells us that the
Cardinal, " espying the King's great zeal " for Anne,
dissembled his real feelings, and prepared great
banquets and solemn feasts at York Place, at which,
it is to be presumed he means, Anne was among the
guests. Then " the love between the King and this
gorgeous lady grew to such perfection that divers
imaginations were imagined " — apparently the divorce
of Katharine as a means to the elevation of Anne.

What followed is a good example of the diplomacy
of the period. The situation was complicated by the
fact that Pope Clement, after the capture of Rome
by the Imperialists in June, 1527, was a virtual
prisoner in the Emperor's hands, and therefore could
hardly be expected to lend himself to a scheme for
divorcing Charles's aunt. Besides, Katharine had
sent her chamberlain to her nephew to warn him what
was on foot and to beg his aid in preventing the
injustice threatening her.

Wolsey was sent to France early in July. Cavendish
sees in this a plot of the Cardinal's enemies to take him
in " a brake " (snare), in which he implicates Anne.
They thought they saw their time, if they could get
him sent abroad and out of the King's daily presence,
with Anne's aid to " deprave him so unto the King
. . . that he should rather be in his high displeasure
than in his accustomed favour." No doubt it was
very desirable for the Boleyn party that the Cardinal
should be absent from England ; but he himself was
anxious to get to France. Apart from the secret
commission with which he was entrusted to secure

Mistress Anne and Queen Katharine 47

assistance there for Henry's plan of a divorce from Kath-
arine, he wished to prosecute his schemes for uniting
the Royal families of the two countries. In August
he arranged with Francis at Amiens several treaties,
by one of which the young Duke of Orleans was to
take his father's place as Mary's betrothed.

In the matter of the divorce Wolsey also proposed
to Henry to dispatch the Bishop of Worcester (Ghin-
ucci, an Italian) to Rome, in the hope that he might
secure from Pope Clement a general faculty empower-
ing the Cardinal to exercise Papal functions in England
as long as Clement remained under the Emperor's
control. Henry, however, distrusted the slowness of
such a procedure and evolved, or rather had suggested
to him by John Barlow, then chaplain to the Boleyns,
a speedier plan, which was to send his secretary,
Dr. Knight, to the Pope, to try to persuade him to
grant a dispensation of a remarkable character. This
was to enable the King to marry again either before
or after the formal dissolution of his first marriage !
Such a dispensation would, of course, concede the
King's point, that his marriage with Katharine had
never been valid.

The scheme was not divulged to Wolsey, who,
when Knight called on him on his way to Italy, was
put off the scent by a story of instructions of a far less
startling character. Nevertheless, he probably got
wind of the danger of Henry breaking loose from his
guidance and taking as his second wife, not a French
princess, but Anne Boleyn. The Emperor had re-
ceived not only his aunt's appeal, but also a warning
from his ambassador in London, Inigo de Mendoza,
that Henry was contemplating this ; and it is possible

The Life of Anne Boleyn

that the news reached Wolsey's ears. It was not long
ago, in fact on August ist, that he had written to the
English representatives with the Emperor, instructing
them to deny the rumour that Henry was seeking a
divorce at all. Now the Emperor knew all, including
something that Wolsey had not been prepared to
believe when he left London, and perhaps now could
hardly credit. He decided to return home with all
speed. Before the end of September he was back in
England, and on the 30th of the month he presented
himself at Richmond Palace for audience of the King.

CHAPTER V

THE ROYAL LOVER

IN Wolsey's absence from England, much had
happened, to which the clue is given by the
extraordinary series of love-letters from Henry VIII.
to Anne Boleyn, most of which are preserved in the
Vatican Library, having got thither in a manner to
be discussed later. Unfortunately, none of the letters
are dated, and it is only by conjecture that they can
be assigned to a definite year and month. In one,
which must be placed early in the series,* though
indicating that the King had already gone far in his
infatuation with " this gorgeous lady," Henry writes
(in French, as is the case with all the letters where it
is not otherwise stated) :

" In turning over within me the contents of your
letters, I have been in a great agony, not knowing
whether to understand them to my disadvantage, as
in some places I proved, or to my advantage, as in
other places I understand them. I beg you with

* Possibly earlier is the more formal little note which runs :
" Though it belongs not to a gentleman to take his lady in the
place of a servant, nevertheless, following your desire, I willingly grant
it if thereby I may find you less ungrateful in the place chosen by
yourself than you have been in that given by me. Thanking you
heartily that it pleases you yet to have some remembrance of me."-
This is signed Henry R., with some letters and figures.

49 4

The Life of Anne Boleyn

great earnestness to let me know your whole intention
touching the love between us : for necessity constrains
me to obtain this answer, having been for more than
a year smitten by the dart of love, not being sure
whether I shall fail or find a place in your heart and
certain affection, which last matter has hindered
me for some little time from naming you my mistress ;
for if you love me with no more than common love
this name is not fitting for you, since it denotes a
singular [?] which is far removed from the common.
But if it pleases you to do the office of a true loyal
mistress and friend, and to give yourself body and
heart to me, who will be and have been your very
loyal servant (if you do not in cruelty forbid me),
I promise you that not only the name shall be yours,
but also I will take you for my sole mistress, casting
all others but you outside my thoughts, and will serve

In another letter Henry begs his " mistress and
friend " not to let absence lessen her affection for him.
He remarks that there is brought to his mind a point
of astronomy, which is that the longer the days are
the further off is the sun, and yet his heat is the more
fervent. So it is with their love, for though they are
far apart it keeps its fervency — " at least on our side,"
he adds, concluding :

" Seeing that I cannot be present in person with
you, I send you the nearest thing to that possible,
that is my picture set in a bracelet.

u This from the hand of your loyal servant and

you alone.

H.R.

friend.

H.R.

The Royal Lover

Possibly in answer to this, Anne sent the King a
trinket, representing, in diamonds, a solitary damsel
in a tossing ship, with the motto, Aut illic aut nullibi
(There or nowhere), a fairly clear indication that she
would not be contented with less than the position of
wife on the throne beside him. None of her letters
to him are preserved, but Henry wrote to thank her
effusively, his description of the present furnishing
us with its details. " I desire you," he continued,
"if at any time before this I have offended you, that
you shall give me the same absolution as you ask,
assuring you that henceforth my heart shall be dedi-
cated to you alone, wishing much that my body was
so too, as God can make it if it pleases Him, to whom
I pray once daily for that end." He signed himself
" in heart, body, and will, your loyal and most assured
servant," with the subscription, H. aultre \^} ne
cherce R.

At the end of July, 1527, Henry was away in the
country, hunting, as we know from a communication
sent by Sir William Fitzwilliam, the King's treasurer,
to Wolsey in France. Writing from Beaulieu on the
31st of the month, Sir William reports that the King
is keeping a very great and expensive house, among
those at Beaulieu being the Duke of Norfolk and his
wife, the Duke of Suffolk, the Marquis of Exeter, the
Earls of Oxford, Essex and Rutland, Viscounts Fitz-
walter and Rochford, both the ladies of Oxford, and
others. " The King is merry and in good health,"
he says, " and hunts daily. He usually sups in his
privy chamber with the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk,
the Marquis of Exeter, and Lord Rochford."*

* " Letters and Papers, Henry VIII,, "• Vol. IV.

The Life of Anne Boleyn

To this time may be assigned Henry's letter to Anne,
addressed to ma mestres, and reproaching her for not
remembering the promise she made when he was last
in her neighbourhood, to send news of herself and
to let him have a reply to his last letter. As an
excuse for writing, he says that he thinks it " belongs
to a true servant to send to enquire of his mistress's
health ; " and with the letter he dispatches a buck,
killed late the previous night with his own hand,
hoping that when she eats of it she will remember
the huntsman.

A strange letter, similarly addressed, is assigned to
the same period, in which Henry writes :

" As the time has been so long since I heard of your
good health and of you, the great affection I have for
you has persuaded me to send this bearer, to be better
informed of your health and pleasure ; for since my
last parting with you I have been told that the opinion
in which I left you has been entirely changed, and
that you will not come to Court either with your
lady mother or otherwise. Which report, if true, I
cannot enough marvel at, seeing that I am persuaded
I have committed no offence. . . . Think well, my
mistress, that your absence grieves me much, hoping
that it is not your will that this should be ; but if
I heard for certain that you desired it of your own
will, I could do no other than lament my ill-fortune
and by degrees abate my great folly. ..."

This epistle is w written by the hand of your entire
servant H.R." What manner of a tiff it indicates
is obscure ; but at least it shows how far Anne Boleyn
was from throwing herself at the King's head.

The Royal Lover

From all these letters we may gather that Henry's
suit made rapid progress in the summer of 1527,
though the title of " mistress " which he gives to Anne
conveys no more than that she rules his heart. There
is no promise in them, in so many words, to make
her Queen ; but that idea lies beneath them, and
Anne would accept nothing less. With this in view,
she had allowed herself, by the time of Wolsey's return
from France, to be put in a very ambiguous position.

The scene of the Cardinal's reception at Richmond
Palace is described by the Imperial Ambassador Men-
doza in a letter to his master on October 26th. On
arrival, he says, Wolsey sent to apprise the King,
asking where and at what hour he could see him —
" it being the custom that, whenever the Legate has
State affairs to communicate, the King retires to a
private chamber with him." Mendoza continues :
" Now it happened on this occasion the lady called
Anna de Bolains, who seems to entertain no great
affection for the Cardinal, was in the room with the
King, and, before the latter could answer the message,
she said, 1 Where should he come save where the
King is ? ' This answer being confirmed by the
King, the messenger went back." The Cardinal had
no resource but to dissemble his resentment and have
his audience in the presence of others, including the
lady.

" The matter has not gone further," Mendoza tells
the Emperor, " and things remain outwardly as they
were." To Wolsey, however, it must have been plain
that Anne's influence over the King had increased
greatly since his visit to France, and that it was no
passing caprice on Henry's part with which he had to

The Life of Anne Boleyn

deal. His own position was at stake, unless he could
win the favourite's regard. Whether or not it is
true that Anne could not forgive him the part he had
played in parting her from Henry Percy (in this year,
1527, become Earl of Northumberland), she certainly
had no intention of treating the Cardinal as a friend.
He would be a serviceable ally J but the Boleyn party,
headed by her father and at this time adhered to by
her uncle Norfolk, were bent on nothing less than the
Cardinal's downfall. By aiding them he was playing
into their hand.

In October an important embassy from France,
including the Grand Master Montmorency and John
du Bellay, Bishop of Bayonne, came over to England
to confirm the treaties made at Amiens. No doubt
Anne Boleyn was at the magnificent entertainment
given to the French mission at Greenwich Palace,
described by Cavendish.* Wolsey had previously
feasted them sumptuously at Hampton Court, and the
King was determined to outdo him. The affair
lasted from five in the afternoon until two or three
the next morning. The programme was : dinner ; a
consultation with the sagest counsellors of England j
dancing and other pastimes ; supper in the banqueting-
chamber of the Tiltyard, at which actual jousts took
place in the room for the amusement of the diners ;
and, to wind up, a series of masques. In this closing
part of the entertainment there first came in " a
number of fair ladies and gentlewomen that bare any
bruit or fame of beauty in all this realm, in the most
richest apparel, and devised in divers goodly fashions

* Perhaps this may be identified with the revels in the Tiltyard on
November 10th, 1527, for which accounts appear in " Letters and
Papers, Henry VIII.," Vol. IV.

The Royal Lover

that all the cunningest tailors could devise to shape
or cut, to set forth their beauty, gesture, and the goodly
proportion of their bodies." With these the gentle-
men of France danced until another masque came in of
noblemen, who took the ladies for their partners.
Then followed in another masque of ladies, so gor-
geously appareled that Cavendish dares not presume
to describe them, lest he should deface rather than
beautify them. Each of these took a French gentle-
man to dance with her ; and Cavendish records that
they spoke good French, which " delighted much these
gentlemen, to hear these ladies speak to them in their
own tongue."

It is at this time that Wolsey's chronicler makes the
love between the King and Mistress Anne Boleyn
" break out into every man's ear." He says that the
matter was then disclosed by the King to the Cardinal,
by which he apparently means Henry's determination
to make Anne his queen ; since he does not pretend
that Wolsey was ignorant of the King's love.

The Cardinal's " persuasion to the contrary, made to
the King upon his knees," was ineffectual. Here we
are reminded of what Wolsey said upon his death-bed,
also recorded by Cavendish, how he told Sir William
Kingston, with regard to Henry : "I assure you I
have often kneeled before him in his privy chamber
on my knees, the space of an hour or two, to persuade
him from his will and appetite ; but I could never
bring to pass to dissuade him therefrom." The Car-
dinal, indeed, knew his master well, both his weakness
of character under strong, tactful and unintermittent
guidance, and his inflexible obstinacy of purpose when
his desires led him in a certain direction.

The Life of Anne Boleyn

By his trip to France he had dropped the rein for
nearly two months, and the Boleyn party had not failed
to take advantage of it. Thomas, Viscount Rochford,
naturally had pressed his own claims. At the end of
December, 1527, we find the Bishop of Bayonne writing
home to France that there was some talk of creating
him Duke of Somerset. This was not to be ; but
in the same month of December, through the medium
of Wolsey, articles of agreement were drawn up
between Viscount Rochford and his " comparceneurs "
(his aunt, Anne St. Leger, and his mother, Margaret
Boleyn) on the one hand, and Sir Piers Butler on the
other, following which, in February, 1528, Sir Piers
agreed to the Earldom of Ormonde being at the
King's disposal. Sir Piers was created Earl of Ossory
and got a portion of the disputed Irish property,
the rest going to Dames Anne and Margaret. Thus
the way was cleared for Thomas Boleyn's eventual
attainment of the title of Ormonde.

Before resuming the story of the proceedings for the
divorce of Katharine of Aragon with a view to the
substitution of Anne Boleyn for her as Queen of
England, we have to deal with an episode in the latter's
career which is puzzling as regards its date, and of
which much has been made by some of her historians,
with very little apparent justification.

We have had occasion already to mention both
Thomas Wyatt, the poet, and his father, Sir Henry
Wyatt, with whom Anne Boleyn's father had been
associated in the governorship of Norwich Castle in
1 51 1. Sir Henry was a neighbour of the Boleyns in
Kent, having his seat at Allington, near Maidstone.
By his wife, Anne Skinner, he had a son Thomas and

The Royal Lover

a daughter Margaret, both of whom enter into Anne's
life. Thomas is supposed to have been born in 1503.
Whether he made Anne's acquaintance in childhood
is uncertain ; it does not appear from his own writings.
He was a boy of great precocity, for he is said to have
gone up to Cambridge at the age of twelve ; and to
have married when he was only seventeen. His bride
was Elizabeth Brooke, daughter of Lord Cobham.
He subsequently divorced her, but not until long after
she bore him a son, Thomas Wyatt the younger, who
was executed in Mary's reign.

The poet was a singularly handsome man. His
warm friend and brother in poetry, Henry Howard,
Earl of Surrey, cousin to Anne Boleyn, described his
form as one where " force and beauty met," and
also averred that when he died Nature lost the form
of perfect manhood. Another of his poetic friends
was George Boleyn, Anne's brother ; and still more
intimate was Sir Francis Bryan, her cousin through
the Howards. It may be noted of Wyatt, George
Boleyn and Bryan alike, that they were favourites of
Henry VIII., Boleyn bitterly experiencing the perils
of a King's favour, and Wyatt very nearly doing so ;
and also that all three were attracted by the Reform
movement, Boleyn, and Bryan still more, getting
thereby much obloquy from the adherents of the old
faith.

From his close acquaintance with so many members
of her family we should expect to find that Thomas
Wyatt had met Anne Boleyn early in life. However,
Wyatt 's grandson writes as if Thomas first " came
to behold the sudden appearance of this new beauty "
when she arrived at Court. He was struck not only

The Life of Anne Boleyn

by her looks but also by her witty and graceful speech,
"so as finally his heart seemed to say, ' I could gladly
yield to be tied for ever with the knot of her love/
as somewhere in his verses hath been thought his
meaning was to express."* Anne, on the other hand,
finding him to be then married and " in the knot to
have been tied then ten years, rejected all his speech
of love."

Thomas Wyatt, if the accepted date is correct,
had not been married ten years until 1530. But
Anne made no sudden appearance as a new beauty
in 1530 ; and, as she was already before the end of
1527 candidate for the position of second wife to Henry
VIII., it is obvious that George Wyatt has postdated
the time of his grandfather's attraction by her. From
what we know of Thomas Wyatt's life, after his
accompaniment of Sir Thomas Cheyney on a mission
to France in 1526 he was back in England ; and if
he actually went with Sir John Russell to the Papal
Court in January, 1527, as the story runs, he did not
remain there the whole of the year. In 1529-30 he
was mostly at Calais, in connection with his post as
High Marshal of the town. On the whole, 1526 or
1527, rather than 1528, when Anne was clearly des-
tined to be Queen, seems to be the likely year of
his falling in love with her. Moreover, his grandson
gives another clue to the date when he says that
the King first noticed Wyatt's attitude " after such
time as upon the doubt of those treaties of marriage
with his daughter Mary \ " and that time, as we
have seen, appears to have been early in 1527.

* The verses alluded to, however, talk of " her tresse ... of
cresped gold ; 11 and Anne's hair was black.

The Royal Lover

George Wyatt's tale goes as follows. Anne was
busy one day with some work (she was very skilful
with her needle), when Thomas Wyatt, who was
talking with her, as he was fond of doing, " in sport-
ing wise " caught from her a certain small jewel
hanging by a lace out of her pocket, which he thrust
into his bosom and refused to give back. He con-
tinued to wear it about his neck, under his cassock ;
and Anne "seemed not to make much reckoning of it,
either the thing not being much worth, or not worth
much striving for." The King noted Wyatt's hover-
ing about the lady and kept a watchful eye on him,
though he found that she gave no encouragement.
Then Henry, having determined to make her his
wife, took a ring from her, which he wore upon his
little finger. A few days after this had happened
Henry was playing at bowls with the Duke of Suffolk,
Sir Francis Bryan, Wyatt, and others, and in the
course of the game claimed a cast to be his that to
his opponents plainly appeared to be otherwise.
With all deference, they told him that they did not
agree with him.

The King, however, pointing at his bowl with the
finger on which he wore the ring, continued to affirm
that the cast was his. Addressing himself especially
to Wyatt, who was on the opposite side, and smiling
on him withal, he said, " Wyatt, I tell thee it is mine."
The other at length gave a glance at the ring, and
recognized it as Anne Boleyn's. He paused, and when
Henry once more said, " Wyatt, I tell thee it is mine,"
replied, "And if it may like Your Majesty to give
me leave to measure it, I hope it will be mine." So
speaking, he took from about his neck the lace with

The Life of Anne Boleyn

the trinket at the end of it, and stooped down to
measure the cast with it. Henry, in his turn, recog-
nized the trinket as having belonged to Anne, and
" therewithal spurned away the bowl and said, 1 It
may be so, but then am I deceived ' ; and so broke
up the game."

The King, continues the tale, went to his room,
showing some discontentment in his countenance,
and found means to break the matter to the lady.
Anne was able to give good and evident proof how
the knight* came by the jewel, and satisfied Henry
so effectually that his opinion of her truth was
stronger than before and proceeded soon to " dis-
cover his full and whole meaning unto the lady's
father, to whom we may be sure the news was not
a little joyful."

The rather ingenuous termination to the narrative
need not make us mistrust what has gone before.
Indeed, the incident of the game of bowls bears the
stamp not of imagination but of truth, and doubtless
was thus told by Thomas Wyatt himself and handed
down through his son to his grandson. The same
is perhaps the case also with the story of the game
of cards, with which George Wyatt's manuscript con-
tinues. Queen Katharine, according to this, used to
have Anne Boleyn more frequently with her at cards
now, both in order that the King might have less of
her company and that Anne's defect on one finger
might be shown. (We need not credit this last
motive.) They played some game which came to an
end when the king and queen of a suit met j and
it often fell to Anne to draw the king. Queen

* As a matter of fact, Wyatt was not knighted until much later.

The Royal Lover

Katharine noticed this, and remarked to her : " My
Lady Anne, you have good hap to stop at a king ;
but you are not like the others, you will have all or
none I " Aut illic aut nullibi, in fact ; though we
have no reason to suppose that Katharine had know-
ledge of Anne's audacious motto.

It is typical of the treatment to which Anne Boleyn's
character has been submitted that this episode
with Wyatt has been made the ground for accusing
her of "light behaviour," or, in other words, im-
moral conduct. Even Mr. M. A. S. Hume, speaking
of her resistance to the advances of Henry VI II., says :
" She had not always been so austere, for gossip had
already been busy with her good name. Percy and
Sir Thomas Wyatt had both been her lovers, and
with either or both of them she had in some way
compromised herself." We have seen what the affair
with Percy amounted to, taking it from evidence of
a hostile witness. We have now seen also the Wyatt
affair, as related by his grandson. The story cer-
tainly makes Thomas Wyatt to have been indiscreet,
but surely does not implicate Anne. Mr. Hume,
however, adduces also a statement in the " Spanish
Chronicle of Henry VIII.," a contemporary work
which he himself has edited in English, and a letter
from Eustace Chapuys, ambassador to the Emperor
in 1530. The Spanish chronicler's statement we may
deal with later, when we come to the time of Anne's
imprisonment j the ambassador's tale is vague.*

* Chapuys merely told the Emperor that Anne had been accused
by the Duke of Suffolk of undue familiarity with " a gentleman who
on a former occasion had been banished on suspicion.' 1 Suffolk was
no friend to Anne, resenting her pretensions to becoming Queen,
when he, through his wife, stood so near to the succession.

The Life of Anne Boleyn

Here we may point out that both the Spaniard and
Chapuys were devoted to the cause of Katharine of
Aragon and haters of Anne Boleyn, and that there-
fore we cannot take their repetition of a piece of
gossip in Court circles as unimpeachable evidence.

We need not doubt that Wyatt was in love with
Anne Boleyn. Even if we had not his grandson's
testimony, there is sufficient indication of his attach-
ment to her in his verse ;* though the poetic license
to love numerous ladies must not be forgotten, and
in Wyatt's case there were various other loves, real
or imaginary. But to have been loved by a poet is
surely not a reflection on Anne.

* In his poem " Of his Love, called Anna,"- the bearer
name may reasonably be identified with her :

What word is that, that changeth not,
Though it be turn'd and made in twain ?

It is mine Anna, God it wot,
And eke the causer of my pain,
Who love rewardeth with disdain ;

Yet is it loved : what would ye more ?

It is my health, and eke my sore.
A still more striking poem is that beginning :

Whoso list to hunt ? I know where there is a hind,
of which the concluding lines are :

Who list her hunt, I put him out of doubt,
As well as I may spend his time in vain !
And graven with diamonds in letters plain

There is written her fair neck round about :
" Noli me tangere ; for Caesar's I am
And wild for to hold, though I seem tame."

This is obviously imitated from an Italian poem by J. A. Romanello,
itself an imitation from Petrarch ; but it seems too close a resemblance
to Wyatt's case of " the Lover, despairing to attain unto his Lady's
grace, relinquishing the pursuit," not to have some topical import.
The last line, which is purely Wyatt's own, has somewhat fantastically
been supposed to allude to Anne Boleyn's " levity and gaiety.'-'

of that

From an engraving bv Bartolozzi or Cadon, after Holbein's portrait at Windsor.

Thomas Wyatt.

[To lace p. 62

The Royal Lover 63

One more story from George Wyatt we may note
as we leave the subject of his grandfather. Someone,
he tells, sent Anne Boleyn a book of pretended old
prophecies, with illustrations, in which her future
fate was foretold. Opening it and looking into it,
she called her maid, who bore the same Christian name
as herself. " Come hither, Nan, see here a book of
prophecy. This, he saith, is the King ; this the
Queen, mourning, weeping and wringing her hands ;
and this is myself, with my head off ! " "If I
thought that true," said the maid, " though he were
an Emperor, I would not myself marry him." " Yes,
Nan," replied her mistress, " I think the book a
bauble. Yet, for the hope I have that the realm
may be happy by my issue, I am resolved to have
him whatsoever may become of me."

The reason given for Anne's determination has
certainly a sound of having been invented after her
daughter came to the throne. Undoubtedly, how-
ever, she was resolved to have the King for her hus-
band. In the meantime she had resumed her duties
at Court, and we get two glimpses of her in letters
written by Thomas Heneage, one of the King's gentle-
men, to Cardinal Wolsey. On March 3rd, 1528,
Heneage relates how, as the King was going to dinner,
" Mrs. Anne " spoke to himself, saying she was
afraid the Cardinal had forgotten her, as he had
sent her no token by his last messenger to Court.
Lady Rochford had also spoken and asked for a morsel
of tunny. Further, the same night the King had sent
Heneage down with a dish to Mistress Anne for her
supper, when she caused him to sup with her and
expressed a wish that she had " some good meat from

The Life of Anne Boleyn

the Cardinal, such as carps, shrimps or other." (It
was Lent, and the Cardinal had some celebrated
fisheries.) " I beseech Your Grace," concludes
Heneage, " pardon me that I am so bold to write unto
Your Grace thereof ; it is the conceit and mind of a
woman ! "

Ten days later Heneage writes again, saying that
Mistress Anne thanks His Grace for his " kind and
favourable writing unto her," and desires him to
appeal on behalf of Sir Thomas Cheyney, for whom
she is M marvellously sorry that he should be in Your
Grace's displeasure."

Clearly Anne recognized that the Cardinal was still
so powerful that he must be assiduously courted.

CHAPTER VI

AWAITING THE LEGATE

SINCE Wolsey's return to England at the end
of September, 1527, matters had not been going
at all well for the scheme to obtain a divorce for
Henry. The Cardinal had reinforced Dr. Knight, in
whom he had no belief, with the aid of trained diplo-
matists like Sir Gregory Casale and the Prothonotary
Gambara, and efforts were made to get Pope Clement
to give his assent to more extraordinary things. He
was to issue a commission investing Wolsey or some
other Legate (not of Imperialist sympathies), or two
of them together, with plenary authority to decide
on the validity of Henry's first marriage ; and he was
to put forth a Bull allowing the King to marry again
even within the first degree of affinity* The significance

* The draft Bull, to be submitted to Clement, contains the words,
in Latin of course : " Furthermore, to avoid all canonical objections
on the side of the woman, by reason of any former contract clandestinely
made, or impediment of public honesty or justice arising from such
clandestine contract, or of any affinity contracted in any degree, even
in the first, through illicit connection, and in the event that it has
proceeded beyond the second or third degree of consanguinity, whereby
otherwise you, the petitioner [sc., Henry], would not be allowed to
contract marriage, we hereby license you to take such woman to wife
. . . ,J (" Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.," Vol. IV., page 1637.)

The reference to " any former contract "■ refers, as clearly as does
that to the degree of affinity, to the case of Anne Boleyn. It does not,
of course, prove the precontract with Henry Percy ; but it shows how
Henry's tender conscience required to be safeguarded from any possible
stain 1

65 5

The Life of Anne Boleyn

of this latter provision is obvious when we consider
that, until 1533, the date of Anne Boleyn's marriage,
when the law was changed in England, no difference
was made between licit and illicit connection in the
list of forbidden degrees ; so that a previous illicit
connection between Henry and Mary Carey would put
Anne Boleyn in the first degree of affinity in regard to
him. It may be noted that, writing to Casale on
December 5th, 1527, giving instructions as to how to
approach the Pope, Wolsey says : " Though the King
does not fear the consequences which might arise,
yet, remembering by the example of past times what
false claims have been put forward, to avoid all colour
or pretext of the same, he requests this of the Pope
as indispensable " — namely, his consent to the Bull.

With Dr. Knight's request that Henry should be
allowed to marry again, whether the nullity of the
marriage with Katharine were established or not, it is
clear that Pope Clement had a demand of unique
character put forward for his consideration. He made
it easier for himself to give it impartial attention by
escaping from Imperial control on December 9th,
and taking refuge at Orvieto ; but, anxious as he was
to placate Henry, and to have England and France
on his side against the tyranny of the Emperor Charles,
he could not bring himself to do more than give
Knight a dispensation, whereby a Legatine Court
sitting in London might decide on the validity of the
marriage between Henry and Katharine. Even this
was vitiated through the insertion by the Pope's
advisers of a clause which reserved to him final judg-
ment on the matter. Therefore Knight's mission was
a failure, very thinly disguised ; and Henry, having

Awaiting the Legate

no intention of leaving the decision to one over whom
he had so little command as the Pope, especially as
war was now openly declared between the Anglo-
French alliance and the Empire, decided with Wolsey
that they must try again. It should still be through
an attempt to move the Pope, but with different
instruments.

The King wrote on February 12th to Cardinal St.
Quattuor (who was, as a matter of fact, the person
mainly responsible for the alteration of the drafts)
that he found the commission and dispensation lately
sent of no force. This letter went by the hands of the
new envoys, Edward Foxe, his own almoner, and
Stephen Gardiner, a protege of Wolsey. The Cardinal's
instructions to these make very interesting reading.*
Wolsey says that he finds the Pope has been labouring
under a misapprehension, as if the King had set on
foot his divorce out of a vain affection or undue love
to a gentlewoman of not so excellent qualities as she
is here [in England] esteemed. The envoys are to
inform His Holiness that Wolsey is well assured, and
" dare put his soul," that the King's desire is grounded
upon justice, and not from any grudge or displeasure
to the Queen, whom he honours and loves, and minds
to love and treat as his sister, with all manner of
kindness. But, as this marriage is contrary to God's
law, the King's conscience is grievously offended.

" On the other side," continues Wolsey, " the ap-
proved, excellent virtues of the said gentlewoman,
the purity of her life, her constant virginity, her
maidenly and womanly pudicity, her soberness,
chasteness, meekness, humility, wisdom, descent of

* " Letters and Papers, Henry VIII. , {| Vol. IV., page 1741.

The Life of Anne Boleyn

right noble and high through regal blood, education
in all good and laudable [qualities] and manners,
apparent aptness to procreation of children, with her
other infinite good qualities, more to be regarded and
esteemed than the only progeny/' are the grounds on
which the King's desire is founded — which Wolsey
regards as " honest and necessary."

The instructions end with a passage, somewhat
mutilated in the manuscript, in which a request
appears to be made that the Pope shall write to Queen
Katharine, asking her to conform to the King's wishes
to forbear all trouble and delay, as, if sentence be not
passed against her, the King will have greater reason
to deal with her liberally and treat her as Princess of
Wales.

On their way to Dover, Foxe and Gardiner evidently
called at Lord Rochford's house at Hever, and paid
their respects to Anne ; for, in a letter to her Henry
wrote, in English, to the following effect :

" This bearer and his fellow are dispatched with
as many things to compass our matter and bring it
to pass as our wits could imagine or devise ; which
brought to pass, as I trust, by their diligence, it shall
be shortly, you and I shall have our desired end. . . .
Keep him not too long with you, but desire him for
your sake to make the more speed ; for the sooner
we shall have word from him the sooner shall our
matter come to pass. And thus, upon trust of your
short repair to London, I make an end of my letter,
mine own sweetheart. Written with the hand of him
which desireth as much to be yours as you do to have
him."

Awaiting the Legate

Reaching Orvieto on March 20th, the envoys, of
whom Gardiner took the chief part, found their task
with the Pope one of tremendous difficulty ; and they
came even to threats that " the King would do it with-
out him." His Holiness, " casting his arms abroad,"
and crying that to give such a commission as Henry
demanded would be a direct declaration against the
Emperor — as, indeed, it might be treated, since a
Legatine Court, sitting in London with plenary powers,
could hardly dare to reach a verdict against the King
— put them off first with a commission really no better
than Knight had obtained. Foxe came home in
advance, with letters from the Pope and others, which
seemed to show that the embassy had been successful.
On May 3rd, he presented himself at Greenwich Palace,
where the Court was.

Writing to Gardiner in Italy, his colleague told him
how on arrival he had been commanded by the King
" to go to Mrs. Anne's chamber, who, as my lady
Princess and others of the Queen's maidens were sick
of the smallpox, lay in the gallery of the Tiltyard."
To Anne, Foxe praised Gardiner's singular diligence
and dexterity and mentioned his hearty commendations
of her to the Pope, for which she seemed most grateful,
" oftentimes calling me Master Stephens,* with promise
of large recompense for your good acquittal." On
the King entering the chamber, Anne left them, and
Foxe, presenting his letters, related the difficulties of
the mission, and how they had extracted a promise
from Clement that, once the Legates should have given
their decision on the divorce, he would confirm it

* " Dr. Stephens " was a name by which we frequently find Gardiner
called.

The Life of Anne Boleyn

without delay. The King, apparently not seeing
at first that there was a snare in this, " seemed mar-
vellously well pleased, and, calling in Mrs. Anne, bid
me repeat it all to her." Many questions were asked
about the Pope's disposition toward the King, when
Foxe told them that without Wolsey's letters they
would have obtained nothing ; for His Holiness de-
clared he had been told, long before their coming,
that the King only wanted his desire for private
reasons, and that she [Anne] was with child, and of
no such qualities as should be worthy of such a position ;
but Wolsey's letters proved the contrary.

If Henry and Anne imagined for the moment that
the path to their union was now smoother, they
were much mistaken. It is true that Clement, on
still further pressure from Gardiner, while appointing
Campeggio to act with Wolsey in judging the cause
(apparently with authority for either to act alone, if
necessary), gave him a decretal to the effect that, if
Henry's statement of his case should prove correct,
then by canon law his marriage was null. But Cam-
peggio was privately instructed to show this decretal
only to the King and Wolsey, not to let it go out of
his hands, and in case of need to destroy it. On June
8th, the Pope issued his commission to the two Car-
dinals ; and the Italian's arrival in England was the
next step to be waited for.

In June Anne was with the Court at Greenwich ;
for on the 6th Heneage wrote thence to Wolsey that
" Mistress Anne is very well amended, commends
herself to you, and thinketh long till she speak to you."
By " amended " Heneage appears to refer to some
slight indisposition. The serious epidemic which was

Awaiting the Legate

just beginning to ravage south-east England had not
yet touched the Court. About the same time belongs
Anne's own letter to the Cardinal, with the postscript
by Henry.* Though it is well known to many
readers, it is worth quoting again, as showing Anne's
outward attitude towards Wolsey at this time and
her hopes of attaining her desire with his assistance.
She writes :

" My Lord, — In my most humblest wise that my
heart can think, I desire you to pardon me that I am
so bold to trouble you with my simple and rude writing,
proceeding from one who is much desirous to know
that Your Grace does well, as I perceive by this bearer
that you do. The which I pray God long to continue,
as I am most bound to pray ; for I do know the great
pains and troubles that you have taken for me, both
day and night, is never like to be recompensed on my
part, but alonely in loving you, next unto the King's
Grace, above all creatures living. And I do not
doubt but the daily proofs of my deeds shall mani-
festly declare and affirm my writing to be true, and
I do trust you do think the same. My Lord, I do
assure ycv 7. do long to hear from you news of the
Legate ; for I do hope, as they come from you, they
shall be very good, and I am sure you desire it as much
as I, and more, if it were possible, as I know it is not.
And thus remaining in a steadfast hope I make an
end of my letter. Written with the hand of her that
is most bound to be

" Your humble servant,

" Anne Boleyn."

* Some would assign this letter to the time of Anne's supposed visit
to Ampthill at the end of July.

The Life of Anne Boleyn

Henry, adding his message at the end, tells the

Cardinal that " the writer of this letter would not

cease till she had caused me likewise to set to my
hand," and continues :

" There is neither of us but that greatly desireth
to see you and [is] much more joyous to hear that
you have scaped this plague so well, trusting the
fury thereof to be passed, specially with them that
keepeth good diet, as I trust you do. The not hearing
of the Legate's arrival in France causeth us somewhat
to muse. Notwithstanding, we trust by your diligence
and vigilancy (with the assistance of Almighty God)
shortly to be eased out of that trouble. . . .

" By your loving Sovereign and Friend,

"H. Rex."

Henry was disappointed in his hope that the fury
of the plague had passed. On June 16th someone
at Court, in attendance on Anne, was attacked by
that mysterious illness, " the sweat," which got a
hold principally on the counties of Kent and Sussex,
but apparently never travelled further from England
than Calais. Though it claimed many victims in
London and in south-east England, it was popularly
supposed to have no power on the Continent.

When the sweat appeared at Court, there was a
great panic. " The King in great haste dislodged,"
writes du Bellay, Bishop of Bayonne, to Montmorency,
" and went twelve miles hence, and I hear that the
lady was sent to her father, the Viscount, in Kent.
As yet the love has not abated," he adds. The love
had not abated, indeed ; but Henry was a great

Awaiting the Legate

coward in face of the epidemic, and went first to
Waltham, then to Hunsdon, and thirdly to Titten-
hanger, where Wolsey had a house to lend him. It
was reported that he used to shut himself up in a
tower with his physician, Dr. Chambers, and to
insist on having his meals alone. To prove that he
did not forget Anne, however, he sent her letters,
of which the first appears to be one running as follows :

" The doubt I had of your health troubled me
extiemely, and I should scarcely have had any quiet
without knowing the certainty ; but since you have
yet felt nothing, I hope it is with you as with us.
When we were at Waltham two ushers, two valets de
chambre, your brother, [and] master treasurer fell ill
and are now quite well, and since we are removed to
our house at Hunsdon we have been perfectly well,
without one sick person, God be praised, and I think
that if you would retire from the neighbourhood of
Surrey, as we did, you would avoid all danger j and
also another thing may comfort you, for in truth it
is said that few or no women have been taken ill,
and moreover none of our Court and few elsewhere
have died of it. For which reason I beg you, my
entirely beloved, to have no fear nor to be too uneasy
at our absence."

Henry hopes soon to make her sing for joy of her
recall, and wishes her in his arms so that he might a
little dispel her unreasonable thoughts — doubtless a
reference to some letter of hers written at Hever.

Very soon after this letter from Henry at Huns-
don, we find a letter written to Wolsey by Thomas
Heneage at the same place and dated June 23rd.

The Life of Anne Boleyn

" This morning is told me," says the writer, " that
Mistress Anne and my lord of Roxfort had the sweat
and was past the danger thereof." On the same day
also Sir Brian Tuke, treasurer of the chamber, wrote
to Wolsey from Hunsdon, saying that the King yester-
day had told him how few were dead of the sweat ;
how Mistress Anne and my Lord Rochford had both
had it ; what jeopardy they had been in "by the
turning in of the sweat before the time ; " of the en-
deavours of Mr. Butts, who had been with them ;
and finally of their perfect recovery.

These two messages to Wolsey help to place, within
a few days, the letter from Henry to Anne on hearing
of her being attacked by the sweat, which is a charac-
teristic example of his epistolatory style. He writes :

" There came to me in the night the most afflicting
news possible, for I have reason to grieve upon three
accounts. First, because I heard of the sickness of
my mistress, whom I esteem more than all the world,
whose health I desire as much as my own, and would
willingly bear the half of yours to cure you. Secondly,
because I fear to suffer yet longer that hated absence
which has given me such pain already, and as far as
I can judge is like to give me more. I pray God to
deliver me from so importunate a rebel ! Thirdly,
because the physician in whom I trust most is absent
at the moment when he could do me the greatest
pleasure ; for I should hope by his means to obtain
one of my principal joys in this world, that is my
mistress cured. Nevertheless, in default of him I
send you the second and only one left, praying God
that soon he may make you well, and then I shall
love him more than ever."

Awaiting the Legate

The first physician mentioned seems to be Dr.
Chambers ; and the second, whom he sent down
to Hever, Dr. Butts, who was successful with the
patients, though Lord Rochford did not make so
good progress as his daughter, it appears later.

In the letters of Heneage and Tuke to Wolsey,
quoted above, mention is made of the death, through
the sweat, of William Carey, Anne Boleyn's brother-
in-law. In fact, Heneage states that the news reached
Hunsdon " this night [June 23rd], as the King went
to bed." Some time after this date, therefore, must
come a letter from Henry to Anne, written in English,
in which he says that, as touching her sister's matter :

" I have causyd Walter Welze [Walter Walshe,
groom of the chamber] to wrytte to my lord myne
mind theryn, wherby I trust that Eve shal nott have
poure to dyssayve Adam, for surly, whatsoever is
sayde, it can nott so stand with hys honour but that
he must neds take her hys naturall dawghter, now in
her extreme necessite."

The reference to Eve " dissayving " Adam is ob-
scure. Professor Brewer supposes that the King
means to say that Rochford was influenced in his
neglect of his daughter either by his wife or some
other lady. Anyhow it is clear that he had exhibited
reluctance to look after his widowed daughter Mary.*

In this letter, for the first time in the correspon-
dence, there is a touch of coarseness — we refrain from

* It may be noted that to Anne was granted the custody of William
Carey's lands during the minority of Henry, his son and heir, " with
the wardship and marriage of the said heir." (" Letters and Papers,
Henry VIII.," Vol. V., page 7.)

76 The Life of Anne Boleyn

quoting the passage — for which, and for similar ex-
amples in later letters, several historians have not
failed to blame the recipient, Anne. Such censure
is entirely beside the point. Coarseness of language
was no rarity in letters of the period, and ladies had
to tolerate it, even when not placed in the position
of Anne Boleyn. Henry's indelicacies cannot honestly
be held to besmirch her character, regrettable as it
may seem to the taste of more refined times that she
did not at once write back to him renouncing her
aspirations to become his second wife.

At the end of June Anne was still at Hever with
her father, as du Bellay notifies Montmorency, while
the King had at last come to rest at Tittenhanger,
" finding further removals useless." Though there
had been numerous cases of the sweat at Court, the
deaths had been few. Henry himself wrote to Anne,
giving her a similar account of the situation, and
said :

" As touching abode at Hever, do therein as best
shall like you ; for you know best what air doth best
with you « but I would it were come thereto (if it
pleased God) that nother of us need care for that, for
I ensure you I think it long."

In this same letter there is mention of a curious
affair, which deserves some attention as showing
a struggle of will between Anne Boleyn and Cardinal
Wolsey for influence over the King at the very time
when she was relying on the Cardinal's aid in the
matter of her marriage. The affair arose out of the
question of appointing a successor to Elizabeth

Awaiting the Legate 77

Shelf ord, the old abbess of the nunnery of St. Edith,
Wilton, who died on April 24th, 1528. Writing that
day to Wolsey, Thomas Benet told him that most of
the convent favoured as her successor Isabel Jordan,
the prioress, who was ancient, wise and discreet.
" There will be great labour made," he warned him,
" for Dame Eleanor Carye, sister of Mr. Carye of
the Court." This Dame Eleanor was one of the
nuns, and as sister of William Carey was sister-in-
law to Mary and Anne Boleyn. On June 23rd Wolsey
was informed by Heneage that Carey (just before his
succumbing to the sweat) " begs you to be gracious
to his sister, a nun in Wilton Abbey, to be prioress
there, according to your promise." It would seem,
however, that it was the higher appointment of
abbess which was aimed at for the lady, though
there later arises a question of making her eldest
sister abbess — still keeping the post in the Carey
family.

Unfortunately, Eleanor Carey had a bad reputation ;
and there must have been considerable laxity in the
Wilton establishment as a whole. The Cardinal had
the nuns before him, and examined them in the
presence oi Dr. John Bell, archdeacon of Gloucester.
There " she which we would have had abbesse," as
Wolsey writes, confessed to having had two children
by two sundry priests, and since to have been kept
by a servant of Lord Broke. Wolsey accordingly
appointed Isabel Jordan abbess. He quickly learnt
that he had been precipitate. Dr. Bell wrote to him
on July 10th that the King was " somewhat moved "
at the appointment, and that, " though on the
report of the dissolute living of Dame Elinor he was

The Life of Anne Boleyn

content to desist, ... his mind and expectation was
that in no wise the prioress should have it, at which
some will find themselves aggrieved."

Heneage wrote next day, confirming the news of
the King's displeasure ; and Henry, who on July nth
had moved to Ampthill, in Bedfordshire, followed
this up with a letter of grave though friendly rebuke
to the Cardinal for first acting against his wishes
and then " cloaking your offence by ignorance.' '

There must have been some letter to Wolsey, which
is missing, in which the King's desire was expressed
that the appointment should go to a third person,
neither Eleanor Carey nor the prioress ; for in the
last quoted letter to Anne Boleyn Henry says : "I
would not for all the gold in the world clog your
conscience nor mine to make her ruler of a house
which is of so ungodly demeanour, nor I trust you
would not that nother for brother nor sister distayne
mine honour nor conscience." As touching the
prioress or Dame Eleanor's eldest sister, he adds,
though there is no evidence against their character,
and the prioress is "so old that of many years she
could not be as she was named " — for there had been
counter-charges by Dame Eleanor's partisans to the
effect that the prioress had a past ! — " yet notwith-
standing, to do you pleasure, I have done that nother
of them shall have it, but some other and well-
disposed woman shall have it, whereby the house
shall be the better reformed (whereof I assure you
it hath much need) and God much the better
served."

Wolsey was evidently alarmed at the King's rebuke
from Ampthill, for he apologized — in a letter which

Awaiting the Legate

has been lost — and received in reply the royal for-
giveness. " It is no great matter," wrote Henry ;
" for it is yet in my hand, as I perceive by your
letter ; and your fault was not so great, as the election
was but conditional."

It seems that Wolsey's appointment was not upset,
since we find Isabel Jordan in the post of abbess in
November. Anne's interference in the matter has
been severely blamed ; but there is nothing to show
that she knew of the bad character of Eleanor Carey,
and many ladies before and since her time have
interested themselves on behalf of people who have,
on investigation, turned out to be entirely unworthy
of recommendation.

Soon after the affair of the abbess of Wilton, there
was an expectation of Anne's return to Court. On
July 2 ist Heneage wrote to Wolsey that she was
coming with her mother that week, while " my lord
Rocheford was to have come, but because of the
sweat he remains at home," having apparently had
a relapse. Du Bellay, in a letter to Montmorency,
written in August, records her arrival ; and this
appears to have been while the Court was at Ampthill.
In a letter to Anne, in which he mentions the writing
of his book and speaks of " summe pain in my head,"
enabling us by comparison with other correspondence
to place it near the beginning of August, Henry
assures her, " Myne owne swet hart, . . . methynketh
the tyme longer syns your departing now last than I
was wont to do a hole fortenyght." From this we
may perhaps gather that she paid two brief visits
to Ampthill, returning in each case to Hever.

Another indelicate expression marks the close to

The Life of Anne Boleyn

this letter, to the scandal of Anne's critics. But —
"the blood of the Absolutes was always impatient,"
without undue reflections on the character of Miss
Lydia Languish.

Four more of Henry's letters must be assigned to
this period. In one he begs " his mistress " to " tell
my lord your father from me that I desire him to
hasten the appointment by two days, that he may
be at Court before the old term, or at least on the day
arranged ; for otherwise I shall think he will not do
the lovers' turn, as he said he would." In the second,
apologizing (in English) for his " skant laysor " for
writing, he tells her that, as touching a lodging for
her, they had got one by my lord Cardinal's means,
the like whereof could not have been found hereabout
" for all causes," as the bearer of the letter would
show her. Where Henry was when he wrote thus is
not clear, though we know that he was at Windsor at
the end of August. It is suggested that the lodging
which had been procured for Anne by the Cardinal's
means was Suffolk Lodge, in preparation for the
Court's return to town.

Before coming to the other two letters from Henry
to Anne, we must stop to look at one from her to
Cardinal Wolsey. She had only just had her struggle
with him over the Wilton appointment. Yet now
we see him exerting himself to procure a house for her
in London, and about the same time she sends the
following letter to him, of which the effusive language
has excited the sarcastic comments of her detractors :

" My Lord, — In my most humble wise that my
poor heart can think I do thank Your Grace for your

Awaiting the Legate

kind letter, and for your rich and goodly presents,
the which I shall never be able to deserve without
your help, of the which I have hitherto had so great
plenty that all the days of my life I am most bound,
of all creatures next the King's Grace, to love and
serve Your Grace ; of the which I beseech you never
to doubt that ever I shall vary from this thought as
long as any breath is in my body. And, as touching
Your Grace's trouble with the sweat, I thank Our
Lord that them that I desired and prayed for are
scaped, and that is the King and you ; not doubting
but that God has preserved you both for great causes
known alonely of his high wisdom. And as for the
coming of the Legate, I desire that much ; and, if
it be God's pleasure, I pray Him to send this matter
shortly to a good end, and then I trust, my Lord,
to recompense part of your great pains. In the
which I must require you, in the meantime, to accept
my good will in the stead of the power, the which
must proceed partly from you, as Our Lord knoweth ;
to whom I beseech to send you long life, with continu-
ance in honour. Written with the hand of her that
is most bound to be

" Your humble and obedient servant,

"Anne Boleyn."

The language of diplomacy, no doubt. But, then,
Anne was a diplomatist, and could not have held her
own had she not been a diplomatist. At the time,
she must use Wolsey or fail. She used Wolsey. Nor
did she hesitate to invoke his aid on behalf of clerics
in whom she was interested ; for there exists a brief
note sent to him about this period, in which she thanks

The Life of Anne Boleyn

him for an attempted service to Mr. Barlov: (apparently
William, afterwards Bishop of Chichester), and begs
him to remember u the parson of Honey Lane."*

To return to the royal love-letters, the next is
somewhat mysterious. It is clear that somehow
there had been a leakage of information meant by
Henry for Anne's ears alone. It is easy to attribute
this, as some do, to Anne's indiscretion or carelessness,
her general levity of character, in fact. Henry,
however, does not chide her very severely, it must
be confessed ; so why need we ?

" Darlyng," he writes — but we will not follow his
spelling —

" I heartily recommend me to you, ascertaining you
that I am not a little perplexed with such things as
your brother shall on my part declare unto you, to
whom I pray you give full credence, for it were too
long to write. In my last letters I wrote to you
that I trusted shortly to see you, which is better
known at London than with any that is about me,
whereof I not a little marvel ; but lack of discreet
handling must needs be the cause thereof. No more
to you at this time, but that I trust shortly our
meetings shall not depend upon other men's light
handlings but upon your own. Written with the
hand of him that longeth to be yours.

" H.R."

It is tempting to think that the ultimate appearance
of Henry's celebrated letters at the Vatican might

* " Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.," Vol. IV., Appendix.

Awaiting the Legate

be connected with this leakage of information of which
he complains. But, if so, both the above letter and two
subsequent ones must have been similarly intercepted
at some later date.*

The last of the King's missives previous to the
arrival of Campeggio seems to have been written
from Windsor. It is as follows, apart from the
spelling :

" The reasonable request of your last letter, with
the pleasure also that I take to know them true,
causeth me to send you now these news. The Legate
which we most desire arrived at Paris on Sunday or
Monday last past, so that I trust by the next Monday
to hear of his arrival at Calais, and then I trust within
a while after to enjoy that which I have so longed
long, to God's pleasure and our both comforts. No
more to you at this present, myne awne darlyng,
for lack of time, but that I would you were in mine
arms, or I in yours, for I think it long since I kissed
you. Written after the killing of a hart at n of

* With regard to the interception of letters by foreign emissaries,
a repoit from du Bellay to Montmorency (assigned in " Letters and
Papers, Henry VIII.," provisionally to August 2oth(?), 1528) is in-
teresting. We quote further passages to show the French ambassador's
view of Wolsey's position at this time. Du Bellay says :

' ' Mademoiselle Boulan has returned to Court. The intercepted letters
that you sent me about this matter have caused them to think. ... I
fancy that the King is so far committed to it that none but God can
get him out. As to Wolsey, I do not believe he knows where he stands.
I have been told on good authority . . . that, a little before this
sweat, the King used most terrible language to him, because he seemed
desirous to cool him and show him that the Pope would not consent
to it. ... I think he sees that if this marriage is accomplished he will
have much to do to maintain his influence ; and when he sees himself
in despair of it, he will give out that he retires voluntarily."

The Life of Anne Boleyn

the clock, minding, with God's grace, to-morrow
mytely timely to kill another. By the hand which
I trust shortly shall be yours.

" Henry R."

*******

This chapter has been mainly composed of letters.
That is of necessity ; and it is fortunate for the
historian of Anne Boleyn that there are so many
letters preserved to illustrate this particular epoch of
her career, which otherwise would be as blank as
many of the years before it. It is, on the other hand,
unfortunate that of her letters to the King not one
has been saved for us. Henry was more careful of
the replies that he received from her than she was
of the notes which he sent. Perhaps he destroyed
them when, tired of her, he sent her to an ignominious
death and turned to the demure charms of Jane
Seymour.

CHAPTER VII

THE DEFEAT OF WOLSEY

AT last, on September 29th, 1528, Cardinal Cam-
peggio set foot in England, having travelled
with exceeding slowness and being very ill with gout.
He was not a stranger to the country, and like numerous
foreign prelates was a titular bishop here, his see
being Salisbury. His appointment as Legate to decide
the matter of the divorce had been urged by Wolsey
from the first ; for it was felt that of all Legates who
might be sent he was most likely to be favourable to
the King's cause. It was not known, of course,
what secret orders he had from Pope Clement to
hinder him from giving the final verdict desired by
Henry.

The King clearly did not suspect the Legate of
being likely to thwart him ; for he wrote, in the last
of his extant letters to Anne Boleyn, that " the un-
fained sickness of this well-willing Legate doth some-
what retard his access to your presence, but I trust
verily, when God shall send him health, he will with
diligence recompense his demowre ; for I know well
whereby he hath said (lamenting the saying and bruit
that he should be Imperial) that it should be well
known in this matter that he is not Imperial. ,, Not
" Imperial," indeed, was Campeggio himself ; but the
fear of the Emperor Charles was strong on the Pope,

The Life of Anne Boleyn

and Campeggio was an obedient follower of his master's
instructions, as was soon to be discovered.

This same letter of Henry's informs Anne of his
joy at understanding her " comformabylnes to reson "
and her suppression of her inutille and vayne thoughts
and fantesys with the brydell off reson," beseeching
her to continue the same, not only in this matter, but
in all her doings hereafter, for thereby should come to
both of them " the greatest quietness that might be
in this world." It can only be conjectured whether
the thoughts and fantasies which Anne had sup-
pressed had been inspired by a wish to retire from the
ambiguous position which she held and renounce
her ambition to be Queen or by an impatient desire
to cut the knot now, which could not be done other-
wise than by rejecting — as it was rejected later — the
Papal authority and carrying out the threat which we
have seen Foxe and Gardiner making to the Pope at
Orvieto.

That Anne was at Hever when she received this
message appears from du Bellay's report on October
6th that the King and Queen were coming to Green-
wich that day, but he did not think Mademoiselle
would yet leave her mother in Kent.

The suffering Campeggio had reached Bath House,
the residence assigned to him in London, on October
8th and had gone straight to bed. It was not till the
I2th that he felt well enough to present himself to
the King at Bridewell Palace.* Next day a long

* " Bridewell in Fleet Street," as Cavendish calls it. As showing
the character of the neighbourhood then, it may be noted that
Henry VIII., in 15 10, gave Cardinal Wolsey a house there, with an
orchard and twelve gardens attached !

The Defeat of Wolsey

discussion took place at Bath House between Henry
and Campeggio j and on the following the Legate
called on Queen Katharine. What came of these
and subsequent interviews belongs only incidentally
to the story of Anne Boleyn. It suffices to say that
Katharine not only maintained that her marriage
with Arthur had never been consummated, but
(whether or not upon the advice of the councillors
whom the King had assigned to her, of whom the
moving spirit was Fisher, Bishop of Rochester) abso-
lutely refused to simplify matters by expressing a
wish to retire to a nunnery, as Campeggio suggested,
or by receding in any way from her claim that she was
Henry's lawful wife. She would die again and again,
she declared, rather than give way. Henry, for his
part, continued to press for the divorce without delay.
Wolsey, urged on by the King and bitterly reviled by
the Queen, attempted to put the screw on his Italian
colleague, so that divorce proceedings might start —
and then found how they had been tricked by Pope
Clement. He had come over in order to form an opinion
on the case, said Campeggio, which he was to let the
Pope know ; after that he must wait for further
instructions.

Wolsey's consternation is revealed in one of his
letters. On November ist, 1528, he writes to Gregory
Casale* of Henry's dissatisfaction with Campeggio,
and especially with his attempt to dissuade a divorce
until he shall have made a report to the Pope, and his
refusal to entrust Wolsey, though he is his colleague,
with his commission from Rome. Those who pre-
dicted that nothing but causes for delay would be

* " Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.," Vol. IV., page 2120.

The Life of Anne Boleyn

invented are right, and the King feels his honour
touched, especially considering what a benefactor
he has been to the Church. " I cannot reflect upon
this and close my eyes," continues Wolsey, " for I see
ruin, infamy and subversion of the whole dignity and
estimation of the Apostolic See if this course be per-
sisted in. . . .If the Pope will consider the gravity
of this cause, and how much the safety of the nation
depends upon it, he will see that the course which he
now pursues will drive the King to adopt those re-
medies which are injurious to the Pope and are fre-
quently instilled into the King's mind. Without the
Pope's compliance I cannot bear up against the
storm."

The remedies injurious to the Pope are, of course,
the carrying out of the threat that the King would
"do it without him ; " and the ins tillers may well
have been Anne and other members of the Boleyn
party, so many of whom were already under the
influence of the Reform movement. Henry, however,
always anxious about the health of his soul, was most
reluctant to break with the Pope, if only he could
attain his ends without doing so. He was fully aware,
too, that the country was not ready to follow him.
Even the idea of the divorce was unpopular, largely
owing to the favour with which Katharine was re-
garded. To put himself right in the people's eyes, he
went to the extreme step of calling a meeting at
Bridewell Palace on Sunday, November 8th, where
in the presence of the Lord Mayor and council of
London, his own Privy Council, and the greater part
of lords of the land and other personages having
charge of his affairs, as du Bellay records, he made an

The Defeat of Wolsey

attempt to state his case. He spoke of the perils of
a disputed succession to the throne, and expounded
the trouble of his conscience that he and Katharine,
in the opinion of M divers great clerks," had been
living so long in open adultery. He protested the
sincerity of his desire to know whether or not his
marriage was valid, to decide which the Legate had
been sent to England. Du Bellay mentions a report
that he concluded with a threat (which would rather
have marred the effect of his speech) that he meant
to be master, and that " there was no head so fine
but he would make it fly ! "

Henry decided also to strengthen his cause with
the Pope by dispatching another mission, consisting
of Sir Francis Bryan and Peter Vannes, an Italian.
Taking advantage of Clement's return at last to Rome,
he instructed them to offer his congratulations, and
at the same time to try to alienate His Holiness as
much as possible from the Emperor and u confirm
him in love to the King, so that he may be the more
ready to grant any petition of the King, as in the great
and weighty matter of the divorce." They were to
discover whether Clement, in the event of Katharine
being induced to " enter lax religion " — i.e., make
some sort of retreat to a nunnery — would, of his
absolute power, grant the King dispensation to pro-
ceed to a second marriage, with legitimation of the
children ; or, should Katharine refuse, grant him
dispensation to have two wives, the issue of the second
marriage being equally legitimate with that of the
first. They were further instructed to make secret
inquiry into the genuineness of a copy of the brief
of Pope Julius II. giving dispensation for the marriage

The Life of Anne Boleyn

of 1509, which Katharine, with the Emperor's aid,
had produced in support of her case.*

While Henry waited for the result of this hopeful
mission, and while Katharine resisted every attempt
to bend her will, Court life went on much as it had
been going during the preceding months, except that
it was now spent in or near town.

On December 9th, du Bellay wrote to Montmorency
of the King's goings and comings between London
and Greenwich (where Katharine was living), and how
Mademoiselle de Boulan had at last come to Green-
wich, where " the King has lodged her in a very fine
lodging which he has prepared for her close by his
own. Greater court is now paid her," he continues,
" than has been to the Queen for a long time. I see
they mean to accustom the people by degrees to en-
dure her, so that when the great blow comes it may
not be thought strange. However, the people remain
quite hardened, and I think they would do more if they
had more power ; but great order is continually taken."

Hall's <( Chronicle" bears out what du Bellay says
with regard to the popular attitude ; for he records
that " the common people, being ignorant, and others
that favoured the Queen talked largely . . . with
many foolish words ; inasmuch as whosoever spake
against the marriage [with Katharine] was of the
common people abhorred and reproved."

For Christmas the whole Court was at Greenwich,
where, writes du Bellay, " open house is kept by both
King and Queen, as it used to be in former years.

* See instructions to Bryan and Vannes, aDd to these two with
Knight, William Benet and Casale, in " Letters and Papers,
Henry VIII.," Vol. IV., pages 2155-61.

The Defeat of Wolsey

Mademoiselle de Boulan is also there, having her
establishment apart, as, I imagine, she does not like
to meet the Queen. I expect that things will remain
in this state until the return of Bryan."

It is not astonishing to hear that, amid the Christmas
festivities, the Queen " made no great joy of nothing,
her mind was so troubled." All the comfort she could
get from Campeggio was a repetition of his advice to
enter religion ; and she cannot but have known that
extraordinary efforts were being made by her hus-
band's agents in Rome to get over the difficulty of her
persistent refusal to take this course.

Another person who must have seen the opening
of 1529 with grave misgivings was Wolsey. Du
Bellay near the end of January pictures him to Mont-
morency as in great difficulty, " since the affair has
gone so far that if it do not take effect the King will
fall out with him ; and if it do he will have to carry
it with a strong hand." With the favourite he had
had a quarrel over Sir Thomas Cheyney, who had
caused a difference of opinion between them before,
as we have seen, though in neither case do we know
the reason. This time Cheyney had somehow offended
the Cardinal, and in consequence had been put out
of the Court. But " the young lady has put him in
again, and used very rude words of Wolsey. Think
what the effect of this may be," continues du Bellay.
" The Duke of Norfolk and his party already begin to
talk big ; but certainly they have to do with one
subtler than themselves."

Similarly Mendoza reports to his master the Emperor
on February 4th : " This lady who is the cause of
all the disorder, finding her marriage delayed which

The Life of Anne Boleyn

she thought herself so sure of, entertains great suspicion
that the English Cardinal puts impediments in her
way, from a belief that if she were Queen his power
would decline. In this suspicion she is joined by her
father and the two Dukes of Suffolk and Norfolk,
who have combined to overthrow the Cardinal ; but
as yet they have made no impression on the King,
except that he shows him at Court not quite so good
countenance as he did, and that he has said some
disagreeable words to him."

The expected news from Rome came through very
slowly. On January 29th Bryan had written to the
King to announce his arrival in Florence, sending a
message to his cousin. " I would have written to my
mistress that shall be," he says, " but I will not write
to her until I may write that shall please her most
in this world. I pray God to send Your Grace and
her long life and merry, or else me a short end."
Then there was a delay. On reaching Rome the
envoys discovered the Pope seriously ill, and they
could not see him. Indeed, he was reported dead
soon after, whereon Henry and Wolsey feverishly set
to work to secure a successor who should favour them
rather than the Emperor — and in preference to anyone
else Wolsey himself, who had long aspired to be
Pope — for which desirable end they were prepared
to spend money lavishly.

In the meantime Gardiner had been sent to Rome
in February to reinforce still further the English
pleaders. He had not felt hopeful, as he wrote to
Henry ; and he found his anticipation justified when
at last the convalescent Pope was ready to receive
the King's representatives. Professions of good will

From an engraving by Maloeuvre, after Titian's painting.

Pope Clement VII.

[To face p. 92.

The Defeat of Wolsey

abounded ; but clearly the Imperial influence was too
strong, and nothing but words would be obtained
from His Holiness.

During Gardiner's stay in Rome a very curious
letter was written to him by Anne, dated from Green-
wich, April 4th. In this she expresses the hope that
the end of this journey of his will be more pleasant
to her than his first journey, " for that was but
a rejoicing hope, which causing the like of it does
put me to the more pain and they that are partakers
with me, as you do know ; and therefore I trust
that this hard beginning shall make the better ending."

" Master Stephyns," continues Anne, " I send you
here cramp-rings for you and Master Gregory and Mr.
Peter " — Casale and Vannes were in Rome with him
— " praying you to distribute them as you think
best." These precious gifts of a sovereign remedy
against such afflictions of the Evil One as cramp
were no doubt begged by her from King Henry. For,
as Gardiner himself wrote to Ridley in the reign of
Edward VI, " the late King used to bless these cramp-
rings, both of gold and of silver, which were much
esteemed everywhere, and when he was abroad they
were often desired from him."*

Before the end of April it became obvious that the
mission to Rome had failed. On the 21st Bryan
informed Henry that the Pope would do nothing for
him. " No men are more heavy than we that we
cannot bring things to pass as we would," he wrote.
" I trust never to die but that Your Grace will be able
to requite the Pope and Popys, and not be fed with

* The office for the consecration of the rings, as used under Queen
Mary, may be found in Burnet's " History of the Reformation,-'
Vol. V., page 445.

The Life of Anne Boleyn

their flattering words/' (No wonder that Bryan in-
curred the enmity of loyal Roman Catholics !) He
added : "I have written to my cousin Anne ; but I
dare not write to her the whole truth, but will refer
her to Your Grace to make her privy to all the news."

Worse still, on May 4th, Gardiner wrote to Henry
that it was in question whether the commission which
the Pope had given to the two Legates should not be
revoked ; and next day Bryan sent a letter in which
occur the words : "I dare not write unto my cousin
Anne the truth of this matter. ... If she be angry
with me, I t most humbly desire Your Grace to make
mine excuse." It looks as if Sir Francis had some
reason to know his cousin Anne's temper !

Alarmed at the possibility of the Legates' commission
being revoked, Henry took prompt steps to set Wolsey
and Campeggio to work before such an order could
arrive. His license to them to proceed in the cause
touching the King's marriage is dated from Windsor,
May 30th ; and preparations were immediately made
for the trial before the Legates in the great hall of the
monastery of the Friars Minors, or Blackfriars.
On June 14th Henry and his Court came up to London
by water. Du Bellay records how the King '* landed
in passing at my lord of Rochford's [Durham House],
with a small company of ladies and gentlemen, where
he waited for the tide, and then went on to Greenwich."
The French ambassador fears that for some time past
the King " has come very near to Mademoiselle Anne,"
so that Montmorency need not be surprised if they
are anxious to hasten matters — car si la ventre croist
tout sera gate. There does not seem any warrant for
du Bellay's suggestion. No doubt the King had

The Defeat of Wolsey

come as near to the lady as she would let him ; but
she does not appear to have relaxed her chaste
attitude, incredible though it may seem to her
critics. If we take only a low estimate of her moral
character, we may at least give her the credit for not
surrendering when there was so much doubt still about
obtaining the divorce. She may have sympathized
with Bryan's wish concerning " Popys " ; but was she
sure that the soul-tender Henry would follow her ?
He was still showering gifts upon her. At the end
of May a warrant had been issued to Lord Windsor,
Keeper of the Great Wardrobe, to furnish the Lady
Anne Rochford with a most magnificent outfit of
harness, saddles and trappings for her riding-horses,
and " the moylettes that carry her litter." It was
a different matter, however, when she had to deal, not
with her royal lover's purse, but with his conscience.

The Legatine Court now began its sessions, after
a wrangle over Campeggio's insistence that he, not
Wolsey, should preside as principal judge. On June
18th proceedings commenced, the King being repre-
sented by a proxy, while the Queen appeared and
registered her protest against the Court's jurisdiction.
Both King and Queen were present at the next session,
three days later, when Katharine made a dramatic
exit, declaring : " This is no impartial court to me,"
and disregarding Henry's summons to return. If she
was to be found no wife after twenty years of marriage,
it would be without her connivance. Rather than
appear again she allowed herself to be pronounced
" contumacious."

Burnet records that Anne Boleyn was away from
London at the time of the trial, " for silencing the

The Life of Anne Boleyn

noise that her being at Court during the process would
have occasioned." Probably she was at Hever. Her
father was among the witnesses on the King's side,
and on July 15th gave evidence that about two years
ago Henry, on his confessor's advice, abstained from
intercourse with Katharine, "so as not to offend his
conscience."

Lord Rochford made another appearance in con-
nection with the trial, on that day of which Cavendish
tells us, when the King, impatient at the slowness of
the proceedings, sent for Wolsey and had a talk with
him at Bridewell from eleven o'clock to noon. On
leaving the Palace Wolsey took his barge at Black-
friars and started home for Westminster. With him
was one of the bishops, who, wiping his face, observed
that it was a very hot day. " Yea," replied the
Cardinal, "if ye had been as well chafed as I have
been within this hour, ye would say it was very hot ! "
When he reached York Place, Wolsey went to bed.
But in less than two hours he was disturbed by the
Earl of Wiltshire (as Cavendish prematurely calls
Lord Rochford), with a message from the King.
The poor Cardinal was required, " incontinent," to
repair with Campeggio to the Queen at Bridewell and
attempt to persuade her to abandon her case, rather
than let it be fought out and lost by her. He aroused
himself and gave Rochford a piece of his mind, rating
him for the bad ideas which he and other lords of
the council put into the King's head, whereby they
were the cause of great trouble to the realm and would
in the end get " but small thanks either of God or of
the world." This rebuke, Cavendish says, made Roch-
ford " water his eyes." Nevertheless, Wolsey went

The Defeat of Wolsey

to fetch the other Cardinal from Bath House, and
together they proceeded to Bridewell, where Katharine
received them coldly and altogether refused to consider
their suggestion.

Meanwhile from Rome, Dr. William Benet, who,
with Casale and Vannes, had remained to represent
English interests, wrote on July 9th to say that the
Pope, with tears, had told them that the " Caesarians "
had shown a mandate from the Queen, demanding the
advocation of her cause to Rome, and he could not re-
fuse it. Clement himself, now entirely in the Emperor's
power again, wrote ten days later to Wolsey, expressing
his sorrow at having had to adopt this course, which
he had delayed doing as long as possible, and begging
him to keep Henry well disposed to the Holy See.

In London the sessions of the Legatine Court had
been suspended on July 29th, Campeggio (who had
come to the conclusion that, if he must give sentence,
it must be in favour of the validity of the marriage*)
insisting on a recess until October 1st. Nothing had
been accomplished ; and now, to crown Henry's
discomfiture, came a confirmation of the Pope's decision
to revoke the Legates' commission to try the case. All
the King could extract from Campeggio was a promise
that he had not divulged, and would not divulge,
to the Pope or anyone else his opinion on the case,
and that on its advocation to Rome he would use all
efforts with the Pope not to allow the Queen to prose-
cute it. This was a poor result for all the months
that had passed since the granting of the commission.
Furiously Henry " commanded the Queen to be

* See letter to the Emperor from his agents in Rome, September 3rd,
1529. (" Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.," Vol. IV., page 2645.)

98 The Life of Anne Boleyn

removed out of the Court to another place/' says
Cavendish, and " rode in his progress with Mistress
Anne Boleyn all the grece season."*

As usual, at this time of year, Henry made his way
towards the Midlands ; and at Woodstock, where they
were between August 25th and September 12th, he
and Anne must have had much to discuss about the
failure of the Legates to make it possible for them
to marry. The favourite had now abandoned hope
of being able to use Wolsey to accomplish her ends.
In revenge, she succeeded in persuading Henry to
deal with the Cardinal only through the medium of
Gardiner, newly appointed chief secretary to the
King, instead of as heretofore direct. But this was
not enough for her and her supporters. The whole
Boleyn party, indeed, had determined to get rid of
Wolsey altogether, and as speedily as possible, while
the King was smarting under the sense of his defeat.
They reckoned, however, without sufficient knowledge
of Henry's obstinacy — which looks almost like a
sense of gratitude in this case, if we may believe him
capable of such a feeling — and reluctance to throw
off completely the Cardinal's yoke. They were soon
disillusioned. On September 19th Wolsey arrived
with Campeggio, who had come to take farewell of
the King at Grafton, in Northamptonshire. Here
Henry was staying with a large Court, which included
Anne Boleyn, but did not include the Queen. Caven-
dish, who accompanied Wolsey, records that it was
the opinion at Court that the King would not speak
to Wolsey, and " thereupon were laid many large

* This is explained as the hunting season, when the hart is "in
grease. 1 *

The Defeat of Wolsey

wagers." It looked as if the speculators were right
when the Cardinal found no lodging prepared for him
until Sir Henry Norris, groom of the stole, in com-
passion offered him his own room, apologizing for
the scanty accommodation at Grafton. Cavendish,
however, secured him lodgings elsewhere in the
neighbourhood.

Henry received the two cardinals in the presence
of his Court, all eager to see what would happen.
To the general surprise, he not only greeted him
amiably, but took him aside to a big window and
talked with him privately. " Then to behold the
countenance of those that had made their wagers
to the contrary," says Cavendish, " it would have
made you smile." Fixing an appointment to see
Wolsey again after dinner, Henry " departed and
dined that same day with Mrs. Anne Boleyn, in her
chamber, who kept there an estate more like a queen
than a simple maid."

Cavendish got to hear, from those that waited
upon the King at dinner, of a conversation be-
tween him and his favourite, which we give in the
chronicler's own words :

" Mistress Anne Boleyn was much offended with
the King, as far as she durst, that he so gently en-
tertained my lord. . . . ' Sir/ quoth she, ' is it not
a marvellous thing to consider what debt and danger
the Cardinal hath brought you in with all your sub-
jects ? ' ' How so, sweetheart ? ' quoth the King.
' Forsooth,' quoth she, ' there is not a man within
all your realm worth five pounds but he hath indebted
you to him ' (meaning by a loan that the King had

100

The Life of Anne Boleyn

but late of his subjects). 1 Well, well/ quoth the
King, ' as for that, there is in him no blame ; for I
know that matter better than you or any other.'
' Nay, Sir,' quoth she, 1 besides all that, what things
hath he wrought within this realm to your great
slander and dishonour ? There is never a nobleman
within this realm that if he had done but half so much
as he hath done, but he were well worthy to lose his
head. If my Lord of Norfolk, my Lord of Suffolk,
my lord my father, or any other noble person within
your realm had done much less than he, but they
should have lost their heads or this.' ' Why, then
I perceive,' quoth the King, 1 ye are not the Cardinal's
friend ? ' 1 Forsooth, Sir,' then quoth she, ' I have
no cause, nor any other that loveth Your Grace, no
more have Your Grace, if ye consider well his doings.' "

Henry saw the Cardinal again in the presence-
chamber after dinner, conversing with him once more
in the window, and then took him to his own room.
Here he kept him talking until late, when Wolsey
left to escort Campeggio for a little distance on his
road before going to his own lodgings to sleep.

The next morning Wolsey called early at Grafton
and found the King on horse, just about to ride with
Anne to view the ground for a new park — afterwards
Hartwell Park — where she had made arrangements
that they should dine that day. Cavendish says
that this journey was " by special labour of Mistress
Anne," who rode with the King only to lead him
about, so that he should not return until the Cardinal
had left Grafton. According to Thomas Alward,
keeper of Wolsey's wardrobe, in a letter to Cromwell,*

* Singer's edition of " Cavendish,'' Vol. II., page 277.

The Defeat of Wolsey

101

Wolsey had " long talkyng " with the King in his
privy chamber before Henry went hunting. But
Cavendish says that Henry told Wolsey he could not
tarry.

That Wolsey's enemies recognized that he was not
yet quite beaten is evident from Alward's statement
to Cromwell that at Grafton the Duke of Suffolk,
Lord Rochford and others " did as gently behave
themselves with as moche observance and humylyte
to my lord's grace as ever I sawe theym do at any
time tofor. What they bere in their harts/' he adds,
" I knowe not."

Wolsey knew well enough, however ; and it was
with a heavy spirit that he returned to town without
seeing the King again. In fact, he was destined
never to meet him again after this, though not
left without kind words, which availed him nothing.
There was one last hope ; and with that in view the
audacious step was taken of seizing and searching
Campeggio's luggage before he left English soil. The
current rumour was that it was feared he was carry-
ing off Wolsey's accumulated treasure for him to
Rome. A later story was that Campeggio had got
hold of Henry's love-letters to Anne Boleyn and was
taking them to Rome. It is true that those
letters did go to Rome ; but not, apparently, under
cover of Campeggio's baggage. What was really
wanted was the decretal from the Pope authorizing the
Legates to act jointly or alone, which Campeggio was
supposed to have in his possession. Armed with
this, Wolsey might have disregarded Clement's with-
drawal of the joint powers conferred on him and
Campeggio. But the Italian had destroyed the

102 The Life of Anne Boleyn

document, and all that was found in his baggage seems
to have been old clothes — " such vile stuff as no honest
man would carry," says Hall !

Wolsey's last chance was gone, and the blow he
dreaded was swift in falling. On October 9th he
went to Westminster Hall to perform his duties as
Chancellor for the last time. The same day a bill of
indictment was prepared against him in the King's
Bench, by Christopher Hales, Attorney-General. Two
days later the Dukes of Suffolk and Norfolk appeared
at York Place to demand the Great Seal of England
from him. As they had come without the King's
letters patent, the Cardinal refused ; but they came
again with the necessary authority, and on the 17th
he gave up the seal. It was indeed

" Farewell, a long farewell to all my greatness ! "

Stripping himself of his many possessions, he made
them over to the King, and, taking his barge from
York Place to Putney, he rode from there to Esher
on mule-back, a poor Cardinal and nothing more.
Though he had a house at Esher, as Bishop of Win-
chester, it was unfurnished, and for some weeks he
had to make shift with what he could borrow, even for
the beds to lie upon and the tables to eat at. With
him were still some of his household, including the
faithful Cavendish and Thomas Cromwell. But
Cromwell — who was destined to play no small part
in the fate of Anne Boleyn — left Esher on "All Hal-
lown Day," November 1st, telling Cavendish more
than once that he was off to Court, " where I will
either make or mar." How he "made" is a great
matter in English Church history.

CHAPTER VIII

THE BOLEYNS' TRIUMPH

THE fall of Wolsey was accompanied by the
almost complete triumph of the Boleyn party,
even if the new Chancellor, Sir Thomas More, was no
friend of theirs. The Duke of Norfolk, still hand in
glove with them, became head of the Council, though
his moderate abilities did not long permit him to
exercise any real power. The Duke of Suffolk, still
less able, acted as his deputy in the Council. For
Thomas Boleyn further gratifications of his ambition
were in store, though it was not actually until
December 8th, 1529, that at the royal palace of Bride-
well he was created Earl of Wiltshire in England and
of Ormonde in Ireland, thus at last uniting all the
titles which had been in his mother's family.* Some
six weeks after his elevation he was made Lord Privy
Seal. George Boleyn shared in his father's rise. In
October he was appointed ambassador to France in
conjunction with Dr. Stokesley, soon to be Bishop
of London ; and in December he succeeded his father
as Viscount Rochford. As for Anne, henceforward

* James Butler, elder son of the fourth Earl of Ormonde, was
created by Henry VI. Earl of Wiltshire during the lifetime of his father.
In 1452 he succeeded to his father's title as well ; but when the Lan-
castrian cause was ruined in 1461 he was attainted and beheaded,
and his brother succeeded to the earldom of Ormonde only, the Wilt-
shire title lapsing.

We have seen that Rochford was a Butler title also.

103

104

The Life of Anne Boleyn

styled officially Lady Anne Rochford, she was, in the
words of du Bellay, " at the head of all." On the
day following Wiltshire's earldom a banquet was
given by the King, at which Anne had the place of
honour, the Queen not being present. The Duchesses of
Norfolk and Suffolk — the latter the King's own sister
and Anne's former mistress — and all other ladies there
had to yield her precedence. To follow the banquet
came a ball and " such feasts and rejoicings that
nothing seemed wanting but the priest to make the
lovers exchange their rings."

Such is the account given by a new chronicler of
contemporary events, who now comes on the scene
and who is one of the bitterest critics of Anne Boleyn.
This is Eustache Chapuys, whom, following on the
Peace of Cambrai, the Emperor Charles had accredited
as his ambassador in England in September, 1529.
If we make due allowance for his heavy bias against
her whom he never deigns to call otherwise than " the
Lady" — and, later, worse names — we shall find
Chapuys a valuable addition to the authorities for
our story.

Wolsey in the meanwhile was in the depths of
despair. Visiting him when the crash first came, du
Bellay had found his state pitiful. His principal hope
seemed to he in getting the assistance of King
Francis to break his fall. " The worst of his evil,"
writes the ambassador to Montmorency, " is that
Mademoiselle de Boulen has made her friend promise
that he will never give him a hearing ; for she thinks
he could not help having pity upon him." There
was certainly a pronounced strain of vindictiveness
in Anne's character, and she did not fail to show it

The Boleyns' Triumph

105

towards the Cardinal. For this, in his case, the only
excuse is that not even now could his enemies feel
sure that he was done with. Norfolk's fear of him,
months later, was demonstrated when in March he
induced the King to cancel his permission for the
stricken man to remain at Hampton Court and to
order him North.

Henry was quick to take advantage of the material
gain which accrued to him from the ruin of his great
minister. Writing to the Emperor on October 25th,
Chapuys records a secret visit of the King the previous
day to view the treasures Wolsey had made over to him,
which he found much greater than he expected. " He
took with him sa mye, her mother and a gentleman
of his chamber." Similarly, du Bellay two days later,
informing Montmorency of the coming assembly of
Parliament, says that during the session the King
would occupy the house that belonged to the Cardinal
and that he was coming that day to arrange for his
residence.

The house was York Place, which Wolsey, under
protest, had been induced to give to Henry with the
rest of his property, though it belonged not to him
personally but to the Archbishops of York. As a
matter of fact, he had made no formal conveyance
of it yet ; but Henry did not wait for that. He saw
in York Place a convenient London residence in
which he might house Anne, to spare her the incon-
venience of meeting Katharine at Bridewell or Green-
wich. From the Cardinal's sumptuous house grew
the royal palace of Whitehall.

There was, and indeed there could be, no limit to
Wolsey 's complaisance. His very life hung by a

106

The Life of Anne Boleyn

thread on the King's mercy or caprice. It is true
that after the bitter attack on him by Sir Thomas
More at the opening of Parliament, Henry had sent
him a " Turkis M ring, with a friendly message, and
had followed these up with a patent of protection. But
Wolsey knew his enemies' persistence and the King's
unreliable nature. Acting on the advice of Cromwell,
who in Parliament seems to have made a genuine
effort to save his former employer, he consented to
various grants to Court favourites out of such funds
as he was still allowed to handle. George Boleyn,
for instance, before the end of the year had annui-
ties of £200 out of the lands of the bishopric of Win-
chester and of 200 marks out of the abbey lands of
St. Albans. That Wolsey appreciated, however, that
Anne Boleyn was " at the head of it all " is clear from
a letter which he wrote to Cromwell : "If the dis-
pleasure of my lady Anne be somewhat assuaged,
as I pray God the same may be, then it should be
devised that by some convenient mean she be further
laboured, for this is the only help and remedy. All
possible means must be used for attaining of her
favour."

Possibly this letter should follow the incident
recorded by Cavendish of Wolsey's serious illness
at Esher at Christmas. The Cardinal's physician,
Agostino, a Venetian, who subsequently betrayed
him, was alarmed ; and Henry, hearing the news,
dispatched Dr. Butts to visit him. The doctor
reported him in grave danger of death, reports
Cavendish, unless he should shortly receive comfort
from the King and from Mistress Anne. Thereupon
the King commanded Butts to return to the patient

The Boleyns' Triumph 107

with a ring showing his own visage within a ruby,
and with a cheering message. Turning to Anne,
Henry said : " Good sweetheart, I pray you at this
my instance, as ye love us, to send the Cardinal a
token with comfortable words ; and in so doing ye
shall do us a loving pleasure." Anne, not being
minded to disobey the King, whatever she felt in her
heart, " took incontinent her tablet of gold hanging
at her girdle, and delivered it to Master Buttes, with
very gentle and comfortable words and commenda-
tions to the Cardinal."

Chapuys, commenting on this affair to the Emperor,
says : " The Lady . . . represented herself as favour-
ing him with the King. This is difficult of belief,
considering the hatred she has always borne him.
She must have thought he was dying or shown her
dissimulation or love of intrigue, of which she is an
accomplished mistress."

Another incident of Christmas, 1530, is preserved
for us in a letter written by Queen Katharine to the
Pope.* On Christmas Eve, she says, she saw the
King in private and took the opportunity to upbraid
him for the scandal which he was creating by keeping
Anne in his company. Henry, however, was im-
penitent, and replied that there was no wrong in his
relations with the Lady. He kept her in his company
in order to learn her character, as he had determined
to marry her ; and marry her he would, whatever
the Pope might say ! It is difficult to understand
how, after this, Katharine had still hopes of winning
the King back.

* Quoted by Friedmann, Vol. I., page 130, from the Vienna
archives.

108

The Life of Anne Boleyn

Anne's relenting towards the Cardinal seems to have
been of short duration, if we may trust Chapuys.
He says that Sir John Russell told him that, in con-
sequence of some words that he had spoken to the King
in Wolsey's favour, the Lady had been very angry
and had refused to speak with him. Moreover, the
Duke of Norfolk had informed Russell that she was
irritated with him too, because he had not done as
much against Wolsey as he might. Norfolk soon
made up for this laxness !

In the same letter, which is dated February 6th,
1530, Chapuys complains that the treatment of the
Queen is worse than ever. M The King is away from
her as much as possible, and is here with the Lady,
while the Queen is at Richmond. He has never
been so long without paying her a visit, and makes
it his excuse that someone has died of the plague
near her residence."

Wolsey had now recovered from his serious illness,
but found the King still inclined to be gracious to
him. Some fine presents reached him on Candlemas
Day ; and, having at length made a formal conveyance
of York Place, he received on February 12th a full
pardon and two days later was restored to the arch-
bishopric of York and all its possessions except the
town house. It looked, indeed, to his enemies as if the
chances of his recovery of favour were not impossible,
which no doubt accounts for the bitterness of Anne
and for Norfolk's action in getting him banished
from the neighbourhood of the King.

The results of the Cardinal's removal from the con-
duct of affairs had not been such as to please Henry.
The Pope was fully reconciled to the Emperor now,

The Boleyns* Triumph

109

a nd in Fe bruary had crowned him at Bologna, where
Charles remained in council with him. An outcome
of this was the issue of a Papal brief, to be affixed to
the gates of the churches, inhibiting Henry from
proceeding to a second marriage (as it was rumoured
in Europe that he intended doing), under penalty of
excommunication and of an interdict on his kingdom.
"Already, in alarm at the meeting of Pope and Emperor,
Henry had determined to send a special envoy to
Bologna to plead with them on his behalf. He selected
the Earl of Wiltshire, who hastened out to Italy,
taking with him his chaplain, Thomas Cranmer, and
being joined by Stokesley. It is a curious testimony
to the rapid advance of Cromwell that he, in the past
looked on as an enemy of the Boleyns owing to his
connection with Wolsey, was at first reported as going
to accompany the Earl ; but he did not go.

Wiltshire reached Bologna on March 14th and was
totally unable to effect anything with the Pope and
the Emperor. Indeed, he suffered the indignity of
having a citation served upon him for Henry to appear
in Rome, in person or by proxy, to have his cause
tried there. The only mitigation he could obtain,
after the Emperor had taken his departure, was that
the Pope should agree to six weeks' delay.

This was a bitter dose for Henry ; and he had
already been irritated by young Rochford's failure
in his French mission. The principal object of that
had been to influence the universities of France in
favoui of Henry's view of his marriage with Katharine.
Cavendish seems to claim for Wolsey the first credit
of the idea of getting the opinions of the universities
of Christendom on the point ; but Cranmer is

no The Life of Anne Boleyn

usually supposed to have been the instigator. The
campaign was in full swing in the early months
of 1530. The difficulty was that the bulk of Europe
was under Imperial control, and that in consequence,
outside England, there were only France and Northern
Italy to whom there was any chance of a successful
appeal. Northern Italy offered hopes through French
influence alone ; and even in France there was no
certainty of success, however much money Henry
might spend to gain his object. The University of Paris,
in fact, was very hard to win over to the King's side.

Rochford, inexperienced in diplomacy, failed and
was replaced by another ambassador. The special
mission was put into the hands of his wily father,
on his way back from Bologna. In Imperial circles
there was jubilation over the supposed complete
upset of the Boleyn hopes. Several letters to the
Emperor from Miguel Mai, his representative in
Rome, illustrate this. He reports a rumour that
Wiltshire has lost all hope, and, though he does not
believe it, that King Henry in consequence has given
Mrs. Anne certain goods for her support ; and, again,
that Wiltshire wishes to marry his daughter to
Norfolk's son (the Earl of Surrey), since she cannot
marry the King.

There was certainly considerable uneasiness in the
minds of the heterogeneous party which had over-
thrown Wolsey and were now trying to rule England,
or Henry, in his place. But we do not find any
indication that the Boleyns — that is to say, Anne
and her father — had abated their hopes, or that
there was any idea of finding another match, such as
Mai suggests . for the young lady. What does appear

The Boleyns' Triumph ill

is that there was a rift in the party, now that Wolsey
was safely exiled to his Northern diocese. Norfolk
was not satisfied with his limited power ; and his
wife was a strong partisan of Queen Katharine.
Suffolk, brother-in-law of the King, had been content
to fight with the Boleyns against the Cardinal j but
he was, through his wife, in the possible line of succes-
sion to the throne, and he was not content to see
Boleyn's daughter take precedence over her. A
strange tale about Suffolk is reported to the Emperor
by Chapuys in his letter of May ioth.* For long,
he writes, the Duke has not been at Court, and it is
said that he has been banished because he revealed to
the King that " the Lady " had been discovered in
compromising circumstances with a gentleman of the
Court who had formerly been driven from it on
suspicion ; " and this time he had been made to leave
it at the instance of the said Lady, who pretended
to be very angry with him, but at last the King
interceded with her that the gentleman should return
to Court."

The allusion certainly seems to be to Thomas Wyatt,
who, his grandson says, " was twice sifted and lifted
at, and that nobleman [Suffolk] both times his most
heavy adversary." We shall hear of the second
occasion later. Whether George Wyatt refers to
this as the first, we cannot say. There appears no
corroboration of the Imperial ambassador's story,
apart from a brief absence of Suffolk's name from the
records. Charles Brandon was a bad and unscrupulous
man, who may well have clutched at anything to

* Quoted by Friedmann, Vol. I„ page 121, from the Vienna
archives. Not in " Letters and Papers, Henry VIII. 11

112

The Life of Anne Boleyn

stop the King's marriage with Anne Boleyn. He
failed now in his attempt (if he made one), as he
failed later to ruin Wyatt.

It is quite clear that Anne in no way lost favour
with the King at this time. At the end of May we
hear of King, Queen and Mistress Anne all at Hampton
Court together. No efforts were relaxed to put
further pressure on the Pope to alter his attitude.
In July a petition was forwarded to Rome, with
thirteen columns of signatures of the spiritual and
temporal lords of England — including that of Wolsey
as Archbishop ot York — praying His Holiness to
consent to the King's desires and pointing out the
evils arising from delay.

Almost at the same time Miguel Mai was writing
to the Emperor that Clement was sending to England
a new nuncio, Antonio, Baron de Burgo, " with no
other wish than to shake the King of England in
his purpose," taking with him a dispensation for
Henry to marry his present wife, notwithstanding
that she had been his brother's wife ! Mai mentioned
also that Francis had warned the Papal nuncio in Paris
that, if they pressed Henry too hard, he would marry,
and his kingdom would renounce obedience to Rome.

Through France most hope seemed to come. Early
in August Lord Wiltshire returned to England with
the welcome news that Paris (after a severe struggle)
and the other French universities had pronounced
in favour of Henry's contention. He had partly
atoned for his failure at Bologna. In his steps
came du Bellay, who had been on a visit to France.
Received by the Council, the Bishop of Bayonne
gave as his opinion that the King should marry Anne,

The Boleyns' Triumph

113

expressing his belief that the Pope would then ratify
the union. The Council debated the point, but only
Norfolk and Wiltshire voted in favour of du Bellay's
suggestion, Suffolk being the loudest in opposition.*

It is strange to find Gregory Casale writing to Henry
on September 18th that a few days before the Pope
had proposed to him the following condition, " that
Your Majesty might be allowed two wives ! " Casale
may have misunderstood the exact nature of the
Pope's proposal, though his version of it agrees with
Mai's report to the Emperor. Anyhow, nine days
later, Clement replied to the petition of the English
lords with a letter of dignified rebuke. After the
revocation of the cause to Rome, he said, no proctor
had as yet appeared on the King's behalf, and there-
fore any delay could not be ascribed to himself.
Besides which, the King's ambassadors at Bologna
had solicited delay.

The signs were fast accumulating that Henry was
nearly " at the end of his tether, and that a break
must come. By a royal proclamation a reminder
'was given to all that English law did not allow direct
Papal jurisdiction in this country ; and Clement's
new nuncio, de Burgo, got small satisfaction from
either Councillors or the King himself when he sought
an explanation. On the contrary, he heard threats
of what was likely to happen if the Pope remained
obdurate in the matter of the divorce. De Burgo
might, indeed, have sized up the situation without
such threats. Rumours were flying about that the
King intended to achieve his end through Parliament.

* Du Bellay's letter of August 17th, 1530, in Vienna archives.
(Friedmann, Vol. I., page 120.)

114 The Life of Anne Boleyn

However, Henry decided first to make another appeal
to the Pope, writing to him direct on December 6th.
In his letter, which was very strongly worded and
complained bitterly of the actions of both Papal and
Imperial agents, he demanded once more that the
Pope should allow the cause to be decided in England
by judges named by his ambassadors as indifferent.

Henry wrote this letter from Hampton Court.
The former lord of Hampton Court, the man whose
career had been ruined through his failure to obtain
the divorce for his master, had died but a few days
beforehand ; too soon to allow the malice of his foes
to inflict the last degradation on him of imprisonment
in the Tower and what might follow thereon. Henry
unconsciously hastened his end, if we may accept
the story sent by Chapuys to the Emperor on November
27th.

" A gentleman told me," says Chapuys, " that the
King was complaining to his Council of something
that was not done according to his liking, and said
in a rage that the Cardinal was a better man than any
of them for managing matters ; and, repeating this
twice, he left them. The Duke [of Norfolk], the
Lady and the father have not ceased since then to
plot against the Cardinal ; especially the Lady, who
does not cease to weep and regret her lost time and
her honour, threatening the King that she will leave
him — in such sort that the King has had much trouble
to appease her ; and though he prayed her most
affectionately, even with tears in his eyes, nothing
would satisfy her except the arrest of the Cardinal."

This, we must remember, is gossip, repeated by one
who had every motive to represent Anne's character

From the painting by an unknown artist in the National Portrait Gallery.

Thomas, Cardinal Wolsey.

[To lace p. 114-

The Boleyns* Triumph

115

as unfavourably as possible in the eyes of the recipient
of his letter. All we know is that by order of the
Council, of which Norfolk was the head, the already
almost dying man was arrested at Cawood and brought
on his way South to stand his trial on a number of
counts, one of which is said to have been the false
statement by his traitorous physician, Agostino, that
he had secretly urged the Pope to excommunicate
Henry if he did not put away Anne Boleyn. But
the Cardinal was not destined to afford the final
gratification to his enemies — amongst whom the
party of the Boleyns formed but a small section.
By " laying his bones " among the monks of Leicester
Abbey he passed beyond the reach of hatred on
November 29th.

Much hated as he was, and in many ways no doubt
hateful, in the pages of the honest Cavendish Wolsey
certainly stands out as not entirely unlovable — the
strangest and most gorgeous character of his day.

Some at least of those who had succeeded in bring-
ing about this tragedy of a great man's end did not
hesitate to exhibit an indecent joy over it. Not
long after Wolsey' s death the Earl of Wiltshire gave
a supper to the new French ambassador in England f
the Sieur de la Guiche. For the entertainment of
the guests there was played " a farce of the Cardinal's
going to Hell." We are not told who was the author
of this merry production ; but the Duke of Norfolk
was so pleased with it that he commanded it to be
printed. La Guiche had sufficient right feeling to
disapprove of it, and, speaking to Chapuys, blamed
the Earl and still more the Duke.*

* Chapuys to the Emperor, January 23rd, 153 1.

CHAPTER IX

THE BREAK WITH ROME

WRITING to the Emperor on January ist,
1531, Eustache Chapuys gives an account
of the state of affairs with regard to Henry and Anne
Boleyn : "I have just heard from a well-informed
man that this marriage will undoubtedly be accom-
plished in this Parliament, and that they expect easily
to pacify Your Majesty. I cannot tell upon what they
rest this expectation, as I have always told them dis-
tinctly the opposite, and shall still do so before the
game is concluded. The Lady," Chapuys goes on,
" feels assured of it. She is braver than a lion. She
said to one of the Queen's ladies that she wished all
Spaniards in the world were in the sea ; and on the
other replying that, for the honour of the Queen, she
should not say so, she said she did not care anything
for the Queen and would rather see her hanged than
acknowledge her as her mistress."

Chapuys under-rated the placability of Charles,
as was to appear ; but at the moment Henry's position
facing both Emperor and Pope looked difficult enough.
Clement, with the Imperial troops on his doorstep,
put forth another brief to be affixed to the gates of
churches, especially in the Low Countries, since he
could no longer constrain the English clergy to ex-
hibit it in defiance of the royal proclamation. In

116

The Break with Rome

117

this, reminding Henry that he had refused to receive
the citation to appear in Rome for the hearing of his
cause, he forbade him to remarry until that cause
should be decided, and warned him that if he did so
any issue of the marriage would be illegitimate.

Yet, to show the strangeness of the situation, we
may note that Henry still kept up a certain amount
of formal decorum with his wife. At this very time
they were both at Greenwich, and Chapuys records a
visit to them there after dinner on Sunday, January 8th.
Henry had dined with Katharine. He received the
ambassador in a friendly manner, and permitted him
afterwards to go and converse with the Queen alone.
No mention is made of the presence of " the Lady ''
on this occasion. It is possible that she was at York
Place, contemplating the day when she should be
Queen there, or devising how she should spend the
handsome New Year's gift which Henry had just
made her of £100 — a considerably larger sum then
than it is nowadays. After all, she was but twenty-
four, good-looking, and noted for dressing well;
Sanders, we have seen, allows her that, when he allows
her little else that is not evil.

The meeting of Parliament on January 16th was
looked forward to as likely to be marked by events of
importance. Already before the opening of the
session the Attorney-General had, by the King's
direction, begun proceedings against the Bishops for
having acknowledged the Legatine power of Wolsey
in the matter of the divorce the previous year —
a power which Henry himself had been the first to
recognize ! — and thereby rendering themselves and
the clergy who followed them liable under the statute

118

The Life of Anne Boleyn

of praemunire. The Convocation of Canterbury, in
alarm, made an offer to the King of a " free gift "
of £100,000 if proceedings against them were dropped.
Henry replied with a stroke which he had in waiting
for the occasion. Let them acknowledge him supreme
head of the Church of England, he said, and he would
accept the gift and grant them pardon.

This message was sent to Convocation through
Cromwell, who at the beginning of the year had
been elevated to the Privy Council and who seems to
have taken charge of the Council's legal work. Aged
now about forty-six, Cromwell had had a varied career.
After some rather obscure experience of soldiering
in foreign service, he had returned to England to
engage first in trade and then in study of the law.
Wolsey had taken him up on his appointment to the
archbishopric of York and had made him his collector
of revenues, subsequently employing him in the work
of suppressing some of the lesser monasteries so as to
divert their resources to his proposed colleges at
Oxford and Ipswich — a training in spoliation which
Cromwell turned to good account later. Becoming
Wolsey's secretary, he left him, as we have seen, on
his fall in 1529 ; though it must be allowed that he
did not desert his cause, combining his defence with a
vigorous prosecution of his own interests. In the
Parliament of 1530 (which was not his first experience
of Parliament, as he appears to have been a member
as early as 1523), he made his mark, and, by judiciously
attaching himself to the Boleyn interests as the formerly
united party began to fall asunder when the pressure
of opposition to Wolsey ceased to hold them together,
he worked his way steadily upwards.

The Break with Rome 119

Cromwell is credited with the inspiration of Henry's
policy toward the Church in January, 1531. Accord-
ing to Cardinal Pole, Henry, after Wolsey's failure
to procure him a divorce, was heard to declare with a
sigh that he could prosecute that scheme no longer.
Those about him rejoiced ; but he had scarcely been
two days in that mind when " a messenger of Satan "
— Cromwell, to wit — addressed him, and, blaming
the timidity of the King's councillors, propounded his
own scheme. This was that Henry should get himself
acknowledged as head of the Church in his own realm.

Whether or not this is the true origin of the idea,
Henry embraced it with fervour. Apparently it did
not hurt his conscience ; and it certainly appealed
to his vanity. We must not suppose that he was
actuated by any notion of reforming the Church.
He was denouncing at this time Tyndale's " un-
charitable, venomous and pestilent books " (the
dissemination of which was carried on through
Flemish agency), and intimating to Cromwell that
he would not have the man in England.* He con-
sidered himself a good son of the Church ; but the
Pope, in his view, was treating him unfairly and was
a mere tool in his enemies' hands. He had found a
remedy for this.

To his great annoyance, the Convocation of Can-
terbury jibbed at his proposal and withdrew their
offer of a free gift. Chapuys wrote joyfully to the
Emperor on January 31st that he believed that the
King was intending to put the Lady away. He even
heard that he was putting in order for her a house

* Cromwell to Stephen Vaughan, May ? 1531. ("Letters and
Papers, Henry VIII.,' 1 Vol. V., page 113.)

120

The Life of Anne Boleyn

which he gave her some time ago. Probably he
meant to recall her soon ; but Chapuys fancied that
if once she were sent away " God and the Queen
would guard against her return."

Henry was not so easily beaten. The weapon of
the statute of praemunire was a powerful one ; and,
threatened with the penalty for treason, Convocation
gave way. They acknowledged him as supreme head
of the Church of England, adding the qualification
" in so far as the law of Christ allows." York followed
Canterbury, and Henry hastened to procure confirma-
tion from Parliament. Here again opposition met
him. If the clergy were liable to praemunire, it was
pointed out, so were the laity. The King did not
haggle for long, but granted a pardon to the laity
without exacting from them any such composition
as the clergy had been compelled to pay. He appre-
ciated that it was not safe, in his present situation,
to try the temper of the people too far.

The Queen's friends were taken aback by the measure
of success which the King's policy had attained, and
she herself felt bitter over it. In his letter of
February 21st Chapuys says that Katharine is surprised
that so little has been done in Rome. She had felt
sure that the Pope would order the Lady to be dis-
missed from Court ; but it appears that the second
brief is feebler than the first. In consequence the
English have recovered their breath, and the Lady
remains more openly acknowledged than before.
Chapuys continues, on his own account : "If the
Pope had ordered the Lady to be separated from the
King, he would never have pretended to sovereignty
over the Church ; for, as far as I can understand,

The Break with Rome 121

she and her father have been the principal cause of it.
The latter, speaking of the affair a few days ago to
the Bishop of Rochester, ventured to say he could
prove, by the authority of Scripture, that when God
left this world he left no successor nor vicar."

It is argued that the insertion of a qualifying clause
into the Church's recognition of the King's supreme
headship was a defeat of the Boleyns, and that in
consequence the intention of presenting bills in Parlia-
ment hostile to the Pope's authority was dropped.
But if Anne and her father were pressing for extreme
measures immediately, Henry was not prepared yet
to go so far, and Cromwell was too subtle to attempt
to force the pace when the opposition was daily growing
in strength. Instead of putting any further strain on
Parliament, at the end of the session, and on the day
after the pardon to the laity had been granted, " when
the memory of this exemption was fresh," as Chapuys
tells the Emperor, the members were called together.
To them the Chancellor " set forth by command
that there were some who said that the King pursued
this divorce out of love for some lady, and not out of
any scruple of conscience j but this was not true,
for he has only moved thereto in discharge of his
conscience, which, through what he had read and
discovered from doctors and universities, was in bad
condition by his living with the Queen."*

Sir Brian Tuke then proceeded to read, in a loud
voice, the opinions which had been collected from the
universities against the validity of the King's marriage
with Katharine. When the Bishops of St. Asaph
and Bath, supporters of the Queen, attempted to begin

* Chapuys to the Emperor, April 2nd, 1531.

122 The Life of Anne Boleyn

a discussion, all argument was stopped ; and the
Commons, having also heard the opinions, were dis-
missed to their constituencies to report thereon.

Chapuys reports to her nephew that Queen Kath-
arine, at Greenwich, was " in great spirits at having
escaped the determination of Parliament on the divorce,
of which she was always afraid." She had little enough
to rejoice over, apart from this. At the end of April
the Imperial ambassador records a fresh humiliation
tor her. The Princess Mary had been ill and asked
the King's permission to visit Greenwich. This was
refused, to gratify the Lady, Chapuys makes out,
" who hates her as much as the Queen, or more so,
chiefly because she sees the King has some affection
for her." He continues : "Of late, when the King
praised her in the Lady's presence, the latter was
very angry and began to vituperate the Princess
very strangely. She becomes more arrogant every
day, using words and authority towards the King,
of which he has several times complained to the Duke
of Norfolk, saying she was not like the Queen, who
never in her life used ill words to him."

Had Henry then forgotten the previous Christmas
Eve ?

Anne's attitude towards the young Princess Mary
must always remain one of the chief difficulties for her
apologists. It was a great source of sorrow to herself
in her last hours, so that we cannot doubt that she
really exhibited towards her much of the spitefulness
with which she is charged. To her the girl represented
a more serious obstacle to the complete fulfilment of her
ambitions than even Katharine. Of Henry's absolute
determination to get rid of the mother there could be no

The Break with Rome

123

question. But what of the daughter, who, failing the
birth of legitimate male offspring to him and a declara-
tion of her own illegitimacy, would remain his heir ?
Then, to embitter her, Anne had the constant cam-
paign of calumny by the adherents of the Queen and
Princess. A notable instance of this had occurred at the
period of which we are writing, in the case of Richard
Rice, or Rouse, cook to the Bishop of Rochester.

The details of this case are known to us mainly
from later historians. Henry Clifford, following San-
ders, says that Anne suborned Rice to poison
the Bishop, as being the stout defender of Queen
Katharine, and that he put poison in the common
pot. Dr. Fisher did not come to dinner that day,
but most of his " family V that did were poisoned
and died. Rice, confessing his crime, was publicly
put to death. Burnet in his " History of the Reforma-
tion " takes the pains to investigate this tale and finds
that Richard Rouse did try to poison the Bishop on
February 16th, 1531, putting something in the
"porridge," whereby seventeen people of the house-
hold and one poor woman out of those that received
the remains of the meal in charity were killed. The
cook suffered the horrible fate of being boiled to death
for this. But there is nothing whatever to implicate
Anne Boleyn in the affair. In fact, the only suggestion
of the kind that we hear at the time of the occurrence
is when Chapuys, writing to the Emperor on March
1st, mentions the case and says : " The King has
done very well to show dissatisfaction at this j never-
theless, he cannot wholly avoid some suspicion, if not
against himself, whom I think too good to do such a
thing, at least against the Lady and her father."

124 The Life of Anne Boleyn

The legend of Anne the poisoner was to grow to
larger dimensions later. That of her unchastity was
already well established, thanks to the persistent
efforts of open enemies and pretended friends. A
genuine ground of complaint against her seems to have
aroused comparatively little comment, when, at her
instigation, the King started to make a great park in
front of York Place, and knocking down a number of
private houses, threw a gallery across the street to
give access to the park. Chapuys says that the owners
of the houses were not compensated, and adds : " All
this is done to please the Lady, who likes better that
the King should stay in the said house, as there is no
lodging in it for the Queen."

Anne could hardly be expected to regard with
equanimity a meeting with Katharine, whose sup-
porters were so busy traducing her. Among them was
her uncle's wife, the Duchess of Norfolk, who at the
end of 1530 had been scoffing at the noble pedigree
with which the heralds had been furnishing the future
Queen, and who now declared herself so freely in
Katharine's favour that Anne procured her temporary
banishment from Court.

By the end of May, Henry was resolved to put a
stop to the threats which were being made to begin
proceedings in Rome. He had warned the Pope,
through his agent Benet, that to summon him thither
meant the plainest destruction of Papal authority in
England. Nevertheless, on May 31st, the nuncio de
Burgo asked an audience of him and delivered a
counter-warning that the case could be no longer
delayed. Furiously Henry swore that he would not
submit, menacing the Pope with a march on Rome by

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125

an Anglo-French army. On the following evening
he made another attempt to influence Katharine.
As she was retiring to bed at Greenwich, about eight
or nine o'clock, a deputation waited on her of Norfolk,
Suffolk, Northumberland, Wiltshire and other nobles,
over thirty in all, accompanied by the Bishops of
London and Lincoln, and Doctors Lee, Sampson
and Gardiner. They had come to remonstrate with
her, on the King's behalf, against the indignity of
having him cited to Rome, and persuade her that the
only proper course was an impartial tribunal, for which
latterly he had been urging the Pope. Katharine
turned a deaf ear to their pleadings and would hear
of no tribunal but the Pope. Reproaches and threats
availed nothing. " Some say," remarks Chapuys,
" that they worked hard and counselled long, and
devised fine plans, but were confounded by a single
woman."

The deputation went back to the King, when
Suffolk told him that, while the Queen was willing
to obey him in all things, there were two that she
must obey first. Which two ? asked Henry. God
and her conscience, replied the Duke, which she would
not destroy for him or anyone. Henry was silent.

Whether it was out of compassion for the Queen or
jealousy of the favourite, it was plain the opposition
to the Boleyn marriage had greatly grown in volume
at Court. Suffolk and his wife were now hostile.
Sir Henry Guildford, Controller of the Household,
declared himself on the same side, and when Anne
threatened him with loss of his post as soon as she
was Queen resigned it at once, and could not be per-
suaded to resume his duties. Gardiner, still chief

126 The Life of Anne Boleyn

secretary to the King, but under promise of prefer-
ment to the bishopric of Winchester, was suspected by
Anne of lukewarmness, at least ; and there were other
very doubtful quantities in the royal service at home
and abroad.

In disgust, Henry took refuge in his favourite
hunting, in the company of Anne, of his Master of
the Horse and two others. That Anne was not un-
chaperoned by her mother, however, we learn from a
letter written to Lord Wiltshire by his chaplain Cranmer
on June 13th. " The King his Grace, my lady your
wife, my lady Anne your daughter," he wrote, " be
in good health, whereof thanks be to God. . . . The
King and my lady Anne rode yesterday to Wyndsowere,
and this night they be looked for again at Hampton
Courte ; God be their guide ! "

Cranmer, we have seen, had accompanied Lord
Wiltshire on his mission to Bologna in the previous
year. He had been taken into his household as
chaplain on the recommendation of the King, who,
according to the accepted story, had his attention
drawn to him by his own almoner Foxe. Cranmer,
Foxe and Gardiner had been college friends at Cam-
bridge, and, meeting the other two at Waltham
during the epidemic of the sweat, Cranmer had sug-
gested to them that the King, instead of waiting for
the slow process of Papal action to release him from
his marriage, should take steps to prove its invalidity
and then marry again. He proposed taking the opinion
of the universities. When Foxe reported this, Henry
sent for Cranmer and was well pleased with him,
commissioning him to put forth his views on the
marriage in the form of a treatise and getting him

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127

his post with the Boleyn household at Durham Place
— a momentous step in Cranmer's career, as it even-
tually turned out.

If the King chafed at the obstacles in his path
and sought relaxation in the chase to help him to
forget his vexations, it is plain Anne's spirit had in
no way abated, either through the constant fresh
delays in the fulfilment of the promise that she should
be Queen or through the desertions of former allies.
" The Lady only allows three or four months for the
nuptials," wrote Chapuys on July 17th, deriving his
information perhaps from Norfolk. " She is preparing
her royal state by degrees, and has just taken an
almoner and other officers. She goes along with the
King to the chase ; and the Queen, who always used
to follow, has been commanded by the King to stay
at Windsor."

A week later a definite rupture occurred between
Henry and Katharine, in the twenty-third year of
their married life ; and we have no account of their
actually meeting again. Henry had left Windsor to
continue his hunting further afield, taking Ajme in
his suite. Katharine sent a message, inquiring after
his health and expressing her regret that she had been
unable to speak with him on his departure. Henry
sent the messenger back with an angry reply, intimating
that he wanted no good-byes or inquiries after his
health, and reviling her for the trouble which she
had caused him. She wrote again, lamenting his
ill-will, in a letter of considerable length, which
seems to have rendered the King speechless for three
days, as it was not until after that interval that he
answered. Then his letter, which Chapuys of course

128 The Life of Anne Boleyn

suggests was dictated by Anne Boleyn, was a crude
and violent production, complaining of her obstinate
maintenance of the non-consummation of her marriage
with his brother Arthur and her preaching of this to
all the world. She would have done more wisely,
he said, to spend her time in seeking witnesses to her
pretended virginity than in talking as she had ; and
instead of writing to him she had better attend to her
own affairs.*

The letter, in fact, was pure Henry VIII., almost in
his lowest terms. We need not attribute it to the
Lady's inspiration. It had no address, Chapuys
says, " probably because they meant to change
her name, and had not yet determined what title to
give her."

The same chronicler, writing on August 19th, states
that the King, under pretence of hunting about
Windsor, has ordered the Queen to dislodge and retire
to More, and the Princess to Richmond. The More,
or Moor Park, Hertfordshire, was a house formerly
belonging to Wolsey in his capacity of Abbot of St.
Albans, and was described by Katharine as " one of
the worst in England." She vainly petitioned Henry
to allow her to remove elsewhither ; and at the More
she had to stay, bitterly complaining that she would
have preferred to be put in the Tower of London.
It was an additional touch of cruelty that she was now
entirely cut off from the Princess Mary.

Nevertheless, when in October a fresh deputation
waited on her from the King, Katharine maintained
her unyielding attitude. The envoys, consisting of
Dr. Lee, now Archbishop elect of York, Dr. Sampson,

* Chapuys to the Emperor, July 31st, 1531.

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129

dean of the chapel royal, the Duke of Suffolk and
Sir William Fitzwilliam, represented to her how much
better it would be to get rid by amicable means of the
difference with the King and to agree to leave the
question of the validity of her marriage to the bishops
of the realm. They even went down on their knees
to her. She went down on her knees in her turn,
but gave way not an inch.

Henry's reply was to cut off further dealings with
her, and to devote himself to the completion of his
plans to carry through in England his liberation from
his first marriage. He was assured of the support
of France, and under Anne's influence was prepared
to defy the Emperor. Anne was certainly confident.
Meeting one day the French ambassador, John
Joachim, Sieur de Vaux, who prophesied that she
would now soon be Queen and that Charles would
offer no opposition, she scornfully answered that she
did not want this or any other benefit by the Emperor's
consent.

" Braver than a lion," as Chapuys had formerly
described her, the Lady did not flinch before the proofs
of her personal unpopularity, not only at Court, outside
the small section of her own adherents, but among the
populace. Burnet says that the Queen's cause was
mostly approved by the women, the King's by the
men. There is not much sign of the men's support
of the King. Of the women's sympathy with the
Queen there is no doubt. An odd affair is mentioned
in a letter preserved in the Venetian section of the
State papers of Henry VIII.* Writing to the French

* " Venetian Calendar,' 1 Vol. IV., page 701. Letter of November
24th, 1 53 1.

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The Life of Anne Boleyn

ambassador in Rome, a correspondent tells him that
(apparently in September) a mob of seven to eight
thousand of the women of London, with a number of
men disguised in their midst, had gone out to seize
" Boleyn's daughter, the King's sweetheart," as she
was supping at a villa on the river, the King not
being with her, and that she only escaped by crossing
the river in a boat. They had intended to kill her,
says the writer. We do not hear of the incident
elsewhere ; but there seems no reason to reject it.

The campaign of calumny was steadily kept up
against Anne, both at home and abroad. Another
letter in the " Venetian Calendar "* tells how the
King has living with him " a young woman of noble
birth, though of bad character, whose will is law
unto him." In Rome her enemies spared her nothing.
Twice in December, 1531, Dr. Ortiz, one of the Im-
perial agents, wrote to inform Charles that the King's
11 wench " (manceba) had miscarried. Nor was the
gossip confined to those who objected to Anne on
religious grounds, it must be admitted. A choice
piece of scandal-mongering was communicated in
September by Simon Grynee, the Reformer, to his
friend Martin Bucer.-j- Grynee had come to England
earlier in the year, led chiefly by a desire to visit the
libraries of the country, as Erasmus wrote in a letter
introducing him to Lord Mountjoy. He did not confine
himself to literary research. Speaking of Anne, he
says to Bucer : " Whether she has any children by
the King I do not know. She has not any acknow-
ledged as such ; they may probably be brought up

* " Venetian Calendar," Vol. IV., page 682.
t " Original Letters " (Parker Society), No. 256.

The Break with Rome

131

in private (which, if I am not mistaken, I have heard
more than once), though there are those who positively
deny that the King has any intercourse with her,
which, in my opinion, is not likely. But she is young,
good-looking, of a rather dark complexion, and
likely enough to have children."

Grynee, a foreigner in England, was evidently
puzzled by the relationship between Henry and his
favourite, which is by no means surprising. He could
not be expected to understand the peculiar workings
of Henry's conscience, or to appreciate the strength
of Anne's determination to have u all or none," how-
ever long it might take her to secure the all on which
she was bent.

CHAPTER X

FIGHTING HOME OPPOSITION

ON Christmas Eve, 1531, Anne gave a feast, to
which were invited both the Sieur de Vaux
and the new French ambassador, Giles de la Pom-
meraye, who had come over to succeed him, with
special instructions to help Henry in the matter of
his divorce — provided that he were ready to pay the
price asked by Francis for his continued support.
Chapuys saw Pommeraye after the feast and got from
him the information that it was impossible to conceive
how much the English King had the divorce at heart,
and that his own master would refuse Henry nothing.
Francis was wise enough to realize that, as Chapuys
wrote later, he had lost nothing by the death of
Wolsey, the Lady having more credit than the Cardinal
had had, while there was no necessity to pay her
25,000 crowns — his subsidy to Wolsey — but only
flattery and promises of soliciting the divorce. Now,
through the agency of Pommeraye, a fresh treaty of
alliance was negotiated, by which each King bound
himself to aid the other in the event of attack by the
Emperor. The advantage of this was certainly on
the side of Francis, whose dominions were more
vulnerable to such an attack than Henry's.

The treaty was signed by the French ambassador,
Edward Foxe and Lord Wiltshire in April ; but

132

Fighting Home Opposition

133

already early in January Francis had started to carry
out part of the bargain. On the 8th Cardinal Gram-
mont wrote to the Pope, begging him not to delay
remitting Henry's cause to England until evil con-
sequences had arisen ; and Francis followed this up
two days later with a letter on behalf of his " good
brother." The Papal correspondence of this month
is interesting, for on the 4th we find Clement writing
a personal letter to Henry, asking his aid against
the Turks in case they invaded Italy. On that same
day Henry had written to Ghinucci and Casale, his
agents in Rome, to use every effort to induce the Pope
to adjourn his case still further. His other agent,
Benet, was at the moment in England. A curious
sidelight on his attitude towards his master's business
is furnished by Chapuys. Benet secretly commu-
nicated with the Queen, begging her pardon for acting
against her. In good will, he told her, she had no
better servant than himself, and he informed her that
now or never was the right season to put pressure
on the Emperor, seeing the cowardice of the Pope,
for her affairs were never in better condition !*

Benet did not openly throw off the mask of partisan
of the King. More honest than he, Reginald Pole,
whose mother, the Countess of Salisbury, was
governess to the Princess Mary, came to Henry and
told him that if he remained in England he must
attend Parliament, and, should the divorce be discussed,
he must speak according to his conscience. Pole was
a Plantagenet and a kinsman of the King. He had
previously acted in Henry's interests in the matter
of procuring opinions from the French universities.

* Chapuys to the Emperor, January 4th, 1 532.

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The Life of Anne Boleyn

But now he had repented. Under the threat of his
opposition in Parliament, Henry gave him permission,
which he had hitherto refused, to go abroad to continue
his studies. This was a lucky escape for the future
Cardinal, since it put him out of the reach of the fate
which later overtook his family, including even the
old Countess, whose murder in 1541 was one of the
most monstrous of Henry's crimes.

In the same letter in which he tells of Benet's
double-dealing, Chapuys complains of the unkind
treatment to which the Queen had been subjected at
New Year. Though she has been forbidden to write
or send messages to the King, he says, she sent him a
gold cup as a present, with honourable and humble
words ; but, though he looked at it and praised its
fashion, Henry sent it back in the evening. He made
no New Year's gift to Katharine, and forbade others
to do so. " He has not been so discourteous to the
Lady, who has presented him with certain darts, of
Biscay an fashion, richly ornamented. In return he
gave her a room hung with cloth of gold and silver and
crimson satin, with rich embroideries."

It is true that in the list of the King's New Year
gifts a blank stands opposite the name of the Queen.
Anne's family are well represented in the list. Pre-
sents of silver plate are recorded to Lady Wiltshire,
Lady Rochford (George Boleyn's wife), Lady Mary
Rochford — i.e., the former Mary Boleyn, who also
gets " a shirt with a black collar " — and Lady Shelton,
a sister of Lord Wiltshire, who was now among the
Court ladies. The " Lady Anne " herself figures in
the list, but the present mentioned by Chapuys does
not appear.

Fighting Home Opposition

135

As far as royal state was concerned, Anne had
practically all the privileges of the Queen ; and she
was attended by almost as many ladies as Katharine,
we are told. But still it appeared impossible to make
any progress with the divorce and marriage. Henry
sent Benet back to Rome, and dispatched also Dr.
Edmund Bonner to assist him. He was further repre-
sented there by Sir Edward Carne, his excusator,
whose duty it was to plead that the King should not
be compelled, either in person or by proxy, to appear
before the Pope. His newest proposal to Clement
was that the cause should be tried by three English
prelates, one nominated by himself, one by Katharine,
and one by His Holiness. In France he had Gardiner
looking after his interests, and at the beginning of
1532 he enlisted the services of Cranmer, who had now
finished his book in favour of the divorce, as his
ambassador to the Emperor.

On their side, the Imperial representatives were
busy pressing the Pope. Ortiz was in high hopes of
extracting from him a new brief, excommunicating
Henry "if he does not cast off his concubine Ana in
fifteen days and return to the Queen " — the brief to
be posted up in Brussels and Utrecht.* But Ortiz
was disappointed. The Pope's brief, dated January
25th, was merely an admonishment to Henry on
the scandal he was creating, ending with a mild hope
that he would take Katharine back and put away
Anne, which did not trouble the King at all.

In England Henry was continuing his campaign
against the authority of the Pope ; but he found it

* Ortiz to the Emperor, January 25th, 1532. (" Letters and Papers,
Henry VIII.," Vol. V.)

136 The Life of Anne Boleyn

very uphill work. Parliament met on January 15th,
and the rumours were many as to what was going to
be done. According to Hall's "Chronicle," it was in
this Parliament that a definite motion was brought
forward by one of the members to petition Henry
to take the Queen back, because of the serious danger
to the succession if the Princess Mary were to be
declared illegitimate ; but we do not know the date
of this motion. The King's advisers proceeded
cautiously. They consulted the bishops with regard
to action hostile to Rome, but got no encouragement
from most of them. Then Norfolk and Wiltshire
approached Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury
(" whom they consider as Pope of England," says
Chapuys), with a view to an ecclesiastical court to
try the case, in defiance of the Pope. Warham
refused ; " and it seems that, as they despair of
gaining their end by an ecclesiastical way, they will
take some other road."

Norfolk was entrusted with the next step. Calling
together some of the peers and members of the
Commons, he put it before them that matrimonial
cases should be judged by lay, not ecclesiastical,
tribunals. Lord Darcy opposed this, and the other
lords sided with him. Chapuys says that Lord
Wiltshire (whether on this or some other occasion)
maintained, upon his body and goods, that no Pope
nor prelate had power to exercise jurisdiction or make
any law — at which, the ambassador adds, " no sur-
prise need be felt, for he and his daughter are considered
true apostles of the new sect." But Norfolk and
Wiltshire could not carry Parliament with them.

Henry was furious with them over their failure,

Fighting Home Opposition

137

and seems to have been inclined to take the French
advice to marry Anne at once, assuming as proved
the invalidity of his first marriage. Wiltshire was
aghast at this, realizing that it would mean uproar
in the country, and incidentally his own ruin. Anne
quarrelled with her father, and also with her uncle
Norfolk, suspecting them both of opposing her
secretly. A curious result of her quarrel with the
latter was that she insisted on his marrying his son,
the young Earl of Surrey, to Frances Vere, daughter
of the Earl of Oxford, a match which she had pre-
viously opposed. Now she appeared to fear that
Norfolk was aiming to secure the hand of the Princess
Mary for his son, with designs upon the throne. So,
though Surrey was only fourteen or fifteen and the
lady was also a minor, she practically forced the
Duke to get them married in April.

The estrangement between Norfolk and his niece
was fairly complete now ; and it is plain that he
began, in consequence, to grow more friendly with
the Imperial ambassador. When Chapuys spoke to
him about a priest who had recently ventured to call
the Pope a heretic, the Duke frankly said that it was
no surprise, for this priest was more Lutheran than
Martin himself, and that he himself would have
burnt him if it had not been for the Earl of Wiltshire
" and another person." He also made out that he
was neither the promoter nor the favourer of this
marriage, which he had always dissuaded. But for
him and the Earl of Wiltshire, he said, it would have
taken place a year ago.* On this point, though not

* Chapuys to the Emperor, May 29th, 1532. Quoted by Fried-
mann, Vol. I., page 157 n., from the Vienna archives.

138 The Life of Anne Boleyn

in religious matters, he and the Earl were at one,
according to his account.

The religious aspect of the question was growing
very prominent, as can be seen clearly from the
Chapuys letters. In March the King had caused a
priest to be arrested for preaching against the divorce
in " the Great Church ; " and it was reported that
he had ordered preachers to support his cause. " One
tried to begin it in the bishopric of Cardinal Campeggio
[Salisbury], but the women and others would have
treated him very ill, had it not been for the authority
of justice." A still more notable case was that at
Greenwich, of which we have Stow's account as well
as that of Chapuys.

The Order variously called the Friars Minors,
Minorites or, most commonly, Observant Friars,
a reformed Franciscan body, had a convent at
Greenwich, on land given to them by Henry VII.
Henry VIII. and Katharine both showed great favour
to the Observants ; but when the dispute came
between the King and Queen the Friars mostly
espoused the Queen's side with considerable fervour.
On Easter Sunday, 1532, the Provincial of the Order,
William Peto, preached with great boldness before
Henry in the convent on the story of Ahab and Naboth.
" Even where the dogs licked the blood of Naboth,"
he said, ** even there shall the dogs lick thy blood,
O King ! " And, after speaking of the lying prophets,
he went on : "I am that Micheas whom thou wilt hate,
because I must tell thee that this marriage is unlawful ;
and I know I shall eat the bread of affliction and drink
the water of sorrow, yet because Our Lord hath put
it into my mouth I must speak of it."

Fighting Home Opposition

139

It is not surprising that Henry was annoyed at
the sermon and remonstrated with Peto, who only
told him, however, that he was endangering his
crown, for both great and small were murmuring at
the proposed marriage. The next Sunday, Henry
sent one of his own chaplains, Dr. Richard Cur wen,
to preach in the convent and contradict Peto's remarks.
This Curwen did, denouncing Peto as M dog, slanderer,
base beggarly friar, close man, rebel, and traitor,"
and saying that he wished he were there to answer
him. Thereon Henry Elston, the warden of the
convent, stood up in the rood-loft and answered him
on behalf of Peto (who was away), accusing him of
seeking by adultery to establish the succession, betray-
ing the King to endless perdition, and so on. No one
could stop his heated tirade until the King himself
ordered him to hold his peace.

The sequel to this strange scene was the arrest
of Peto, on his return from a provincial council at
Canterbury, and of Elston, and an application by
Henry to Rome for a commission to have them tried
by the head of the Augustinian Order in England !
The Observants, not only at Greenwich but at their
other branches, were seething with discontent against
the King, and such of them as took his side were
heartily abused. One of them, Friar John Laurence,
writes to Cromwell shortly after that, having preached
at Kingston a few words persuading the people to
reverence their prince, " as soon as I entered the
convent divers set upon me with open mouth, saying
I had preached the King's matter and that all our
religion should be slandered thereby." In August
Laurence wrote again secretly that he had been

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The Life of Anne Boleyn

forbidden by the Order, under pain of imprisonment, to
communicate with either Cromwell or the King. In the
end Henry suppressed the Greenwich convent, though
this not until two years later. As for Peto and Elston,
we find them in Antwerp in the summer of 1533, so
that they must have been released to go abroad.

Henry's irritation with rebellious preachers did
not incline him to take even mild reproaches from
the Pope in a humble spirit. When the nuncio
appeared before him with Clement's latest brief in
May, though that could not in any way be considered
a threatening document, he expressed astonishment
that His Holiness should persist in this fancy of wish-
ing him to recall the Queen. If the Pope's contention
was that Katharine was his wife, then what business
was it of his to meddle with his punishment of her
for her daily rude behaviour to him ?

The said rude behaviour — Katharine's continued
refusal to yield — was only exhibited at a distance ;
and after Easter Henry had removed her still further
from him, by sending her to Easthamsted, where she
was lodged in a house of the unfriendly Bishop of
Lincoln, and where she found the accommodation bad.

In spite of the ill-success which had met the attempts
to use Warham and the general body of the bishops
to carry out his wishes, Henry by menaces cowed the
clergy into making a submission to him, promising
to make no new canons or constitutions without
his consent and to revise the already existing canons.*

* After putting this proposition before the Convocation of Canter-
bury, Henry had sent for the Speaker and twelve members of the
Commons on May nth, and told them that he had discovered that the
clergy were not loyal subjects, since they took two oaths of obedience,
one to the Pope and one to himself. His object was to fasten on Par-
liament a quarrel with the clergy.

Fighting Home Opposition

141

This step they agreed to on May 16th. It was
ominous of the disapproval aroused that, on that
same day, Sir Thomas More resigned the Chancellor-
ship ; and Chapuys records that Gardiner, Bishop
of Winchester, absented himself from Court until
the King was obliged to recall him in connection with
a dispatch to Rome.

More's position was filled by the appointment of
Thomas Audley, a friend of Cromwell, who had
been Speaker. He was knighted and made Keeper
of the Great Seal, with all the Chancellor's functions
and eventually the title also. With him in More's
place there was no fear of opposition to the King's
schemes. As for Cromwell himself, now Master of
the Jewels, his influence in Henry's counsels was
far greater than his mere official position indicated.
It is difficult to apportion clearly the shares of Anne
Boleyn and of Cromwell in driving Henry forward
on the road that led from Rome. Cromwell revealed
his hand less openly than Anne, who talked after
the fashion of a woman of her years. On July nth
Chapuys gives the Emperor a sad account of a young
priest, of honest and virtuous life, who has been
hanged for " clipping angels." The King, who had
lately pardoned a French innkeeper for a similar
offence against the coinage, would listen to no inter-
cession on the priest's behalf, " either from hatred
of theology or from love of the Lady, who told her
father he did wrong to speak for a priest, as there
were too many of them already."

In the same month the Imperial ambassador refers
to the quarrel between the Earl and Countess of
Northumberland, and alleges that Northumberland

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The Life of Anne Boleyn

told her that he was not her lawful husband, as he
had been precontracted to Anne Boleyn. Thereon
she wrote and told her father. Lord Shrewsbury
showed the letter to Norfolk, who took it to his
niece. Anne in turn took it to Henry and demanded
that he should question Northumberland about it,
with the result that Northumberland solemnly denied
the precontract, first before the Council and then
before the Archbishop of Canterbury.* Such is the
story, as to which it depends on our estimate of
Henry Percy's character whether we believe that
he really told his wife that there had been a pre-
contract. That Lady Northumberland said so, we
need not doubt, nor that Anne's enemies would
gladly have used her word to ruin the favourite.

There was no sign of any abatement yet of the
King's passion for " this Ana with whom the enemy
has entangled him," as Ortiz describes her. He
started with her from Windsor early in July for
his customary hunting tour in the Midlands. But
he had conceived a far more ambitious plan for show-
ing his determination to have her as his queen. He
would take her with him to Calais and Boulogne,
and there meet the French King, to talk over the
steps necessary to bring about the marriage. The
greatest pleasure that Francis could do to Henry,
wrote du Bellay (now again in England) to Mont-
morency on July 2 ist, was to send an invitation,
through himself, for Henry to bring Madame Anne

* Chapuys to the Emperor, July 22nd, 1532. Quoted by Fried-
mann, Vol. I., page 159, from the Vienna archives. As a matter of
fact, the denial, on oath, before both Archbishops, seems to have come
first. See Northumberland's letter to Cromwell, May 13th, 1536.
(" Letters and Papers, Henry VOL,* Vol. VIII.)

From an engraving by X. H. Jacob.

Marguerite de Valois, Queen of Navarre.

[To face p. 142.

Fighting Home Opposition

143

to Calais. The difficulty was as to who should receive
her. Francis had, in 1530, taken as his second wife
Eleanor, sister of the Emperor Charles ; and to
Henry to see the Spanish dress was " like seeing a
devil " — apart from the fact, about which du Bellay
is discreetly silent, that Eleanor would scarcely be
willing to receive her aunt's intended successor. Could
not Francis bring the Queen of Navarre (Anne's
former patroness Marguerite, Duchess of Alencon)
to act as hostess ?

In his letter du Bellay mentions the great court
paid to him by the English King, who takes him with
him to the chase, sometimes placing him and Madame
Anne together with "their crossbows, to shoot at the
deer as they pass. Also he shows him coursing, and
Madame Anne has given him a hunting dress, with
hat and horn and greyhound. Du Bellay is evidently
gratified at such marks of esteem.

The other ambassador, Chapuys, who was not
similarly honoured, writes to the Emperor that Henry
had intended to continue his progress northwards ;
but, though great preparations had been made, he
turned back. " Some say the cause is that in two
or three places that he passed through the people
urged him to take back the Queen, and the women
insulted the Lady." It is at this time that we read
of a great riot and unlawful assembly of women at
Yarmouth, which it is thought could not have been
held without the connivance of their husbands ; and
there can be little doubt that this disturbance was
occasioned by the indignation of the women over the
rumours of the King's speedy second marriage.

Henry had, in fact, at last decided that he could

144

The Life of Anne Boleyn

wait no longer on the Pope, and his only anxiety
was how to prevent a sentence of excommunication
if he proceeded at once to the new marriage. He
must have been well aware of the bullying to which
Clement was being submitted by the Imperial repre-
sentatives in Rome, to force him to the direct threat,
with a definite time-limit within which Anne must be
put away. Ortiz took the lead in this, and writes to
the Emperor on August 21st of an interview which
he had just had with the Pope. His Holiness had
urged that, though he judged that the King was living
in mortal sin, others might say it was the custom in
England for princes to converse with ladies, and he
could not prove that there was anything worse than
that in this case. It was a bad custom, replied
Ortiz, to allow fire and tow to be together ! "I shall
have to speak to the Pope several times," he says,
" for he does not see how he is offending Our Lord
by his delay."

Clement, however, was not yet to be moved from
his attitude of delay, and, instead of issuing the
desired brief, prorogued the King's cause until
November.

In England, the chief talk was of the coming
journey to Calais. " The King seems never to have
desired anything so much," says Chapuys, " for he
does not care to speak of anything else. No one else
wishes it except the Lady, and the people talk of it
in a strange fashion. The Council, and especially the
Duke of Suffolk, have spoken so plainly that the King
insulted him several times."

Suffolk, in common with everyone else, including
Queen Katharine, felt that the journey to Calais meant

Fighting Home Opposition

145

nothing less than the irrevocable confirmation of
Henry's promise of marriage to Anne. If she went
to France in the position of Queen, whether or not the
marriage took place instantly, she would come back
to be Queen. Therefore her enemies fought with all
the strength they dared use to delay the journey.

Fate, however, fought on Henry's and Anne's side
against them. On August 23rd died Warham, Arch-
bishop of Canterbury, who since his action in May, 1527,
in the King's interests, had gradually developed into
a firm supporter of Katharine, and who had absolutely
refused to lend himself to the scheme to defy the Pope.
The see of Canterbury was thus vacant ; and with
an archbishop of more pliable character Henry might
hope for success. The joint preparations for the
journey and the wedding went forward. The first
official step towards both was taken a week after
Warham's death.

CHAPTER XI

THE MARCHIONESS OF PEMBROKE

THE step which marked the approaching end
of Henry's strange courtship was taken on
September ist, 1532. Two patents had been drawn
up, one creating Anne Marchioness of Pembroke —
" the lady marquess 99 was the style by which she was
generally called at the period — and the other conferring
on her for life an annuity of £1,000, out of the issues
of lands in England and Wales.

Henry and his Court were at Windsor on September
ist, which was a Sunday. A manuscript account in
the British Museum* relates how the Lady was con-
veyed by noblemen and heralds to the King, who was
accompanied by the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk,
the French Ambassador and others. "Mr. Garter 99
(Thomas Wriothesley, Garter King-at-Arms) bore the
patent of creation ; and the Lady Mary Howard,
Norfolk's daughter, the ermine-furred mantle of
crimson velvet and the coronet which Anne was to
wear. Dressed in a straight-sleeved surcoat of crim-
son velvet, also ermine-furred, and with her hair
worn flowing and completely covered with the most
costly jewels (this touch is given by a describer of the
scene in the " Venetian Calendar "), she came before

* " Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.," Vol. V., page 552. For the
patents see page 585.

• 146

The Marchioness of Pembroke 147

the King, led by the Countesses of Sussex and Rutland,
and knelt while the Bishop of Winchester read out her
patent of creation. Then Henry invested her with
her mantle and coronet, and handed to her the two
patents. She expressed her thanks to him, and returned
to her chamber. The manuscript adds the information
that she presented to Mr. Garter for her apparel £8,
and to the Office of Arms, £11 13s. 4d. ; while the King
gave them £5.

Chapuys in his report to the Emperor mentions that
the creation took place before Mass, and that after
Mass, which was performed by the Bishop of Win-
chester, the King and the French Ambassador drew
near to the altar and signed and swore to certain articles.
Dr. Foxe having made a speech in praise of the Anglo-
French alliance, of which God, not man, he declared,
must have been the inventor, " the singers began to
sing Te Deum and the trumpets and other instruments
to do their duty."

There were two curious points about this honour
for Anne Boleyn. In the first place, no one had
previously been made a peeress in her own right in
England, and, secondly, the title was granted in
tail male, without reference to the necessity of a son
being " lawfully begotten." Whether we need from
the second point deduce, as do some of her biographers,*
that Anne now yielded to the King is, at least,
debatable. At any rate, we may admit that the goal
of her ambition was within sight of her eyes. She

* " No other theory," says Friedmann, " will account for all the
circumstances — the curious wording of the patent, the promotion of
Anne immediately after Warham's death, the nomination of Cranmer
[to Canterbury], and the premature birth of Elizabeth.' 1

But, after all, Elizabeth was not born until September 7th, 1533.

10*

148

The Life of Anne Boleyn

could not well have been more publicly announced
as Queen Elect, with Katharine's marriage still
unbroken.

In Rome, rather oddly, the bestowal of this new
title and of the annuity was at first interpreted as
meaning that Henry was giving up the struggle and
contemplated finding another husband for Anne !
Chapuys was not under this delusion in England,
with the preparations for the trip to Calais going on before
his eyes. On October ist he describes the Lady busy
buying costly dresses, and the King, not content with
giving her his own jewels, sending the Duke of Norfolk
to obtain the Queen's for her as well. On Norfolk's
arrival, Katharine protested that she might not send
jewels or anything else to the King, who had long ago
forbidden her to do so ; " and, besides, it was against
her conscience to give her jewels to adorn a person
who was the scandal of Christendom." But if the
King expressly asked them of her, she added, she
would obey him in this as in other things. Henry
thereon sent a gentleman of his chamber to her, and
Katharine gave up all the jewellery she had, " where-
with the King was well pleased."

Katharine, according to Chapuys, was much afraid
that Henry would marry Anne in Calais ; but the Lady
had assured some trusted friend that, even if the King
wished that, she would not consent. " She wishes it
to be done here, in the place where queens are wont
to be married and crowned." Obviously, it was still
Anne's to command, and the King's to obey, which
may be circumstantial evidence against the theory
that she had yet yielded.

It was not until October nth that Henry and Anne

The Marchioness of Pembroke 149

actually set sail from Dover to Calais. The delay
was caused by the vexed question, of which we have
already heard, who should act as hostess in France.
The Queen of Navarre was ill, or said she was, and
could not undertake the task. The French proposed
the Duchess of Vendome ; but Henry objected to her
as having been of a gay reputation and as " likely to
bring with her companions of bad repute, which would
be a disgrace and an insult to the English ladies."
Accordingly, the idea of a reception of the Marchioness
of Pembroke by a French princess was abandoned,
and the suite which was intended to accompany her
was reduced considerably.

As far as men were concerned, Henry and the
Marchioness were sufficiently splendidly attended on
their journey. Her father, her brother, her uncle
Norfolk, and Sir James Boleyn, her father's brother,
with their retinues, were but a few in a great train of
courtiers and men-at-arms. Thomas Wyatt was also
of the party, as is witnessed by his lines :

Sometime I fled the fire that me brent
By sea, by land, by water, and by wind ;

And now I follow the coals that be quent,
From Dover to Calais, against my mind.

Others in attendance on the King were " a legion of
doctors and monks who are in his favour about the
divorce, and among them the Jews he summoned from
Venice," says Chapuys. We hear elsewhere of a Jew
who had been taken into counsel as to the Mosaic
law with reference to a deceased brother's wife.

The travellers embarked on the Swallow at Dover
on October nth, and reached Calais the same night.
The meeting between Henry and Francis, at which

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The Life of Anne Boleyn

no ladies were present, took place at the English
frontier on October 21st. They rode together to
Boulogne, and on the 25th came to Calais. Lavish
and splendid festivities marked the days spent to-
gether by the royal pair ; but only on the 27th did
Anne meet the French King. It was a Sunday, and
the two monarchs heard Mass separately in their own
lodgings. In the afternoon Henry called at Staple
Hall, where Francis was housed, and, after a display
of bear- and bull-baiting there, brought him back to
supper. The meal was followed by the appearance of
four damsels in crimson satin, carrying tabards, who
ushered in eight ladies, masked, and dressed in cloth
of gold, slashed with crimson tinsel satin, puffed
with cloth of silver and knit with laces of gold. These
splendid figures danced with Francis, his brother-in-
law, the King of Navarre, and the French lords.
Henry himself unmasked the ladies, when it was
discovered that the Marchioness of Pembroke had
been dancing with Francis, Lady Derby with Navarre,
and that the other maskers included Lady Fitzwalter,
Lady Rochford, Lady Lisle, and Lady Wallop, wife
of the Lieutenant of Calais. The dancing then
continued for an hour.*

Compared with what Henry had desired in the way of
a reception in France for his future wife, the affair at
Calais was no doubt a disappointment, and but an insig-
nificant part of the pageantry of the visit as a whole.
But Francis was affable to Anne and talked with her
for a long time (giving her, we may suppose, more
flattery and promises), while before he took farewell

* Wynkyn de Worde (" Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.," Vol. V.,
page 623) ; and Hall's " Chronicle."

The Marchioness of Pembroke 151

of Henry on the 29th he seems to have urged him to
proceed with the marriage, leaving the defence of
his cause before the Pope till afterwards. Chapuys,
in England, heard that they had agreed to send a
demand to the Pope to declare immediately in favour
of the divorce, or to remit the cause to England, in
default of which both Kings would abrogate the
Papal authority in their realms, and Henry would
have the case decided by his own prelates.

Henry had intended to return home soon after the
departure of Francis ; but bad weather compelled
him to remain in Calais until November 13th. On
arrival at Dover he spent a few days there, on the
pretence of consulting about the construction of
harbours in the neighbourhood, but really, says
Chapuys, to have an excuse for demanding money
from his subjects for the expenses of the journey.
On the 24th he reached Eltham, and only on the
26th was he back at Greenwich, with his mission
accomplished.

It is pointed out, with pained surprise, by Miss
Strickland, in her biography of Anne Boleyn, that
the young lady played and won a good deal of money
from the King at cards during November. The Privy
Purse expenses, indeed, bear this out. At Calais on
the nth Anne won 15s. On the way back through
Kent, on the 20th she, with Bryan and Weston (of
whom we shall hear again), took £9 6s. 8d. from the
King ; on the 25th she and Bryan made 20 crowns ;
at Greenwich on the 26th she, Bryan and Weston
again won 80 crowns, and on the 28th she alone, 50
crowns. To make matters worse, as Miss Strickland
notes, these orgies were over " Pope Julius's game,"

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The Life of Anne Boleyn

no doubt with topical allusions, which cannot have
been at all ladylike.

As some slight mitigation of our condemnation of
Anne for such reprehensible conduct, we may adduce
a letter addressed to " the most onerabyll Lady of
Penbroke " by Richard Lyst, a lay brother at the
Observants' convent at Greenwich, who sympathized
with Friar Laurence rather than with the majority
of the brethren and acted as an intelligencer against
the latter. After telling how he, for answering those
who had declared themselves 1 ' agaynst God, the
Kyngis Grace, and yow," had suffered oftentimes
rebukes and troubles, being called in derision her chap-
lain, though he was not yet a priest, Lyst concluded
by acknowledging his indebtedness to her for 40s.
for clothing and other things necessary for his poor
mother — " but I am half asshamyde and more to
begge ony more of yow because yowre Grace hath
byn so goode and benyfyssyal unto my poore mother
yn tyme past."*

In another letter, to Cromwell on November 7th,
Lyst begs to be recommended meekly to " my lady
marcus of Penbroke," to whom he and his poor mother
were so bound by her charitable benefits.

If this were merely a solitary instance of Anne's
charity, bestowed on one who could make some
return by championing her cause, in however humble
a way, it would scarcely be worth recording ;
but we shall see that such was not the case. After
her accession to the throne, she gave freely in charity,
and but for the malice of her enemies she might have
been recognized as an open-handed rather than a

* Ellis, " Original Letters," 3rd Series, Vol. II., page 245.

The Marchioness of Pembroke 153

grasping woman. It is true her money went mostly
to the poor, which from a worldly point of view was a
bad investment, as were her gifts to needy courtiers,
when it would have served her better to bribe such
enemies as were accessible to bribes.

It cannot be denied, of course, that during the
period of his infatuation, Henry was extremely lavish
in his gifts to Anne. On the top of his grant of the
annuity of £1,000 for life and his present of jewels —
not only his own and Katharine's, by the way, but
also some of his sister the Duchess of Suffolk's — came
a magnificent collection of plate, gilt, parcel-gilt,
and silver, comprising cups, bowls, basins, flagons, ewers,
spoons, " salts," " chaundillers," some from the King's
treasure at York Place, with the royal arms upon them,
and some from what the King had acquired at the sale
of the late Sir Henry Guildford's plate. In total
money-value this gift amounted to £1,188 us. iod.

It is possible that this was the King's New Year
present at the end of 1532 j for, though in the papers
at the Record Office the list appears as given by the
King's Highness to " my lady marques of Penbroke,"
it is endorsed as M given unto the Queen," the endorse-
ment thus being subsequent to Anne's marriage on
January 25th.

Henry had laid his plans in France for bestowing
on the object of his affections the last gift he had
to bestow. While still at Calais he had ordered the
prorogation of Parliament until February 4th, 1533 ;
and he had sent to the Emperor, notifying him that he
was recalling Cranmer, appointing Dr. Nicholas
Hawkins as ambassador in his place. With all possi-
bility of opposition in Parliament removed, and with

154

The Life of Anne Boleyn

the bait of the still vacant archbishopric of Canterbury
held out to Cranmer, at present no more than an
archdeacon, Henry felt that he could act on the
lines concerted between himself and Francis. The
point was to lose no time. The Pope had at least
drafted (or had drafted for him) a brief dated November
15th, in which, beginning with rather mild reproaches
against his conduct, he had concluded with a direct
threat that unless, within a month of the brief's
receipt, Henry took back Katharine and put aside
Anne until a Papal decision on the cause should be
given, they would both be declared excommunicate.
If he should on his own authority divorce himself from
Katharine and marry Anne or any other woman, such
marriage would be invalid.

This brief was granted by Clement with great
reluctance, and only put in the hands of Ortiz in
December on condition that it should not be published
before the Papal nuncio in England should have
spoken to Henry on the subject. But Ortiz was
satisfied to give a pledge to this effect, knowing that,
at his master's request, the Pope was travelling to
Bologna to meet him before the end of the year.
He trusted, no doubt, that that Emperor's personal
influence would be sufficient to induce Clement to
withdraw the condition and allow the immediate
publication of the brief. As a matter of fact,
however, Charles was able to do little except persuade
the Pope to agree to a scheme of his on quite a different
matter. He wanted a General Council of the Church
to deal with the question of the Lutherans, who were
causing him so much trouble in his own realms.
Clement agreed, and wrote to both Henry and Francis,

The Marchioness of Pembroke 155

suggesting such a Council " for the extirpation of
error." In the circumstances he did not wish to render
the two Kings hostile by threatening one of them with
excommunication. Besides, there had arrived in
Bologna the two French Cardinals, Grammont and
Tournon, whom Francis had sent to Italy in accordance
with his arrangement with Henry at Calais ; and they
were able to exert counter-pressure on the Pope to
prevent any precipitate action. The Cardinals, writes
Benet to Henry on January 14th, " think it advisable
not to use threats but pleasant words to the Pope."
Nevertheless, with pleasant words they accomplished
their ends.

Similarly Henry was using gentle means in England.
He avoided meeting the nuncio, but made plausible
excuses for not seeing him. He had sent Katharine
to Hertford ; but he gratified her by releasing, on
Christmas Eve, her chaplain Thomas Abel, whom in
August he had sent to the Tower for publishing a
book in her favour. Katharine appears to have
believed that the King was relenting. She heard,
Chapuys told the Emperor on January 3rd, that he
repented having sent her so far away, and thought
God had inspired him to acknowledge his error.
Chapuys himself was not of the same opinion. All
he saw in Henry was the fear of an adverse decision
in the near future, making procrastination his only
hope until he could get something done through
Convocation and Parliament.

Chapuys was not far wrong. What he did not
know, however, was that Henry had carried his pro-
crastination to the requisite point, and had decided
to marry first and legalize his position afterwards.

156

The Life of Anne Boleyn

On Cranmer's return to England, he had offered him
the archbishopric of Canterbury. Cranmer accepted ;
but it was still necessary to obtain the Pope's consent
to the appointment. Henry accordingly applied to
Rome for Bulls, which he had no expectation of not
obtaining.

Why then did he not await the arrival of the Bulls,
only a matter of a few weeks' delay, before proceeding
to the marriage ? The only possible conclusion is
that, if the date accepted for it is correct, the cere-
mony had been anticipated, that Anne Boleyn, at
some time subsequent to her elevation to the Pem-
broke title, had abandoned her resistance to her lover,
and that she was aware of the consequences of the
fact. There appears no escape from the assumption
that Henry and Anne were married on January 25th,
I 533* l an d the future Queen Elizabeth was born on
the following September 7th.

The breach of propriety is obvious ; but the
astonishing thing is, not that it had at last occurred,
but that it had not, as Anne's enemies would have

* The alternative date proposed is November 14th, 1532, immediately
after the return from Calais, which would have the merit of removing
all scandal about Queen Elizabeth in the matter. But Cranmer, in
his letter to Hawkins on June 27th, 1533, distinctly says : " You may
not imagine that the Coronation was before her marriage, for she
was married much about St. Paul's Day last, as the condition thereof
doth well appear, by reason she is now somewhat big with child."
He adds that the common report that he married her " is plainly false,
for I myself knew not thereof a fortnight after it was done " (" Cran-
mer's Remains," Vol. I., page 31).

On May 10th Chapuys gives the " Conversion of St. Paul " as the
date of the marriage.

Lastly, Ralph Brooke, York Herald, in his " Catalogue and Succession
of the Kings, etc.," clearly follows the official date (though it was not ever
officially announced) when he assigns the ceremony to January 25th.

The Marchioness of Pembroke 157

been so glad to prove, occurred before. It is easy, in
these days of pure and enlightened morality, to con-
demn a young woman of twenty-five, with an entirely
selfish and unscrupulous father and a mother whose
character seems to have been too colourless to make
any impression on her contemporaries (the insinua-
tions against her were of later date), for giving way
after a struggle of at least five years to the importuni-
ties of a man who had the power to remove her head
the moment he wished to do so. Who would have
lifted a finger to save her ? Her spell over Henry
was her only protection against the hatred of all who
sympathized with Queen Katharine, all who held by
the tenets of the Church, all who disliked the alliance
with France, all who wished to lead the King in
different directions from those in which she was
guiding him in politics and religion. Pro-French,
" a perfect Lutheran " (in the words of Chapuys),
and — well, we shall hear shortly some of the terms
which her most virulent foes applied to her personal
character — she was fighting tremendous odds. The
old Boleyn party had practically vanished. Her
chief allies were that subterranean worker, Cromwell,
the pliant Cranmer, and, where his own interests
were not prejudiced, her father. Thomas Cromwell,
Thomas Cranmer and Thomas Boleyn, on whom of
the trio could she rely ?

So she played her own hand, in her own way. We
cannot tell whether, for conquest, it was necessary
for her to stoop as she did. That is a secret which
she took with her to her grave in the Tower.

Equally useless is it to inquire whether she loved
Henry VIII. In the abominable light in which his

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The Life of Anne Boleyn

character and personality stand revealed nowadays,
the difficulty is to understand how anyone can have
loved him. Nor do his looks, to our eyes, commend
him ; though we know that to his contemporaries
he was a very proper figure of a man. Whatever was
the essence of his fascination, it has evaporated.
Yet Wolsey could write of him as though he were
an angel. And Anne was a woman.

CHAPTER XII

ANNE MAKES HER MARRIAGE

ON January 25th, 1533, either at York Place or
at Greenwich Palace, there was secretly per-
formed the marriage of Henry VIII. and Anne Boleyn.*
So great was the secrecy that it is not even certain
who performed the ceremony. It was not Cranmer ;
for we have no reason whatever to doubt his state-
ment to Archdeacon Hawkins that he still knew
nothing of the marriage a fortnight after it was done.
According to what Chapuys heard later, it was George
Browne, an Augustinian friar, and this theory is now
generally accepted in preference to that which makes
the officiating priest Dr. Rowland Lee, one of the
royal chaplains, afterwards Bishop of Chester. Lee's
name appears in several circumstantial accounts,
but it is not possible to trace them back to their origin.

If the name of the priest is doubtful, so also are
those of the witnesses of the marriage. We know
that Norfolk was not present, for he several times
stated as much when it would have been the best
policy to admit it if he had been present. To Chapuys
he affirmed that, though he was not there, " there
were men in the Council who had witnessed it." He
refused, however, to give their names, in spite of the

* "In the closet at White-Hall, "- says Ralph Brooke — White-Hall
(or Whitehall) being, as has been explained, the new name for York
Place.

159

160

The Life of Anne Boleyn

Imperial ambassador's comment on the strangeness of
a prince with such loyal subjects as Henry performing
such an act in a corner (soub la cheminee). What
the ambassador himself had heard was that those
present were the Lady's father, mother, brother,
two of her favourites, and one of the King's priests.
The assistance of some of her immediate family is at
least likely.

The marriage was accomplished, for which Anne
had striven so hard. The awkward fact remained
that, in the eyes of the Church, and of the world in
general, Katharine of Aragon was still Henry's lawful
wife, and that only the proof that Katharine had
never held that position could make the new union
valid. Therefore Henry could not publish the mar-
riage until he was in a state to get someone to declare,
with a show of authority, that he had all along been
free to marry. The instrument was ready, in Cranmer ;
but Cranmer's authority could not be held up, even
by Henry, until the Pope had confirmed him in the
archbishopric. Great circumspection was thus still
needed lest any breath of the event of January 25th
should get abroad before there was a regularly con-
secrated Archbishop of Canterbury in existence.

It was in particular necessary to keep on good
terms with de Burgo, who had been endeavouring
for weeks to obtain an audience of the King. He
would appear to have got to see him about the middle
of January and to have spoken of the brief of Novem-
ber 15th, only to be put off with evasions. On the
29th of the month, however, he prevailed on Norfolk
to arrange another audience for the morrow. Ac-
cordingly on January 30th he was officially received

[To lace p. 160.

Anne Makes her Marriage

161

by Henry, and spent the whole day with him and his
Council, going from one to the other. Chapuys called
on him afterwards, trying to find out what had hap-
pened. De Burgo would not even admit that he had
had any interviews. The Imperial ambassador was
inclined to suspect him of being favourable to some
compromise over the divorce, and says that he con-
fessed to having had large offers made to him with
that in view.*

It does not seem that de Burgo was allowed to
mention the threatening brief. Anyhow, there is no
hint of his having done so. Henry treated him with
a great show of honour, and insisted on his accompany-
ing him to the House of Lords on February 8th,
making him sit on his right hand, while the French
ambassador, Montpesat, sat on his left. On the
following day he was induced to attend the sitting of
the House of Commons also. It was with some
difficulty that Norfolk was able to persuade him to
this, as he feared to lend his presence to a meeting
where something derogatory to the Pope's authority
might be discussed. Care was taken that this should
not happen. And now the nuncio had been exhibited
in both Houses, obviously on the best of terms with
the King, an ingenious plan for disarming suspicion
of the utter defiance of the Pope's command which
had just been perpetrated.

While the secret of the marriage had been perfectly
kept, and the nuncio was being cajoled with ap-
pearances of friendship, the King and the Lady made
no concealment of their intention to get married.
They had never spoken so much nor so openly of

* Chapuys to the Emperor, February 9th, 1533.

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The Life of Anne Boleyn

their matrimonial purpose, says Chapuys. " The
other day the Lady told a priest who wished to enter
her service that he must wait a little until she had
celebrated her marriage with the King." In another
of the ambassador's letters it is related how, early in
February, the Lady several times said she felt it as
sure as death that the King would marry her shortly.
As for her father, he told the Earl of Rutland that
the King did not mean to be so considerate as he had
been, but would complete the marriage, " which being
once done by the authority of Parliament, they could
pacify objectors more easily than now." Would
Rutland, as a kinsman of the King, he asked, oppose
the scheme ? Rutland replied that the matter was a
spiritual one and could not be decided by Parliament ;
whereat Wiltshire abused him heartily, and forced
him at length to say that he would agree to whatever
the King wished. " The Lady's father," comments
Chapuys, " had not declared himself until the present,
but, as the Duke of Norfolk has several times told me,
had rather dissuaded the King than otherwise."

On February 23rd, the ambassador had got at
least an inkling of the truth ; for he heard, and com-
municated to the Emperor, that M the elect of Canter-
bury " had performed the marriage, in the presence
of the witnesses whom we have mentioned above.
A little later he relates how on St. Matthias's Day
the Lady received the King at dinner in her richly
tapestried chamber, wherein was the most beautiful
sideboard of gold that ever was seen. She sat on
Henry's right, and the old Duchess of Norfolk (Anne,
dowager duchess) on his left, while at a transverse
table at the end of theirs sat Sir Thomas Audley, now

Anne Makes her Marriage

163

full Chancellor, the Duke of Suffolk, and many other
guests. " During dinner the King was so much
occupied with mirth and talk that he said little that
could be understood ; but he said to the Duchess of
Norfolk : 1 Has not the Marchioness got a grand dowry
and a rich marriage, as all that we see ? — and the
rest of the plate belongs to the Lady also.' "

Such talk as this was perhaps designed to mislead
the hearers into thinking that the King was only
jesting ; for Henry certainly did not want the actual
fact of his marriage to come out yet. He wished
Francis to hear the news first, and it was not until
March nth that he issued a warrant to Lord Rochford
to proceed to France, with instructions to inform the
King that his advice had been acted upon and to ask
him to order his representatives in Rome to join with
those of England in urging the Pope and the Cardinals
to accept the accomplished fact. As, however, he
had previously induced Francis to assure His Holiness
that he would take no immediate step — thus en-
couraging Clement in his policy of delaying excom-
munication — it is not surprising that the French King
was little pleased at the news. He was arranging
to have a personal meeting with the Pope ; and now his
English ally had put him in a false position. Rochford
did not have a good reception. As usual, the enemies
of the Boleyn family attributed this to arrogance on
his part, for which there is no evidence. It was only
two months later that Henry employed him on
another mission to Francis, in conjunction with his
uncle Norfolk.

The situation in Rome was a remarkable one.
Henry's request for the confirmation of Cranmer's

ii*

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The Life of Anne Boleyn

appointment as Archbishop of Canterbury had been
received, and, in spite of Chapuys having frequently
warned the Emperor against him, Cranmer was pro-
posed in Consistory on February 21st, and the Bulls
were issued next day. Then, on the 24th, a treaty
was signed between the Emperor and the Pope, pro-
viding for the defence of Italy against the Turks ;
but with a clause inserted, at the Emperor's request,
that the English divorce cause should not be tried
anywhere except Rome, while the Pope agreed to
act upon his brief of November 15th. If, as Chapuys
implies,* de Burgo had presented the brief to Henry
in January, the time-limit for putting away Anne
had expired, and the Emperor was entitled to demand
action. Yet at this very period we find Henry writing
to Benet to tell the Pope : " Ye be St. Peter's successor,
a fisher, who when he draweth his net too fast
and too hard, then he breaketh it ; and pulling it
softly taketh fish good plenty ! " Princes, adds
Henry, are great fishes and must be handled with
policy.f

Clement's lot, at the hands of the three great
monarchs and their agents, was indeed unhappy ;
and it is not to be wondered at that his policy was
that of China towards the Western Powers in the
Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries, to meet
the weapons of strength with the weapon of weakness.

Henry was now clearing the way for the public
acknowledgment of his second marriage, with the

* Chapuys to the Emperor, February 9th, 1523 : " The month fixed
in the brief to the King is nearly passed, and there are no signs of his
obeying it."-

t " Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.," Vol. VI., page 86.

Anne Makes her Marriage

165

religious consequences which it involved. He was
well aware that he could not make it popular at home ;
but he was determined to show that he was acting
in accordance with his conscience. There being no
Press in those days to be inspired, his chief means of
reaching the public was through the preachers. We
have seen how he organized a campaign from the
pulpits in 1532 ; and this he continued energetically.
Chapuys tells how in March, 1533, he got a priest to
preach, before him and the Lady, that all the while
he had lived with the Queen he had been guilty of
adultery, and that all good subjects should pray to
God to pardon his offence and enlighten him at once
to take another wife. It was the duty of his Council
even to constrain him to such a course, regardless of
censure from the Pope, who should not be obeyed in this
matter, as what he commanded was against God and
against reason. It would be no cause for wonder, the
preacher added, if His Majesty took to himself a wife
of humble condition, in consideration of her merits,
as Saul and David had done.

After the previous exaltation of Anne's lineage, this
last apology sounds rather curious. But the prejudice
in favour of a " royal " marriage had to be regarded.

At the same time as this appeal to God and reason
against the Pope, a measure was pressed forward in
Parliament to prevent recourse to Rome in ecclesias-
tical matters and to make the introduction of Bulls
of excommunication an offence punishable by the
penalties of praemunire — a comfortable word indeed
to Henry VIII. !

Before the end of March the long expected Bulls
arrived from Rome, confirming the appointment of

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The Life of Anne Boleyn

Archbishop Cranmer, to the great regret of everyone,
asserts Chapuys, who tells his master : " There is
not a lord at this Court, either on the King's side or
on the Queen's, who does not publicly say that His
Holiness will betray Your Majesty." Unwittingly,
of course, Clement had already done so. The con-
secration of Cranmer on March 30th marked the
end of the struggle which had begun in 1527 to get
rid of Katharine. It also marked the advent of
many much more important things.

Events moved with great rapidity. On Palm
Sunday, March 31st, the Bishop of Rochester was
arrested and put under the charge of his brother of
Winchester, nominally on account of having alleged
that Lord Rochford had taken over to Paris huge
sums to be used as bribes by the French agents in
Rome, but really for his persistent advocacy of the
Queen's cause, culminating in his resistance to the
measures just brought forward in the Convocation
of Canterbury. Convocation decided, under com-
pulsion, but by very big majorities, (1) that the
Pope had no dispensing power for marriage with a
brother's widow when she had been cognita, and (2) that
Katharine had been cognita. Thus at length Henry
felt free to announce his marriage with Anne, and
decided to inform the hapless Katharine, now secluded
at Ampthill under the supervision of Lord Mountjoy.

On April 9th, the Wednesday before Easter, the
Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk, the Marquis of Exeter,
the Earl of Oxford and others waited on Katharine, and
told her that she must henceforward abstain from using
the title of Queen and would be known as Princess
Dowager of Wales, while the King would allow her

Anne Makes her Marriage

167

a pension of £8,000. On her protest that she was
Queen and would not relinquish her pretensions,
Chapuys says that Norfolk told her that it did not
matter, as the King had married Anne Boleyn more
than two months ago.

Chapuys further alleges that " this cursed Anne "
not only intended to do the Queen all the harm she
could, but had boasted that she meant to have the
Princess Mary for her maid or to marry her to some
varlet. In his wrath he suggests that it would be
right to foment an armed rising in England, and to
lend Imperial assistance to Scotland. He supposed
naturally that the Emperor would be anxious to
avenge the cruel slight to his aunt, and had hopes
that the Pope would now " call in the secular arm "
to reinforce excommunication. He did not, of course,
know that only a few days after his own letter to
Charles, Clement, urged by Ortiz that as soon as he
was assured of Henry's contumacy he should declare
him excommunicated, would only reply that he must
see what he ought to do !*

April 12th was Easter Eve, and to celebrate the
occasion Anne went to Mass in the King's Chapel
at Greenwich in royal state, loaded with jewels and
clad in a dress of cloth of gold frieze. Her train was
carried by her cousin, the Lady Mary Howard, lately
affianced to the Duke of Richmond, illegitimate son
of the King, and a suite of sixty young ladies accom-
panied her, among whom probably was her favourite
friend Margaret, sister of Thomas Wyatt and wife of
Sir Anthony Lee. So she was escorted to the church
and back, with even more solemnities than had been

* Ortiz to the Emperor, April 14th, 1533.

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The Life of Anne Boleyn

observed for Katharine ; and the preacher offered
prayers for her by name. " All the world is aston-
ished," says Chapuys, " for it looks like a dream, and
even those who take her part know not whether to laugh
or cry. The King is very watchful, and begs the lords
go visit and pay their court to the new Queen, whom he
intends to have solemnly crowned after Easter."

On Easter Day Dr. Browne, now made head of the
Augustinian order (as a reward for having performed
the ceremony on January 25th, according to Chapuys),
preached a sermon in which he bade the people in
future expressly to pray for Queen Anne. At this
the majority of the congregation took their departure,
with great murmurings and ill looks, not waiting for
the rest of the sermon. The King was much annoyed
over the occurrence, and sent word to the Lord Mayor
to see that nothing of the kind happened again.
Endeavouring to carry out his orders, the Lord Mayor
assembled the City Companies and warned them that
not only must they not murmur against the King's
marriage, but also they must prevent their appren-
tices, u and, what is more difficult, their wives," from
doing so. Such prohibitions, however, only served
to embitter the hearts of the people.*

Henry had received from the Archbishop of Canter-
bury on Easter Eve a letter dated from Lambeth on
the previous day, in which permission was asked
" to take cognizance of His Grace's great cause of
matrimony." This letter had, of course, been pre-
arranged ; and Henry replied to it with a license
to proceed. Cranmer at once cited Katharine to
appear before his court at the Augustinian monastery

* Chapuys to the Emperor, April 27th, 1533.

Anne Makes her Marriage

169

of Dunstable — not, as is sometimes represented, a
particularly inconvenient place for Katharine to get
to from Ampthill, in the same county, though there
is no doubt that Cranmer was not at all anxious for
her presence at the court. Katharine, for her part,
advised by Chapuys, scorned the citation ; and when
proceedings opened at Dunstable on May ioth she
was neither present herself nor represented by anyone
else. The Archbishop declared her contumacious,
and on the 23rd gave his formal judgment that the
marriage between Henry and Katharine of Aragon
was invalid. Returning to Lambeth, on the 28th he
pronounced that the King's marriage with Anne Boleyn
was lawful. The purpose of his elevation to the see of
Canterbury was accomplished, and the way for the
ceremony of crowning Anne as Queen was now clear.

Chapuys had not omitted to register his protest
on behalf of the Emperor, having written personally
to Henry on the 5th, and having thereafter a long
discussion with the Chancellor, the Earl of Wiltshire,
and the rest of the Council. Though Chapuys was
fairly outspoken, a direct quarrel was avoided. But
the ambassador wrote to Charles begging him to send
over troops, and assuring him that the late King
Richard, who had been chased out of his kingdom
by two or three thousand Frenchmen, had never been
so hated as this King.

Chapuys was much in error as to the hatred felt
for Henry. He was more correct with regard to the
unpopularity of Anne, to whose efforts to gain the
good will of London he refers without specifying
what they were. He says that the Londoners — the
City authorities, it is to be presumed — wish all the

170

The Life of Anne Boleyn

inhabitants to contribute to the cost of the Coronation,
which will mean 5,000 crowns — 3,000 as a present
for the Lady and the rest for the ceremonial. " For-
merly there was no opposition to this contribution.
Now they compel even foreigners to contribute ;
but I hear they will have the decency to exempt
the Spaniards." The Spaniards were, in fact, exempted.

One more piece of gossip is related to the Emperor
in connection with the preparations for the Corona-
tion. This the ambassador got from the Duke of
Norfolk before his departure to France. Henry had
decided to send Norfolk and Rochford to the French
King, so that they should be present at his interview
with the Pope and endeavour to prevent any immediate
action hostile to himself being taken. Knowing from
Rochford how ill Francis had received the news of
his marriage, Henry attached such importance to
this new mission that he hurried his two envoys
out of the country before the Coronation, at which,
accordingly, Anne's brother and uncle were not allowed
to be present. On the eve of his journey Norfolk
confided to Chapuys that there had been trouble
over the seizure of the late Queen's barge to convey
Anne up the Thames from Greenwich to the Tower.
The new Queen's chamberlain (Thomas, Lord Burgh
of Gainsborough) not only took the barge, but removed
and mutilated Katharine's arms upon it. According
to Norfolk, Henry was annoyed, and rather roughly
rebuked Lord Burgh. The barge, he said, belonged
to Katharine, and there were many others in the
river quite as suitable.

Nevertheless, Anne kept the barge, and in it made
her triumphal procession up the Thames.

[To lace p. 170.

CHAPTER XIII

THE CORONATION FESTIVITIES

HENRY was determined that the ceremonies
marking the elevation of his beloved to the
throne should lack nothing that had adorned previous
events of the kind. If they had been married "in
a corner," she should at least be crowned in a full
blaze of glorious publicity. Cromwell seems to have
been the organizer, in his capacity of Master of the
Jewels. At any rate, a letter to him from Sir Anthony
Browne exists, in which he is given chief credit.*
And, in spite of the malicious sneers of Chapuys, it
is obvious that there was a magnificent spectacle,
or rather series of spectacles, which did not fail to
impress all beholders.

Proceedings began on Thursday, May 29th, with
Anne's progress by water to the Tower, whither Henry
had gone on ahead secretly, so that he might be able
to receive her on arrival. The City Companies, in
their various barges, had waited on the Lord Mayor,
Sir Stephen Peacock, who, in the barge of his own
icraft, the Haberdashers, richly hung with cloth of gold,
marshalled them and proceeded with them down to
Greenwich. According to a manuscript preserved
in the College of Arms, there were forty-eight barges

* Letter of June 12th, 1533. " Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.,''
Vol. VI., page 287.

171

172 The Life of Anne Boleyn

in attendance on the Mayor, all decked with arras
and hung with banners and with pennons of the arms
of the crafts in fine gold, which flashed in the sunlight.
Every barge had guns on board, and in addition there
were two " foistes, with great shot of ordnance,"
which went before the barges. These " foistes M
were a species of gunboat and presented a wonderful
sight. One carried the new Queen's device, a white
falcon, crowned, on a mount, standing upon a " rowte "
of gold, encircled with red and white roses — signifying
the hope that Anne would produce an heir to the lines
of York and Lancaster. About the mount sat a
chorus of virgins, singing and playing. On the other
foiste was the figure of a great red dragon, casting
out wildfire from his mouth, and surrounded by
monsters and savage men ; truly a contrast to the
chorus of virgins.

Off Greenwich Palace the barge about which her
chamberlain had had the trouble was waiting for Anne
to come on board between three and four o'clock. .
It is described by a French observer, Camusat, as a
boat like a brigantine, painted with Anne's colours
outside, and adorned with many banners. The barges
of the lords spiritual and temporal were in attendance,
and with the exception of Norfolk and Rochford
practically the whole peerage of the realm was repre-
sented. At length Anne, accompanied by her train
of ladies, embarked, and the whole fleet, joined by the
barges of the City Companies, set out for the Tower.
It was a marvellous sight, says the College of Arms
manuscript, how the barges kept such good order
and space between them that every man could see
the decking and garnishing of each. " Also the

The Coronation Festivities 173

trumpets blowing, shallmes, and minstrels playing
were a right sumptuous and triumphant sight to see
and hear all the way as they passed upon the waters,
to hear the sayd marvellous sweet armone of the sayd
ynstermentes, the which sounded to be a thinge of
a nother world." " It was a very beautiful sight,"
agrees the French observer, " for besides the vessels
there were more than two hundred small boats which
brought up the rear. The whole river was crowded."

Orders had been given that, when Her Grace's
barge came over against Wapping mills, the Tower
guns were to be fired ; and so now they " lousy d their
ordinaunce," firing four guns at once. In all over a
thousand shots were fired here, " besides other shotts
that were shott at Lymehouse and in other shipps
lying in the Thames," so that the din must have been
sufficient to drown " the marvellous sweet armone
of the ynstermentes."

When the progress reached the Tower, towards
five in the evening, a long gangway was found pre-
pared among the crowd of spectators, leading up to
the King's Bridge at the Tower entrance. Anne
landed, accompanied by the lords and ladies, and the
Mayor, Recorder and two aldermen as representatives
of the City, while the rest, remaining on their barges,
" hoved before the Tower, making great melody."
She was first received by Sir Edward Walsingham,
Lieutenant, and Sir William Kingston, Constable of
the Tower, with the latter of whom she was destined
to renew acquaintance one day in most unhappy
circumstances on the same spot. After reception by
other dignitaries on behalf of the King, Anne, with her
train still following, walked toward the Tower. The

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The Life of Anne Boleyn

King met her and, laying his hands on both her sides,
kissed her " with great reverence and a joyful coun-
tenance." She turned and expressed her thanks to
the Mayor and citizens of London. Then the King
led her to her chamber, preceded by the Officers of
Arms. Everyone went to his lodging, except certain
noblemen and gentlemen in waiting, while the King
and Queen supped, " and after supper there was
sumptuous void."*

This account is drawn from the sources mentioned,
with others in the " Letters and Papers of Henry VIII.,"
supplemented by the note by Charles Wriothesley
(son of the Garter King-at-Arms and himself Windsor
Herald in 1534) in his " Chronicle of England." They
do not at all bear out the sneer of Chapuys that the
triumph consisted entirely in the multitude of those
that took part in it, while all the people showed
themselves as sorry as though it had been a funeral.
Doubtless there were murmurings among Katharine's
friends ; but it is not the habit of the populace to
despise the charm of pageantry.

Friday was spent by Henry and Anne in the royal
apartments of the Tower, the chief event being the
attendance at dinner of the eighteen or nineteen
Knights elect of the Bath, whose creation was to be
the first act of the morrow's ceremony. Among them
may be noted Francis Weston. Sixty-three other
knights were "made with the sword" in honour of the
Coronation, but not until later than those of the Bath.

On Saturday it had been arranged for Anne to make

* The " void " was the dessert or finish-up of a repast. " There
was a void of spice-plates and wine." — " The Coronation of Anne
Boleyn," in Arbor's " English Garner," Vol. II., page 50.

The Coronation Festivities

175

another progress, this time by land from the Tower to
Westminster. The streets through which she was to
pass, as far as Temple Bar, had been gravelled, and
on one side was a railing. All the windows were
hung with tapestry, cloth of gold and other draperies,
and the windows were full of ladies. From Grace-
church Street to the Little Conduit in Cheapside were
drawn up on one side the City Companies, and on the
other the constables in velvet and silk, staff in hand.
First in the procession came the new Knights of the
Bath, in blue gowns with hoods on their shoulders,
purfled with white and with white silk laces. Anne
followed in an open horse-litter covered inside and out
with cloth of silver, drawn by two palfreys caparisoned
with white damask. " Sitting in her hair," as Cranmer
notes in his already quoted letter to Hawkins, she
wore a surcoat and mantle of white cloth of tissue,
furred with ermine ; and her hair, if down, was con-
fined by a caul or coif, with a circlet of precious stones
surmounting it. Over her head was carried, by four
knights of the Cinque Ports in scarlet gowns, a canopy
variously described as of cloth of silver and of cloth
of gold. Beside the litter rode the Duke of Suffolk
and Lord William Howard, the latter as deputy for
his brother, the absent Duke of Norfolk.

Twelve ladies on horse followed immediately after
the litter, clad in cloth of gold ; then a chariot covered
with the same material, in which were " divers ancient
old ladies " — as a matter of fact, the Dowager Duchess
of Norfolk and the Dowager Marchioness of Dorset
(though one account substitutes Lady Wiltshire for
the latter) ; then twelve more ladies on horseback,
in crimson velvet ; then three more gilded chariots,

176

The Life of Anne Boleyn

carrying younger ladies ; and lastly twelve more on
horseback, in black velvet.

A great escort accompanied these of the nobility
and gentry of the realm, Court officials, two Arch-
bishops, the French and Venetian ambassadors, repre-
sentatives of the Dukes of Normandy and Aquitaine,
and twelve other French gentlemen. The rear was
brought up by the Guard, M in coats of goldsmith's
work."

Various striking pageants were shown on scaffolds
along the route, and there were " encomies spoken of
children to her." In Cheapside the Lord Mayor and
Recorder of London awaited Anne, and, in Wriothes-
ley's words, " the Recorder made a goodly preposition
to her, and then the Major [the Recorder, Master
Baker, according to Stow] gave her a purse of cloath
of golde, with a thousand markes of angell nobles in it,
for a presente for the whole bodie of the Cittie."

The progress continued to St. Paul's, at the east
end of which was a scaffold wherefrom the children of
St. Paul's School repeated poetry in honour of the
King and Queen, which she highly commended. At
length Westminster was reached, where Anne alighted
from her litter, and entering the Hall took her place
at the high dais, where a service of spice and " sut-
tilties " was offered her, with ypocras and other wines.
This she sent to her ladies ; and then, thanking all
those who had attended her, she withdrew to her
chamber in the White Hall, and then went secretly
by barge to the King at his manor of Westminster.
As on the previous day, Henry had taken no part in
the pageantry, but, having come on ahead, merely
waited for her at the end of it.

The Coronation Festivities

177

A hostile observer, who is possibly Chapuys,*
asserts that no one, either in London or the suburbs,
knelt or uncovered or cried " God save the King, God
save the Queen," when Anne passed, and that, when
one of her servants told the Lord Mayor to command
the people to make the customary shouts, Peacock
answered that he could not command people's hearts ;
while her fool (who had been to Jerusalem and spoke
several languages !), seeing the little honour done to
her, cried out, " I think you have all scurvy heads
and dare not uncover ! " How much to believe of
this it is impossible to say. If Chapuys was the
writer, it was not his business to report favourably
on the proceedings.

The Spanish "Chronicle of Henry VIII.," a contem-
porary document, which has been edited in English
by Mr. Hume, also asserts that though, as Anne passed
through the City, she kept turning her head from one
side to the other to greet the people, " there were
hardly ten persons who greeted her with 1 God save
Your Grace,' as they used to when the sainted Queen
Katharine went by." The same writer asserts that
when Henry received Anne that evening he asked,
" How like you the look of the City, sweetheart ? "
and that she replied, " Sir, the City itself was well
enough ; but I saw many caps on heads, and heard
but few tongues." Now, of all the Emperor's sub-
jects, a Spaniard was the least likely to look on Queen
Anne's progress with an unprejudiced eye. We lack
English confirmation of such ex parte reports.

June ist was Whit Sunday, and Anne was up

* See " Letters and Papers, Henry VIII ," Vol. VI., page 266,
from a lost document.

178 The Life of Anne Boleyn

betimes for the exacting programme of the day. It
was between eight and nine a.m. when she set out on
foot from her lodging of the night to Westminster Hall,
the road being carpeted with cloth. Archbishop
Cranmer, accompanied by the Archbishop of York,
the Bishops of London, Winchester, Bath and St.
Asaph, and thirteen abbots, all in pontificals, pro-
ceeded out of the Abbey to Westminster Hall, " where,"
writes Cranmer to Hawkins, " we received the Queen,
apparelled in a robe of purple velvet, and all the ladies
and gentlemen in robes and gowns of scarlet, according
to the manner used beforetime in such business."
He notes again that Anne was " in her hair ; " but as
we have fuller accounts from Wriothesley and others,
we will now use those.

After her meeting with the clergy in Westminster
Hall, Anne started with them for the Abbey, the Duke
of Suffolk bearing her crown before her and two
Earls bearing her sceptre and her ivory rod. Over
her head was a canopy of cloth of gold, borne by six-
teen representatives of the Cinque Ports. She wore
a kirtle of crimson velvet and over it a robe of purple
velvet, both furred with ermine. On her hair was a
caul of pearls and stones in addition to her coronet.
Behind her walked the old Duchess of Norfolk, scarlet-
robed and coronetted, carrying her train, with her
chamberlain, Lord Burgh, " staying the traine in the
middes," and the Bishops of London and Winchester
bearing up the laps of her robe on each side. Ten
ladies, also scarlet-robed and coronetted, followed
immediately after her, and then all her maids, in
gowns of scarlet, with " white lettushe fur."

After entering the Abbey, Anne rested a while on a

The Coronation Festivities

179

rich chair between the choir and the high altar, and
then proceeded to the altar, where Cranmer with the
appointed ceremonies anointed and crowned her.
He crowned her first with the crown of St. Edward,
which being too heavy — we know that she had a
little neck ! — was taken off, and the one made for her
was put on. She mounted to a high platform, erected
near the altar and covered with red cloth, and on a
raised and tapestried seat sat through the Mass which
followed, wearing her crown. She received the Sacra-
ment and made her offering at St. Edward's shrine.
At the end of the service all present left, in order of
precedence, for Westminster Hall again, the Queen
under her canopy, with sceptre and rod in her hands,
supported by her father and Francis, Lord Talbot,
representing his father the Earl of Shrewsbury. All
the way from where she sat in the Abbey to the high
dais in Westminster Hall, both coming and going, she
had walked upon blue striped cloth, and along a
railed-in passage. Enclosed, too, was the table at
which she was to partake of the banquet prepared,
and none might enter the rails except those deputed
to serve her. Rich cloth of arras hung all around the
walls.

Now came the wedding feast, without the bride-
groom ; for Henry, in the company of the French and
Venetian ambassadors, Dinteville and Capello, only
watched the scene from a distance, in a cabinet which
he had had constructed for the occasion in the cloisters
of St. Stephen's. It was a strange spectacle which
met their eyes j strange, at least, to read of nowadays.
At the door of the great hall were conduits pouring out
wine, and there were kitchens to give viands to

12*

180

The Life of Anne Boleyn

all-comers, " the consumption of which," we are told,
" was enormous." Within, Anne sat with the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury at her table at the upper end,
raised twelve steps from the ground. Down the hall
below were four other tables. At the nearer one on
the right hand of the Queen's sat the lords spiritual
and temporal, on the left the duchesses and other
ladies. The Barons of the Cinque Ports were at the
further table to the right, the Lord Mayor of London
and the aldermen at the corresponding one to the left.
When the Queen's Grace had washed her hands — the
chief ewerer was Sir Henry Wyatt, but he was unable
to be present, so that his son Thomas deputized for
him and poured out the water for the lady he had so
much admired — there came riding into the hall, bare-
headed and on coursers caparisoned in crimson velvet,
the Duke of Suffolk, who was not only High Constable
for the day but steward of the feast, and Lord William
Howard. This was a sign for the meal to begin.
Suffolk and Howard rode up and down and around
the tables, to see that all went well, while the Queen
was personally waited upon by the Earl of Sussex as
sewer, the Earl of Essex as carver, the Earl of Derby
as cupbearer, and Viscount Lisle as pantler.

We will content ourselves with Wriothesley's ac-
count of the feast. " The goodlie dishes, with the
delicate meates," he says, " and the settles, which
were all gilt, with the noble service that daie done by
great men of the realm, the goodlie sweete armonie of
minstrells, with other things, were to[o] long to
expresse, which was a goodlie sight to see and behold."

When the Queen had dined and had washed her
hands again, she stood awhile under the canopy of

The Coronation Festivities

181

state and gazed down the hall. Then came the Earl
of Sussex bringing a void of spice and confections,
and the Lord Mayor of London a standing cup of gold.
Anne partook of the confections and gave the rest to
the lords and ladies. She drank wine from the cup
and presented it to the Lord Mayor. She made a
gift of the canopy to the Barons of the Cinque Ports.
The Justices of the King's Bench (who had lent their
hall for the occasion) came forward and knelt to her
as she prepared to leave. " I thank you all for the
honour which you have done me," she said,* and then
she departed. It was six p.m., and she had been nearly
ten hours in the public view. It is little wonder that
we find some rather curious details as to the means
adopted to give her at times a certain amount of
privacy ! Now she hastened to her room to change
her apparel, and " so," says Wriothesley, " departed
secreetlie by water to York Place, which is called White
Hall."

Even now not all the ceremonies in connection with
the Coronation were over. On the next day, June
2nd, there were jousts, at which it had been hoped
that French knights would appear on one side. But,
whether or not through the pique of Francis at the
position in which Henry had placed him with regard
to the Pope, they had not come, and instead two
parties of eight English knights, led by Lord William
Howard and Sir Nicholas Carew, Master of the Horse,
engaged in a tourney, at which the horses for some
reason showed little spirit, so that the entertain-
ment was poor. After this the Court went down to

* Account by Sir John Spelman or Spillman, June ist, 1533.
(*' Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.,' J Vol. VI.)

182

The Life of Anne Boleyn

Greenwich, where for some days banquets and
dances succeeded one another. There was no lack
of gaiety. Writing to Lord Rochford in France,
Sir Edward Baynton, one of Anne's chamberlains,
tells him on June 9th : "As for pastime in the
Queen's chamber, was never more. If any of you
that be now departed have any ladies that they
thought favoured you and would somewhat mourn
at the parting of their servants, I can no whit perceive
the same by the dancing and pastime they do use
here."

Rochford' s own wife, apparently, was not one
of those who took part in the rejoicings over the
new Queen, for we hear of her being committed to
the Tower some time before this, to teach a lesson
to those who were so bold as to express openly their
disapprobation of the divorce of Katharine. Lady
Rochford became, indeed, a deadly enemy to Anne
and to her own husband.

Another connection by marriage who showed her
annoyance at Anne's elevation and her affection for
the old Queen was the Duchess of Norfolk — not the
Dowager, who was Anne's friend, but Elizabeth, a
daughter of the former Duke of Buckingham, and
wife of the former ally of the Boleyns, now himself
scarcely a concealed foe.

Chapuys, in his letter to the Emperor of June 16th,
after summing up the events of Whitsuntide as "a
cold, meagre and uncomfortable thing, to the great
dissatisfaction, not only of the common folk, but also
of the rest," asserts that " the indignation of every-
body about this affair has increased by half since
the Coronation." What evidence we have points to

The Coronation Festivities

183

this " indignation " being to a large extent fomented
by the discontented section of the clergy ; a very
large section, it must be admitted, and a section
with a very legitimate grievance against the King
and his advisers. Their methods, however, were
scarcely in keeping with their calling. It was natural,
perhaps, that Peto and Elston, from their safe retreat
in Antwerp, should endeavour to stir up rebellion
among their brother Observants in England. But
the conduct r and the language, of some of the priests
at home might certainly be described, in the Sixteenth
Century phrase, as " going beyond the moon."
Refusals to pray for the King and Queen were small
matters in comparison with what they did outside
their churches.

For instance, we have the story that a certain
priest, whose name appears as M Sir Rauf Wendon,"
did at King's Sutton, Warwickshire, about St. George's
Day, declare that the Queen was a harlot, and that
there was a prophecy that " a many should be burned
at Smithfield, and he trusted it would be the end of
Queen Anne."* The accusation was made by a
fellow-priest, Thomas Gebons, and might possibly
be explained as prompted by spite. But there can
be no doubt about an incident which occurred a little

* With this burning prediction compare the ravings of Mrs. Amadas,
wife of Cromwell's predecessor as Master of the Jewels. (" Letters
and Papers, Henry VIII.," July, 1533.) That lady, who confessed
that for twenty years she had been " looking upon prophecies," ad-
mitted to having said, among many foolish things, that, " if the Queen
be not burnt within this half-year, I will be burnt myself."- It is
perhaps of some significance that at this time Robert Amadas was
charged with owing the King for plate lacking, while it was under his
charge, over £1,771 — though this does not explain Mrs. Amadas's
prophecy !

184

The Life of Anne Boleyn

later in the year. We read* that the Earl of Derby
and Sir William Farington were sent down to Lanca-
shire to investigate the report that " a lewde and
noghty priest inhabytyng in these party es " had been
indulging in " unfit tyng and sklaunderous sayings."

An examination was held at Leigh on August ioth,
when it was deposed by a number of witnesses that,
on the reading of the proclamation of the previous
month concerning Lady Katharine, Princess Dowager,
the priest in question, "Sr. Jamys Harrison," said
that he would take none for Queen but Queen
Katharine ; and as for Nan Boleyn, " that noghty
pake or hoore " — the witnesses were not certain of
the word used — who the devil made her Queen ?
The King himself should be no King but on his bear-
ing (according to his behaviour). A few days later
Harrison had observed that he would never take
Nan Boleyn for Queen — be hanged for the same ! —
but for Nan Boleyn.

The slanderous Harrison was accordingly attached
and sent up to London to be dealt with.

The tale which follows does not concern any priestly
slanderer, but it may be noted that the offender
came from Antwerp, where the rebellious Observants
were living. A certain John Coke, secretary to the
Merchant Adventurers, writes to Cromwell from
Barowe (Bergen-op-Zoom), on May 24th, that a
naughty person of " Andwarp " had resorted to the
town for the Easter market with images and pictures
in cloth — painted canvases — to sell, " among the

* Ellis, "Original Letters," ist Series, Vol. II., page 41. The King's
Sutton affair appears in " Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.," Vol. VI.,
" Examination of Sir Thomas Gebons, priest."

The Coronation Festivities

185

which clothes he had a picture of our soveraigne
Lord the Kyng (whom our Lorde preserve). And
this day settyng up the same picture upon the Burse
to sell, he pynned upon the body of the said picture
a Wenche made in cloth, holdyng a paier of balance
in her hands ; in th' one balance was fygured too
hands togeder, and in th' other balance a fether,
with a scripture over her head, saiyng that Love was
lighter then a fether, whereat the Spanyards and
other of the Duche nacion had greate pleasure in
deri dying, jestyng and laughyng therat, and spekyng
sondry opprobrious words agenst his moost noble
Grace and moost gracious Quene his bedfelowe."

By the agency of Coke this naughty person was
brought up before the authorities of Bergen and
warned that he must commit no suchlike thing upon
pain of forfeiture of all his merchandise.

Some time after Cromwell got another letter, from
his friend Stephen Vaughan, enclosing " certeyn verses
whiche the lewde and malycious studyents of Lovayn
spitefully pricke upp upon Dores and Corners in
Lovayn again the Kinge and Quene theyr Majests,
whiche if yow will yowe may shew theyr Graces."*

In such a pleasing way did the enemies of Henry
and his new Queen, at home and abroad, show their
disapproval of the marriage. Anne, however, may
have been spared the degradation of hearing what
was said and written about her ; for at the beginning
of her short life upon the throne Henry, in expectation
of legitimate male issue to carry on the succession,
was anxious to shield her from outside annoyances.

* These two letters are from Ellis, " Original Letters,"- 2nd Series,
Vol. II., page 42, and 3rd Series, Vol. II., page 284.

CHAPTER XIV

THE BIRTH OF ELIZABETH

MANY people besides Henry and Anne were
expecting anxiously the sequel to their long-
drawn-out romance. In fact, it is not too much to
say that the eyes, not only of England, but of Europe
in general, were turned to watch what would happen
to Anne the Queen, whether she would bring to Henry
the fulfilment of his dearest ambition, a son to succeed
him on the throne. If this should come about, it was
felt that his triumph over his enemies was assured —
unless, indeed, the Pope could be persuaded to proceed
at once to declare that Katharine was still his wife
and so render any son born to him by Anne illegitimate
in the eyes of all good Churchmen. On June 28th,
Chapuys was writing to the Emperor, impressing on
him the necessity of a Papal sentence " before the
Lady is brought to bed, since if a son is born the
King will immediately get fealty sworn to him in
Parliament as a prince."

Henry was not blind to the possibility of Papal
action, even at this late date ; and he took the pre-
caution of summoning the Archbishop of York to
Greenwich and registering before him on June 29th
an appeal from the Pope to a future General Council
of the Church, in case of a sentence of excommuni-

186

The Birth of Elizabeth

187

cation — a step which, as Roman Catholic historians
have pointed out, he was not entitled to take. More-
over, he had the Duke of Norfolk busy with his
interests in France, where his instructions were to
dissuade the King, if possible, from meeting Clement
at all, or, if he could not do that, to accompany him
to the meeting-place and influence him to prevent
all action until the event should have happened which
would enable Henry to snap his fingers at the Pope.*
Norfolk was unable to get in personal touch with
Francis until July ioth j but in the meantime, the
conference with Clement had been for other reasons
postponed ; and Francis told the English ambassador
that he might be present at it when it came off. The
place suggested was Nice, and the date early in
September.

This might seem to give Henry a respite ; but such
was not really the case. The Imperial pressure on
the Pope had at last proved beyond his power of
resistance. On July nth His Holiness declared Cran-
mer's proceedings null and pronounced sentence of
the greater excommunication against Henry, giving
him, however, six weeks within which to save himself
by putting Anne away and taking back Katharine.
Norfolk had been making his way slowly to the
South of France, by the direction of the French King,
and had reached Lyon when a courier arrived from
Rome with the news. It is recorded that Norfolk
nearly fainted when he heard it. He immediately
sent off his nephew Rochford, to take the tidings to

* Friedmann thinks that Cromwell was responsible for these certainly
very difficult instructions to Norfolk, in order to keep him away from
England and facilitate his own rise to the headship of affairs.

188

The Life of Anne Boleyn

Henry before they could reach him by any other source,
and to ask for further instructions.

Anne had left Greenwich Palace for Windsor about
the time that her brother arrived. The reason is
given by Chapuys in the offensive behaviour of the
Easterlings — the Hanseatic merchant princes. On the
day of her state entry into London, he alleges, they
had set up an Imperial eagle (bearing the arms of
Aragon and Castile, among others) above the emblems
of Henry and herself, about which she afterwards
made daily complaint to the King. Worse still,
towards the end of July, a fleet of their ships came and
anchored in the Thames opposite Greenwich and,
inviting Chapuys on board, made great festivities,
with much firing of guns. Again Anne complained ;
but Henry was loth to take measures against subjects
of the Emperor at this juncture, and instead sent
Anne away to Windsor.

It is possible, therefore, that Anne knew nothing
of her brother's coming to Greenwich on July 28th ;
and on the 30th he was sent back to Norfolk at Lyon,
with instructions that all possible means should be
used to prevent the meeting between Francis and
Clement.

Norfolk succeeded in time in getting another
interview with Francis, the exact purport of which
is not clear. It was rumoured that the Pope had
intimated to the French King that he would not see
the English ambassador at their meeting. Anyhow,
at the end of August Norfolk returned to England,
and his post in France was filled by Bishop Gardiner.
But Clement had already taken a still more decided
step than before, and had issued a Bull in which he

From the painting, alter Titian, in the Louvre.

Francis I.

[To face p. 188.

The Birth of Elizabeth

189

gave Henry only ten days to take back his former
wife.* As far as Rome was concerned, Henry's cause
seemed lost.

Renewed attempts had been made to force Katharine
to acknowledge what had been done without the
consent of Rome ; but she never wavered. Early in
July Lord Mount joy, who had been appointed by the
King as her chamberlain, and other lords had a two
days' struggle with her at Ampthill and entirely failed
to get her to acknowledge herself as " Princess
Dowager." She crossed out the words in a document
given to her, and vigorously asserted that if she
agreed that she had been " the King's harlot " for
twenty-four years it would be a case of Maledictus
homo qui negligit famam suam. In revenge, Henry
moved her to Bugden (Buckden), Huntingdonshire,
where the Bishop of Lincoln had a house. On her
way thither she had a great popular reception. A
similar manifestation had greeted a journey by her
daughter the same month. Indeed, Chapuys asserts
that in the villages through which she passed Mary
had been received "as if she were God Himself de-
scended from Heaven," whereat " the Lady was very
much displeased and would much like to punish the
people."

According to Chapuys, also, Anne, being desirous
to obtain for the benefit of her coming offspring a
very rich triumphal cloth, which Katharine had
brought with her from Spain to wrap up her children
at baptism, persuaded the King to send a request
for it to Katharine. But Katharine returned the
answer that " it had not pleased God she should be

* " Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.," August 8th, 1533.

190

The Life of Anne Boleyn

so ill-advised as to grant any favour in a case so
horrible and abominable ! "*

About August 28th, Anne returned from Windsor
to Greenwich, as her time was fast approaching.
Writing six days later, the Imperial ambassador tells
a story of which we have no confirmation elsewhere,
but which we have no reason to doubt ; for, though
Henry had displayed much solicitude that no outside
influences should disturb Anne's peace, he was always
in himself the same essential brute. That he had
begun to be unfaithful is more than likely. He
had had his way months previously, and Anne's
charms had no longer the same spell over him. The
story is this. The King, holding it certain from the
reports of his physicians and astrologers that the
Lady would bear him a son, determined to have great
rejoicings over the event. He also took from his
treasures a splendid bed, which was given originally
for the ransom of a Duke of Alencon. 11 It was well
for the Lady that this was delivered to her two months
ago, for she would not get it now. Being full of
jealousy, and not without cause, she used some words
to the King at which he was displeased, telling her
she must shut her eyes and endure it as well as more
worthy persons than herself, and that she ought to
know it was in his power in a moment to humble her
again more than he had exalted her. . . . The King
has been two or three days without speaking to her."

No doubt such things were lovers' quarrels, com-
ments the ambassador, to which too much importance
must not be attached ; but many of those who knew
the King's disposition looked on them as favourable

* "Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.," Chapuys to the Emperor,
July nth and 30th, 1533.

The Birth of Elizabeth

191

to a recall of Katharine. It is curious how this idea
persisted with so many that Henry might take
Katharine back. It shows how little they understood
their Henry VIII. But it may be admitted that it
was difficult to foresee that he would have the strength,
or obstinacy, of will to carry to completion his flouting
of the Pope's commands. Also the hidden influence
of Cromwell was not appreciated j for there can
scarcely be a doubt that already, in a comparatively
unimportant post, he had acquired a sway over his
sovereign which his fellows of the Council as yet little
suspected.

Cromwell's guidance, like Anne's, led Henry towards
an absolute emancipation of the English Church from
the authority of Rome ; and Cromwell's danger, to
Rome, was none the less because he, unlike Anne,
does not appear to have been actuated by any sincere
sympathy with the Reformers. In this respect he
was even worse than the Earl of Wiltshire. Both
were set upon the advancement of their own interests,
at whatever cost. But Wiltshire worked with the Re-
formers because, as far as he had religious convictions,
he agreed with their views ; and he at least gained the
approval of Erasmus for his pious learning. Cromwell
was willing to use or to burn Reformers, whichever
suited his policy best ; but the priestly power was an
obstacle to his ambition, which must be got rid of.

A very curious paper survives, written by the hand
of one of Cromwell's clerks, in which is set forth a
" reason to clear the clergy for condescending to the
King's second marriage and for abolishing the Pope's
authority."* In this it is pointed out that " many

* " Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.," Vol. VI., page 332.

192

The Life of Anne Boleyn

of the inconstant commons are dissatisfied, and,
though they forbear to speak at large, for fear of
punishment, yet they mutter together secretly ; which
muttering and secret grudge within this realm, I
think, doth not a little embolden the King's enemies
without the realm." As the muttering is not against
the King (for everyone says that he is the most gentle
and upright prince that ever reigned), but against some
of the prelates and especially against the Archbishop
of Canterbury, the writer advises that the latter should
set out a little book, addressed to the clergy, to show
that in the matter of the King's marriage he had
acted not only according to God's law but for the
wealth and quietness of the realm. Let him exhort
his brethren that, if they go with him, they shall
greatly merit by their obedience ; but if they do not
he will compel them by the law of God, and then shall
they lose the merit of their obedience. " I wot
well that if it came to the hearing of the Pope and the
Emperor that the whole clergy of England is fully
bent to defend our sovereign lord the King, they will
not meddle much further."

Sunday, September 7th, saw the birth of the long-
expected child. Between three and four in the after-
noon of that day, at Greenwich Palace, the Queen
was delivered of "a fair lady, for whom Te Deum
was incontinently sung."* Chapuys described to his
master the great regret of the King and the Lady,
and " the great reproach of the physicians, astrologers,

* Wriothesley says : " The morrowe after, being the daie of the
Nativitie of our Ladie, Te Deum was songe solempnlie at Powles."
The account above is mainly based on Hall's " Chronicle " and Har-
leian MS. 543. (" Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.," Vol. VI., page 464.

The Birth of Elizabeth

193

sorcerers and sorceresses, who had affirmed it would be
a male child."

No doubt, indeed, the arrival of Elizabeth was a
severe blow to the royal hopes. But, at any rate, it
proved Anne's fruitfulness and dispelled malicious
rumours such as those contained in a sheet of news
from Flanders on September ist, preserved in the
Record Office, that " the new Queen is brought
abed with a monster, or else that she bare is born dead."
The infant was healthy, and destined to live, as none
of Katharine's children had been save the Princess
Mary. Henry disguised his disappointment as best
he could, and the ceremonies of the christening went
forward on the Wednesday following the birth.

The church of the Friars Minors at Greenwich was
hung with arras for the occasion, and in the middle
stood a silver font, mounted on three steps, under a
crimson satin canopy fringed with gold. Anne herself
was not present, nor do we find mention of the King.
The child was borne by the old Duchess of Norfolk,
clad in a mantle of purple velvet, with a long train,
held up by the Earls of Wiltshire and Derby and the
Countess of Kent. On either side of the Duchess
walked the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk, and a
canopy was supported by the Lords Rochford, Hussey,
and William and Thomas Howard, while a train of
ladies and gentlemen followed. Others in attendance
were the Earl of Essex, carrying the covered gilt
basons ; the Marquis of Exeter, bearing a taper of
virgin wax ; the Marquis of Dorset, the salt j and the
Lady Mary Howard, now affianced to the young Duke
of Richmond, the chrisom of pearls and precious
stones.

194 The Life of Anne Boleyn

The Bishop of London, assisted by four abbots,
met the child at the church-door and christened it
with the name of Elizabeth, the Archbishop of Canter-
bury being godfather and the Dowager Duchess of
Norfolk and Marchioness of Dorset godmothers.*
u This done, Garter with a loud voice bid God send
her long life. The Archbishop of Canterbury then con-
firmed her, the Marchioness of Exeter being godmother.
Then the trumpets blew, and the gifts were given. . . .
In going out the gifts were borne before the child
to the Queen's chamber by Sir John Dudley, Lord
Thomas Howard the younger, Lord Fitzwalter and
the Earl of Worcester. One side was full of the
Guard and King's servants holding five hundred staff-
torches, and many other torches were borne beside
the child by gentlemen."

Wriothesley adds that " the morrowe after their
was fiers made in London, and at every fire a vessell
of wyne for people to drinke for the said solempnitie."
Yet Chapuys tells the Emperor that Elizabeth's
christening has been " like her mother's coronation,
very cold and disagreeable both to the Court and to the
City, and there has been no thought of having the
bonfires and rejoicings usual in such cases." We
would rather trust Wriothesley's account in this
matter, though we may well believe that in festivities
there was a good deal of malicious joy, on the part of
Katharine's friends, that it was not a prince but a
princess whose arrival was being celebrated.

The Norfolk family, with the exception of the

* The name was to have been Edward or Henry, in the event of a
boy ; and King Francis would have been godfather. (Burnet,
" History of the Reformation," Vol. III., page 161.)

The Birth of Elizabeth

195

younger Duchess, had been very prominently repre-
sented at the christening of Elizabeth. But Anne
was under no illusions as to the state of her uncle's
feelings toward her, and only a few days later charged
him with too great familiarity with the Imperial
ambassador, her most obvious enemy. In conse-
quence, Norfolk was obliged to avoid the company
of Chapuys. He was, in fact, in sore trouble at the
time, for his wife refused to see or speak to him, on
account of his too patent infatuation with a young
lady in Anne's suite, Elizabeth Holland. It took
the intervention of Lord Abergavenny, brother-in-law
of the Duchess, to effect a reconciliation, by promising
that henceforth the Duke would be a good husband.

After her christening the little Elizabeth was im-
mediately proclaimed Princess of Wales, and her half-
sister Mary was definitely deprived of the title. A
message was sent to Mary by the King that she must
forbear using the style of Princess ; whereon, with all
her mother's pride, she answered that she had not the
right to renounce the title and prerogatives which God,
nature and her parents had given her. Chapuys
imputes to " the importunity and malignity of the
Lady " this new action against the Princess Mary ;
but it was only the logical outcome of Henry's repudia-
tion of his first marriage and decision to change the
succession.

The Imperial representative, who, as we know from
his own writings, was constantly communicating with
Mary and egging her on to resistance to her father,
went so far as to hint to Cromwell the possibility
of the Emperor declaring war. Cromwell was not
much impressed. He knew, by his reports from

13*

196 The Life of Anne Boleyn

Flanders, that there was talk of this, softened, however,
by the suggestion that Charles would give two or three
months' notice of his intention. He knew also that
the Pope was still hesitating to make his sentence
really effective. As late as September 27th Clement
proposed in Consistory the prorogation for one month
of the term for declaring the censures on the King
of England. Neither Emperor nor Pope was ready
to take an irremediable step. Clement, in particular,
wished to delay matters until he should have had his
interview with Francis.

Henry also wished to see what would come of this
interview before he proceeded any further. This
seems the explanation of his prorogation of Parliament
from November, 1533, to January, 1534. Among the
measures which it was proposed to pass were three which
would put too wide a gulf between England and Rome
for French assistance to bridge, namely : (1) an Act
to confirm the King's marriage with Anne and
establish the succession ; (2) an Act that the realm
should take the General Council of Christendom to be
above the Pope, this to be concluded by both Convo-
cations of Canterbury and York ; and (3) an Act
whereby any persons obe3 7 ing the Pope's attempts for
the marriage with Katharine should be adjudged
traitors.

Clement's meeting with Francis took place at
Marseilles on October 12th, Bishop Gardiner being
with the French Court as Henry's chief representative.
It is clear that Henry was badly served by his agents,
though it must be allowed that he appeared to expect
impossibilities of them. It is true that the Pope
agreed, without much difficulty, though against the

The Birth of Elizabeth

197

vigorous protests of the Imperial representatives, to
grant yet another month's delay before making his
censures on Henry effective. But when the Pope
showed Gardiner a document agreeing to the hearing
of the matrimonial cause at Avignon, in return for
Henry's recognition of the Papal authority — a docu-
ment seemingly drawn up at Henry's request —
Gardiner simply replied that he was not armed with
powers to bind his master. Then followed a letter, de-
livered by Bonner, in which Henry protested against the
injustice of the sentence of excommunication, as he
was now legally married, and appealed to a future
General Council, to be held in some impartial place.
Clement angrily spoke to Francis about this, and
urged him to abandon " the enemy of the Church."
Francis replied that it was necessary to keep Henry
as a friend that others might not have him. He made
some severe comments, however, on his good brother's
reputation for wisdom, and said he had advanced
Katharine's cause by admitting that the Papal sentence
had come to his notice.*

Francis took the further step of sending du Bellay,
Bishop of Paris, over to England about the middle of
November, to tell Henry about the interview with
the Pope, and to remonstrate with him on imputations
which had reached his ears, to the effect that he had
done less for Henry than their friendship required.
(The English King, indeed, had been very rude to
Dinteville, the retiring French ambassador, on their
farewell interview on November 9th, to the great
scandal of Norfolk and the Council in general ; but

* Cifuentes to the Emperor, November gth, 1533. (" Letters and
Papers, Henry VIII.," Vol. VI., pages 561-2.)

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The Life of Anne Boleyn

Francis can hardly have heard this yet.) In his
message by the hands of du Bellay, Francis complained
bitterly of the proceedings of the English agents at
Marseilles, and requested that someone other than
Gardiner should be sent out, as he was " not found
possessed of good will." It is plain from a fragment
of a letter from Gardiner and others to Henry that
they had got on very badly with Francis at Marseilles.*
In fact, relations between England and France were
considerably strained, and although Anne, fearful
of the loss of the French alliance, was very affable to
du Bellay and even kissed him, the Bishop was stirred
by Henry's querulous attitude to talk of the possibility
of war ! This was on December 17th. Henry's wrath
subsided somewhat at this threat, and he gave a
promise that he would not carry out the separation
from Rome, provided that within nine weeks he
should be informed that the Pope would issue a new
brief before Easter annulling the sentence of July
nth, declaring the marriage with Katharine void,
and confirming that with Anne — in fact, granting his
whole case. Du Bellay returned to France at the
end of the year, to lay this proposal before his
King.

A temporary truce was thus arranged. But this
had not prevented distinctly hostile acts on both
sides. On the church-door of St. Eligius, Dunkirk,
an abstract of the sentence in the Papal Bull of August
13th had been nailed up. In England the Privy
Council had been forbidden to call Clement anything
but the Bishop of Rome. Norfolk, indeed, called
him some other, unmentionable names. His sudden

* " Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.," Vol. VI., pages 571-2.

The Birth of Elizabeth

199

anti-Papal violence is explained by Chapuys as forced
upon him by his desire not to lose his remaining
influence, "which apparently does not extend much
further than Cromwell wishes ; for which reason, I
understand, he is wonderfully sick of the Court."

CHAPTER XV

THE APPROACH OF DANGER

IT is difficult to estimate the exact state of Henry's
feelings toward Anne at the period immediately
following the birth of Elizabeth. She may have had
cause for jealousy, as was suggested, before that event ;
and the dashing of his hopes of a son and heir was
not likely to make him more constant, though there
was, of course, still the possibility of those hopes
being fulfilled. Chapuys, who is never anxious to
report anything favourable to Anne, wrote to the
Emperor on November 3rd, 1533, that one of the
Lady's own demoiselles had affirmed the King to be
so obstinate in his intention that he had said several
times he would sooner go begging from door to door
than abandon the Lady. Apart from any question
of love, however, Henry had a very strong motive
to induce him not to abandon Anne — pride. Conscious
of his own greatness and righteousness, he would
not yield to the Pope, who had treated him with grave
injustice. Let Clement repair that injustice, and then
he would not proceed to schism.

In the meantime, while France was forwarding his
demand as the price of England remaining within the
Church, and while there was still no decision as to the
validity of the marriage with Katharine, Henry
deemed it advisable to prepare for the chance that

200

The Approach of Danger 201

Rome would reject his terms and, by declaring Katha-
rine his wife, make schism inevitable. If Clement
should call on Charles to take action against him as
an enemy of the Church, he must have allies among
Charles's own subjects and among the Lutherans in
general. Through the agency of Dr. Nicholas Heath,
later Archbishop of York, and a German who went
by the name of Christopher Mont, he approached the
Lutheran princes of the Empire ; and through other
envoys he sounded Denmark, Prussia and Poland.

At home Henry waited for the meeting of Parlia-
ment on January 15th before touching the remaining
privileges of Rome. But he struck a blow at the
adherents of the Papal cause — who were at the same
time the friends of Katharine and the enemies of
Anne — and endeavoured to make the blow include as
many heads as possible.

In November Henry had caused the arrest of a
crazy woman, variously known as the Holy Maid, or
the Mad Nun, of Kent, of whom we begin to hear
towards the end of 1532. As Elizabeth Barton
abounded in " revelations," such as that he would not
only lose his kingdom, but would also be damned,
and she had seen a place prepared for him in Hell,
it is not to be wondered at that Henry was annoyed.
She had even visited him to tell him about her revela-
tions, and it is rather astonishing that he had not
put her into custody before. Now he tried to implicate
with her all he could of those of whom it would suit
him to get rid. No connection could be discovered
between Elizabeth Barton and Katharine, the ex-
Queen having always refused to see her. But the
Bishop of Rochester (who had only been released from

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The Life of Anne Boleyn

confinement in the previous September), Sir Thomas
More, the Marchioness of Exeter, the Countesses of
Salisbury and Derby, and great numbers of lesser
people were found to have had communications with
her, which gave a pretext for examination into their
conduct.

Undoubtedly there were many dupes of the Mad Nun,
against whom a certain amount of severity was
justifiable. Chapuys tells of the erection of a high
scaffold in St. Paul's Cathedral, on which on November
23rd the Nun and some of her priestly associates had
to sit while the Bishop elect of Bangor (John Salcott)
preached a sermon against them. This was to be
repeated on the two following Sundays, after which
similar steps were to be taken in other towns, so as to
dissipate the popular impression of the Nun's sanctity.
It might be a painful ordeal ; but, seeing the nature
of her " revelations," her followers, who were not
supposed to be uneducated men, had scarcely the
right to complain. Unhappily there was much worse
to follow.

While making use of the Mad Nun's case to put
under observation many of Katharine's friends, Henry
continued the policy against the Princess Mary which
Chapuys would impute to Anne's instigation. He
took from her her home at Beaulieu, which he presented
to Lord Rochford, and sent her to Hertford Castle.
There he intimated to her that she must prepare to
go to Hatfield, where an establishment was being
prepared for the baby Elizabeth, who was now, at
the age of three months, removed from Anne's care.
Mary, guided by Chapuys, registered a protest, which
was naturally unavailing. In December she was

The Approach of Danger 203

carried off to Hatfield, to make her court to the
Bastard, as the ambassador gracefully puts it. She
made another protest, to the Duke of Suffolk, saying
that the daughter of Lady Pembroke had no right to
the title of Princess, by which she was bidden to call
her. As the King acknowledged the child, however,
she would call her " sister," in the same way as she
called the Duke of Richmond " brother."

From Hatfield the Duke of Suffolk was dispatched
to Buckden, to see Mary's mother and inform her that
the King contemplated removing her to Somersham,
unless she fell in with his wishes and ceased her claims.
Suffolk and his companions found Katharine inflex-
ible. " She will not remove to Somersham, against
all humanity and reason," they wrote to Henry on
December 19th, " unless we were to bind her with
ropes." To Norfolk on the same day they wrote de-
scribing her as " the most obstinate woman that may
be." As a punishment, most of her household (in-
cluding her English confessor, Thomas Abel, who was
sent to the Tower) were taken away from her, on the
pretext that they would not swear the proper oath of
allegiance to the King ; and the royal commissioners
would have taken her chambermaids too, had she not
vowed to sleep in her clothes if they did. A threat
to move her to Fotheringay was answered by Katharine
locking herself in her bedroom and challenging them
to break down the door. Beaten, they retired and left
Buckden. They dared not risk such an affront to
popular sympathies as moving her by force.

A story is told of Katharine at Buckden, which, if
true, probably belongs to the period before the removal
of the bulk of her household. It is said that one of her

204

The Life of Anne Boleyn

gentlewomen began to curse Anne Boleyn, whereon
Katharine " dried her streaming eyes and said
earnestly, * Hold your peace ! Curse not — curse her
not, but rather pray for her ; for even now is the time
fast coming when you shall have reason to pity her
and lament her case ! ' " The tale, recorded by Dr.
Nicholas Harpsfield, has rather the air of being invented
after Anne's tragic death.

Henry's line of conduct toward his first wife and
daughter was so detestable that it tends to blind us
to the fact that his victims were guilty of some very
doubtful transactions with the enemies of the head
of the State, whom the majority of his subjects showed
no desire to get rid of. Chapuys, who abused his am-
bassadorial position to discuss with the malcontents
the possibilities of risings in England and the substi-
tution of Reginald Pole for Henry on the throne, who
encouraged his master to think of invading England,
of aiding the Irish rebels with money and arms, and
of concerting action with Scotland, was the unceasing
inspirer of Katharine and Mary to defy Henry's
commands. They were certainly justified in refusing
to recognize the King's right to repudiate them. But
to have dealings with conspirators aiming to attack
England from outside was something more than a
maintenance of their rights as wife and daughter.
We only know of their dabbling with treason through
the confessions of their own chief friend. Cromwell,
in spite of the activities of his spies, did not succeed
in tracking the plot. In October, 1533, indeed, he
got intelligence of two Observant Friars, on a mission
from Peto in Flanders, who had gone to Buckden,
and whom he caused to be arrested and racked.

The Approach of Danger 205

Apparently, however, no political discovery was made
through them. Probably Katharine was half-hearted
in her connection with actual treachery, though she
was firm in her requests to her Imperial nephew to
right her wrongs, which, unless Henry gave way,
could only be done by invasion of England.

The fateful year 1534 now opened. Early in
January Henry paid a visit to Hatfield to see his
infant daughter. Under Anne's influence, Chapuys
says, he would not see Mary, sending instead Cromwell
to urge her once more to the renunciation of the title
of Princess. Mary's reply was that such a mission was
labour wasted, and that bad treatment and even the
chance of death would not alter her determination.
As Henry was mounting his horse to leave Hatfield,
however, he caught sight of his obstinate elder daughter
on a terrace at the top of the house. She went down
on her knees, whereupon he saluted her, all his suite
following his example. Henry rode away without
speech to her ; but his half-relenting conduct had not
failed to make a considerable impression. Parental
affection, of a kind, was the least unamiable trait in
this tyrant's character.

Anne, on hearing of Mary's " prudent replies " to
Cromwell, is alleged by Chapuys to have complained
to her husband that he did not keep the girl close
enough and that she must be getting bad advice, as
her answers could not have been made without sug-
gestion from others. Henry gave a promise that no
one should speak to her without his knowledge ; but he
singularly failed to prevent the constant communica-
tions between her and Chapuys. Nor did he hinder
the Imperial representative from getting regular

206

The Life of Anne Boleyn

information about Katharine at Buckden, who was
now refusing to eat or drink anything that her new
servants provided for her. Chapuys looked on it as
very sinister that Henry should remark to Castillon,
successor to Dinteville as French ambassador, that
Katharine could not live long, being dropsical.

Poison was evidently very much in the mind of
Chapuys. He actually wrote to the Emperor that " a
gentleman told him that the Earl of Northumberland
— of all persons ! — " told him that he knew for certain
that she had determined to poison the Princess." And
another gentleman told him that Queen Anne had
sent to her aunt, Anne, wife of vSir John Shelton, Mary's
steward of the household, and herself governess in
charge of Mary, not to allow her to use the title of
Princess, but to box her ears as a cursed bastard if
she did, and to insist on her having the food provided
for her instead of in her own chamber. At the same
time Chapuys tells, on the authority of Castillon, that
Anne showed much more grief over the death of Dr.
Nicholas Hawkins than the King showed, and wept
bitterly, saying that an apothecary must have given
him some medicine that had caused his death.

The postponed assembly of Parliament took place
on January 15th, and both King and Queen were
busily employed, canvassing the members to vote
for the measures which were being introduced. Henry
also took the precaution to countermand the attendance
of those in the Upper House whom he knew to be
definitely hostile, such as the Archbishop of York, the
Bishops of Rochester and Durham, and that fervent
supporter of Katharine, Lord Darcy.

Henry had now all his preparations made to " give

The Approach of Danger 207

such a buffet to the Pope as he never had before."*
He was full of confidence, for Anne believed herself
pregnant again, and once more he was dreaming of
a son to succeed him. Indeed, he spoke of it openly
as a probable near event. In the circumstances he
did not particularly concern himself as to what the
Pope would do. At least, that was the impression
which he gave. The French had evolved a scheme
for terrifying Clement into consenting to a tribunal
sitting at Cambrai to judge the matrimonial cause, it
being understood that the Cardinals appointed would
give a verdict in Henry's favour, if he in return would
submit to Papal authority in England again. Henry
did not feel confident about this scheme, and went
on with his Parliamentary campaign.

In spite of the countermanding of undesirable
members, however, and the strong pressure put upon
the others, Parliament did not prove as docile as had
been hoped. The Bill settling a dowry on Katharine
as Princess Dowager of Wales passed the Lords, but
was held up in the Commons. The Bill of Attainder
against Elizabeth Barton and her associates, or alleged
associates, met with strong opposition. The inclusion
of Sir Thomas More's name in it proved a grave
mistake, for the ex-Chancellor was easily able to
exculpate himself " in the matter of this wicked woman
of Canterbury," as he called her himself in a letter to
the King. For a moment a halt was called, and the
Bill of Attainder was hung up.

Perhaps the difficulties of the situation induced

* The expression is from a draft document, corrected by the hand of
Cromwell, in which the King promises the total abolition of the Pope's
authority. (" Letters and Papers, Henry VIII. ,' ! Vol. VI., page 603.)

208

The Life of Anne Boleyn

Anne to make an attempt, which we do not hear of
her making before, to come to terms with the Princess
Mary. We give the story in the words of Chapuys,
writing on March 7th :

" When the King's amye went lately to see her
daughter, she urgently solicited the Princess to visit
her and honour her as Queen, saying that it would be
a means of reconciliation with the King, and she
herself would intercede with him for her, and she would
be as well or better treated than ever. The Princess
replied that she knew no Queen in England except
her mother, and that if the said amye (whom she called
Madame Anne de Boulans) would do her that favour
with her father she would be much obliged. The
Lady repeated her remonstrances and offers, and in
the end threatened her, but could not move the
Princess. She was very indignant, and meant to
bring down the pride of this unbridled Spanish blood,
she said."

Anne's apparently well-meaning overture to her
stepdaughter had therefore failed, and had only the
effect on herself of leaving her still more bitter against
the girl.

About the same time as this affair, news came from
Rome, through France, of what seemed a favourable
nature. Du Bellay had arrived in Rome on Feb-
ruary 2nd, and at once set to work to carry out his
promise to Henry. He put the scheme for the Cambrai
tribunal before the Pope, vigorously urging on him
the danger of losing England altogether. Clement
listened to the scheme and begged for time to consider

From the painting by an unknown artist in the National Portrait Gallery,

Mary Tudor, Daughter of Henry VIII.

[To face p. 208.

The Approach of Danger 209

it, which du Bellay interpreted as a sign of coming
victory for French over Imperial diplomacy. He
hurried the tidings to France, and on March 2nd
Castillon communicated them to Henry. The King
wavered ; but Cromwell's influence was all against
a reconciliation with Rome, which promised ruin
for himself and all concerned in the anti-Papal policy.
It cannot be imagined that he cared what would become
of Anne, with whom his sympathy was limited to the
fact that they both wished to get rid of the last traces
of Roman authority ; but he cared very much whether
he " made or marred." His friends on the Council
were also bent on saving themselves, and even Norfolk,
as we have seen, had committed himself recently to
the policy of opposition to the Pope.

In consequence, Castillon was unable to extract
from Henry anything beyond a promise not to break
absolutely with Rome before Easter, which fell on
April 5th. But not all the measures in Parliament
were held back. On March 12th the Bill of Attainder
against those alleged to be implicated with Elizabeth
Barton was accepted by the Lords, after the removal
of Sir Thomas More's name from the list, and four
days later a Bill was passed in the Commons forbidding
the payment of " Peter's pence."

The proceedings in Rome and London in early
1534 have all the appearance of a game of bluff, each
side hoping to frighten the other into acknowledging
defeat. By a strange coincidence, both declared them-
selves on the self-same day, in such a fashion as to
destroy all chance of compromise. In Rome, Consis-
tory began its final consideration of Henry's first
marriage on February 27th. On March 23rd, while

210

The Life of Anne Boleyn

the eight French Cardinals absented themselves, the
remainder of Consistory voted unanimously for the
validity of the marriage. The Imperialists had won,
and du Bellay retired from Rome in dismay. In
London a Bill ratifying Henry's marriage with Anne
and settling the succession on their issue came before
the Lords on March 20th, and on the 23rd it was read
for the third time and passed.

It was not until April 4th that Francis's special
ambassador, Giles de la Pommeraye, reached England
with news of the decision of Consistory ; and by
that time Henry had consolidated his gains in Parlia-
ment, the chief of which was the Act of Succession.
After the signatures of all members had been obtained
to this, Parliament was prorogued on March 30th,
and a proclamation was issued, calling attention to
the new Act, threatening with the penalties of prae-
munire anyone doing anything in derogation of it,
and prescribing that all subjects of the King should
take an oath to observe it. Cromwell, who had played
a great part in securing the King's victory, was
rewarded with the post of Chief Secretary at the
beginning of April.

When Pommeraye reached the English Court with
his news, he was received by Henry so calmly that
one is inclined to suspect that the King had already
got wind of it. Friedmann suggests that he had an
idea that Francis had played him false, for the mere
abstention of the French Cardinals from voting was
not a very marked proof of their convictions against
the validity of the marriage. Henry made no display
of anger, but decided to send Rochford and Sir William
Fitzwilliam on a mission to Francis and his sister,

The Approach of Danger 211

the Queen of Navarre. They were to urge Francis
to declare himself against the Pope, adopting similar
legislation against his supremacy to that which had
been passed in England ; and to endeavour to arrange
a meeting between the two Kings in the near future.
They were to see the Queen of Navarre, so as to make
sure of a suitable reception for Anne when she accom-
panied her husband.

The envoys met Francis on April 21st and found him
quite willing to meet Henry. He did not see the
necessity of anti-Papal legislation in France, however ;
and he not unreasonably asked what measure of
financial support he might expect from England,
supposing that the Emperor should attack him as
Henry's ally. Rochford and Fitzwilliam returned to
England, and were followed by de la Guiche to make
arrangements for the royal meeting.

While his mission was in France, Henry was pressing
forward with his new powers at home. The Act of
Attainder was carried into effect, and Wriothesley
describes how on April 20th " the Holy Maid of Kent/'
two monks of Canterbury, two Friars Observants,
and a priest were drawn from the Tower to Tyburn,
hanged and beheaded, their heads being set up, two
on the Tower and four at divers gates of the City.
(Burnet, in his " History of the Reformation," says
that the Nun confessed that she " most justly deserved
her death," and that Anne interceded for some of her
misguided followers.) On the same day all the crafts
in London were sworn on a book " to be true to Queen
Anne and utterly to think the Ladie Marie but a
bastard." All the priests and curates throughout
London and England were sworn — that is, they were

14*

212

The Life of Anne Boleyn

asked to swear — before the Archbishop of Canterbury
and other bishops ; and the laity were sworn, in the
shires and towns where they lived.

The demand for obedience to the Royal Proclama-
tion, however, revealed the strength of the opposition.
The two most notable refusals to take the oaths came
from Sir Thomas More and Fisher, Bishop of Rochester.
Both were willing, indeed, to swear to the Act of
Succession, but not to the preamble. Fisher was
already in custody, on a charge of not having revealed
to the King what the Mad Nun had told him, which
was not really much different from what she had
told to Henry himself. Now he and More were
committed to the Tower. Cranmer suggested that
their readiness to swear to the Act was sufficient ;
but Cromwell replied that the King could not agree
to this, as the rejection of the preamble might be
taken as a confirmation of the Bishop of Rome's
authority and the reprobation of the King's authority.
So More and Fisher languished in the Tower.

This allusion by Cromwell, or by Henry, to the
Bishop of Rome suggests a story which is to be found
among the State Papers,* showing plainly the connec-
tion in the popular mind between Anne Boleyn and
the repudiation of the Pope. On Saturday, May 2nd,

1534, a certain serving-man, Henry Kylbie, came with
his employer, Master Pachett, homewards from Lon-

* " Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.," Vol. VII., page 289 : Ex-
amination of Henry Kylbie. For another example of popular senti-
ment, see the accusation against Margaret Ellys, February nth,

1535, that she called Queen Anne " a goggyll (e)yed " (which may

be regarded, perhaps, as a testimony to the black and beautiful eyes
we have heard of), " and said, God save Queen Katharine, and she
trusted to see her Queen again." (Ib., Vol. VIII.)

The Approach of Danger 213

don to Leicester, and stopped at the " White Horse,"
Cambridge. As he was dressing his master's horse
there on Monday, he got talking with the ostler, who
told him that there was no Pope, but only a Bishop
of Rome. Kylbie replied that there was a Pope, and
that whoever held the contrary was a strong heretic.
The King's Grace was on his side, said the ostler.
" Then are both you an heretic and the King another,"
retorted Kylbie, adding that this business would never
have been if the King had not married Anne Boleyn.
" Therewithal they multiplyed wordes and wexed
so whotte in theire communication that the one called
the other knave, and so fell togither by the eares "
— and Kylbie " brake the hosteler's hed with a fagotte
styke ! " The sequel is not revealed.

It is noteworthy that in this very month of May,
when Henry's " heresy " was being attributed by
one of his humble subjects to the influence of his
new wife, Anne is found writing to " our trustie and
right welbeloved Thomas Crumwell squyer, Chief
Secretary unto my Lorde the Kings Highnes," telling
him that a certain Richard Herman, merchant of
Antwerp, had in the late Cardinal's time been expelled
from his freedom and fellowship in the English house
there M for nothing ells (as he affermethe) but oonly
for that he did bothe with his gooddis and policie,
to his greate hurte and hynderans in this Worlde,
helpe to the settyng forthe of the Newe Testamente
in Englisshe." With all speed and favour convenient,
Cromwell was to " cause this good and honeste mar-
chaunt ... to be restored to his pristine fredome,
libertie and felowshipe aforesaid " (Letter from Green-
wich, May 14th, 1534).

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The Life of Anne Boleyn

Among those called upon to take the new oath
were the ex-Queen Katharine and what remained
of her household. There were sent down to Buckden
to exact it the Archbishop of York, the Bishop of
Durham, and the Bishop of Chester (the last named
being Rowland Lee, the cleric described by Stephen
Vaughan to Cromwell as " an earthly beast ") ; * but
they entirely failed in their task as far as Katharine
was concerned, and only succeeded to a certain
extent with the household. Katharine told them
that " Queen she was, and Queen she would die."
Chapuys was very much afraid that she would suffer
for her courage. He writes to her nephew on May
29th :

" Everybody fears some ill turn will be done to the
Queen, seeing the rudeness and strange treatment
to which she is daily subjected, both in deeds and in
words ; especially as the Concubine has said she
will not cease until she has got rid of her, and since,
according to certain prophecies, one Queen of England
is to be burned, she wishes it to be Katharine, to avoid
the lot falling upon herself."

Previously the ambassador had complained to
the Emperor of fresh acts of severity against the
Princess Mary, such as the taking away by Norfolk
of all her jewellery, as a punishment for her refusal
to pay her respects to Anne ; and her forcible bundling
into a litter with Lady Shelton, to follow in the train
of the Princess Elizabeth on a journey. Mary on

* Letter of November 1st, 1534. More fully, " an erthely beste,
a molle (? mole), and an enemy to all godly lernynge ... a papiste,
an Idolater, and a flesshely preste." Invective was assuredly a wide-
spread gift in Tudor times !

The Approach of Danger 215

the latter occasion made another of her public pro-
tests, which Chapuys thought unwise.

Charles was stung by his representative's reports
into making a remonstrance to the English ambassa-
dor at his Court, which brought him a long letter of
pained surprise from Henry, who pointed out that
he was really treating Katharine and Mary very
well, and that Katharine was within extreme danger
of the law if he chose to show rigour. Whatever
the Emperor thought of this, he held his hand. But
Chapuys continued to ply him with tales of the
sad plight of his aunt and cousin. One of the
grievances was the removal of Katharine from
Buckden to Kimbolton Castle, in the same county
of Huntingdon, but said to be more unhealthy.
Katharine herself suspected that this was part of a
design, and took even greater precautions against
poisoning now, declaring that they were trying to
give her " artificial dropsy." She had no doubt
heard from Chapuys of the King's remark about her
being dropsical and likely to die soon.

While able to devote a certain amount of attention
to his complicated domestic affairs, Henry was most
concerned with the future policy of Francis. When
Rochford and Fitzwilliam returned to England early
in May, he and Anne dined in public ; and after dinner
he remarked that he was bound to give thanks to
God for having so entirely conciliated to him such
a good brother and friend as the King of France.
According to Chapuys, this public announcement had
the effect of making many suspect that Francis
was " beginning to halt," especially as there was a
talk of postponing the interview. Henry, however,

216

The Life of Anne Boleyn

did not wish for too long a delay, and when de la
Guiche arrived suggested a date in August.

A difficulty arose. Anne was, or believed herself
to be, with child, and if she were would probably
not be able to accompany the King to France.
Chapuys has one of his usual pieces of scandal, on the
authority of "a person of good faith," which he
sends to the Emperor on June 23rd. This is to
the effect that " the King's concubine has said more
than once, and with great assurance, that when the
King has crossed the sea and she remains gouvernante,
as she will be, she will use her authority and put
the Princess [Mary] to death, either by hunger, or
otherwise. On Rochford, her brother, telling her
that this would anger the King, she said that she did
not care even if she were burnt alive for it after."

Some later writers have taken this story for gospel
truth — always ready to accept any statement un-
favourable to Anne — and have represented that Henry
was afraid to go to France without Anne, for fear
she should make away with Mary in his absence.
It is certainly true that Henry did put off his trip
to France because he was unwilling to leave Anne.
But there were two sufficient reasons for that, without
inventing for him apprehension of his elder daughter's
murder. Firstly, he was again hoping for the birth
of a son, and probably had a slight renewal of his
affection for Anne in consequence ; and, secondly,
he was anxious to bring about that meeting with
the Queen of Navarre which he had failed to procure
while Anne was only Marchioness of Pembroke.

Lord Rochford was again the ambassador chosen
to go to France, in spite of his enemies' allegations

The Approach of Danger 217

of his incompetence. His instructions were issued
on July 7th, and two days later he was off post haste.
Other matters were included in the instructions j
but, with regard to Queen Anne, her brother was to
say that, while she was anxious to meet the Queen
of Navarre, she wished the interview to be deferred,
being so far gone with child that she could not cross
the sea with the King, of whose presence, on the
other hand, she did not want to be deprived when
it was most necessary to her. Could the interview
be postponed until the following April ? Rochford
was to represent to Francis that the Queen, " with
much suit " only, had got leave for him to proceed
to France in the King's place — " the said Lord
Rochford," the instructions add, " even so tempering
his communication with the French King in this
matter as he smell not the King's Highness to be
overmuch desirous of it, but all in the Queen's name."

The day on which Rochford set out upon his mission
was one marked by a very extraordinary occurrence.
William, Lord Dacre of the North, was Warden of
the Western Marches, sharing with the Earl of North-
umberland the task of guarding the Scottish frontier.
He was brother-in-law to the Countess of Northumber-
land ; but she, as we know, was a bitter foe to her
husband. Moreover, Dacre was a strong Roman
Catholic, and the Earl was not. There was no love
lost between them, and at last an accusation was
brought against Dacre of treason and seeking the
destruction of his fellow-warden. He was brought
South, and on July 9th was arraigned at Westminster,
the case being presided over by the Duke of Norfolk
as High Steward. M The Lady," writes Chapuys,

218

The Life of Anne Boleyn

" used her influence against him, because he had
always maintained the cause of the Queen and Princess.
Nevertheless, he defended his case so well for seven
hours that he was unanimously declared innocent by
twenty-four lords and acquitted by twelve judges ;
which is one of the most novel things that have
been heard of for a hundred years, for no one ever
knew a man come to the point he had done and escape.
And there was never seen for one day such universal
joy shown in the City as there was at his liberation."

It is true that Dacre was the one man against whom
a charge of treason was brought, in the King's name,
during the reign of Henry VIIL, who was not con-
demned — a fact useful to remember when we come
to the trial of Anne Boleyn.

During the summer Henry and Anne went on
another of their progresses in the Midlands, and
we do not hear much of them until nearly the end
of September. Chapuys is mostly interested in the
affairs of Katharine and Mary, who were clearly
becoming a rallying-point for the loyalties of all
those who found the King's new policy intolerable.
Mary was in particular the danger, as Henry, Anne
and Cromwell alike were aware. Anne's hatred is
easily explained by this, which threatened the
prospects of Elizabeth and any subsequent child she
might bear. Cromwell had no dislike of Mary,
whom he looked on as an useful pawn in the diplo-
matic game, for which reason he had not been in favour
of her being declared illegitimate. As for Henry,
his conduct towards her continued to show alternate
conciliation and severity. In July he made yet
another attempt, through Lord Wiltshire and Sir

The Approach of Danger 219

William Paulet, to induce her to renounce her title,
with a promise of better treatment if she did so.
Advised by Chapuys, she refused. Towards the
end of August, however, when an order was sent
to Mary to accompany the Princess Elizabeth to
Greenwich, his advice was that she should consent.
Accordingly she agreed, upon the understanding that
she should not be compelled to go out after her sister.
Paulet promised this ; but when Mary came to the
door of the lodging, there was " the litter of the
Bastard " — the words, of course, are those of Chapuys
— which she had to follow. Mary got her own back,
however, for on the journey she pushed ahead on
horseback and reached Greenwich an hour before
Elizabeth. She also secured the most honourable
seat on the barge which was to take them to the
Palace.

Nevertheless, when next month Henry heard that
Mary, now at Hunsdon, was lying ill, he hastened
to send Dr. Butts to her, and even gave Katharine
permission to visit her, unfortunately adding conditions
which would not allow the poor ex-Queen to accept.

Henry showed no more consistency toward Anne
than toward Mary. After having been unwilling
to leave her for his journey to France and keeping
her by him during the summer, by the end of Septem-
ber he had grown cold again. The general explana-
tion at Court was that Anne had discovered she was
not pregnant after all. Disgusted with his shattered
hope of a son, Henry " renewed the love he formerly
had for a very beautiful lady of the Court " — by
whom Chapuys seems to mean the unknown lady
to whom the King's attention had turned before

220

The Life of Anne Boleyn

Elizabeth's birth. When Anne would have had her
banished, Henry grew angry, telling her that " she
had good reason to be content with what he had done
for her, which he would not do now if they were
to begin again," that she should consider from what
she had come, and several other things, to which,
however, Chapuys thinks it well not to attach too
much importance, " considering the King's change-
able character and the craft of the Lady, who knows
well how to manage him."

A fortnight later, on October 13th, the ambassador
reports the banishment from Court, not of the new
favourite, but of Lord Rochford's wife, for conspir-
ing with " the Concubine " to get the other withdrawn.
This is curious news, for Lady Rochford had pre-
viously been in trouble, as we know, for expressing
too openly her sympathy with Katharine ! More-
over, she appears later as Anne's virulent opponent
and the traducer of her own husband on her account.

With the defeat of the attempt to get rid of her,
the young lady's influence increases daily while that
of Anne decreases, and Chapuys sees good hope that,
if the King's love affair continues, the interests of
Katharine and Mary will prosper, for the young
lady is greatly attached to them. In fact," she
has lately sent to the Princess [Mary], telling her
to be of good cheer and that her troubles will end
sooner than she supposes, and when the opportunity
comes she will show herself her true and devoted
servant."

Although Chapuys does not say so, it is evident
that the (to us) unknown favourite was an adherent
of the old Roman Catholic noble party, who hoped

The Approach of Danger 221

to influence the King through her as the Reformers
had influenced him through Anne Boleyn. The am-
bassador gives an illuminating glimpse into the state
of disaffection of the old families and their sym-
pathizers. At the end of September he had two
important communications, with Lord Hussey, Mary's
chamberlain, and, on Hussey's introduction, with
Lord Darcy. The former urged that the Emperor
should now intervene to right Katharine and Mary.
The latter, though declaring himself one of the
most loyal vassals the King had in matters not in-
juring his conscience, said that, as it was proposed
in this Parliament to bring in the Lutheran sect,
he and his adherents would do their best to animate
the people against it, and with the Emperor's assist-
ance would raise the banner of the Crucifix beside
his ; and among the first things he would do would
be to seize some lords who favoured these follies,
such as the Earl of Northumberland. Darcy claimed
that 1,600 great lords and gentlemen in the North
were of his opinion, and that he could put into the
field 8,000 men of his own and his friends'. Among
his friends, by the way, was the Lord Dacre, lately
so triumphantly acquitted of treason, against the
influence of the King and Queen.

The ambassador is certainly a priceless chronicler
of the secret history of the day, provided that we
make due allowance for the bias of his mind and
the temptation which he was unavoidably under
to tell the Emperor what he wanted to be told, rather
than the bare truth ; for we cannot agree with some
of the historians that Chapuys never departed from
the truth. He was a man of insight, but also of

222

The Life of Anne Boleyn

much prejudice. We may perhaps accept as vera-
cious the details of an interview which he had some-
time in October with Cromwell, just appointed to the
Mastership of the Rolls in addition to his Chief Secre-
taryship. His visit was under pretext of other things ;
but he brought the conversation round to the subject
of the Princess Mary, and conjured Cromwell, by
the affection he had formerly professed for her, to
do what he could to save her from M the torment of
following the Bastard " or renouncing her own title
and legitimacy. Efforts to this end would not achieve
the King's purpose, he declared, but might make
her very seriously ill. The Secretary assured him
that Henry would be very sorry both for the loss
of such a pearl and for the opinion of the world, and
insisted that, though he had taken certain measures
with her for resisting his will, he was at heart un-
changed in his affection for her. Indeed, to show
Chapuys a little further into the mystery, said Crom-
well, he would let him know what was not known
to everyone, namely that " not only a hundred for
one, but without comparison, the King loved the
Princess Mary more than the last-born, and he would
not be long in giving evidence of it to the world."

Chapuys was inclined to believe what Cromwell
told him, and says that he sent word to Mary, then
with Elizabeth at The More, that, as the King's
severity was abating, she should take care not to
give him any cause of offence, and, so far from re-
fusing to "follow the Bastard," should declare
that she was very glad in this to satisfy the King her
father. On October 21st she came to Richmond
in the company of Elizabeth. The next day Queen

The Approach of Danger 223

Anne, accompanied by the Dukes of Norfolk and
Suffolk and many others, ladies and gentlemen,
paid a visit to Richmond to visit la petite garce —
Chapuys uses a milder term this time for the poor
baby — when Mary shut herself up in her chamber
until her stepmother had gone. Moreover, Anne's
retinue, including a number of ladies, came to pay
their respects to her there. No punishment befell
her ; and if it were not for the fact that the King
was of an amiable and cordial nature (!), and that
the new mistress had already busied herself on Mary's
behalf, Chapuys would have been inclined to think
the King's favour to his daughter a dissimulation,
to conceal the guilt of any ill that might overtake
her.

CHAPTER XVI

THE DAWN OF THE TERROR

IT was in 'a very perilous position that Anne
found herself in the last quarter of 1534. The
King's passion for her had brought him to the point
of sacrificing his first wife, his connection with the
Church of Rome, and the esteem of vast numbers
of his subjects, not to mention the respect of most
of Europe, for her sake. But she had given him
no son, and he was no longer in love with her. There
was no friend upon whom she could rely at home,
for those who admired her for her Reforming zeal
were men of no power. Abroad, Francis and his
advisers were alienated from her, because of the
situation into which Henry had put them, for which
they blamed her influence. Henry, they imagined,
might be brought back into the fold ; but only at the
cost of Anne Boleyn. Any European combination
involved her ruin.

It was well known in England that in August
the Emperor had made approaches to the King of
France, not indeed with a view to a joint attack on
Henry to enforce the Papal interdict, but at least in
the hope of an alliance which would affect the future
of England. Both in the Empire and in France
the Princess Mary was looked on as the eligible

224

The Dawn of the Terror

225

Princess, whose hand might one day bring with it
a claim to succession on the English throne. A son
born to Anne, and once recognized as the Prince
of Wales, might upset this calculation ; but where
was the son ?

On September 26th, Pope Clement ended his weary
life. Maliciously, Gregory Casale wrote to Lord Roch-
ford on October 15th : " Rome is rejoiced at the death
of Clement VII.* . . . The creation of Paul III. has
given the greatest pleasure in the city." Paul III.
was Cardinal Alexander Farnese, formerly, and still
believed to be, friendly to Henry and ill-disposed to
the Emperor. A reconciliation between the Holy
See and England was considered likely. Henry had
only to renounce Anne, and all would be well.

It has been remarked by many writers that what
saved Anne now was the continued existence of
Katharine of Aragon. Henry might have been pre-
pared to cast off Anne already — there were other
women who might bear him a son — but he would
not take back Katharine, which would be the natural
sequel to getting rid of her supplanter. How far
Anne realized this is doubtful ; perhaps not at all.
She cannot yet have fathomed the baseness of Henry's
nature. She was, indeed, destined to be the first full
test of its depravity.

Parliament reassembled on November 4th to com-
plete the work of the spring session. A fortnight

* It must be remembered that Clement had many bitter enemies
in his own country. On January 16th, 1535, we find the notorious
Pietro Aretino writing to Henry VIII. from Venice that all Italy rejoiced
at his success over Clement. " I kiss Your Highness's feet, in dis-
honour of the Pope, a second Lucifer.'' (" Letters and Papers,
Henry VIII.," Vol. VII., page 31.)

226

The Life of Anne Boleyn

later the Act of Supremacy was carried, and steps
were immediately taken for enforcing compliance
with it by a further Act, which made it treasonable
to deny their titles to either King, Queen, or their
issue, or to call them heretic, schismatic, or infidel.
This far-reaching measure met with strong opposition,
in spite of the vigorous pressure exerted by the
Government to force it through. Finally Henry and
his Ministers were obliged to make two important
concessions ; first, that the Act should not come
into operation until the following February ist, and,
secondly, that only a malicious denial of title should
be held treasonable.

In the meantime a new mission had come over
from King Francis, headed by Philippe de Chabot,
Sieur de Brion, Admiral of France. He arrived at
Court on November 16th ; and Chapuys narrates
Henry's efforts to do him honour, including the
summoning of a number of beautiful ladies to the
Court. Many thought that the purpose of this visit
was to enhance the reputation of the king with the
English people, says the Imperial ambassador, for
the gentry — the ruling section, Chapuys means —
were beginning to distrust Francis for his adherence
to the Church.

No doubt Francis had some notion of re-establish-
ing his credit at the English Court ; but he also
wished to influence his good brother Henry toward
moderation, with a view to some accommodation with
the new Pope. Part of his scheme was to carry
into effect the marriage of the Princess Mary to the
Dauphin Francis, to whom she had been affianced
in tender years. The Emperor's suggestion to Francis

The Dawn of the Terror

227

in August had been a marriage between Mary and
the Duke of Angouleme, the French King's third
son, from which might result some day the accession
of a French prince to the English throne. Francis
preferred the original match ; but the difficulty in
either case was that Mary must not be deemed
illegitimate, so that the measures declaring her so
must be reversed.

Acting on his instructions, the Admiral of France
on November 26th requested Henry to complete
the treaties of 15 18 by arranging the marriage of
Mary to the Dauphin, threatening him, in the event
of refusal, with a marriage between the Dauphin
and the Infanta, daughter of the Emperor. Chapuys,
a deeply interested watcher of the French mission,
says that "it is not known how the King received
this, but his Lady is very angry at it." Nothing
else could have been expected of Anne. Mary's
legitimization would mean the undoing of the Acts
of Succession and Supremacy, and her own extinction.

Henry, however, would not hear of the marriage
between Mary and the Dauphin. Instead he made
a counter-proposal to Francis that the latter should
obtain from Pope Paul a decision that Clement's
sentence was void, whereon he would be willing to
treat for a renunciation of his own title of " King
of France " — always a sore point with Francis — and
for a marriage between the Princess Elizabeth and
the Duke of Angouleme.*

The Admiral's mission was a failure. If he came
over expecting to find Henry prepared for concessions,

* Henry to Francis. (" Letters and Papers, Henry VIII., Vol. VII.,
page;553-)

15*

228 The Life of Anne Boleyn

he was totally undeceived. Henry would yield
nothing, and at the very time of the Admiral's visit
Parliament made his defiance of opinion abroad
as definite as it could be. As for Anne's position,
the Admiral could draw what deductions he pleased.
He had come over prepared to slight her. The King
asked him early if he would not like to see her. He
replied very coldly that he would do so if it pleased
His Majesty ; which, says Chapuys, was noted by
several people. Chapuys also records, with obvious
enjoyment, an incident on the eve of the Admiral's
departure for home, December ist. A Court Ball
was given in his honour, and, according to Charles's
representative, the Admiral was seated next the
Lady while the dancing was in progress, when sud-
denly without any apparent occasion she went into
a fit of uncontrollable laughter. The Admiral thereat
showed great annoyance, and frowning asked, " How,
Madame, do you mock at me, or what ? " Anne
checked her laughter, and excused herself to him
by saying that she laughed because the King had
told her that he was going to look for the Admiral's
secretary and bring him to her, but instead had met
a lady on his way and had forgotten all else.

"I do not know if the excuse was accepted as
satisfactory," adds Chapuys, who has also about this
same time another story, which he had heard from
Sir Nicholas Carew, Master of the Horse, brother-in-
law of Francis Bryan. Anne, it appears, began to
complain one day to the King about the young lady
(who is no doubt the same lady who figures in the
other tale), saying that she did not do her, either
in word or in deed, the reverence which she expected.

The Dawn of the Terror

229

Henry angrily left her, exclaiming against her im-
portunity. Truly, Anne was experiencing the same
treatment as, for love of her, Henry had inflicted on
Katharine ; except that he did not accord her such
respect as he had shown to her predecessor, nor
apparently trouble to explain that his relations with
the young lady were perfectly correct.

In this same letter* the Emperor is told by his
ambassador how the Lady's sister was banished
from the Court three months ago, it being necessary
to do so, " for, besides that she had been found guilty
of misconduct, it would not have been becoming to
see her at the Court enceinte" Here we have an
opportunity of testing the gossiper's veracity. We
have not heard anything of the former Mary Boleyn
for some time, though she appears in the list of
recipients of the King's New Year gifts for 1534.
We know, however, from a letter of hers, undated
but evidently belonging to this year, that she had
fallen into disgrace at Court. The letter shall show
whether this disgrace was also a dishonour to her.

Signing herself " Mary Stafford," she writes to
Cromwell, begging him to be good to her poor husband
and herself. (This husband was a Sir William
Stafford, of whom little is known except that he
was of better breeding than fortune, and that he
was employed as gentleman usher to the King. Crom-
well is aware, continues Mary, that their marriage,
being clandestine, displeases the King and Queen.
" But one thing, good master Secretary, consider ;

* Chapuys to the Emperor, December 18th, 1534, in " Letters and
Papers, Henry VIII.," Vol. VII. The letter of "Mary Stafford' 1
is in the same volume, Appendix, page 612.

230

The Life of Anne Boleyn

that he was young, and love overcame reason. And
for my part I saw so much honesty in him that I
loved him as well as he did me ; and was in bondage,
and glad I was to be at liberty ; so that for my part
I saw that all the world did set so little by me, and he
so much, that I thought I could take no better way
but to take him and forsake all other ways and to
live a poor honest life with him ; and so I do put
no doubts but we should, if we might once be so
happy to recover the King's gracious favour and the
Queen's. For well I might a had a greater man of
birth and a higher, but I ensure you I could never
a had one that should a loved me so, well, nor a more
honest man."

She asks Cromwell to persuade His Majesty to speak
to the Queen, who is so rigorous against them. " We
have been now a quarter of a year married, I thank
God, and too late now to call that again. ... I
had rather beg my bread with him than to be the
greatest Queen christened. . . . Pray my lord my
father and my lady to be good to us . . . and my
lord of Norfolk and my brother. ... I dare not
write to them, they are so cruel against us."

We know that Mary Boleyn had " a past ; " but
this simple letter of hers inclines us to sympathy
with her efforts to start life afresh. Friedmann
suggests that the marriage with Stafford was a pre-
tence. We can see no reason whatever for thinking
so. On the contrary, we can well believe that Mary
was indeed glad to escape her " bondage " — her
dependence, since Carey's death, on her avaricious
father — even if she gained nothing but her liberty.
As for her estrangement from her sister Anne, in the

The Dawn of the Terror

231

circumstances it was little to be wondered at, though
it is not clear why Anne should be vexed at Mary's
second marriage. It perhaps merely served as an
excuse for getting her away from Court, where her
presence was a constant reminder of an old scandal.
We shall see that there was a reconciliation between
the sisters before Anne's death.

Chabot de Brion had gone back to France to
submit to his sovereign Henry's counter-proposals,
promising to send back an answer as soon as he could ;
but the answer was slow in coming. In the interval
there was an ominous amount of discontent in
England over the recent Parliamentary measures.
Chapuys has one of his second-hand stories to tell,
how that the Earl of Northumberland's physician
had told him that the Earl had said that the whole
realm was so indignant at the oppressions and enor-
mities now practised that, if the Emperor would make
the smallest effort, Henry would be ruined. North-
umberland was also alleged to have spoken of the
arrogance and malice of the Lady, who had lately
addressed to her uncle Norfolk such shameful words
as one would not use to a dog. Norfolk had quitted
her presence (in fact, leaving the Court altogether
for some time), and in revenge had spoken of her
as a grande putain. We can well believe this of Nor-
folk ; but it seems improbable that Northumberland
should have pretended Imperialist sympathies or
should have spoken against Anne, to whom, in a
half-hearted way, he was loyal to the end.

Although Henry was quite well aware of the un-
popularity of his religious policy and of the danger
of interference from outside, he did not cease to carry

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The Life of Anne Boleyn

out his schemes. On January 15th, 1535, he had
himself proclaimed as " Henry VIII., by the grace
of God King of England and France, Defender of
the Faith and Lord of Ireland, and on earth the
Supreme Head of the English Church." A requisi-
tion was sent to the bishops to burn all Bulls
they had from the Pope and to acknowledge that
they had everything from the King. The bishoprics
of the two Italian prelates, Campeggio and Ghinucci,
of which they had already been deprived in 1534,
were assigned now to two proteges of Anne's, Nicholas
Shaxton, her almoner, and Hugh Latimer, one of
her chaplains, who thus became Bishops of Salisbury
and Worcester. At the same time, however, there
was a prohibition of books of Zwinglian doctrine,
and we hear of the burning, by Council's orders, of
copies of the New Testament in English, of which
destruction Anne was certainly not in favour.

A step of which the import could scarcely be doubted
was the appointment of Cromwell on January 21st
as Vicar-General, with a commission for a general
visitation of churches, monasteries and clergy. Anne
was only destined to see the beginning of the work
which her ally would do with this commission, and
we cannot charge her with complicity in the spoliation,
ready as she always was to press the claims to vacant
offices of divines whose religious principles com-
mended themselves to her.

At last, on January 31st, the long-expected envoy
from France arrived, in the person of Palamede
Gontier, Treasurer of Brittany, who had accompanied
the Admiral of France on his visit before Christmas.
Interviews with the King took place at once, in the

From an engraving by Houbraken, after a painting by Holbein.

Thomas Cromwell, afterwards Earl of Essex.

[To tac p. 2$u

The Dawn of the Terror

233

course of which Henry boasted (as we know from
Gontier's letter to the Admiral) of " the augmentation
of his revenue, the union of his kingdom, and the
peace of conscience," which he was enjoying in con-
sequence of having thrown off subjection to Rome,
and urged the desirability of Francis following suit.
But Francis, who had just been distinguishing him-
self by particularly bitter persecution of the Luthe-
rans, at whose burnings he was present in state, had
no idea of taking Henry's advice, and his instructions
to his representative were still to press for a recon-
ciliation with the Pope. That this would involve
Anne's downfall did not trouble him at all. He
believed that Henry was prepared for this ; which
was true, provided that Anne's fall did not mean
Katharine's restoration.

Gontier, however, was not so cavalier as the Admiral
had been in his treatment of Anne, and on February
2nd, only two days after his arrival in London, Crom-
well took him to see the Queen. When he had de-
livered a letter from the Admiral, Anne complained
of his long delay, which, she said, had caused her
husband many doubts, and insisted that the Admiral
must devise some remedy to prevent her ruin, for
she saw that very near and was in more grief and
trouble than before her marriage. She could not
speak as fully as she wished of her affairs, because
of the many eyes upon her, the King's and those
of all the lords present ; nor could she write, nor
yet see him again. She took leave of him hurriedly
and did not follow Henry into the dance-room.
Gontier could see that she was far from at her ease,
and was distrustful of the attitude of Francis.

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The Life of Anne Boleyn

Henry, for his part, did not act as if he trusted
Francis far ; and he showed decided signs of mak-
ing up to the Imperial ambassador, in spite of the
firm protests of Chapuys against the continued bad
treatment of Katharine and Mary, the last example of
which was the refusal, during a serious illness of
the younger princess, of Katharine's pathetic re-
quest that the King should send u his daughter and
mine " to her at Kimbolton and allow her to nurse
her.

If Anne and Henry had their doubts of Francis,
so too had Cromwell, who was no follower of the
policy of his old master, Wolsey, that France was
the only possible ally. Particularly at the present
time did he wish to keep clear of anything that might
lead to reunion with Rome, which threatened his
ruin equally with Anne's. He would not desert
her yet % ; and perhaps his influence is to be seen in
the next curious manoeuvre which prevented the
King yet from throwing his second wife to the wolves.

The young lady of unknown name, whose in-
fluence over Henry had given Anne legitimate cause
for jealousy, was, we have seen reason to believe,
an adherent of the old noble and Roman Catholic
section of the Court. Suddenly we hear, through
a letter of Chapuys on February 25th, that she is
no longer in favour. " She has been succeeded
in her office by a first cousin of the Concubine, daughter
of the Princess's present governess." This was
Margaret, daughter of Sir John and Lady Shelton.
It is possible, of course, that the King's wandering
eyes lighted on her without any prompting from
outside ; but the change of favourites was to the

The Dawn of the Terror

235

advantage of the Boleyns and aided Cromwell's fight
against a Roman Catholic reaction.

Gontier left for France at the beginning of March,
returning for a brief second visit at the end of the
month, when it was arranged that English com-
missioners should proceed to Calais at Whitsuntide
to conclude terms for the marriage of the Princess
Elizabeth and the Duke of Angouleme. The idea
of a royal visit to France appears to have receded
into the distance. One point, however, was gained
for Henry, since we find Francis making a fresh at-
tempt at Rome to have Clement's sentence reversed,
as the price of his reconciliation with the Church.

Conspiracy was all the while rife in England, par-
ticularly among the Northern nobles, but also fairly
generally among the Roman Catholic lords. Chapuys
was in touch with all the malcontents, and had fre-
quent conversations with them. Among his guests
at dinner on one occasion were Lord Darcy's son
and the Earl of Wiltshire's own brother, Sir James
Boleyn, who did not share Thomas's Reforming
sympathies. The main idea of the conspirators was
to get the Princess Mary smuggled out of the king-
dom into Flanders ; for it was felt that a rising would
be futile if she were liable to be thrown into the Tower
as a hostage. Mary and her mother were certainly
conscious of the plot ; and it is scarcely to be wondered
at that Anne should have spoken of them — at least
Chapuys affirms so — as " rebels and traitresses, de-
serving death." Her own death was no matter of
doubt if a rising were successful.

The King and Cromwell, cognisant as they were
of the intrigues, dared not act against the leaders ;

236

The Life of Anne Boleyn

but in other ways they were singularly bold in chal-
lenging public opinion. The particularly atrocious
crime of the execution of the Carthusian fathers
on May 4th was carried out without the slightest
sign of compunction. Cranmer made an appeal to
Cromwell on behalf of two of them, that they might
be sent to him, since he thought he could do much
for them ; but he was not allowed to try. They
had denied the King's supremacy over the Church,
and for this they died a horrible death, their heads
and portions of their mangled bodies being after-
wards sent to decorate all the gates of the City and
the Charterhouse itself.

Chapuys alleges that the young Duke of Richmond,
the Duke of Norfolk, the Earl of Wiltshire, Lord
Rochford, Sir Henry Norris and other courtiers were
present at the execution, and that the King " would
have liked to see this butchery," but was not there.
To that extent Henry behaved better than his brother
of France over the burning of the Lutherans.

The one secular priest, John Hale, vicar of Isle-
worth, who shared the fate of the Carthusians,
certainly merited punishment, though the lunatic
asylum would have been more appropriate than the
scaffold. According to his own confession, he was
" aged and oblivious," and he had been ill ; but
he was convicted, on the evidence of several people,
including a young priest of Teddington, who re-
ceived a pardon, of conversations which were both
treasonable and indecent. Among other things he
said that "the King's Grace had meddling with
the Queen's mother " — possibly the original source
of the monstrous tale of Sanders.

The Dawn of the Terror

237

The campaign of barbarous terrorism was fairly
started by this abominable scene on May 4th ; though
it must be remembered that these were not the first
religious victims in the reign of Henry VIII., and
that previous victims had been sacrificed for heresy
quite other than the denial of the King's supremacy.
We can scarcely look on the executions of 1535 and
the immediately following period as religious murders,
unless we call Henry himself a religion. The Car-
thusians, and Fisher, More, and others after them
were offered up on the altar not of Reform, but of
a brutal egomaniac.

In spite of the supposed presence of her father and
brother (who, after all, were courtiers) at the execution
of the Carthusians, and in spite of alleged violent
speeches of hers against priests from whom she differed,
we have no right to assume that Anne took any
pleasure in the atrocity of May 4th. Chapuys, indeed,
says, after describing it, that " the Concubine is more
haughty than ever, and ventures to tell the King
that he is more bound to her than man can be to
woman, and moreover that he came out of it the richest
prince that ever was in England, and without her he
would not have reformed the Church, to his own
great profit and that of all the people/' But here,
once more, we have only hearsay collected by an
inveterate enemy. So we need not give undue weight
to his further assertion, to his friend Granvelle, of
the Emperor's Council, that, even if the King of
England wished to abandon his abominable ob-
stinacy against the priests, the Lady and Cromwell
would not allow him. Cromwell was certainly a
persecutor, with whom zeal for Reform was a

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The Life of Anne Boleyn

mere pretext ; but where is the evidence against
Anne ?

It may be noted that at the beginning of June
fourteen Dutch Anabaptists were burnt at Smith-
field and elsewhere for " heresy," as if to prove the
impartiality of the persecutors.

The counter-mission to France after Gontier's second
visit had included Norfolk and Rochford. On May
22nd they met the Admiral at Calais, when neither
side found the other in an accommodating mood. Roch-
ford was sent back at once for further instructions,
and Chapuys heard that on the 25th, the day of his
arrival, before seeing the King, he went to his sister
and had a long conversation with her. " He cannot
have brought back anything agreeable, for I am
told by the Master of the Horse that, both then and
several times since, she has been in a bad humour
and said a thousand shameful words of the King of
France and the whole nation." Henry and his
Council met to consider Rochford's report ; and it
was noticed that Morette, the resident French am-
bassador, not only was not invited to attend the
Council, but also had to wait until ten o'clock one
night at Cromwell's lodgings at Austin Friars, to be
sent off finally with but " two words."

Cromwell, indeed, was manifesting friendliness to-
ward the Imperial ambassador rather than the French.
He had a meeting with Chapuys, who says that
Cromwell told him if the Lady knew they were con-
versing freely she would make some trouble. Only
three days ago, he added, he had had words with her,
when she said she would like to see his head cut off ;
but such was his confidence in the King that he did

The Dawn of the Terror 239

not believe she could do him any harm. Chapuys
suspected Cromwell of inventing this tale, to " en-
hance his goods," and dryly replied that all the world
regarded him as the Lady's right hand.

Rochford was sent back to France, but without
instructions to make any concessions, with the result
that the meeting at Calais broke up in the middle of
June. Both sides were very dissatisfied, each thinking
the other's demands exorbitant. Henry wanted Francis
so far to espouse his cause with the Pope as, in the
event of Paul's refusal to reverse Clement's sentence,
to copy his own action against Rome ; and he wished
to lay down exacting conditions concerning the Duke
of Angouleme as the consort of the Princess Elizabeth.
Francis wanted very definite guarantees as the price
of his support against Pope and Emperor • and he
pressed for the carrying out of the marriage of the
Dauphin and the Princess Mary.

The Papal nuncio in France, the Bishop of Faenza,
writes that, on the separation of the Calais conference,
there was a pretence by both parties that the Anglo-
French friendship was firmer than ever. He mentions
also a visit to Amiens by Rochford, who, as far as
could be seen, accomplished nothing. "It is only
from his relation to the Queen that he is employed/'
adds the Bishop, " for the King has very few to trust
in. All business passes through the hands of people
who trust in the new Queen, and must therefore be
settled according to her purpose."* Such, less than
eleven months before her fall, was the impression
abroad of Anne Boleyn's continued power.

* Letter to Ambrosio (Papal Secretary), June 22nd, 1535. (" Letters
and Papers, Henry VIII.," Vol. VIII., page 358.)

240

The Life of Anne Boleyn

At the same time in England there was talk of a
fresh access of attention from Henry to his Queen,
the reason for which we may see in Anne's hopes
already beginning of again becoming a mother.*
Though Chapuys was not informed of these hopes, he
heard of Anne's return to favour. He writes on June
1 6th that, to divert the King from certain annoyances
(to which we shall refer), " the Lady lately made him
a feast in a house of hers, where she gave several brave
mummeries. She invited many, and the French
ambassador was not pleased at being forgotten. The
said Lady has so well banquetted and mummed that,
by what the Princess [Mary] sent me to-day to say,
the King dotes upon her more than ever."

The annoyances from which Henry suffered were
partly, no doubt, the unyielding attitude of France,
but also the action of the new Pope in conferring
cardinals' hats upon du Bellay, Ghinucci and Fisher.
On the two first Henry looked as friends of his — in
spite of his depriving Ghinucci of his English bishopric
— whom he did not want brought into the Pope's
circle. But the elevation of Fisher was a much
severer blow. There had been some mitigation of
the treatment of the old Bishop of Rochester, as also
of Sir Thomas More, in the Tower ; but there was no
cessation of the efforts made to induce them to swear
to the Act of Succession, and Henry was determined
that they should give the example of obedience.
Now Fisher, against whom he had the greater grudge,
for his dealings with Elizabeth Barton, was honoured
with the cardinalate ! This was too much to be
borne ; and, to make matters worse, Henry received

* See letter of Sir William Kingston to Lord Lisle. June 24th, 1535.

The Dawn of the Terror

241

a letter from Francis, written at the Pope's request,
interceding on the Bishop's behalf. Remarking that
the head could be sent to fit the cardinal's hat, Henry
gave orders for his execution.

There had been a brief pause in the martyrdoms.
On June 19th they recommenced, three more Carthusian
monks being done to death that day, with scarcely
less atrocity than their predecessors in May. On the
22nd Fisher was led out to execution at the Tower,
the worst features of such scenes being graciously
omitted, though his head, after it had been struck
off, was put up on London Bridge.

Having made this splendid vindication of his right
to do what he liked in his own kingdom, and taught
a lesson to Pope Paul on the folly of giving cardinals'
hats to rebellious priests, Henry performed a very
characteristic act, of which Chapuys gives us the
details. Writing to Granvelle, he tells him about " a
gallant and notable interpretation of a chapter of the
Apocalypse " — apparently some sort of masque —
which was played on the eve of St. John (June 23rd) at
some unnamed place outside London. The King
went thirty miles to see it, walking indeed ten of
them in the small hours of the morning — with a two-
handed sword, Chapuys asserts — and got into a house
where he could see everything. " He was so pleased
at seeing himself cutting off the heads of the clergy
that, in order to laugh at his ease and to encourage
the people, he discovered himself. He sent to tell
his Lady that she ought to see it repeated on the eve
of St. Peter."

Another head was still lacking to complete the
present instalment of terrorism, and this time not a

242

The Life of Anne Boleyn

priestly one. Sir Thomas More continued to reject
the oath, undeterred by Fisher's fate. He was brought
up for final examination, and, on the pretence that
he maliciously persevered in refusing a direct answer
to the question whether he admitted the King's
supremacy over the Church,* was declared subject
to the penalties of the law. On July ist he went to the
scaffold on Tower Hill, and his head was sent to join
Fisher's on London Bridge.

In Clifford's " Life of Jane Dormer " it is stated
that M when a gentleman brought word to the King
that Sir Thomas More was beheaded, the King being
at the table, and the Lady Anne standing by, the King,
throwing away the dice, showed anger and sorrow
... and said ' This is long of you ; the honestest
man of my kingdom is dead,' and suddenly retired
chafing." A similar story is found elsewhere, and we
may or may not believe it, as we please. Anyhow,
four days later, Henry set out on a long progress through
the West and South of England, having great enter-
tainment at the houses of his subjects, and being
noticed as " more given to matters of dancing and the
ladies than ever he was."f

Anne accompanied her husband on part of his
progress. If it be asked how, unless she approved of
his conduct, she could tolerate his presence, other
questions occur. How is it that the Pope even now
did not proceed to the last extremities of his power ?
How is it Charles still held his hand, that Francis went
no further than verbal denunciations of the atrocities,
that Henry's own subjects, the incomparably larger

* " Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.," Vol. VIII., page 385.
| Chapuys to the Emperor, July nth, 1535.

The Dawn of the Terror

243

portion still loyal to Rome, did not break out into
rebellion ? How is it that he still continued to charm
ladies, including Jane Seymour, of whom we are soon
to hear ? The answer to all these questions must
presumably be yet another question, How is it that
monsters have been — and still are — tolerated in the
world ?

16*

CHAPTER XVII

THE DEATH OF KATHARINE OF ARAGON

ALTHOUGH the world did not rise up in horror
against Henry VIII. after the crimes of May-
July, 1535, the effect was very great. We hear of
his ally Francis speaking of Fisher's execution " like
a Christian and a virtuous prince," and saying that he
knew Henry was given over to perdition, and no
good could be expected of him.* That he went
on to denounce Anne, saying " how little virtuously
she has always lived and now lives,' ' is no cause for
surprise, since Francis had long had a resentment
against her for upsetting his foreign policy. As an
honest opinion of her moral character it can hardly
be treated.

Pope Paul was nearly aroused into vigorous action,
and there can be no doubt that, whatever friendliness
he had once had for Henry in Clement's time, he was
deeply stirred by the death of Fisher. He went so
far as to send out briefs to all Christian princes, calling
on them to be ready to execute justice on Henry
when he would require them to do so. This was
towards the end of July ; and a month later there
were signs of a determination to carry the sentence
of excommunication to completion by a Bull of Depriva-

l * Bishop of Faenza to Ambrosio, July 4th, 1535.

244

The Death of Katharine of Aragon 245

tion. But now, strangely, it was Imperial influence
rather than French, which held the Pope back, Charles's
reluctance being due to the fact that the Princess
Mary was still in Henry's hands ; and also he was
suspicious of the French King's good faith in the
event of joint action against England being planned.

While the consequences of his latest misdeeds were
slow in manifesting themselves, Henry was on his
tour, hunting and hawking and otherwise amusing
himself, when not compelled to attend to business.
The plague was bad in London this summer, and he
had no desire to expose himself to its infection. Of
Anne there are only a few passing notices for a time.
We find her writing to Cromwell* from " my lord's
manor of Langley " on July 18th, concerning some
preferment which she desired for a clerical friend.
As Henry left Langley, which was shortly to be
prepared as a home for the Princess Elizabeth, on
July 1 6th and made his way towards Gloucester-
shire, it is clear that he had left her behind for the
time. In early August we hear, through Chapuys,
of Henry " still on the confines of Wales, hunting
and traversing the country to gain the people ; "
but Anne is not mentioned as being with him.

At the beginning of September the King was
obliged to turn some attention to his foreign affairs.
On the receipt of the Pope's brief summoning him
to be ready for action against Henry, Francis decided
to send Dinteville, generally called the Bailly of

* Not the same letter, with the extraordinary spelling and signed
" Your lovyng mestres Anne the Quene," which is in the British
Museum and is reproduced in " Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.,"
Vol. VIII., No. 417.

246 The Life of Anne Boleyn

Troyes, and a suite over to England to show the brief
and explain their master's difficulties. If it was to
come to war between Francis and the Emperor, the
former required Henry to pay one-third of the French
army's expenses. Dinteville had further, secret
instructions, to report on the state in which he found
England with regard to Henry's popularity.

Henry accordingly prepared to receive the French
envoys, putting aside his distractions. But it seems
that already, before he met Dinteville, he had come
across a person who was destined to attract him
more powerfully than any woman since the youthful
Anne Boleyn. Here enters into the story Jane
Seymour, whose coming to the Court of the woman
she was to supplant is, however, otherwise told by
the author of the previously mentioned " Life of Jane
Dormer." Clifford says that Sir Francis Bryan (whom
he, like all good Roman Catholics, hates) was anxious
to make a match between his niece Jane Seymour
and William, son of Sir Robert Dormer and Lady
Jane Dormer the elder. But Lady Jane, not liking
Bryan's character, carried her son off to London, to
the house of Sir William Sidney, to whose wife she
had made an overture for a match with their eldest
daughter Mary. The overture was accepted, " which,"
continues Clifford, " when Sir Francis Bryan under-
stood, seeing his pretence deluded, was ill-pleased. . . .
He sent them word that they should see his niece
as well bestowed. For he, carrying her up to the
Court, placed her with the Lady Anne Boleyn, the
Queen, in whose service the King affected her, for which
there was often much scratching and bye-blows
between the Queen and her maid."

Front an engraving by W. Bond, alter Holbein's painting in the Duke of Bedford's collection.

Jane Seymour.

[To face p. 246.

The Death of Katharine of Aragon 247

In spite of Clifford's explicit statement, it is
generally accepted that Jane Seymour was first a
maid of honour to Queen Katharine ; though this
does not of course disprove Clifford's story, as she may
have retired from the Court on Katharine's removal
and have been brought back again later. She is
supposed to have been born about 1509, and was
one of the eight children of Sir John Seymour, of
Wolf Hall, Wiltshire, and his wife Margaret, daughter
of Sir John Wentworth, through whom some connec-
tion with royal blood was claimed. The relationship
with Bryan is obscure. Sir John Seymour was groom
of the chamber to Henry VIII. and governor of
Bristol Castle ; and his sons, Edward and Thomas,
early began to make their mark at Court, where they
were destined afterwards to be such notable figures.

In September, 1535, a visit is recorded of the King
to Wolf Hall ; and it is possible that, if Jane was then
at her father's home, Henry's notice was first drawn
to her at this time, away from other female society.

Jane was neither brilliant of intellect nor beautiful.
But she was pale and demure, and in this way may
have attracted the King by her contrast with Anne,
in the same way as Anne had attracted him by her
contrast with Katharine. Anyhow, Henry had dis-
covered one whom he considered suitable as his
third wife, when he should be free to take such.

The meeting between Henry and Francis's repre-
sentatives did not result in any good. Chapuys
heard that the King appeared " sad and melancholy "
when he read the letters which the Bailly of Troyes
presented to him. It was soon obvious that the
old suspicions between the two kings still persisted,

248

The Life of Anne Boleyn

and that neither was ready to make concessions.
To Henry, Dinteville's attitude appeared arrogant ;
and he could not hold his own anger in check. Crom-
well, who had previously exhibited rudeness to the
resident French ambassador, was little better to the
special envoy. When he saw it was useless to prolong
his stay in England, Dinteville requested to be allowed
to return home, while Henry decided to send Gardiner,
Bishop of Winchester, over to France, to try whether
he could do anything, and with instructions to
" watch the French King's inward demeanour."

The French mission must have seen Anne during
their stay in England, for one of them* writes to
Marguerite, Queen of Navarre, that she had told him
that her greatest wish, next to bearing a son, was
to see Margaret again. With regard to the informa-
tion for which Francis had asked concerning the
state of England, a memorandum from the Bishop
of Tarbes (who was succeeding Morette as resident
French ambassador) to Dinteville records that " the
lower people are greatly exasperated with the Queen,
saying a thousand ill and improper things against her,
and also against those who support her in her enter-
prises, charging upon them all the inconveniences
which they see will arise from war [with the Emperor]."
Francis's spies, in fact, found England seething with
discontent, London plague-stricken, the country suffer-
ing from bad weather and a poor harvest, no one
pleased with the recent executions, and trade in such
a state that it was felt that only the cutting off of

* Unknown writer to the Queen of Navarre, September 15th, 1535
(" Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.," Vol. IX., page 127). The
memorandum which follows is in the same volume, page 187.

The Death of Katharine of Aragon 249

Flanders through war was required to ruin it
entirely.

The Bishop of Tarbes also notes, what would not
be displeasing to his master, that Henry's affection
for his wife is " less than it has been and diminishes
day by day, because he has new amours " — which
may be presumed to be a reference to Jane Seymour.

Before leaving England, Dinteville asked permis-
sion to see the Princess Mary, concerning whom
Francis was anxious as his intended daughter-in-
law. Henry, though not recognizing the betrothal,
gave permission for a visit to the two young princesses,
now at Eltham. Thither accordingly Dinteville and
his suite proceeded, accompanied by a gentleman
of the King's bedchamber, whose name is not given
in the French account. This gentleman told them
on the way that he had secretly been instructed by
the Queen to watch them ; from which it is evident
that he was not a very loyal friend to Anne. On
arrival at Eltham they found that they were not to
be allowed to see the elder princess. From Chapuys
we learn that Lady Shelton had been ordered by her
niece to prevent this, and had already told Mary to
keep her room while the French were there. Mary
was indignant, but, having been able to communi-
cate with Chapuys before their arrival, was advised
by him to obey. She did so, and solaced herself by
playing the spinet in her room during their visit.
So the envoys only saw the baby Elizabeth.

On their way back from Eltham the French were
cheered by the people, who knew that they had called
to see the beloved Princess Mary. As a further sign
of her great popularity, it was noted that, on her

250

The Life of Anne Boleyn

recent journey with Elizabeth to Eltham from
Greenwich, crowds had assembled to cheer her, among
them some ladies of high station, who were conse-
quently arrested and sent for a while to the Tower.
Among these ladies were Lady Rochford and Lady
William Howard, Norfolk's sister-in-law.*

Chapuys, who had also intimated a desire to visit
the Princess Mary, was politely reassured by Cromwell
as to her health, about which " no one feels more
anxiety than her father/' and was asked to defer his
visit until a more convenient time. While continuing
his discourtesy toward the French, to such an extent
that the Bishop of Tarbes made a complaint about it,
Cromwell was particularly courteous to the Imperial
ambassador, who indeed felt moved to write of him
to Granvelle that " he speaks well in his own language,
and tolerably in Latin, French and Italian, is hospitable,
liberal both with his property and with gracious words,
magnificent in his household and in building." Crom-
well had not in vain studied in the school of Wolsey,
as far as exterior things were concerned.

Having dispatched Gardiner to France, still in the
hope of weaning the King from his regard for the Pope
— which really went further than Henry suspected,
for Francis had already secretly agreed to help in
carrying out a Bull of Deprivation, provided that
the Emperor acted with him ! — Henry continued his
progress. This he had continued into October, owing
to the slow abatement of the plague in London. On
October 2nd we hear that " the King and the Queen is
merry and hawks daily, and likes Winchester and that

* It appears that Friedmann (Vol. II., page 128) was the first to
point out that these two were among the rash ladies.

The Death of Katharine of Aragon 251

quarter, and praises it daily ; " and on the 19th that
" the King's Grace is mery " and is going via East-
hamstead to Windsor.*

At length, the deaths from plague having stopped,
the Court returned to town, where news came of the
serious illness of King Francis. Henry was truly
concerned. In spite of his distrust of him, he still
looked on Francis as his bulwark against Papal cen-
sures. Accordingly when further news arrived of his
good brother's recovery, he had the event celebrated
by a splendid " masse of the Holie Ghost and Te
Deutn" as Wriothesley calls it, in St. Paul's Cathedral
on November 12th ; and a few days later he hastened
Francis Bryan off with a reminder to Gardiner in
France to urge on the convalescent the same old
policy, which he had been commending to him so long,
of repudiation of Rome. But Gardiner could do
nothing ; and the end of 1535 arrived with Anglo-
French relations still in the same ambiguous state.
In the meantime, the Pope, or rather Consistory,
actually took a further step forward. In mid-December
a monitory was issued, " fixing," as Ortiz writes to
the Empress, " a space of two months for the King
to turn from his heresy and schism and public adultery,
and then he will not be declared deprived of his king-
dom." No more than Pope Clement could Pope Paul
be accused of undue precipitation.

Whether Paul had really any hope of the English
King undoing his past deeds and seeking reconcilement
with the Church cannot be ascertained. None of
Henry's actions suggested such a change of heart.

* Letters from Sir Richard Graynfeld (Grenville) and Sir Francis
Bryan in " Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.," Vol. IX.

252

The Life of Anne Boleyn

Cromwell, through his deputies, had been steadily
pressing on with his visitation of the dioceses, though
confining his work of spoliation chiefly to the smaller
monastries at present. There was a lull in executions,
though minor persecutions of the clergy continued.
With regard to the taking back of Katharine, and with
that the restoration of Mary to her rank, there was
not the slightest sign. Indeed, their adherents were
prophesying speedy ends for both. They believed
that Henry contemplated ridding himself of the two —
failing by poison, which would be too suspicious in
the case of Mary, then on the block.

The first serious suggestion of execution as a means
of freeing Henry from the presence of the ex-Queen
and her daughter seems to occur in a letter written by
Chapuys to the Emperor on November 6th, 1535.
The ambassador relates how the Marchioness of Exeter,
who, like her husband, was Katharine's firm supporter
from the first, sent word to him that Henry had lately
told some of his most confidential councillors that he
would no longer endure the trouble, fear and suspense
caused by Katharine and Mary, and that they must see
to it that he was released in the next Parliament, for
he swore he would wait no more.

Seventeen days later Chapuys tells the Emperor
of a secret visit to him by the Marchioness of Exeter,
in disguise, to confirm the information she had sent
him. She added that, seeing tears in the eyes of some
of his hearers, Henry told them tears and wry faces
were of no avail. Even if it cost him his crown, he
would carry his purpose into effect. " These are things
too monstrous to believe," comments the ambassador ;
" but considering what has passed and goes on daily —

The Death of Katharine of Aragon 258

the long continuance of these threats — and moreover
that the Concubine, who long ago plotted the death
of these ladies and thinks of nothing but getting rid
of them, is the party who governs everything and whom
the King has no power to contradict, the matter is
very dangerous."

Similarly, Chapuys informs Granvelle, again on
Lady Exeter's authority, that Henry has declared he
will see that soon Mary shall want neither company
nor retinue, and that she shall be an example that no
one shall disobey the laws.

The Imperialists all believed that the King was ready
to put to death not only his former wife, but Mary also,
and that Anne was the instigator. Even from Rome
Ortiz was writing to the Empress on November 22nd
that la Manceba had often said of Mary, " She is my
death, and I am hers, so I will take care that she shall
not laugh at me after my death ! "

Was all this true ? Probably Henry would have
had no scruples concerning Katharine ; but it is
doubtful whether we should attach much importance
to the violence of his language against his daughter.
He was determined to break her spirit, as he finally
did — after Anne Boleyn's death. But, as has been
noted already, a certain amount of affection for his
offspring always marked him.

Of Anne it could not be expected that she should
regard Katharine and Mary with other feelings than
fear. Their existence was a menace both to her and
her daughter ; and, in the event of a successful rising
against Henry in their favour, there could be no doubt
what her fate, if not Elizabeth's, would be. This is
not the same as saying that she was prepared to go to

254

The Life of Anne Boleyn

the length of murder, as her enemies asserted. In-
deed, in spite of the threats that Mary should not laugh
after her death, she did not abandon attempts at
conciliation. With Katharine obviously the idea of
such attempts was absurd. Besides, she was passing
beyond the possibility of conciliation and the reach of
enmity alike. The first week of 1536 saw her precede
her supplanter out of life, little over four months in
advance of her.

The facts of Katharine's miserable and tragic end
are familiar* ; how, already on her death-bed at Kim-
bolton at Christmas 1535, she was denied even the
solace of a last sight of her daughter ; how, though not
without obstacles, she was allowed to see the Imperial
ambassador and made her complaint of her nephew's
failure to come to the aid of her and Mary ; how she
seemed to be recovering strength until the night of
January 7th, when she recognized the approach of
death ; how she received the Sacrament at dawn,
and then dictated her last wishes in a letter to the
man who had been her husband, making such bequests
as she could (which he mostly disregarded), pardoning
him all, and wishing and devoutly praying God that
He would also pardon him, and finishing with the
words, " Lastly I do vow that mine eyes desire you
above all things."

That afternoon she was dead, and her body was
speedily embalmed and put in a leaden cofhn. A
rumour at once arose that she had been poisoned, for
the man who had done the embalming told her con-

* See M. A. S. Hume, " The Wives of Henry VIII.," pages 250-6,
for the best summarized account, drawn from the various original
sources, Spanish and English.

The Death of Katharine of Aragon 255

fessor, the old Spanish Bishop of Llandaff, that he
had found her heart " black and hideous/' whereon
her doctor at once declared that it was a case of poison.
The doctor, who was also a Spaniard, had already told
Chapuys that he suspected poisoning, though of a
slow and cunningly contrived kind. Katharine's
modern historian, Mr. Hume, appears to share his
opinion and to attribute the crime to the King, who
had urgent political reasons for wishing Katharine to
die, 14 since he dared not carry out his threat of having
her attainted and taken to the Tower." He does not
suggest that Anne Boleyn was implicated ; but the
earlier writer, Friedmann, evidently wavers on the
point. Like so many others, Friedmann attaches an
entirely undue importance to every suggestion by
Chapuys.

The Court was at Greenwich when the news of his
first wife's death arrived. " God be praised," ex-
claimed the King, " that we are free from all suspicion
of war ! " The following day, which was a Sunday,
Chapuys pictures him for us robed in yellow attending
a Mass, to which the Princess Elizabeth was taken,
"with trumpets and other great triumphs." After
dinner he entered the room where the ladies danced
and acted like one transported with joy. Then,
sending for Elizabeth, he showed her round the room.
" He has done the like on other days since," says
Chapuys, u and has had some jousts at Greenwich."

It is noticeable that the chronicler Hall only records
that " Queen Anne wore yellow for the mourning ; "
but the Imperial ambassador, who usually in courtier's
fashion refrains from criticizing a brother monarch to
his master, may surely be trusted in this instance to

256

The Life of Anne Boleyn

describe the scene truly. Besides, Henry's alleged
behaviour is in thorough keeping with his character.
We may deplore that Anne also wore the joyful colours
on the death of her enemy. She could scarcely be
expected, however, to exhibit sorrow ; for the atmo-
sphere of hatred in which she was compelled to live
was a poor school for the nurturing of love for one's
enemies, or even decent regard for their memories.

From the painting, probably after Johannes Corvus, in the National Portrait Gallery.

Katharine of Aragon.

[To )ace p. 256.

CHAPTER XVIII

THE PLOT AGAINST ANNE

THE death of Katharine of Aragon marked the
opening of the last brief phase in Anne Boleyn's
life. Its immediate significance was disguised by the
fact that Henry, in spite of his passion for Jane Sey-
mour, was determined to wait for a certain event which
might rehabilitate Anne in his eyes. If the male
child arrived, even so late in the day as now, she might
keep her place.

Consequently there was no outward change at Court
for the present. Katharine's removal had cut the
ground from under the Emperor's feet, as Henry had
anticipated. It seemed a good idea to the King and
to Cromwell to attempt to use Imperial influence on
the Princess Mary ; and Anne was willing to make a
fresh advance to the obstinate girl. Cromwell dropped
a hint to one of the ambassador's staff that, the ex-
Queen being dead, nothing now remained but to
persuade Mary to obey her father's wishes, in which
matter the aid of Chapuys would be more effectual
than anybody's ! Meanwhile, Anne (as Chapuys
learnt from Mary herself) " threw the first bait " to
the Princess, sending her a message by Lady Shelton
that if she would lay aside her obstinacy and obey,
she would find her the best friend in the world. Anne

257 17

260

The Life of Anne Boleyn

to be with child, she for anger and disdain miscarried,
as she said, betwitting the King with it, who willed
her to pardon him, and he would not displease her in
that kind thereafter." Probably Clifford does not
here mean to cast doubt on there having been a mis-
carriage at all ; but we have already heard that one
enemy, the Bishop of Faenza, papal nuncio in France,
wrote to Rome how " that woman " (by which, of
course, he meant Anne) pretended to miscarry of a
son when she was not really with child at all, and how
" to keep up the deceit she would allow no one to
attend upon her but her sister," etc.* We may per-
haps believe out of this that Anne had Mary Stafford
with her at the time of her miscarriage.

A suggestion of Clifford's story is to be found in
Chapuys, who, in scouting the theory that Anne
was frightened by the Duke of Norfolk, says that some
attributed the accident to Anne's dread that " the
King would treat her like the late Queen, especially
considering the treatment shown to a lady of the
Court, named Mistress Semel [sic], to whom, many
say, he has lately made great presents. "|

It is not unlikely that it was really Anne's chagrin
over the King's attentions to Jane Seymour which
caused the mishap, but that from policy she gave out
that Norfolk's message had alarmed her. Chapuys was
at this time receiving many pieces of information from
various sources, about some of which he had his
doubts. Writing on January 29th, but before he had
heard of the miscarriage, he repeated a tale, on
authority which he could not guarantee, that, not-

* Letter of March ioth, 1536, already referred to on page 15.
t Chapuys to the Emperor, February ioth, 1536.

The Plot against Anne

261

withstanding the joy she had shown over Katharine's
death, Anne had frequently wept since, fearing lest
they might do with her as they had done with Katha-
rine. He was more inclined to trust what he had heard
that very morning from the Exeters, who had it from
one of the principal persons at Court, that " the King
had said to someone in great confidence, and as it were
in confession, that he had made this marriage seduced
by witchcraft, and for that reason he considered it
null ; and that this was evident, because God did
not permit them to have male issue, and that he
believed he might take another wife."

It is very strange that this remark of Henry's should
be reported on the day that the hope of male issue
by Anne was finally dashed ; and one is tempted to
believe that Chapuys accidentally ante-dated his
letter, and so was quoting Henry's wrathful speech
after he knew, but before people in general were aware,
of what had happened.

Of the King's brutal behaviour Chapuys gives us
other information. On February 25th he narrates
for the Emperor's benefit how he has heard from
several courtiers that for over three months Henry
had not spoken more than three times to Anne, and
that when she miscarried he scarcely said anything
to her, except that he saw clearly that God did not
wish to give him male children by her ; and in leaving
her he told her, spitefully, that he would speak to
her after she got up. " The Concubine attributed
her misfortune to two causes," concludes the ambassa-
dor ; " first, the King's fall ; and, secondly, that the
love she bore him was greater than the late Queen's,
so that her heart broke when she saw that he loved

262

The Life of Anne Boleyn

others — at which remark the King was much grieved,
and has shown his sentiments by the fact that during
these festive days [Shrovetide] he is here and has
left her in Greenwich, whereas formerly he could not
leave her for an hour."

If Anne's real feelings towards her monstrous
husband were such as she represented them by this
comparison between her state and Katharine's, she
becomes by it a more enigmatical creature than
ever. She was undoubtedly a woman of brain and
of force of character, which makes it difficult to believe
that she could not appreciate the badness and the
grossness of the man who was clearly preparing to
cast her off. Did she now so cling to that which
she was losing ? And if so, how did she pass the
closing months of her life ? Henry, we know, with
the aid of Cromwell and others who would pay any
price for his favour, produced " evidence " at her
trial that she indulged in promiscuous license. Bishop
Burnet, who was not absolutely eulogistic of Anne,
but took pains to study carefully a part of Henry's
reign which was very important for his " History of
the Reformation," says that she devoted herself to
good works, that in her last nine months she dis-
tributed between £14,000 and £15,000 to the poor,*
and that shortly before her fall she was instrumental
in urging Henry to order a new English translation
of the Bible. Burnet's idea of her is that this charitable
and religious side of her character was not incom-
patible with a freedom of carriage, even levity, and

* These figures are the same as those given by Lord Herbert of
Cherbury, who mentions also " moneys intended by her towards raising
a stock for poor artificers in the Realme."

The Plot against Anne

263

an innocent lack of discretion. At least, he quotes
without disapproval the opinions of those who were
willing to admit her lighter side, while maintaining
that it was not guilty levity.

The news of the disappointment which had befallen
Anne the Queen was received with malignant joy
by her hosts of enemies, not only in England, but
abroad. It is typical of the bitterness of feeling to
find Ortiz writing to the Empress from Rome that it
is news to thank God for that la Ana had miscarried
of a son ! Then we see Chapuys telling Granvelle
of the progress of the King's new amour, with the
installation of the lady's brother, Edward Seymour,
as a gentleman of the privy chamber — which, we know,
was designed to lead to other things. It is certainly
odd that at this very period, March, 1536, the Emperor
should write to Chapuys, suggesting that it might
be well for him to make up to Anne and to counsel
Mary to cease her hostile tone, as Henry might
conceivably take to wife someone more dangerous
than Anne. But the ambassador did not find it
necessary to take his master's advice. The danger
that Charles feared was a French princess as Henry's
third wife, and it was not for such that Anne was
being discarded.

Among the guests at the ambassador's for dinner
one day was Henry Pole, Lord Montague, who
hinted at a new marriage soon, and intimated that
Cromwell and the Queen were on bad terms. This
inspired Chapuys with the idea of calling on the
Chief Secretary, which he did after dinner on the
last day of March. He describes the scene to the
Emperor in a letter the following day. The two

264 The Life of Anne Boleyn

men sat down to converse on the window-seat, the
Englishman with his head resting against the window,
while he waited for the other to open proceedings.
Chapuys began by saying that he had not paid a
visit for some time, remembering what Cromwell
had told him about Anne's suspicions, and how
she would like to see his head cut off. He wished
him a more gracious mistress and one more grateful
for all his services to the King. With regard to the
talk of a new marriage, that would be much to the
King's advantage, as his present one would never
be held lawful. It was true that a more lawful
marriage, resulting in male issue, would prejudice
the Princess Mary's claims; yet the affection which
Chapuys felt for the King and the realm, and for
Cromwell in particular, made him desire another
mistress — not for any hatred of Anne, who had never
done him any harm, he added.

Cromwell took these remarks in good part, and
explained that he had not been the cause of the
Boleyn marriage, though, seeing the King determined
on it, he had smoothed the way to it. Notwith-
standing that His Majesty was still inclined to pay
attention to ladies, he believed that henceforward
he would live honourably and chastely, continuing
in his marriage. Cromwell's tones were colourless,
but he put his hand up to his mouth, as though con-
cealing a smile. If there was to be another Queen,
he concluded, it would not be a French one.

So these two statesmen discussed the doomed
woman, in whose death they were not a little instru-
mental ; and then the Imperial ambassador made
his way home to write out his gossip for Charles's eyes.

The Plot against Anne 265

In the same letter he told the familiar story how
Jane Seymour by her virtuous demeanour (though
Chapuys had his own ideas as to the possibility of
any woman being virtuous at the Court of England)
had inflamed the King so far that, to prove his inten-
tions honourable, he would only converse with her
in the rooms of her brother Edward and his wife,
newly installed in the palace close to himself. He
also told of her being coached by Anne's enemies
to hold out for nothing less than marriage and to
seize an opportunity of telling Henry how his present
union was universally considered unlawful and detest-
able. This latter she was to do in the company of
some of the nobility, who would back up her statement
on oath. The Marchioness of Exeter blandly suggested
to Chapuys that he should be present on the occasion
and add his word ; and the scheme struck him as a
good one.

Events began to move quickly, the Imperial
ambassador being able to hasten their progress by
the delivery of a favourable response from his master
to Henry's overtures. The friendly nature of this
was evidently more than suspected in advance of its
delivery, for when Chapuys arrived at Greenwich
on Easter Tuesday, April 18th, he was warmly received
by all the Lords of the Council, including Rochford,
and congratulated on the good service he had done
in promoting a reconciliation. With Anne's brother
he had a superficially most amicable conversation,
though Chapuys records that he had difficulty in
preventing Rochford from drawing him into
" Lutheran discussions."

The royal party was now going to Mass in the

266

The Life of Anne Boleyn

Palace chapel, and Cromwell came to Chapuys and
asked him if he would not first kiss the Queen. The
message was from Henry, who did not, however, insist
upon it. The ambassador excused himself, on the
ground that he ought to have his interview with the
King first. Rochford was in attendance to conduct
him to Mass. In the chapel, Chapuys narrates,
" when the King came to the offering there was a great
concourse of people, partly to see how the Concubine
and I behaved to each other. She was courteous
enough, for when I was behind the door by which
she entered she turned back to do me such a reverence
as I did her."

Poor Anne had divined how the wind blew and
tried to trim her sails ; but she was no match for the
combined forces of Chapuys and her domestic enemies.
After Mass came dinner, which the King had in her
apartments, attended by the other ambassadors, but
not by Chapuys, who dined in the presence-chamber
with the courtiers. When Anne asked why the
Imperial representative was not there, Henry replied
that " it was not without good reason ; " and all
she could do to show her new sympathies was to
abuse the warlike policy of Francis, now engaged
in Italian adventures hostile to the interests of Charles.
She cannot yet have appreciated how much it meant
to win the friendship of Chapuys, had that been
possible ; but she did within a month, for when
she was in the Tower, awaiting execution, she dated
her downfall from this day of his visit to Greenwich,
since which the King had regarded her with an evil
eye *

* Chapuys to Granvelle, May 19th, 1536.

The Plot against Anne

267

Dinner was followed by Henry's reception of
Chapuys, nearly ruined by the King's grotesque
bombast, which offended the ambassador and upset
Cromwell, intent on an alliance with the Empire.
Chapuys preserved his calm ; but Cromwell " took
to his bed in pure sorrow " and absented himself
from Court for four days. The consequences of this
exhibition of Henry's vanity were extraordinary and
certainly not to be foreseen, even by those who could
fathom Cromwell's diabolical cunning. It does not
seem possible, however, to doubt the statement of
Chapuys that the Chief Secretary confessed to him
later that it was when he had retired home, under
stress of the King's displeasure and anger, that he " set
himself thinking and planned the affair " — the removal
of Anne and her chief friends.*

Chapuys writes to Granvelle on April 24th that,
in spite of the fact that he had neither kissed nor
spoken to Anne, the Princess Mary and " other
good persons " had been somewhat jealous over
the incident of the mutual reverences between him
and her in the chapel on Easter Tuesday. Politeness
required them, he said ; though, if he had seen any
hope from the King's answer in the afternoon, he
would have offered not two but a hundred candles
to the Devil or the she-devil ! But also he had been
told that she was not in the favour of the King.
Was it Cromwell who had told him ? Or the
Marchioness of Exeter ?

Two further points of interest we gather from the
ambassador's voluminous letters at this time. The
first is that the Earl of Wiltshire was clearly unaffected

* Chapuys to the Emperor, June 6th, 1536.

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The Life of Anne Boleyn

so far by the decline in his daughter's influence ; for
he had just recently received from the King some
fine grants from the spoils of the Church. The other
is that Lord Rochford met with a great disappoint-
ment on April 23rd. There was a vacancy among the
Knights of the Garter by the death of Lord Aber-
gavenny, and the Queen's brother had confidently
looked forward to its falling to him. But on St.
George's Day the Garter was conferred not on him,
but on Sir Nicholas Carew, Master of the Horse, who
was a prominent enemy of the Boleyns, and a friend
of the Seymour interest. Chapuys writes to the
Emperor (on April 29th) that M it will not be the
fault of this Master of the Horse if the Concubine
be dismounted. He continually counsels Mistress
Seymour and other conspirators ; and only four days
ago he sent to tell the Princess Mary to be of good
cheer, for shortly the opposite party would put water
in their wine, the King being already as sick and tired
of the Concubine as he could be."

All was ready for the delivery of the last blow ;
and Cromwell rose from his bed of chagrin to deliver it.

CHAPTER XIX

THE MINE EXPLODES

THOMAS CROMWELL came back to Court with
the scheme which he had worked out to restore
his credit with the King. He was a desperate man,
for whom there was no medium between the control
of affairs and the scaffold. Having identified himself
with the Imperialist cause, he stood to lose all by a
revival of French influence, favoured by the Duke of
Norfolk. His slights to the Boleyns — at least to the
Queen and her brother — made a renewed alliance
with them impossible. The only hope was friendship
with the Seymours and their supporters ; and the
danger was that they might accomplish their ends
without his help. As Friedmann has pointed out,
it was easy for anyone to get Henry a divorce from
Anne, so as to clear the way for his marriage with
Jane. But a mere divorce would leave the nucleus
of a powerful party in Anne and Rochford, with their
fortunes intact and a great body of friends among
I those of Reform sympathies. Wiltshire did not
matter, money being his chief interest now. If Anne
and Rochford could be entirely removed, and terror
struck into the hearts of their friends, the Boleyn
influence would be done with for ever.

What Cromwell proposed to the King was the
appointment of a body of commissioners to make

269

270

The Life of Anne Boleyn

inquiry into every kind of treason, by whomsoever
committed, and to hold a special session for the trial
of offenders. It is impossible to suppose that Henry
was unaware at whom these extraordinary powers
were to be aimed. He was a coward, and always sus-
picious of treason ; but he was not likely to give to
a minister, who was practically in disgrace, if only
for a few days past, a blank cheque of such a kind
without having a very good idea of its object. When
on April 24th he signed the " commission of oyer and
terminer," giving the powers asked for to Lord Chan-
cellor Audley, the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk, the
Earl of Wiltshire and numerous other peers, Cromwell
himself, and the nine judges, Henry must have had
some intimation from his Chief Secretary that here
was a way by which he might effectually get rid of
Anne Boleyn. He was tired of her, and any means
to so good an end were welcome.

The commission was naturally kept secret until
Cromwell was ready to act upon it. The only sugges-
tion we have that there was a suspicion of anything
being on foot is that on May 2nd Chapuys told the
Emperor that for some days past he had been informed,
on good authority, of the King's determination to
abandon Anne ; but this is too vague to build upon,
for the mere abandonment of Anne had long been
discussed at Court.

May Day, 1536, dawned at Greenwich without the
appearance of a special threat to the Queen, who
accompanied her husband to the tilt-yard. Here,
writes Wriothesley, was " a great jousting, where was
chalengers my Lord of Rochforde and others, and
defenders Mr. Noris and others." He makes no

The Mine Explodes

271

mention of a sudden departure of the King during the
jousting. Stow the chronicler is perhaps the first
author of that story, making Henry depart in a hurry
to Westminster, having with him six persons only,
" of which men marvelled." Then the tale grew of
Anne, seated in the royal gallery, dropping a hand-
kerchief, which one of the j ousters picked up, to wipe
his face ; and of Henry, espying this, quitting the
gallery, mounting his horse, and galloping off to
Westminster. It is at least suspicious that the well-
informed Wriothesley, who pays special attention to
the final tragedy of Anne, has no apparent knowledge
of Henry's strange procedure. If Henry actually
left the tilt-yard early, it is likely that he did so on
receipt of a message from Cromwell, as, indeed, one
account says. The tale of the dropped handkerchief
was a natural piece of embroidery by Anne's enemies.
Sanders, of course, accepted it and gave it wide
currency among later historians.

Whatever we may believe of the tilt-yard affair, we
know that Cromwell, coiled for a spring since
April 24th, struck on May 1st. On the morning of
the latter day he gave an invitation to dinner — or,
as we should say, lunch — to a certain Mark Smeaton,
often called Marks, a good-looking* young man of
no birth, groom of the chamber to Henry, who had

* " Queen Mary would never call [Elizabeth] sister, nor be persuaded
she was her father's daughter. She would say she had the face and
countenance of Mark Sweton [sic], who was a very handsome man."
This fine example of malignity is to be found in Clifford's " Life of Jane
Dormer," page 80. Yet by other accounts, Smeaton had been at Court
little over three months.

Cavendish, in one of his doggerel metrical versions (" Life of Wolsey,"
Vol. II., p. 36), says that Smeaton was a carpenter's son and had been
a singing boy in the Cardinal's chapel.

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The Life of Anne Boleyn

attracted attention by his skill at music. Whether
Anne had first discovered his talent or not, she had
certainly had him to play for her ; and it would appear
that she had given him sums of money — which she
was in the habit of doing in what she considered
worthy cases. Smeaton arrived to dinner with Crom-
well at Stepney, and was at once seized by his host's
servants and put under examination. To make this
effective, Cromwell used the torture of the knotted
cord and a stick round Smeaton's head and extracted
from him the M confession " he wanted ; presumably
that not only had he received money from the Queen,
but that he had committed adultery with her, and
that others had done so too.

After this achievement (the account of which is
quite plausibly given in " The Spanish Chronicle of
Henry VIII.," translated by Mr. Hume*), Cromwell
dispatched the miserable Smeaton to the Tower,
while he sent word to the King at Greenwich. When
he left the jousts, never to set eyes on Anne again,
Henry started to ride for Westminster with a few
companions, including Sir Henry Norris, long time
a favourite of his and chief of his privy chamber.
At the same time Norris was a good friend of both
the Queen and Lord Rochford, with whom he was
naturally much in contact, and whose Reforming
views he shared. Evidently Smeaton under torture
had implicated Norris, for suddenly the King taxed
him with undue intimacy with the Queen. Norris

* This is confirmed by the curious " Memorial " of George Constan-
tyne to Cromwell (" Archaeologia," Vol. XXII.), except that Constan-
tyne says that " Markys " was at Stepney under examination on May
even and was in the Tower on May Day. " The saying is he confessed,
but he was first grievously racked."

The Mine Explodes

273

made an indignant denial. Henry offered him a
free pardon if he would confess ; but Norris declared
that he would rather die than be guilty of such a
falsehood, and was ready to prove it false in combat
with anyone. According to Constantyne, who was
in Norris's employ, Henry kept him under examina-
tion all the way back to Westminster. He still held
out, and on arrival in London was given in charge of
Sir William Fitzwilliam, the Treasurer, and conducted
to the Tower. Then, either with or without the other
members of the commission, Fitzwilliam returned to
Greenwich to deal with Anne.

It would seem that the chief victim of Cromwell's
machinations heard of the arrest of Smeaton and
Norris the same night, and she may have received
also the warning that she must appear before the com-
missioners next day. Her own half-delirious account
of the meeting, given to Sir William Kingston, Governor
of the Tower,* was roughly this : "I was cruelly
handled at Greenwich, with the King's Council and my
Lord of Norfolk, who said 1 Tut, tut, tut,' shaking
his head three or four times. As for Master Treasurer,
he was in the forest of Windsor [sc., rambling]. Master
Controller [Sir William Paulet] was a gentleman. But
I to be a Queen and to be cruelly handled was never
seen ! " The cruel handling appears to refer to lan-
guage only ; but that was bad enough, for the com-
missioners told her that both Smeaton and Norris
had confessed to adultery with her, and that she must

* " Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.," Vol. X., in which are tran-
scripts of all Kingston's letters to Cromwell about Anne at the Tower,
the mutilated originals being among the Cottonian MSS. in the British
Museum.

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The Life of Anne Boleyn

prepare to go by barge to the Tower. Gleefully
Chapuys writes to the Emperor the same day how the
affair has come to pass much better than anyone could
have believed, and how the wretched woman whom
he had so often traduced and abused had, " by the
judgment of God," been brought in full daylight
from Greenwich to the Tower, under the conduct
of Norfolk and the two chamberlains, with only four
women in attendance on her. " How wonderful it is
to think of the sudden change from yesterday to
to-day ! " he exclaims.

According to Wriothesley, it was 5 p.m. when Anne
was brought to the Tower ; but no doubt there were
sufficient witnesses along the river of her humilia-
tion. Guarded by her hated uncle Norfolk, and with
the company only of an unfriendly aunt, the wife of
Sir James Boleyn, and three others (Mrs. Cosyns, Mrs.
Stoner and an unnamed), none of whom were agree-
able to her, she may well have thought of her progress
in the same month of May, only three years ago,
amid the most gorgeous pageantry that King Henry
— and Cromwell — could furnish in her honour. A
reminder of her earlier visit to the Tower was also
waiting for her in the person of Sir William Kingston ;
but he waited at another gate this time, the Traitors'
Gate. We follow Kingston's account of what followed.

When Norfolk and the other commissioners had
left, Kingston prepared to lead Anne to her lodging.
'* Master Kingston," she asked, " shall I go into a
dungeon ? " " No, Madam, you shall go into the
lodging you lay in at your coronation." "It is too
good for me. Jesu, have mercy on me ! " exclaimed
she, and knelt down, weeping fast. Then, in the midst

The Mine Explodes

275

of her sorrow, she fell into a great laughing, which,
Kingston comments, she has done several times since.

Kingston, who was a spy upon her as well as her
gaoler, apparently did not understand Anne's hysteria
— " the mother," M the vapours," as Burnet calls
it — but he continued to note her conduct for the
benefit of Cromwell. She desired that he would
move the King to let her have the Sacrament by her,
that she might pray for mercy ; " for I am as clear
from the company of men, as for sin, as I am clear
from the company of you," she told him, " and am
the King's true wedded wife." Later she asked after
her father, whom Kingston had seen that morning
at the Court ; and her brother, whom Kingston had
left at York Place. " And so I did," remarks Kingston
to Cromwell ; but he knew well enough that Lord
Rochford had been brought from York Place to the
Tower some hours before his sister.

Then Anne went off into a series of disjointed
remarks, all noted by Kingston. " I hear I shall be
accused with four men," she began, " and I can say
no more but Nay — without I should open my body "
(throwing open her gown). 14 Oh, Norris, hast thou
accused me ? Thou art in the Tower with me, and
thou and I shall die together ; and, Mark, thou art
here too ! . . . Oh, my mother, thou wilt die with
sorrow ! " Suddenly she asked : " Master Kingston,
shall I die without justice ? " " The poorest subject
of the King hath justice," replied Kingston — at
which it is not surprising to hear that Anne laughed.

The night on which Anne was taken to the Tower,
we learn from Chapuys that, when his natural son
the Duke of Richmond went to say good-night to

18*

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his father and to ask his blessing, Henry began to
weep, saying that the Duke and his sister Mary might
well thank God for having escaped from the hands
of that accursed and venomous harlot, who had tried
to poison them. It suited His Majesty that the
legend of Anne the poisoner should flourish now !

The next morning, May 3rd, the spying was resumed,
and Mrs. Cosyns took a hand, having been sent with
Anne to the Tower for that purpose. In fact, Kingston
had set her and Lady Boleyn to lie on the pallet in
Anne's room ; he and his wife lay at her door, and the
other two women were without. Mrs. Cosyns ex-
tracted from her the information that Norris had
said on the previous Sunday to her almoner that he
" would swear for the Queen that she was a good
woman." " Madam," asked Mrs. Cosyns, " why should
there be any such matters spoken of ? " " Marry,
I bade him do so," replied Anne, " for I asked him why
he did not go on with his marriage [to her cousin Mar-
garet Shelton] and he made answer he would tarry a
time. Then I said, 1 You look for dead men's shoes,
for if ought come to the King but good you would look
to have me.' And he said if he had had any such
thought he would his head were off. And then I said I
could undo him if I would ; and therewith we fell out."

The following passage in the manuscript of Kings-
ton's letter is mutilated, but has been interpreted
as indicating that Anne told Mrs. Cosyns that she told
Norris that Weston told her that Norris came more to
see her than his supposed sweetheart Madge, i.e.,
Margaret Shelton. The point of this is that at the
end of Kingston's letter of May 3rd is a postscript
to the effect that the Queen spoke to him of Weston,

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277

i.e., Sir Francis Weston, a young married man, who
had been made Knight of the Bath at her coronation,
and said that she had remonstrated with him for
loving her cousin Margaret more than his wife ; whereon
he replied that he loved one in her house better than
either of them. When challenged, he replied "It is
yourself." And then " she defied him, as she said
to me," writes Kingston.

There would be no object in going into these glean-
ings by Cromwell's agents in the Tower, if it were not
that the only evidence against Anne that merits any
attention is such as Kingston collected while she was
his prisoner. We give a few more excerpts from
Kingston's store :

" For one hour she is determined to die, and the
next hour much the contrary. Yesterday after your
[Cromwell's] departing, I sent for my wife and Mrs.
Cosyns, to know how they had done that day. They
said she had been very merry and had made a great
dinner, and yet soon after she called for her supper."
She asked for Kingston, and when he came to see her
told him the story of her ordeal at Greenwich on the
morning of May 2nd, adding, " But I think the King
does it to prove me ! " (Poor credulous one !)

" I would to God I had my bishops," she said, " for
they would all go to the King for me, for I think the
most part of England prays for me, and if I die you
shall see the greatest punishment for me within this
seven-year that ever came to England. And then shall
I be in Heaven, for I have done many good deeds."

" I hear say my lord my brother is here," she said.
"It is truth," replied Kingston. "I am very glad

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we both be so nigh together." And when he told
her that Weston and Brereton were also in the Tower
she showed good countenance.

Mrs. Stoner having remarked that Mark Smeaton
was the worst cherished man in the Tower, for he wore
irons, Anne answered : " That is because he is no
gentleman. But he never was in my chamber but
at Winchester, and there I sent for him to play on the
virginals, for my lodging was over the King's. . . .
I never spoke with him since but upon Saturday before
May Day, and then I found him standing in the round
window of my chamber of presence. I asked him
why he was so sad, and he answered it was no matter ;
and then I said, * You may not look to have me speak
to you as I should do to a nobleman, because you are
an inferior person.' ' No, no, Madam, a look sufficeth
me, and so fare you well ! ' "

" She hath asked my wife [Lady Kingston] whether
anybody makes their beads, and my wife answered,
' Nay, I warrant you ! ' Then she said, ' They might
make ballads well now ; but there is none but (?
my Lord Rochford) that can do it.' ' Yes,' said my
wife, ' Master Wyatt . . .' * True . . . my lord
my brother will die.' "*

******

To us these speeches have the sound of a woman
distraught, a savour of Ophelia. To Cromwell they
were to provide material to bring their utterer to death,
and with her her friends ; for it cannot be maintained

* This is a fairly hopeless passage, in view of the mutilation of the
manuscript. We must remember, however, that Lord Rochford was
a poet, and one of those whose works were included in " Tottel's
Miscellany," though his contributions cannot be identified.

The Mine Explodes

279

that there was a scrap of other evidence preserved
which can be regarded seriously to prove their guilt
— a matter to which we shall return. But we must
now stop to note some of the import of these ravings
in the Tower.

Lord Rochford, we have said, was arrested earlier
on the same day as his sister, and there was no idea,
when he was arrested, that he was going to be charged
with anything further than connivance at his sister's
misdoings. On May 4th Sir Francis Weston, on the
strength apparently of what Anne had said to Kings-
ton, and William Brereton, a gentleman of the King's
privy chamber, on unknown grounds, were sent to
join him ; and on the following day, if not on the same,
Thomas Wyatt and a certain Master (or Sir Richard)
Page, another gentleman of the King's privy chamber.

The widening of the net was obviously due to the
failure to extract anything except from Smeaton.
While the male prisoners still numbered only three,
Anne's vice-chamberlain, Sir Edward Baynton, who
had been easily brought over to the opposition, wrote
to Fitzwilliam that people were talking of the fact
that " no one will confess anything, but only Mark,
of any actual thing. It would, in my foolish conceit,"
he adds, " much touch the King's honour if it should
no further appear. I cannot but believe that the
other two are as fully culpable as he, but they keep
each other's counsel. I think much of the communica-
tion which took place on the last occasion between the
Queen and Master Norres [what Anne had told Mrs.
Cosyns]. ... I hear further that Jthe Queen standeth
stiffly in her opinion that she will not be convicted,
which I think is in the trust she hath in the other two."

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The Life of Anne Boleyn

Accordingly four more were arrested j and at the
same time every attempt was made to get Anne's
servants at Greenwich to speak against her, Baynton
being much annoyed that a certain Margery, whom
he had befriended, was acting strangely toward him.
She would not accuse her mistress, he means.

It is assumed that Brereton, Wyatt and Page were
seized through something Anne said in her delirium ;
but the mutilated state of the Kingston letters does
not enable us to state definitely what this may have
been. Wyatt had a bitter enemy in the Duke of
Suffolk, as we have seen ; and tales were spread later
that he had been induced to make some sort of con-
fession of earlier intimacy with Anne. Then there
are two letters from his father, Sir Henry, one to his
son and one to Cromwell, which show that in some way
the Secretary befriended the younger Wyatt at the
time. But the fact remains that Wyatt's name,
like Page's, was entirely absent from the indictments
finally brought against Anne, while every kind of
charge that could be twisted against her was used.
He was in danger, as is shown by his poem beginning :
" You that in love find luck and abundance," which
clearly refers to the events of May, 1536 ; but that he
escaped is fair evidence that the danger was not very
great.* He was very soon in favour with the King
again, trusted and before long knighted.

* I cannot share Mr. Hume's belief in the trustworthiness of the tale
in the Spanish "Chronicle of Henry VIII." that Wyatt, confronted
now with Cromwell, asked him to remind the King of a warning which
he had given him about Anne before the marriage — and so got off.
No doubt, however, the Spanish writer accurately reports some gossip
of the day; and he was naturally not concerned whether Wyatt
appeared a blackguard or not.

The Mine Explodes

281

It might have been expected that one man would
have made an attempt to intercede for Anne, the chief
among " her bishops," Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop
of Canterbury. What happened in fact is that on
May 2nd, being in the country, Cranmer received a
summons from Cromwell to return to Lambeth.
There next morning he began to write a letter to the
King, which was not a remarkably strong piece of
advocacy. " If the reports of the Queen be true,"
he said, " they are only to her dishonour, not yours.
I am clean amazed, for I never had better opinion of
woman ; but I think Your Highness would not have
gone so far if she had not been culpable. ... I loved
her not a little for the love which I judged her to
bear towards God and His Gospel. ... I trust you
will bear no less zeal to the Gospel than you did before,
as your favour to the Gospel was not led by affection
to her."

As he was finishing this letter, Cranmer received a
summons to appear before the Council. What passed
there we do not know ; but he came back to
Lambeth and wrote : "I am sorry such faults can be
proved against the Queen as they report." His
subsequent action with regard to his hapless patroness
can cause no surprise. It seems hardly necessary
to insert Cranmer's name, as has been suggested, in a
list of saints of the English Church.

While Cromwell and his agents were busy manu-
facturing evidence against his wife, the injured Henry
was seeking distraction. Writing to the Emperor
on May 19th, Chapuys tells of the King's gaiety,
his round of banquets with ladies of the Court, at this
house and that, and his returns at midnight along the

282

The Life of Anne Boleyn

Thames, with divers instruments of music playing
on his barge. On one night he was received, with
attendant ladies, at supper by John Kite, Bishop of
Carlisle. We must presume His Majesty was in-
ebriated ; for he told the Bishop he had long expected
what was happening, and he pulled out a tragedy which
he had composed on the subject. To his credit, the
Bishop would not look at it.

Jane Seymour, out of respect for her modesty, had
been kept during the first days of the affair at Sir
Nicholas Carew's house ; but on May 14th, the day
before Anne's trial, she was lodged within a mile of
York Place, waited on by royal officials and cooks,
and overwhelmed with gifts from the King. At last
public decency was aroused, and before Anne's death
Henry succeeded in creating for her a sympathy which
had never been hers before. He even ended by
stirring Eustache Chapuys to a sense that " the Concu-
bine " merited a little more regard.

[CHAPTER XX

TRIAL AND DEATH

ON May ioth and nth respectively the grand
juries of Middlesex and Kent, sitting at West-
minster and Deptford, had before them the indictments
which the King's advisers had worked up against
the prisoners in the Tower ; or at least against six
of them, for no charges were brought against Wyatt
and Page. Adultery with the Queen was alleged
against Smeaton, Norris, Weston, Brereton, and,
most terrible of all, Lord Rochford, who, as we have
heard, was at first only accused of conniving at his
sister's misconduct. In addition a charge of con-
spiring the King's death was now brought. The
wording of this latter charge is noteworthy. It
was put forward that, on October 31st, 1535, at
Westminster, and on January 8th, 1536, at East
Greenwich,

"The said Queen and these other traitors . . .
conspired the King's death and destruction, the
Queen often saying she would marry one of them
as soon as the King died, and affirming that she
would never love the King in her heart. And the
King having a short time since become aware of
the said abominable crimes and treasons against
himself took such inward displeasure and heaviness,

283

284

The Life of Anne Boleyn

especially from the said Queen's malice and adul-
tery, that certain harms and perils have befallen
his royal body."

The genuineness of the King's grief may be judged
by what we have just seen of his gaiety and carous-
ing with the ladies of his Court. The dates assigned
to these acts of conspiracy could only be explained
if we had a full account of the proceedings at the
preliminary and final trials, which we have not. It
is scarcely necessary to point out that the death of
Henry would have been absolutely fatal to Anne,
either before or after that of Katharine.

With regard to the other charges, Smeaton's torture-
wrung confession was put in ; and the obedient
grand juries found true bills against all the prisoners.
On May 12th the royal commissioners sat in West-
minster Hall to deal with the cases of Norris, Weston,
Brereton and Smeaton. The Lord Chancellor pre-
sided, and the Earl of Wiltshire was present with
the rest. The indictments were brought and the
evidence produced (which we shall leave for the
present), and a jury of twelve was empanelled.
Smeaton had pleaded guilty to adultery, but not
to treason ; the other three, not guilty on both counts-
The expected verdict was given — even if it had
not been a packed jury, no other verdict could have
been dared — and all four prisoners were condemned
to the horrible death inflicted on traitors in those
days.

On the following day the Duke of Norfolk, Lord
High Steward of England for the occasion, issued
a precept summoning twenty-six selected peers for
the trial of the Queen and her brother at the Tower

Trial and Death

285

two days hence. Cromwell wrote to Gardiner and
Sir John Wallop, the English representatives in
France, in the interval and prophesied that the ver-
dict would undoubtedly go the same way. His
letter* is very interesting as giving the official view
of how the discovery was made of the dreadful
affair.

The Queen's incontinent living was " so rank and
common," he says, that the ladies of her privy chamber
could not conceal it. It came to the ears of some
of the Council, who told His Majesty, although in
great fear. Certain persons of the privy chamber
and others of her side were examined, and the matter
appeared so evident that, besides that crime, " there
brake out a certain conspiracy of the King's death,
which extended so far that all we that had the ex-
amination of it quaked at the danger His Grace was
in."

A very pretty effort at a plausible explanation
by the self-confessed author of the plot !

Another curious point emerges concerning Crom-
well's activities on the King's behalf. On May 13th
he sent to the Earl of Northumberland, then residing
at Newington Green, Sir Reynold Carnaby, who
was known as a friend of his, to try to extract from
him an admission that Anne had been precontracted
to him. But Northumberland, who was already
in the grip of the illness which was to carry him off
next year, declined to make the admission, writing
to Cromwell that he had long ago been examined
on the matter before both Archbishops and had
taken the Sacrament that there had never been a

* " Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.,"- Vol. X. Letter of May 14th.

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The Life of Anne Boleyn

precontract. The significance of this attempt by
Cromwell will appear a little later.

On Monday, May 15th, came the trials of Anne
and of Rochford in the Tower, the twenty-six chosen
peers taking their seats in the great hall, under the
presidency of the Duke of Norfolk, and Anne, whose
case was to be tried first, having a seat on the plat-
form facing them. The Lord Mayor and other re-
presentatives of the City were present, and a large
crowd, stated by Chapuys to have numbered two
thousand, was admitted to the body of the court.
By this publicity Henry and Cromwell no doubt
intended to advertise the perfect fairness of the pro-
ceedings ; but they were destined to realize their
mistake.

The formal indictments were brought, which had
already made their appearance before the grand
juries of Middlesex and Kent and at the trial of Norris
and his three companions on May 12th. These
are preserved at the Record Office, having been
found again after they had been lost from view for
about three hundred years, and are reproduced
in an Appendix to the Camden Society's edition of
Wriothesley's " Chronicle of England under the
Tudors." They are written in execrable legal Latin,
and, apart from their tediousness, are unfit for publi-
cation. But it may be stated that they are in no
way evidence, being simply a string of statements
that Anne, at such and such a date, at some place
either in Middlesex or Kent, incited one of the other
accused to commit adultery and that at a subsequent
date the act took place. The charges range from
October, 1533, to April, 1536, and involve miscon-

Trial and Death

287

duct a month after the birth of Elizabeth and a
month before the mishap of January 29th, 1536, as
Friedmann took the pains to work out. Some of
them can be definitely traced to Anne's ravings
during the first days in the Tower. However, they
need not detain us. They were either foul inven-
tions, or they were capable of being supported by
real evidence. The remaining charge, of conspiring
the King's death, we have seen. It bears its re-
futation on its face.

The question remains, What evidence was put
in to substantiate these egregious indictments ? We
have unfortunately only hearsay upon which to
go, some strictly contemporary and some later in
date. We may proceed to examine such of this
as appears worthy of notice.

We have seen that Cromwell, in his letter to
Gardiner and Wallop, spoke of the ladies of her privy
chamber being unable to conceal the Queen's in-
continent living. When Bishop Burnet, in his " His-
tory of the Reformation," came to deal with the subject
of Anne Boleyn's fall, devoting more than ordinary
pains to learn all he could concerning it, as he tells
us, as being " one of the most memorable passages
of this reign," he speaks of " the learned Spelman,
who was a judge at that time " and a commonplace
book which Spelman kept. In that Spelman wrote,
" As for the evidence of this matter, it was discovered
by the Lady Wingfield, who had been a servant to
the Queen, and, becoming on a sudden infirm some
time before her death, did swear this matter to
her . . ." At that point, unhappily, the manuscript
was torn, and Burnet could give no more. Now

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The Life of Anne Boleyn

we know that a Lady Wingfield was a friend of Anne's
before her elevation to the throne.* But we know
little more ; and, as Lady Wingfield' s name does
not crop up at all in contemporary talk about the
trial, we may abandon this line of investigation.

Examinations had been made of Anne's still living
servants, or ladies in waiting, at Greenwich Palace,
including the disappointing Margery ; but not a
word comes out of what they had to say, unless it
be that the monstrous charge that Rochford had
once stayed long in his sister's room, with a certain im-
plication, was based on their reports. Perhaps, too,
the inconsequent remarks which Anne had made
in the Tower about Norris, Weston, and Smeaton
were prompted by suggestions by the ladies Cosyns
and Stoner — that is, indeed, fairly obvious — and
then substantiated by statements of others. But
if so we do not find it stated.

The prosecution for the King, having no restraint
put upon them, introduced much into their conduct
of the case which had nothing to do with the in-
dictments, such as that the Queen and her brother
were in the habit of ridiculing Henry to one another,
decrying his literary achievements, his dress, etc. ;
and Anne was alleged to have told Lady Rochford
that the King was impotent, while Rochford himself
was charged with casting doubt upon Elizabeth's

* There is a letter addressed to Lady Wingfield by Anne, signing
herself "Your own assured friend during my life, Anne Rochford."
Miss Strickland wrongly assigns this letter to 1525, thinking that a
"trouble" mentioned in it must refer to the death of Sir Richard
Wingfield. That is an unnecessary assumption ; and Anne was not
officially known as Lady Anne Rochford until the end of 1529, when
her father was made Earl of Wiltshire.

Trial and Death

289

paternity. These accusations seem rather to have
come up at Rochford's trial than Anne's, but may
be dealt with here. With regard to what Anne was
likely to say to Lady Rochford, it must be remem-
bered that they belonged to rival camps, Lady Roch-
ford, in fact, being on very doubtful terms with her
husband as well. Kingston relates in one of his
letters to Cromwell that she sent a friendly message
to Rochford in the Tower, and said that she would
humbly sue the King on his behalf ; but it was
commonly supposed afterwards that she had de-
nounced him and Anne,* which partly helped to
gain for her the name of M the infamous Lady
Rochford."

It is time to leave these sordid allegations of the
prosecution and come to the conduct of the defend-
ants. Anne behaved herself with great dignity, from
all accounts, and was never more a Queen than now.
She denied all the charges against her, and made
an excellent impression. But it was not a question
of justice. The King demanded a condemnation,
and when the twenty-six peers, beginning with the
youngest present, were called upon to record their
verdicts, every one said Guilty. It may be noted
that the Earl of Wiltshire was spared the ignominy
of serving on the jury. The Earl of Northumberland
was there, and had to sign with the rest, but was
then so overcome by illness that he could not take
part in Rochford's trial.

* She lost no time, however, in writing to Cromwell, making an
appeal for herself as " a power desolat widow." There also survives a
letter from the Earl of Wiltshire to Cromwell, in which he most re-
luctantly agrees to increase his allowance to his daughter-in-law, bid-
ding Cromwell tell the King " I do this alonely for his pleasure."

290

The Life of Anne Boleyn

It was Norfolk's lot to pronounce sentence upon
his niece — Constantyne says that " the water ronne "
in his eyes, which we hope was true — that she should
be burnt or beheaded, at the King's pleasure. On
hearing it, Chapuys writes, " the Concubine pre-
served her composure, saying that she entirely wel-
comed death, and that what she regretted most was
that persons who were innocent and loyal to the
King were to die through her ; all she asked was
for a short time to make her soul."

The French verse history of Anne Boleyn, to which
we have alluded earlier in this volume, says that
her face did not change, but she appealed to God
whether the sentence was deserved ; then, turning
to the judges, she said she would not dispute with
them ; but she believed there was some other reason
for which she was condemned than the cause alleged,
of which her conscience acquitted her, for she had
always been faithful to the King. But she did not
say this to save her life, as she was quite prepared
to die. " Her speech made even her bitterest enemies
pity her," adds the writer, who is far from being a
partisan of the Queen.

Rochford's trial followed immediately, and he too
defended himself with dignity and courage. He
successfully rebutted the vile charge of incest ; and
odds were laid, " and that great odds," says Constan-
tyne, that he would be acquitted, until a certain
incident occurred. A note was handed to him by
the prosecution to answer. The question was whether
his sister had ever told his wife that the King was
impotent. Rochford read it out aloud, which he
was not intended to do. This, it was supposed,

Trial and Death

291

sealed his doom. An unanimous verdict of guilty
was returned, and he was sentenced to a traitor's
death. He took it calmly, saying that since he must
die, he would no longer protest his innocence, but
would acknowledge he deserved to die ; he only
begged the King to allow his debts to be paid out
of his goods. As has been frequently pointed
out by the historians, to refuse to acknowledge that
death was deserved would have involved forfeiture
of goods to the Crown.

For the men, the farce was played out, except
for the curtain on Tower Green. Only Anne had
a fresh torture to go through first. On the day
following her trial, Cranmer came to visit her in
prison. What happened at their interview remains
a secret, except that Anne was induced to admit
the existence of an impediment to her marriage
with Henry, which rendered it null and her daughter
Elizabeth, if still Henry's child, a bastard. Had
Northumberland been willing to say there had been
a precontract between Anne and himself, this would
have been unnecessary ; but he would not. Therefore
it was necessary to get some other admission from
Anne, which could be used by Cranmer on Henry's
behalf without its exact nature being publicly divulged.
Friedmann's conjecture as to what this was seems
to have satisfactorily solved the puzzle, and has
been accepted by most writers since, that Anne should
allow the impediment caused by her sister's previous
illicit connection with the King, which brought herself
within the prohibited degrees of affinity to him. The
immaculate Henry could not admit this himself,
nor appeal to common knowledge at Court. Anne'

19*

292

The Life of Anne Boleyn

help would get over the difficulty. She gave it, and
imagined apparently that it would gain her a reprieve ;
for that day at dinner she talked to her attendants
about going to a nunnery.* But she had only been
tricked. Cranmer proceeded to declare Henry's
second marriage null, on account of a certain un-
named impediment ; thus making Elizabeth, like Mary,
illegitimate. The King could now marry Jane Seymour
without danger of a rival to her future issue by him.

On the morning of May 17th the execution was
carried out of Anne's pretended paramours. By the
excellent mercy of the King, they were not called
upon to suffer the worst ignominies of the traitor's
death — hanging, drawing and quartering. They were
simply beheaded, including even the humble Smeaton j
for the version that he was hanged seems inaccurate . In
turn Lord Rochford, Norris, Weston, Brereton and
Smeaton laid their heads upon the block. They were
allowed the usual dying speeches beforehand ; but
accounts, though there are several, vary as to their
words. Rochford, according to Wriothesley, spoke at
some length, the gist being that he came not to preach
a sermon, but to die as the law had condemned. He
desired his hearers to trust in God, not in the vanities
of the world. If he himself had been as diligent
to observe the Word of God and to do and live there-
after as he had been to read it and set it forth, he
would not be where he was. Chapuys's version is
that Rochford disclaimed all that he was charged
with, confessing, however, that he had deserved
death for having so been contaminated and so con-

* " A nonre," as Kingston spells it in his letter to Cromwell that day,
May 1 6th, 1536.

Trial and Death

293

taminating others with these new sects, and he prayed
everyone to abandon such heresies.

Chapuys, while making Rochford protest his inno-
cence of the charges brought against him, is evidently
anxious to make him recant his Lutheranism, which
the other versions of the speech do not represent
him as doing. Constantyne, who professes to have
been present at the execution, gives an account very
similar to Wriothesley's ; and, as the two writers
were poles asunder in their religious opinions, we
may do best by accepting their versions. If so,
the gay, brilliant young courtier, poet and diplomatist,
made an edifying end, but with his religious
sympathies unchanged.

At least he died bravely. So did Norris and Weston,
who said practically nothing on the scaffold, and
Brereton. According to Constantyne, the last (who
had been a schoolfellow of his) said : " I have de-
served to die, if it were a thousand deaths. But
the cause wherefore I die, judge ye not. But if ye
judge, judge the best ! " No suggestion of admission
of guilt came from any of them. The wretched
Smeaton's words are given by Constantyne as
" Masters, I pray you all pray for me, for I have
deserved the death."

When she heard that Smeaton had failed to exon-
erate her, Anne was said to have exclaimed : " Hath
he not then cleared me of the shame he hath brought
upon me ? Alas ! I fear his soul will suffer ! "*
But Smeaton, even if he had been a brave man, would

* This is stated both by the French poem on Anne's life and in
Meteren's " Histoire des Pays Bas," to which Burnet attached some
authority. The words are not given elsewhere.

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The Life of Anne Boleyn

have had to be very brave to withdraw his " con-
fession " when in the executioner's hands. It was
not too late to inflict on him the full penalty of treason.

According to Chapuys, Anne was made to witness
the executions from her lodgings. Whether this
horror was really inflicted on her is not certain. Her
captors were at least capable of such conduct. Old
Kingston continued to watch her and report her
sayings to Cromwell, though she was beyond the reach
of any further harm that he could do her. On May 18th
he wrote, in evident concern :

" I suppose she will declare herself to be a good
woman for all men but for the King at the hour of
death, for this morning she sent with me that I might
be with her at such time as she received the Good
Lord, to the intent that I should hear her speak as
touching her innocency always to be clear ; and in
the writing of this she sent for me. And at my
coming she said, ' Master Kingston, I hear say I
shall not die afore noon, and I am very sorry therefor,
for I thought to be dead by this time and past my
pain ? ' I told her it should be no pain, it was so
subtle. And then she said, ' I heard say the executor
was very good, and I have a little neck,' and put her
hand about it, laughing heartily. I have seen many
men and also women executed, and all they have been
in great sorrow, and to my knowledge this lady has
much joy and pleasure in death."

Chapuys also had his spy within the Tower, though
who it was is uncertain, as he merely speaks of " the
woman who has her in charge." From her no doubt
he heard the story which he sent to Granvelle, how on
her last night Anne had said that the jesters would

Trial and Death

295

find no difficulty in finding a nickname for her in
history — " la Royne Anne sans-tete — and then she
laughed heartily." Then he speaks of her in a more
serious vein. Both on this day and on the morrow,
before her execution, she is represented as saying that
she did not consider she was condemned by Divine
judgment, except for having been the cause of the
ill-treatment of the Princess Mary and for having
planned her death. The " planning of her death "
is, no doubt, an embellishment. But there is no
reason to disbelieve that Anne in her last days genuinely
repented of her harshness towards Mary, varied
though it was by necessarily ineffective attempts at
conciliation. It is noteworthy that the actual breaking
of Mary's proud spirit, inducing her to make an abject
submission to all her father demanded, was after the
death of " that woman," as she called Anne.

The 19th of the month arrived, thirteen days short
of three years from the date of her coronation, and at
8 a.m. Queen Anne was led out to execution on the
Green by the great White Tower, clad in a fur-trimmed
robe of grey damask over a petticoat of crimson.
A white collar was about her neck, her robe being
cut low, and a hood over her head, embroidered with
pearls. It was the last occasion on which she, always
so noted for her taste in dress, would be able to display
it. Four ladies attended her. According to story
one of these was her favourite Margaret Lee, sister
of Thomas Wyatt, to whom it was said she gave on
the scaffold a book of devotions which still exists,
showing that it had belonged to Anne Boleyn. It
may have been so ; but it is to be feared that it is
more likely that the four unwelcome attendants

296

The Life of Anne Boleyn

who were with her in the Tower accompanied her
still.

Precautions had been taken to keep the execution
as little of a public ceremony as possible, for the revul-
sion of feeling caused by the spectacle of the trial had
made itself felt. Chapuys had noted that, and was
himself almost shocked ! It was ordered that all
foreigners should be excluded from the scene, and a
very low scaffold had been set up, to avoid its being
seen from a distance. On the Green were gathered
the Lord Chancellor Audley, the Duke of Richmond,*
the Duke of Suffolk, most of the King's Council (but
not Norfolk or Wiltshire), the Lord Mayor, Aldermen
and Sheriffs of London, and representatives of the
leading City Companies ; and further off were such
spectators as were able to secure admittance.

Anne mounted the low scaffold and delivered her
dying speech, of which, as in the case of her brother,
there are numerous reports. Wriothesley makes her
begin with a submission to the law, as it had judged
her. As for her offences, God knew them, and she
remitted them to Him, beseeching Him to have mercy
upon her soul. Then followed a prayer for the King
and an eulogy of him — alas ! only too grotesque,
though it was quite according to the etiquette of the
scaffold — for his virtues and his kindness to her.
These words were delivered " with a goodly smiling
countenance." Then kneeling down she said, " To
Jesu Christ I commend my soul ! "

By a special privilege the ordinary executioner was

* When the young Duke died on the following July 22nd, Wriothesley
wrote that it was thought that he was privily poisoned by the means
of Queen Anne and Lord Rochford, for he pined inwardly in his body
long before he died !

Trial and Death

297

not to deal with her, the first English Queen to be
beheaded, and instead the expert headsman of Calais
had been brought over to strike off her head with a
sword — at a cost to Sir William Kingston of £23 6s. 8d.,
as the Tower accounts showed.

The French verse narrative (which may be treated
with some respect, as it was originally written in
London only three weeks after the execution) states
that Anne now with her own hands put off her collar
and hood, that the force of the blow might not be
impeded. She knelt in readiness, repeating several
times, " O Christ, I beseech Thee, receive my spirit ! "
One of her ladies came forward in tears and covered
her face with a linen cloth. The headsman stepped
up, and with one blow cut through the little neck, and
Anne Boleyn was no more.

The same afternoon the head and body were buried
in the choir of the chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula, in
the Tower — after having been thrown, according to
Burnet, into a common chest of elm, made to keep
arrows in* In the operations of repaving part of this
chapel in November, 1876, when the pavement was
lifted at the spot where the remains of Anne Boleyn
were supposed to be, there were found bones which
the medical man assisting in the work pronounced
to be those of a female between twenty-five and thirty
years of age, of a delicate frame of body and of slender
and perfect proportions, the forehead and lower jaw
small and well formed, and the neck-vertebrae espe-
cially small.* They were re-interred in the place where
they were found.

* D. C. Bell, " Notices of Historic Persons Buried in the Tower,"
page 21.

298 The Life of Anne Boleyn

Lord Rochford's head and body had been interred
in the choir of the chapel also, quite close to his sister's ;
but his remains were not disturbed in 1876. By
a strange irony, less than six years after the execution
of Anne and George Boleyn, the latter's wife was also
decapitated in the Tower with Queen Katharine
Howard, and her head and body were interred with
her mistress's on the other side of the choir.

On May 24th, in conversation with Chapuys, Crom-
well " greatly praised the intelligence, wit and courage
of the Concubine and her brother."* It would be
interesting to know, what can never be known, what
he thought of the guilt of which he had by his devilish
scheming convicted them. To the present writer
it is beyond a doubt that they and their fellow victims
died for no crime at all. If the innocence of both
sister and brother was not proved by the way they
met their accusers and their death, then it is impossible
by gracious courage ever to prove innocence. They
did not, it is true, make violent protest against the
unparalleled injustice to which they had been sub-
jected. In the hour of death, and when escaping from
a tyrant's hands, this may not seem worth while.
And Anne at least left a helpless baby behind, for
whose sake resignation was best.

* * * * «

Has Anne Boleyn in these pages appeared the
creature of evil which her enemies (and it must be
borne in mind that it is almost entirely from the
writings of her enemies that we have to disentangle
her history) represented her to be ? If so, the attempt

* Chapuys to the Emperor, June 6th, 1536.

Trial and Death

299

which has been made to consider her without prejudice
has failed. That she was proud, ambitious, a foe to
her foes, even to vindictiveness, given to speaking her
mind, careless of speech, gaiety-loving, is evident.
But she was also brave, true to her friends, lavish
with her gifts where liking or charity led her, sincere
in her religious opinions, and withal a woman of
genuine intellectual power. In the cruel, immoral,
avaricious, treacherous and lying age of the Tudors,
she crosses the scene a brilliant, perplexing and pathetic
figure, and vanishes into the darkness, still only in
her youthful womanhood. History — considered in the
light of a record of personages, not of peoples — would
be more intriguing were there more in it such as Anne
the Queen.

APPENDIX A

ANNE AND MARY BOLEYN

THE question of the relative ages of the two daughters
of Thomas Boleyn, afterwards Earl of Wiltshire and
Ormond, is a celebrated historical puzzle, and the prospect
of a definite answer to it, convincing to all, appears as remote
as ever it was. Unhappily what is essential to put the matter
beyond doubt, strictly contemporary evidence, is lacking. The
divergence of testimony begins soon after the Boleyn sisters
had passed away, and it is now impossible to offer any ex-
planation of the reason for it.

Apart from the subject of the dates when either sister was
at the French Court (since Professor Gairdner's article in " The
English Historical Review," Vol. VIII., page 53, there can
be no dispute that both were there in their youth), the con-
troversy over their ages leaves the following two sets of
statements irreconcilable :

In favour, of Anne's juniority. — Camden in a marginal note
(equivalent to a footnote) in his " History of Queen Elizabeth,"
definitely asserts that the year of her birth was 1507 ; and
Camden is not a writer whose statements can be lightly regarded.

Henry Clifford's " Life of Jane Dormer, Duchess of Feria "
(see pages 5-6 above) distinctly states that Anne Boleyn
" was not 29 years of age " when she died — on May 19th, 1536.

These are both witnesses to Anne being the younger sister,
because they place her birth in 1507 ; and we know that
Mary Boleyn married her first husband, William Carey, in
February, 1520.

Mary and William Carey had a son Henry, whom Queen
Elizabeth created Baron Hunsdon. His son George, who
succeeded to the title on his father's death in 1596, wrote next
year to Burleigh, the Lord Treasurer, asking his help in the

301

302

Appendix A

matter of a petition which he contemplated making to Queen
Elizabeth, claiming the Earldom of Ormonde through his
grandmother, Mary Boleyn, daughter of the last Earl of
(Wiltshire and) Ormonde. Lord Hunsdon wrote with reference
to his great-grandfather :

" The Erldome of Ormonde, he survivinge his other children
before that time attainted, he in right lefte to his eldest
daughter Marye. . . . Her Ma tie is a coheire with me to the
saide Erldome viz. daughter and heir of Anne yongest
daughter of the saide Sir Thomas Bullen, late Erie of Ormonde.
. . . The saide dignitie of the Erldome of Ormonde . . . de-
scended to my grandmother his eldest daughter and sole heire "
("State Papers, Domestic, Elizabeth").

In 1619, Ralph Brooke, York Herald, published " A Cata-
logue and Succession of the Kings, Princes, Dukes, Marquesses,
Earles and Viscounts of this Realme of England," in which,
under the wives of Henry VIII., he said that

" Anne, the second wile of King Henry the eight, was second
daughter of Sir Thomas Bullen, Earle of Wiltshire and Or-
mond."*

Against Anne's juniority. — On the tombstone of Lady
Berkeley, daughter of the second Lord Hunsdon, it is stated
that Henry Carey, her grandfather, was "son and heir of
William Carey and the Lady Mary his wife, second daughter
and coheir of Thomas Bullen, Earl of Ormonde and Wiltshire "
(Collins, "Peerage," Vol. DDL, page 615).

John Smyth of Nibley, who was personal attendant in 1584
to the husband of the Lady Berkeley above mentioned, in his
manuscript Lives of the Berkeley s (published in " The
Berkeley Manuscripts," under the editorship of Sir John Mac-
Lean, in 1883), says that William Carey " maryed Mary second
daughter and coheire of Thomas Bullein."

* It may be added that Anne's patent of creation as Marchioness of
Pembroke on September 1st, 1532, calls her " Anne Rocheford, one of
the daughters of Thomas, Earl of Wiltshire and Ormond '*- (" Letters
and Papers, Henry VIII.," Vol. V., page 585), whereas if she were
the elder daughter we should rather expect the fact to be stated.

Appendix A

303

Ralph Brooke in the work already quoted, when he reaches
the Earls of Wiltshire in the Catalogue, says that Thomas
Bollen (sic) has issue " George Bollen, Viscount Rochford . . .
and two daughters ; Anne the eldest . . . Mary the second
daughter."

It has been pointed out that Augustine Vincent, Rouge-
Croix, in his " Discoverie of Errours " of the York Herald
(1622), does not challenge his assertion ; but neither does he
challenge the other, which makes Anne the second daughter !

Dr. J. H. Round in his pamphlet, " The Early Days of Anne
Boleyn," published in 1885, quotes from two Boleyn pedigrees :
(1) One apparently of the reign of Charles I. in Harleian
MSS. 1233, fol. 81, which speaks of " Mary Bullen second
dau. : wife of William Cary Esq. ; and (2) a formally
attested pedigree for 1679 in the archives of the College of Arms,
which mentions " Anne Bollin March of Pembroke eldest
dau r " and " Mary Bollin dau r and heire."

So much for the oldest evidence which has been found !

APPENDIX B

THE AGE OF GEORGE BOLEYN, VISCOUNT ROCHFORD

A DOGGEREL poem by George Cavendish on the death of
Lord Rochford (Singer's edition of Cavendish's " Life
of Cardinal Wolsey," Vol. II., page 19) contains the lines, put
in the mouth of the departed :

" It hath not been knowen nor seldome seen
That any of my yeres byfore this day
Into the privy councell preferred hath been :
My soverayn lord in his chamber did me assay
Or yeres thryes nine had past away ;
A rare thing suer seldom or never hard
So young a man so highly to be preferrd."

From this statement and a knowledge that George Boleyn
was of the King's privy chamber in 1527 — as a matter of fact,
the date of his appointment was earlier — some writers, in-
cluding Miss Strickland, have concluded that he was born
about 1500. But " chamber " in the poem appears to be
the same as " privy councell " in the preceding line ; and
certainly 27 (" yeres thryes nine ") would not be an early age
at which to be appointed to the King's privy chamber, a very
different post from the Council. I have traced no allusion to
the appointment of George Boleyn to the Council ; but, in
view of the rapid advancement of both his father and himself
before and after this period, it is conceivable that after the
father became Earl of Wiltshire at the end of 1529, and the
son in turn Viscount Rochford, the latter was then appointed
to the Council. Thus we should arrive at 1503 as the earliest
possible date of his birth.

It was in 1525, it seems, that George Boleyn became a

304

Appendix B

305

gentleman of the privy chamber. In the Record Office there
is a mutilated document in Cardinal Wolsey's handwriting,
which is assigned to January, 1526 (" Letters and Papers,
Henry VIII.," Vol. IV., page 871), entitled " A provysyon for
suche as shujld] . . . of the Kingesp[rivy chamber]." One of
the paragraphs runs :

" Yong Bolleyn to [have] XX /. yeerly above the ... he
hath gottyn to hy[m a]nd hys wyfe to lyve therupon ; and also
to admyt [h]ym to be one of the kupberers when the Kyng
dynyth [o]wt."

We can hardly be wrong in identifying " yong Bolleyn "
with Anne's brother George.

APPENDIX C

THE DEATH OF ANNE BOLEYN'S MOTHER

IN the section devoted to Anne Boleyn in her " Lives of the
Queens of England " Miss Agnes Strickland states that
Anne Boleyn's mother, the former Lady Elizabeth Howard,
died of puerperal fever in 15 12, quoting as her authority the
Howard Memorials, by Mr. Howard of Corby. She also says :

" Sir Thomas Boleyn married again ; at what period of his life we
have no record, but it is certain that Anne's stepmother was a Norfolk
woman of humble origin, and it has been observed that Queen Eliza-
beth was connected, in consequence of this second marriage of her
grandfather, with numerous families in Norfolk of a mean station in
that county."

To this a note is appended :

" Thorns' Traditions : Camden Society. — The fact that the Lady
Boleyn so prominent in history . . . was not Anne Boleyn's mother
throws a new light on the history of the court. It ought to be noted
how completely Mr. Thorns' Norfolk MSS. and the Howard Memorials
agree upon this point."

Let us see what Mr. Thorns has to say. In 1839 W. J.
Thorns edited for the Camden Society, under the title of
" Anecdotes and Traditions illustrative of Early English
History and Literature," the MS. " Merry Passages and Jests "
of Sir Nicholas L'Estrange, of Hunstanton, elder brother of
the celebrated Sir Roger L'Estrange, " the bloodhound of the
Press." One of Sir Nicholas's stories is as follows :

" One begg'd of Queene Elizabeth and pretended kindred and alliance,
but there was no such relation. ' Friend,' says she, ' grant it be so,
do'st thinke I am bound to keepe all my kindred ? Why, that's the
way to make me a beggar I ' "

Mr. Thorns comments :

" Queen Elizabeth had numerous maternal relatives, and many of
them among the inferior gentry (particularly in Norfolk), an incon-
venience which arose from her father having selected for his second
consort a subject of no very elevated extraction."

306

Appendix C

30T

It is perfectly clear that Mr. Thorns is referring to the second
marriage of Henry VIII. He does not even mention Sir
Thomas Boleyn. How, therefore, Miss Strickland got " the
second marriage of her [Queen Elizabeth's] grandfather,"
Anne Boleyn's father, from the Norfolk MSS. is a marvel.
Truly a belle-mere's nest !

There remains the statement in Mr. H. Howard's " Indica-
tions of Memorials of the Howard Family," privately printed
in 1834-6. Here it is stated that Elizabeth Howard, wife of
Thomas Boleyn, died puerperio at Lambeth, December 14th,
15 1 2, and was interred at Lambeth. No authority is given
for the date.

Curiously, G. E. C[okayne] in his " Peerage " asserts that
Elizabeth Howard, Countess of Wiltshire, died " in childbed "
on April 3rd, and was buried April 7th, 1537, in the Howard
aisle at Lambeth Church. The date of the year, 1537, causes
no difficult}', for we often find a confusion arising out of the
diversity of reckoning on what day the year started. But it
is certainly startling to hear of the lady's death " in childbed "
at so advanced an age as she must have attained in 1538. I
can hazard no explanation of this.

With regard to the interment of the Countess of Wiltshire
at Lambeth, I have been unable to trace there any funeral
certificate, such as Cokayne mentions. In that scarce work,
J. Nichols's " History of the Parish of Lambeth " (1786), there
is a statement that there was formerly a brass plate with the
inscription, "Here lyeth the Lady Elizabeth Howard, some
time Countess of Wiltshire." This plate was no longer in
existence ; but it had been in the chancel of the church, no
reference being made to the Howard aisle.

If we could discover another Elizabeth Howard, who died
in 1 51 2, we might be able to trace the confusion which has
led to the invention of a stepmother for Anne Boleyn. Un-
fortunately I have not succeeded in finding the lady !

20*

APPENDIX D

LETTERS OF ANNE AND THOMAS BOLEYN

THE following is the text of Anne's childish letter to her
father, of which the original is at Corpus Christi
College, Cambridge, being bequeathed by Archbishop Parker,
one of her chaplains :

" Monss r . Je antandue par v re lettre que a ves envy que toufs
onette fame quan Je vindre a la courte et mavertisses que la
Rene prendra la pein de devisser a vecc moi de quoy me Regoy
bine fort de penser parler a vecc ung perscone tante sage et
onnete cela me ferra a voyr plus grante anuy de continuer a
parler bene franssais et oussy espel [erased] especy ale man pour
sue que melaues tant Recommande et de me man vous a versty
que les gardere le meux que Je poure Monss 1 Je vous supplya
descusser sy ma lettre et male et sipta car je vous asure quete
et ottografie de monantend amant sule la vue les aultres ne
sont faiz que escript de maman et Semmonet me dit la lettre
mes domeura fan je le fie moy meme de peur que lone ne saces
sance que Je vous mande et Je vous pry que la loumire de vu
vue net libertte de separe la voullante que dites aves de me
edere car hile me semble quettes ascure en lue [?] la ou vous
poues sy vous plet me vere de claraison de v re paroile et de
moy coues sertene que miara cuoffice de peres ne din gratitude
que sut en passer ne et fasere mon a veccfion quecte de libere
deviere autant sance que vous plera me commander et vous
prommes que mon amour et vondue par ung si grante fermette
quele nara James pouer de sane deminuer et feres fin a mon
pourpon a pres mettre Recommande bine humblemente a v re
bone grace et script a Veure de

" V re tres humble et tres obeiff
fille Anna de Boullan."

[Transcription made for the Rev. J. S. Brewer by the Rev. J.
R. Lumby.]

308

Appendix D

309

The following is the text of Sir Thomas Boleyn's letter to
Margaret of Austria in 15 14, as transcribed by Mr. J. Eliot
Hodgkin in " Notes and Queries," 8th Series, Vol. VIII., page
141, from the original holograph then recently sold by auction
at Sotheby's :

" Ma treschiere et tres redoubtee dame dans sy hu'ble cuer
quil mest possible a v're bonne grace me Recom'ande. II
vous playra a sauoir com'ent la seur du Roy mon maistre
madame marie Reyne fyancee de france ma Requyse dauoir
auecques ma fille la petitte boulain laquelle ma tres redoubtee
dame est a present auesques vous en v're court a laquelle
Requeste Je may peult ne sceut Refuzer nullement, sy est ma
tres redoubtee dame que Je vous supplie tres humblement quil
vous plaise de don'er et octroyer congiet a ma fille de pouuoir
Retourner p'deuent moy auecques mes gens lesquels Jay
envoyet deuers vous a ceste cause ma tres redoubte dame Je
me tiens fort obligiet envers v re bonne grace a cause de la gra't
hon'eur que fait aues a ma fille et que ne mest possible a
desseruir deuers v re bonne grace non obstant que Je ne dezire
aultre chose synon que Je v os puisse faire aulcun seruice agreable
ce que Jespere de faire encores cy en apres un plaisir de dieu
auquel Je prie ma tres redoubtee dame quil vous doinst lentier
accomplissement de vos noble et bons desirs Escript desoubz
mon signe manuel a la court Royalle de grynewiche en engle-
terre/le xiiij e Jour daoust m° xv 6 et xiiij

m v e tres hu'ble S r uiteur
" Sr. Thomas Boleyn."

Postscript. — It may be noted that I have made no reference,
in the account of Anne Boleyn's last days, to her alleged
letter to Henry VIII. from the Tower. All evidence for its
authenticity is lacking, neither the handwriting nor the style
being Anne's.

INDEX

Abel, Thomas, 155, 203

Abergavenny, Lord, 195, 268

Agostino, Dr., 106, 115

Alencon, Duchess of, see Mar-
guerite de Valois

Amadas, Mrs., 183M

Amadas, Robert, 183*1

Angouleme, Duke of, 227, 235, 239

Anne (Boleyn), Queen : her family,
iff. ; birth, 5-6, App. A ;
birth-place, 7 ; her alleged
stepmother, 8-9, App. C ; edu-
cation, 1 1-2, 21 ; first visit to
France, i6ff. ; her early letter,
17, App. D ; Sanders's attack
on, 19-21, 123 ; her sympathy
with the Reformers, 20, 137,
157, 213, 224 ; stays in France,
21-22 ; the proposed Butler
match, 22-3 ; at a revel, 1522,
25 ; her looks, 27-9 ; disap-
pearance from view, 31 ; the
Percy affair, 31 ff., 61 ; question
of a " precontract," 32, 34, 65W.,
142, 285, 291 ; leaves Court,
36 ; returns, 38 ; first courted
by Henry VIII., 39 ; not
responsible for Katharine's de-
gradation, 44 ; her ambition,
45 • 53. 63 ; letters from Henry,
49ff.. 68, 73 ff., ygff., 85; her
motto, 51, 61 ; behaviour on
Wolsey's return from France,
53 ; Henry's determination to
marry, 55 ; the Wyatt story,
56ff., 280K. ; with Katharine at
cards, 60 ; makes up to Wolsey,
63 ; Wolsey's panegyric on,
67 ; her hopes of mission to

Rome, 70-1 ; letters to Wolsey,
71, 80 ; leaves London through
" the sweat," 72 ; illness and
recovery, 74-5 ; the Wilton
nunnery appointment, j6ff. ;
after Campeggio's arrival, 85-6 ;
at Greenwich, Christmas, 1528,
90 ; quarrel with Wolsey, 91 ;
the cramp-rings, 93 ; du Bellay's
suspicion about, 94 ; absent
from London during Legatine
Court, 95 ; on progress with
Henry, 98 ; attacks Wolsey at
Grafton, 99 ; her triumph,
103-4 ; friendly message to
Wolsey, 107 ; hostility of the
Duke of Suffolk, 11 1 ; alleged
demand for Wolsey's arrest,
114; "braver than a lion,"
116; urges defiance of Rome,
120-1 ; animus against Princess
Mary, 122, 205-6, 218, 253 ;
the poison legend, 123-4, 2 °6,
2 55» 2 76, 296W. ; enemies at
Court, 123-6 ; prepares for
marriage, 127 ; her confidence,
129 ; story of a women's plot
against, 130 ; undergoes cam-
paign of calumny, 130-1 ; royal
state, but no progress with
divorce, 135 ; quarrels with her
father and Norfolk, 137 ; with
Henry on hunting tour, 1532,
142-3 ; Marchioness of Pem-
broke, 146, 302W. ; goes with
Henry to Calais, 149-51 ; card-
playing, 151 ; charities, 152,
262 ; royal gifts to, 153 ; her
relations witb Henry, 156 ;

312

Index

Anne (Boleyn), Queen — continued.
secret marriage, January 25th,
1533. I 5&> 1 59l the estrange-
ment of France, 163 ; appears
publicly as Queen, 167 ; her
marriage pronounced valid by
Cranmer, 169 ; State festivities
for, ijiff- ', Coronation, June
1st, 1533, 177-81 ; priests' and
others' attacks on, 183-5 '• birth
of Elizabeth, September 7th,
I 533. J 9 2 > complains about
Mary, 205 ; makes overtures to
her, 208 ; " heretical " influence
over Henry, 213, 237 ; his
renewal of affection and subse-
quent coldness, 216, 219 ; her
dangerous position, 219, 224 ;
has a rival at Court, 219, 228-9 ;
her talk to Gontier, 233 ; alleged
responsibility for More's death,
242 ; the rise of Jane Seymour,
246-7 ; attitude to Katharine
and Mary, 253 ; ' ' wears yellow
for the mourning," 255 ; fresh
overtures to Mary, 257 ; letter
to Lady Shelton, 258 ; her
hopes of a son dashed, 259-61 ;
ill- treatment by Henry, 261-2 ;
her good works, 262 ; attempts
to conciliate Chapuys, 266 ;
her ruin planned by Cromwell,
267, 269; May Day, 1536,
2joff. ; sent to the Tower, 274 ;
her rambling talk there, 274-8 ;
Cranmer 's weak intercession,

281 ; public sympathy aroused,

282 ; her trial, 284 ; the in-
dictments, 286; the "evi-
dence," 287 ; verdict and sen-
tence, 289-90 ; Cranmer's final
interview with, 291-2 ; execu-
tion of the other victims,
292-4 ; her protestation of
innocence, 294 ; repents of
harshness to Mary, 295 ; her
execution, May 19th, 1536,

2 95-7 .' exhumation of her
bones, 1876, 297 ; Cromwell's
tribute to, 298 ; her character,
vii., 298-9 ; her alleged letter to
Henry from the Tower, 309
{Postscript)
Aretino, Pietro, 225U
Arthur, Prince of Wales, 43, 87
Audley, Sir Thomas, 141, 162,
270, 284, 296

Barlow, Dr. John, 28-9, 47
Barlow, Dr. William, 82
Barton, Elizabeth, 201-2, 207, 209,

211-2, 240
Baynton, Sir Edward, 182, 279,

280

Bell, Dr. John, 77

Benet, Dr. William, 9on., 97, 124,

133, 135
Benger, Miss E. O., biographer, 39
Blickling (Norfolk), 5, 7
Blount, Elizabeth, see Tailebois,

Lady

Boleyn, Anne, see Anne

Boleyn, Anne, Lady Shelton, 134,

206, 214, 234, 249, 257-9
Boleyn, Anne, wife of Geoffrey, 2, 7
Boleyn, Anne, wife of Thomas the

elder, 1, 7
Boleyn, Sir Geoffrey, 1-2, 7
Boleyn, George, afterwards 2nd
Viscount Rochford : his birth,
6, App. B ; appointed to privy
chamber, 6-7 ; marries, 45 ; a
friend of Thomas Wyatt, 57 ;
first sent on embassy to France,
103, 109 ; becomes Viscount
Rochford, 103 ; has grant from
Wolsey, 106 ; sent to France,
106, 109 ; further embassies to
France, 163, 170 ; his wife's
hostility to Anne, 182, 220, 289 ;
brings news of Henry's ex-
communication, 187-8 ; at
Elizabeth's christening, 193 ;
sent again to Francis, 210-1,

Index

313

Boleyn, George — continued.

217 ; at execution of the
Carthusians, 236-7 ; his last
missions to France, 238-9 ; his
" Lutheran discussions," 265 ;
fails to get the Garter, 268 ; at
the May Day joust, 1536, 270 ;
arrested, 275, 279 ; a poet,
278W. ; the charges against,
279, 283, 288 ; his wife's con-
duct, 288 ; his trial, 290-1 ;
execution, 292-3 ; Cromwell's
tribute to, 298

Boleyn, Sir James, 149, 235

Boleyn, Lady Elizabeth, after-
wards Countess of Wiltshire and
Ormonde, 4, 7-10, 22-3, 63, 134,
236 ; the date of her death,
8-9, App. C

Boleyn, Lady, wife of James
Boleyn, 274, 276

Boleyn, Lady Margaret, wife of
William Boleyn, 2-4, 56

Boleyn, Mary, afterwards Mary
Carey and Mary Stafford : her
birth, 6, App. A ; with Margaret
of Austria, 13 ; in France, i^ff. ;
her alleged ill-fame, 16, 20 ;
marries William Carey, 21 ; her
connection with Henry VIII.,
30, 38, 45, 66 ; her son, 38,
75». ; widowed, 75 ; in New
Year gifts list, 1532, 134 ;
marries Sir William Stafford,
229 ; her letter to Cromwell,
229-30 ; with Anne in January,
1536, 260

Boleyn, Thomas, the elder, 1

Boleyn, Thomas, afterwards Vis-
count Rochford and Earl of
Wiltshire and Ormonde : his
origin and early days, iff. ;
character, 4 ; places a daughter
with Margaret of Austria, 12 ;
his letter to Margaret, 13, App.
D ; letter from Anne, 17,
App. D ; missions abroad, 22 ;

rapid advancement, 37 ; created
Viscount Rochford, 37 ; his
hold on the King, 45, 51, 56 ;
gives evidence at the Legatine
Court, 96 ; rebuked by Wolsey,
96 ; created Earl of Wiltshire
and Lord Privy Seal, 103 ; his
mission to Bologna, 109 ; to
France, 112 ; rejoices over
Wolsey 's death, 115 ; his chap-
lain Cranmer, 126 ; opposes
Anne's marriage, 137, 162 ;
his Reform views, 191 ; at
Elizabeth's christening, 193 ;
his treatment of Mary Boleyn,
230 ; at execution of the Car-
thusians, 236-7 ; still in royal
favour, 267-8 ; on commission
of oyer and terminer, 270 ; not
at Anne's trial or execution, 289;
his allowance to Lady Rochford,
289M

Boleyn, Sir William, 2-5
Bonner, Dr. Edmund, 135, 197
Bracton, Anne, see Boleyn, Anne,

wife of Thomas the elder
Bracton, Sir John, 1
Brandon, Charles, Duke of Suffolk,

19, 51, 59, 6in., 92, 101, 103,111,

113, 125, 129, 144, 175, 180, 193,

203, 270, 280, 296
Brereton, William, 278, 279, 280.

292-3

Brewer, Rev. J. S., historian, 37,
307

Bridewell Palace, 86, 88
Brion, Sieur de, see Chabot
Brooke, Elizabeth, wife of Thomas

Wyatt, 57
Brooke, Ralph, York Herald, 156,

I59W., 302, 303
Browne, Dr. George, 159, 168
Bryan, Sir Francis, 57, 59, 89,

92-4, 151, 246, 251
Burgh of Gainsborough, Thomas,

Lord, 170, 178

314

Index

Burnet, Bishop, historian, vii., 36,

123, 129, 211, 262, 275, 287
Butler, James, 22-3
Butler, Margaret, see Boleyn,

Lady Margaret
Butler, Piers, afterwards Earl of

Ossory, and later of Ormonde,

22-3, 37«., 56
Butler, Thomas, see Ormonde, Sir

Thomas

Butts, Dr. William, 75, 106-7, 2I 9

Camden, William, annalist, 5, 301
Campeggio, Cardinal, 70, 83, 85^.,

94#, 101-2, 232
Canterbury, Archbishops of, see

Warham and Cranmer
Canterbury, Convocation of, 118,

119, 140, 166
Carew, Sir Nicholas, 126, 181, 238,

268, 282
Carey, Eleanor, 77-9
Carey, Henry, afterwards Baron

Hunsdon, 38, 75W., 301
Carey, Mary, see Boleyn, Mary
Carey, William, 21, 30, 45, 75, 77
Carles, L. D., Bishop of Riez, 16 ;

his " Epitre," 19, 21, 290, 293^. ,

297

Casale, Sir Gregory, 65, 66, 87,

93, 113, 225
Castillon, Sieur de, 206, 209
Cavendish, George, 26, 31, 38-9,

46, 54-5. 98-102, 303
Chabot, Philippe de, Sieur de

Brion, 226-8, 231
Chambers, Dr., 73, 75
Chapuys, Eustache, vi., 61, 104,

116, 117, 132, 155, 159, 167,

169, 195, 204-6. 215, 221-3,

229, 231, 238-9, 249, 257, 263#,

274, 282, 298, etc., etc.
Charles V., Emperor, 44, 46, 47,

66, 86, 104, 109, 116, 129, 143,

154, 164, 195-6, 201, 215, 224,

245, 257, 263
Cheyney, Sir Thomas, 58, 64, 91

Claude, Queen, 19, 21

Clement VII., Pope, 46, 47, 65^.,
86, 92-4, 97, 108-9, 112, 113,
116-7, 124, 133, 135, 140, 144,
154-5, 164, 166-7, 187-8, 196-7,
201, 208 ; his death, 225

Clifford, Henry, biographer, 5-6,
123, 242, 259-60, 27m., 301

Cobham, Thomas Brooke, Lord, 57

Cokayne, G. E., genealogist, 306

Coke, John, 184

Constantyne, George, 2j2n., 273,
290, 293

Cosyns, Mrs. 274, 276, 277, 279,
288

Cranmer, Thomas, afterwards
Archbishop of Canterbury, 109,
126-7, I 54. 1 5^, 157. 159,

160, 162, 166, 168-9, 175. 178-80,
186, 194, 212, 236, 281 ; his
final interview with Anne, 291-2

Cromwell, Thomas, 4, 35, 102, 106,
118-9, 141, 157, 171, 191, 195,
199, 204, 205, 2o6«., 209, 210,
212, 213, 218, 222, 232, 234, 237,
238-9, 245, 250, 252, 263-4, 266;
plans Anne's ruin, 267 ff.; strikes
the blow, 271$". ; his conduct of
the case 275, 277, 285-6 ;
tribute to Anne and Rochford,
298

Dacre of the North, William,

Lord, 217-8, 221
Darcy, Thomas, Lord, 136, 206,

221

De Burgo, Antonio, Baron, 112,
113, 124, 155, 160-1, 164

Dinteville, Jean de, Bailly of
Troyes, 179, 197, 245^.

Dormer, Lady Jane, 5, 246

Du Bellay, John, Bishop of
Bayonne, afterwards Bishop of
Paris and Cardinal, 54, 56, 72,
76, 79, 83??., 86, 88, 90, 91, 94,
104, 105, 112, 142-3, 197- 8 .
208-10, 240

Index

315

Eleanor, Queen, 2nd wife of

Francis L, 143, 263
Elizabeth, Princess, 45, 156, 192^.,

202, 214, 219, 222-3, 235, 239,

245, 249, 255, 291, 298 ; story

of, as Queen, 305
Erasmus, 191
Elston, Henry, 139-40, 183
Executioner of Calais, The, 297
Exeter, Lady, 194, 202, 252-3,

261, 265

Exeter, Marquis of, 51, 193, 252,
261

Faenza, Ridolfo Pio, Bishop of,

15, 20, 239, 260
Fastolf, Sir John, 7
Ferdinand, King of Aragon, 43
Fisher, John, Bishop of Rochester,

87, 121, 123, 166, 201, 206, 212,

240-1

Fitzwilliam, Sir William, 51, 129,

210-1, 215, 273, 279
Fleet Street, 86n

Foxe, Edward, afterwards Bishop
of Winchester, 6jff., 126,132,147

Francis I. of France, 19, 22, 29,
36, 40, 44, 112, 132, 133, 142,
143, 149-50, 163, 181, 187, 196-8,
210-1, 215, 224, 226-7, 233-5,
239, 242, 244-6, 250-1

Friedmann, Mr. Paul, biographer,
21, I47«., 187W., 210, 25071.,
255. 269

Gairdner, Professor James, his-
torian, 15, 18, 301

Gardiner, Stephen, afterwards
Bishop of Winchester, 67 ff.,
92-3, 125, 126, 135, 141, 188,
196-8, 248, 251, 285

Ghinucci, Jerome de, Bishop of
Worcester, afterwards Cardinal,
47, 232, 240

Gontier, Palamede, 232-3, 235

Grammont, Gabriel de, Bishop of
Tarbes, afterwards Cardinal, 4,
41, 133, 248-9, 250

Granvelle, Nicholas, Sieur de, 237
Grinee, Simon, 130-1
Guildford, Lady Jane, 14-15
Guildford, Sir Henry, 125, 153

Hale, Rev. John, 236

Hall, Edward, chronicler, 90, 102,

i92«., 255
Harpsfield, Dr. Nicholas, 204
Harrison, Rev. James, 184
Hawkins, Dr. Nicholas, 153, 156M.,

206

Heath, Dr. Nicholas, afterwards

Archbishop of York, 201
Heneage, Thomas, 63-4, 70, 73, 75,

77. 78, 79

Henry VII., 2, 7, 43

Henry VIII. : his Coronation, 7 ;
early favours to Thomas Boleyn,
8, 12 ; the Sanders story, ign.,
236 ; interests himself in a
match for Anne, 22-24 ; his
desire for a son, 30, 40, 186, 207,
257 ; his affair with Mary
Boleyn, 30, 38, 66 ; his first
notice of Anne, 31 ff., 34 ; breaks
off the Percy affair, 32-4 ;
tradition of his visits to Hever,
39 ; desires to repudiate Kath-
arine, 39/jf. ; plans to marry
Anne, 44, 55 ; his letters to her,
49#, 68, 73#, 7 9#, 85 ; calls
her his " mistress," 50 ; bis
jealousy of Wyatt, 59-60 ; his
request to the Pope, 65-6 ;
obtains Papal Commission, 70 ;
joint letter with Anne to Wolsey,
72 ; flies from " the sweat,"
72-3 ; his coarse language, 75,
79 ; the Wilton appointment,
76ff. ; the theft of his love-
letters, 82 ; receives Campeggio
87 ; explains his conscience, 89,
121 ; hastens the Legatine
Court, 94 ; receives Wolsey at
Grafton, 98^. ; dismisses Wol-
sey, 102 ; later favours to the

316

Index

Henry VIII. — continued.

Cardinal, 106-7 ; determined on
second marriage, 107 ; sends
Thomas Boleyn to the Pope,
109 ; his use of praemunire,
117, 120, 165 ; takes Cromwell's
advice, 119 ; Supreme Head of
the Church, 120 ; fails to move
Katharine, 125 ; breaks finally
with her, 127 ; takes up Cran-
mer, 135 ; his struggle with
Parliament, 136 ; the Observant
Friars, 138-40 ; Cromwell's in-
fluence over, 141, 191, 237 ;
creates Anne Marchioness of
Pembroke, 146 ; takes her to
Calais, 149-51 ; marries her,
1 5^> 159; bis "fish" letter to
the Pope, 164 ; his pulpit
campaign, 165 ; overawes Con-
vocation, 1 66 ; has Anne pro-
claimed his wife, 169 ; at Anne's
Coronation festivities, 174, C76,
177 ; excommunicated, 187 ;
his alleged early unfaithfulness,
190, 200 ; Elizabeth's birth,
192 ; his Parliamentary pro-
gramme, 1534,196, 209,210,225 ;
begins campaign against the
priests, 201, 211 ; half relents
toward Mary, 205, 219 ; anti-
cipates Katharine's death, 206,
215 ; fails to have Dacre con-
demned, 218 ; " the young
lady," 219-20, 228-9, 234 ; his
new title, 232 ; his boast to
Gontier, 233 ; executes the
Carthusians, 236 ; not a Re-
former, 237 ; executes Fisher,
241 ; watches a masque on
the Apocalypse, 241 ; executes
More, 242 ; attracted by Jane
Seymour, 246-7 ; alleged
schemes against Katharine and
Mary, 252 ; Katharine's death,
254-6 ; brutal conduct to Anne,
261-2 ; accepts Cromwell's pro-

posal, 270 ; May Day, 1536,
270-3 ; arrests Anne, 273-4 >
his gaiety thereafter, 281-2 ;
alleged conspiracy against, 283,
285 ; extracts admission of an
impediment from Anne, 291-2 ;
prayed for by her, 296

Henry Fitzroy, afterwards Duke
of Richmond, 30, 37, 40, 167,
193, 203, 272, 596

Herbert of Cherbury, Edward,
Lord, historian, 11, 16, 19, 21,
262n

Hever (Kent), 5, 7, 18, 36, 68,

72, 76, 86
Hoo, Anne, see Boleyn, Anne, wife

of Geoffrey
Hoo and Hastings, Lord, 2
Hoo, Thomas, 2

Howard, Elizabeth, see Boleyn,

Lady Elizabeth
Howard, Henry, Earl of Surrey,

57, 110, 137
Howard, H., of Corby, antiquarian,

3°5» 3°6
Howard, Katharine, 10, 298
Howard, Lady Mary, afterwards

Duchess of Richmond, 146, 167,

193

Howard, Thomas, 2nd Duke of

Norfolk, 4-5
Howard, Thomas, 3rd Duke of
Norfolk, 9-10, 22-3, 51, 91-2,
103, 105, 108, no, in, 1 14-5,
125, 136, 137, 148, 159, 161,
166, 170, 187-8, 193, 195, 198-9,
231, 236, 238, 259-60, 270, 273-4,
284, 290, 296
Howard, Lord Thomas, 193, 194
Howard, Lord William, 175, 180,

181, 193
Howard, Lady William, 250
Hume, Mr. M. A. S., biographer,
40, 42, 45, 61, 177, 254«.,
255, 28on
Hunsdon, Baron, see Carey, Henry
Hunsdon, George, 2nd Baron,30i-2

Index

317

Hussey, Lord, 193, 221

John II. of Aragon, 43
Jordan, Isabel, 77-9
Julius II., Pope, 89

Katharine (of Aragon), Queen :
her appearance, 30 ; Henry's
unfaithfulness to, 30, 43 ; has
Anne in her household, 31, 38 ;
the first idea of divorce, 39-41 ;
her popularity, 40, 88, 189 ;
character, 42-3 ; Henry's " con-
science " about, 67, 89, 121 ;
receives Campeggio, 87 ; the
divorce proceedings, 94^. ; is
" contumacious," 95 ; rebukes
Henry, 107 ; surprised at
Rome's inaction, 120 ; con-
founds deputation at Greenwich,
125 ; Henry's definite rupture
with, 127 ; still unyielding, 128 ;
supported by the Observants,
138 ; believes Henry to be
relenting, 155 ; deprived of
title of Queen, 166 ; her mar-
riage pronounced invalid, 169 ;
exiled to Buckden, 189 ; her
defiant attitude, 189, 203, 214 ;
has no dealings with Elizabeth
Barton, 201 ; a half-hearted
conspirator, 204-5 '• ner death
anticipated by Henry, 206, 215 ;
her marriage upheld by Rome,
210 ; refuses the oath, 214 ;
banished to Kimbolton, 215 ;
not allowed to see Mary, 234 ;
suspicion of Henry's intention to
kill, 252 ; her end, 254-5

Kent, The Maid or Mad Nun of,
see Barton

Kingston, Lady, 10, 276, 277

Kingston, Sir William, 55, 173,
273#. 289, 294, 297

Kite, John, Bishop of Carlisle, 282

Knight, Dr., 47, 65, 66

La Guiche, Sieur de, 115, 211, 216
Latimer, Hugh, Bishop of Worces-
ter, 232

Laurence, Friar John, 139-40, 152
Lee, Dr. Edward, afterwards

Archbishop of York, 125, 128,

178

Lee, Dr. Rowland, afterwards

Bishop of Chester, 159, 214
Lee, Lady, see Wyatt, Margaret
L'Estrange, Sir Nicholas, 8, 305
Llandaff, Bishop of, 255
Louis XII. of France, 12, 14-15, 19
Luther, Martin, 20, 137
Lyst, Richard, 152

Mai, Miguel, no, 112
Margaret of Austria, 12-14
Marguerite de Valois, Duchess of
Alencon, afterwards Queen of
Navarre, 21, 36, 143, 149, 211,
248

Marks, see Smeaton
Mary (Tudor), Queen of France,
afterwards Duchess of Suffolk,
itff., 19, 26, 104, 125, 153
Mary (Tudor), Princess, daughter of
Henry VIII., 40, 41, 43, 44, 47
122, 128, 137, 189, 193, 195,
202-6, 208, 211, 214, 218-20,
222-3, 226-7, 234, 239, 249-50,
252-4, 257-9, 267, 271M., 295
Maximilian, Emperor, 12
Mendoza, Inigo de, 47, 53, 91
Mont, Christopher, 201
Montague, Lord, see Pole, Henry
Montmorency, Anne de, Grand

Master of France, 54
More, Sir Thomas, 103, 106, 121,

141, 202, 207, 209, 212
Morette, Charles, Sieur de, 238, 240
Morley, Lord, see Parker, Henry
Mountjoy, Lord, 130, 166, 189

Navarre, Henri, King of, 150
Navarre, Queen of, see Marguerite
de Valois

318

Index

Norfolk, Dukes of, see under
Howard

Norfolk, Anne, Dowager Duchess

of, 162, 175, 178, 182, 193-4
Norfolk, Elizabeth, Duchess of,

104, in, 124, 182, 195
Norris, Six Henry, 99, 236, 270,

272 3. 275. 276, 279, 283-4, 292-3
Northumberland, Countess of, see

Talbot, Mary
Northumberland, 5th Earl of, 32-4
Northumberland, 6th Earl of, see

Percy

Observants, The (Friars Minors),

138-40, 183, 204
Ormonde, Anne, Lady, 3
Ormonde, Sir Thomas, afterwards

7th Earl of Ormonde, 2-3, 22,37n
Ortiz, Dr., 130, 135, 144, 154, 167,

251, 253, 263
Ossory, Earl of, see Butler, Piers
Oxford, Earl of, 51, 137

Page, Sir Richard, 279, 280

Parker, Archbishop, 307

Parker, Henry, Lord Morley and

Mounteagle, 45
Parker, Jane, afterwards Lady

Rochford, 26, 45, 134, 182, 220,

250, 288-9, 298, 304
Paul III., Pope, 225, 240, 244, 250,

251

Paulet, Sir William, 219, 273
Peacock, Sir Stephen, 171, 177
Pembroke, Marchioness of, see
Anne

Percy, Henry Algernon, afterwards
6th Earl of Northumberland,
3iff., 54, 61, 141-2, 206, 217,
231, 285, 289, 291
Peto, William, 138-40, 182, 204
Pole, Henry, Lord Montague, 263
Pole, Reginald, afterwards Car-
dinal, 41, 119, 133-4, 204
Pommeraye, Giles de la, 132, 210
Praemunire, Statute of, 117, 120,
163

Raleigh, Sir Walter, 43
Renee, Princess, 44
Rice (or Rouse), Richard, 123
Richmond, Duke of, see Henry
Fitzroy

Rochester, Bishop of, see Fisher
Rochford, Lady, see Boleyn, Lady

Elizabeth, and Parker, Jane
Rochford, Lady Anne, see Anne
Rochford, Lady Mary, see Boleyn,

Mary

Rochford, 1st Viscount.sge Boleyn,
Thomas

Rochford, 2nd Viscount, see Bo-
leyn, George
Rochford (Essex), 37*1
Round, Dr. J. H., historian, 303
Russell, Sir John, 58, 108
Rutland, Thomas Manners, Earl
of, 162

St. Asaph, Bishop of, 121

St. Leger, Anne, 3, 7, 23, 56

St. Leger, James, 3

St. Quattuor, Cardinal, 67

Salisbury, Countess of, 133-4, 202

Salle (Norfolk), 1, 7

Sampson, Dr., 125, 128

Sanders, Dr. Nicholas, vi., 1, 10,

19-21, 27, 123, 236
Seymour, Jane, 243, 246-7, 249,

257, 259, 263, 265, 268, 282, 292
Seymour, Sir Edward, 247, 263,265
Seymour, Sir John, 247
Seymour, Sir Thomas, 247
Shaxton, Nicholas, Bishop of

Salisbury, 232
Shelton, Lady, see Boleyn, Anne
Shelton, Margaret, 234, 276-7
Shelton, Sir John, 206, 234
Shrewsbury, Earl of, 35, 142
Sidney family, The, 246
Smeaton, Mark, 271-3, 278, 279,

283-4, 292-4
Spanish Chronicler, The (Antonio

de Guaras), 61, 177, 272, 28o«
Spelman, Sir John, 18m., 287

Index

319

Stafford, Mary, see Boleyn, Mary
Stafford, Sir William, 229-30
Stokesley, Dr., afterwards Bishop

of London, 103, 109, 125, 194
Stoner, Mrs., 274, 278, 288
Stow, John, chronicler, 138, 176,

271

Strickland, Miss Agnes.biographer,

36, 151, 288«., 304, 305
Suffolk, Duchess of, see Mary,

Queen of France
Suffolk, Duke of, see Brandon
Surrey, Earls of, see under Howard

Tailebois, Lady, 28-9, 30, 37
Talbot, Francis, Lord, 179
Talbot, Mary, afterwards Countess
of Northumberland, 34-5, 141 -2
Tarbes, Bishop of, see Grammont
Thorns, W. J., antiquarian, 305
Troyes, Bailly of, see Dinteville
Tudor, Mary, see under Mary
Tuke, Sir Brian, 74, 121
Tyndale, William, 119

Vannes, Peter, 89, 93

Vaughan, Stephen, ngn., 185, 214

Vaux, John Joachim de Passano,

Sieur de, 129, 132
Vendome, Duchess of, 149
Vere, Frances, afterwards Countess

of Surrey, 137

Walsingham, Sir Edward, 173
Warham, William, Archbishop of

Canterbury, 42, 136, 145
Weston, Sir Francis, 151, 174,

276-7, 278, 279, 292-3

Whitehall, see York Place
Wilton Nunnery affair, The, j6ff
Wiltshire, Earl and Countess of,
see under Boleyn, Thomas and
Lady Elizabeth
Winchester, Bishop of, see Gar-
diner

Wingfield, Lady, 287-8

Wingfield, Sir Robert, 12

Wolsey, Thomas, Cardinal Arch-
bishop of York, 14, 23-4, 31/f.,
43, 44. 46#, 53. 55. 63-4, 65^.,
7 6#, 8 7 j?., 91, 92, 94#. "8,
132 ; his fall, 102, lo^ff. ; his
end, 1 1 4-5

Wriothesley, Charles, 174, 176,
180, 181, 192M., 194, 251, 259,
271, 292, 296

Wriothesley, Thomas, 146, 194

Wyatt, George, biographer, 27,
57-61, 63, in

Wyatt, Sir Henry, 12, 56, 180, 280

Wyatt, Lady, see Brooke, Elizabeth

Wyatt, Margaret, afterwards Lady
Lee, 57, 167, 295

Wyatt, Thomas, the poet, 27, 56ff.,
in, 149, 180, 278, 279, 280 ;
poems quoted, 58^., 62M., 149,
280

Wyatt, Sir Thomas, the younger,
27, 57

York, Archbishops of, see Wolsey
and Lee

York Place, Westminster, 25, 32,
96, 102, 105, 108, 117, 123,
X59, 181

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333 The life of Anne Boleyn

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