Masaryk University Faculty of Education

Department of English Language and Literature

Anne Boleyn, her Role and Impact on Tudor England

Diploma thesis

Bc. Andrea Bartuňková

Brno, 2017 Supervisor: Mgr. Zdeněk Janík, M. A., Ph.D.

Declaration:

I hereby declare that this diploma thesis is my own work and that I used only sources listed in Bibliography.

Prohlášení:

„Prohlašuji, že jsem závěrečnou diplomovou práci vypracovala samostatně, s využitím pouze citovaných literárních pramenů, dalších informací a zdrojů v souladu s Disciplinárním řádem pro studenty Pedagogické fakulty Masarykovy univerzity a se zákonem č. 121/2000 Sb., o právu autorském, o právech souvisejících s právem autorským a o změně některých zákonů (autorský zákon), ve znění pozdějších předpisů“.

………..……………… V Brně dne Andrea Bartuňková

Acknowledgement: I would like to express my gratitude to Mgr. Zdeněk Janík, M. A., Ph.D for his kind and patient guidance, moral support as well as valuable advice and comments, which helped me to improve my work. My special thanks go to my family and their kind support.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION ...... 6

1 THE REIGN OF HENRY VII AND THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF HENRY VIII`S SUCCESSION TO THE THRONE ...... 8

1.1 THE REIGN OF HENRY VII IN TERMS OF FOREIGN POLICY ...... 8 The marriage contract ...... 8 The Tudor marriages to Catherine of Aragon and the dispensation from the Pope ...... 9

2 THE EARLY REIGN OF HENRY VIII AND THE RELATIONSHIP WITH CATHERINE ...... 12

2.1 THE ASCENSION TO THRONE ...... 12 2.2 THE FIRST YEARS OF THE REIGN ...... 12 2.3 THE POSITION OF CATHERINE OF ARAGON...... 13 2.4 DEFICIENCY OF A MALE HEIR ...... 14 The only surviving child, Princess of Wales ...... 15 Royal extramarital liaisons ...... 15 The Royal Couple being estranged ...... 16

3 CARDINAL WOLSEY ...... 18

3.1 PERSONALITY AND THE RAISING POWER OF CARDINAL WOLSEY ...... 18 Wolsey perceived from the points of view of the proponents ...... 18 Wolsey perceived from the points of view of the opponents ...... 19

4 ANNE BOLEYN, FAMILY BACKGROUND AND EDUCATION ...... 22

4.1 BOLEYN CHILDREN, THE AGE AND THE ORDER ...... 22 4.2 BOLEYN SISTERS IN FRANCE ...... 23 Mary Boleyn, the mistress of the King ...... 24

5 THE DEBUT AT ENGLISH COURT ...... 28

5.1 FIRST MEETING WITH THE KING ...... 28 5.2 THE REASONS FOR RETURN FROM FRANCE ...... 28 5.3 THE DEBUT OF LADY ANNE ...... 29 5.4 ANNE`S APPEARANCE AND ATTRACTIVENESS ...... 30 Anne and the "monster legend" ...... 32

6 THE MEN AT COURT CAPTIVATED WITH ANNE`S GLAMOUR ...... 34

6.1 THE DANGEROUS LOVE AFFAIR WITH LORD HENRY PERCY ...... 34 6.2 BRUNET EXALTED IN THE POETRY OF THOMAS WYATT ...... 35 6.3 THE KING AND ANNE BOLEYN ...... 36 Anne, the subject matter of the King`s attention ...... 36 Henry, the royal suitor ...... 37

7 GREAT MATTER ...... 40

7.1 CIRCUMSTANCES REVEALING THE ROYAL ROMANCE ...... 40 7.2 STRUGGLE OVER ANNULMENT ...... 41 The first tribunal, the church council at Westminster ...... 41 Subsequent strategy to achieve the goal of annulment ...... 42 Papal Legate commission ...... 44

8 ANNE BOLEYN, THE RISING STAR AT THE COURT ...... 49

8.1 THE FALL OF WOLSEY ...... 49 8.2 BOLEYN POLITICAL CAMP ...... 52 8.3 GROWING IMPACT OF LADY BOLEYN ...... 54 The solution of ménage à trois ...... 54 Anne and the enemies at Court ...... 56

9 THE TURNING POINTS ...... 58

9.1 DECISIVE STEPS WITHIN THE INTERNAL AND FOREIGN POLICY ...... 58 9.2 THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE ENGLISH REFORMATION ...... 60 The coronation of a new Queen ...... 62

10 THE ENGLISH REFORMATION...... 64

10.1 THE PARLIAMENT ACTS OF MOMENTOUS CONSEQUENCES ...... 64 10.2 THE OPPOSITION FACING THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE REFORMS ...... 67 10.3 THE RELIGIOUS REFORMATION ...... 68

11 ANNE BOLEYN AS A NEW QUEEN ...... 71

11.1 THE FIRST YEARS OF THE REIGN ...... 71 11.2 THE FALL OF THE QUEEN BEING IN PROSPECT ...... 73

CONCLUSION ...... 76

SUMMARY ...... 78

RESUMÉ ...... 79

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 80

Introduction

As a student and teacher of English language I was always interested in the history of the English language speaking countries, especially The United Kingdom. When I was choosing the topic of the work, I finally decided to focus on historical period related to Tudor England, namely the era of Henry VIII since I find it the most interesting. The main aim of the thesis is to focus on one of the most important figure of the Tudor period, Anne Boleyn, particularly her role and influence on the King with all the consequences concerning the political and social life of the sixteenth century England. Not only the fact that she played a great role within both the King`s break with Rome and initiation of English Reformation but also her significant impact on the reversal on Henry`s view on Thomas Wolsey make me being interested in the personality of the Queen. It is generally known that the more obsessed with desire for Anne Henry was, the more suggestible he was. However, the work cannot fully address the issue of Anne`s impact without introducing equally important characters of the era in more details: Thomas Wolsey, Thomas More and Thomas Cromwell. Although they did not share the same attitudes towards the English Reformation, they all are regarded as figures closely associated with the social, political and religious change. For the reasons mentioned above I cannot omit presenting the connections between the three characters and the King in the thesis. Not only do I want to recount Anne´s life resulting in becoming the English Queen but also I would like to concentrate on the circumstances of her dramatic fall. Various hypotheses regarding her demise have been introduced by historians and experts on the Tudor Period, namely David Loades or Eric Ives. The accounts defining the different points of view concerning Boleyn´s role in the British history and her unhappy ending are to be depicted in the study. Anne Boleyn may be viewed by many as a woman of virtue, a religious reformer, a courtyard concubine, a six-fingered witch, a victim of politics or even a victim of Boleyn´s family —but hardly anyone could argue that she is one of the most discussed women in the history of England. Regardless her influence on Tudor Era, there is still one question remaining: How was Henry VIII able to send Anne to death after having risked all for her? I hope the possible answer will be brought after reading this study on Anne Boleyn. Since I have decided to depict the historical period, the materials used for the thesis comprise of non-fiction books aimed at the history of England, e.g. The Oxford History of

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Britain by the collection of authors, Crown and Country: A History of England through the Monarchy by David Starkey, The Tudor Queens of England by David Loades. To be able to describe the life and motives for Boleyn’s actions, non-fiction books portraying Anne Boleyn herself, e.g. The Boleyns: The Rise and Fall of a Tudor Family by David Loades, The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn by Eric Ives and chiefly Anne Boleyn: Henry VIII`s Obsession by Elizabeth Norton are used. The diverse works by Tracy Borman, Alison Plowden, Alison Weir and Antonia Fraser, serve as sources for portraying the events and relationships of Henry VIII`s court. As to the methods relevant for the kind of study, it has to be emphasized that the thesis tends to be written as a compilation of facts, trying to summarize the history out of a large number of different sources to acquaint the reader with possible amount of available interpretations.

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1 The Reign of Henry VII and the Circumstances of Henry VIII`s Succession to the Throne

Chapter number one will focus on the reign of Henry VII in terms of foreign policy in order to explain the reasons for negotiating Treaty of Medina del Campo and will describe in greater details the circumstances of the consequences resulting from the deal. Chiefly the subchapter called A dispensation from the Pope is significant to be acquainted with in order to understand properly the factors influencing Papal dismissal of Henry VIII`s demand of annulment of the marriage with Catherine, the Queen of England, later in 1530s; the subject matter that will be discussed in the following chapters in the work.

1.1 The Reign of Henry VII in Terms of Foreign Policy

Before Henry VII died in 1509, he had left the fortune of £2 million, having been thrifty, willing to spend money freely only on the building of the merchant fleet ships as a consequence of the awareness that the international trade ensuring future wealth for England would be dependant exclusively on owning the fleet of merchant ships (Dowal, 2006, pp. 68-69). In the course of the reign, both having challenged the attempts of Yorkshire pretenders to gain the throne, namely Lambert Simnel (the puppet in the hands of 1st Earl of Lincoln) and Perkin Warbeck, and having been constantly frightened of the invasion of the two major powers in Europe, France and even more powerful Spain, Henry VII succeeded in making an agreement called Treaty of Medina del Campo in March in 1489, considered to be his first major breakthrough as far as a European alliance is concerned. The agreement developed between England and Spanish rulers, namely Elizabeth, the Queen of Castile and Ferdinand II, the King of Aragon, essentially on the basis of the unity against France in the matter of the struggle over Brittany (Fraser, 2002, p.21). Three goals were accomplished in the pact; nevertheless for the diploma thesis merely the last goal is to be mentioned since it had momentous consequences for the history of England: the royal marital contract between Arthur Tudor, the eldest son of Henry VII of England and Catherine of Aragon, the daughter of Isabella and Ferdinand II, the monarchs of the Spain.

The marriage contract

Although the contract on the marriage was introduced in 1489 by Spanish sovereigns, 8 the first ratification by Henry VII occurred in September 1490; the reason was obvious, not only did the King of England desire to obtain the support from the Spanish monarchs, but he also needed time to acquire the support of Maxmilian I Habsburg, the Holy Roman Emperor to be able to declare war along with Spain against France. Neither of the countries wished to be involved in the war with France; nevertheless, Spanish rulers started to be afraid of the possible unity of England with France, and not to risk the prospective concord, Spain finally proved to offer the marriage contract conditions satisfactory to Henry VII. Consequently, the terms regarding the marriage treaty were modified and renegotiated again in 1497, with proxy ceremonies in 1498 and 1499 (Innes, 2004, chapter 3). Since royal marriages were political arrangements, there is no surprise that Arthur, the Prince of Wales was under one year old and Catherine of Aragon was not two years old yet when commission given to Dr Roderigo Gonzalva de Puebla entered the Tudor court with an offer of the alliance in 1488. Despite being suspicious, even paranoid about possible rivals due to the circumstances concerning Yorkshire pretenders, Henry VII welcomed de Puebla with spontaneous pleasure. Nevertheless, the reactions on Spanish side were rather underwhelming, chiefly when the English began to speculate in either dowry to be given to Catherine or her rights of succession to the thrown of Castile. The Spanish commissioner, being confident the remark had been pronounced with great gallantry not to offend or enrage the King of England, commented with a reference to the Tudor recent unstable history "bearing in mind what happens every day to Kings of England, it was surprising that Ferdinand and Isabella should dare give their daughter at all"; furthermore, the King Ferdinand II had formerly pointed out when speaking of the daughter to be married into "a family which might any day be driven out of England" (as cited in Fraser, 2002, pp. 19-21).

The Tudor marriages to Catherine of Aragon and the dispensation from the Pope

Despite the doubts, the reign of Henry VII gradually proved to be stable after having defeated the revolts and having succeeded in the War of the Roses. The outset of the increasingly prosperous England was followed with the pacific foreign policy when the treaty of peace with Scotland was concluded in July, 1499, further secured with the marriage treaty between James IV, the King of Scotland and Margaret Tudor, the daughter of Henry VII (Ridley, 2002, chapter 1).

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Under the favourable conditions resulting in the stability of England, Isabella and Ferdinand II being satisfied, sent the daughter Catherine of Aragon, perfectly trained to be the consort of future ruler, into England. Finally, in October 1501 Arthur married Catherine of Aragon in St. Pauls Cathedral to the plaudits of the crowd, making Henry VII extraordinarily proud of his new daughter-in-law. Unfortunately, the marriage did not last for a long time since on 2 April 1502, only four months after the wedding ceremony, Arthur died of either pneumonia or tuberculosis, leaving both a seventeen- year-old widow and chiefly his parents, Elizabeth and Henry VII, deeply grief-stricken. Having been alarmed by the death of the heir and beloved son, Elizabeth and Henry VII drew even closer to each other and tried again to bring a son into the world. However, the decision had immense consequences for Henry VII since Elizabeth, his adored wife, died on 11 February 1503 shortly after having delivered a child, a girl that did not survive either (Loades, 2014, pp. 21-24). According to Fraser (2002), additionally to having been devastated by family tragedy, Henry had to deal with the political consequences connected to death of Prince Arthur in relation to the Treaty of Medina del Campo. Firstly, to remain the Anglo-Spanish alliance intact and secondly, not to return the part of the dowry already paid by Spain (since it was against the thrifty nature for Henry VII), the King of England eagerly accepted the solution established by Ferdinand II of betrothal between the new Prince of Wales, being young Henry, the second son and only living heir of the throne of England, and Catherine of Aragon. The new treaty on betrothal was eventually signed the following summer, on 23 June 1503, young Henry being only twelve years old (pp. 43-45). Apparently, the projected marriage was confronted with obstruction since, according to the rules of the church, the sibling affinity between Henry and Catherine had been created on the ground of the previous matrimony to Arthur, Henry´s brother, regarding Catherine to be Henry `s actual sister, rather than his sister-in-law. Brothers and sisters were forbidden to marry when being related in the first degree collateral, thus a papal dispensation was required for the purpose of not violating the canon law on affinity (Fraser, 2002, pp. 45-46). The Spanish King demanded a dispensation from the Pope and was finally granted at the end of November 1504 when Julius II issued the exception and thus it was officialy accepted by Rome that "Arthur and Catherine had enjoyed sexual intercourse" (Loades, 2014, pp. 26-27). The Princess Catherine expressed objections to negotiations referring to the dispensation, regarding the subject as a clear Spanish manoeuvre, having been acquainted with the fact that her father was evidently convinced that the marriage had not been consummated,

10 when giving a detailed description of the subject in the letter to his ambassador on 23 August 1503:

It is well known in England that the Princess is still a virgin. But as the English are much disposed to cavil, it has seemed to be more prudent to provide for the case as thought the marriage had been consummated…the dispensation of the Pope must be in perfect keeping with the said clause of the marriage treaty…The right of Succession (that is, of any child born to Catherine and Henry) depends on the undoubted legitimacy of the treaty (in Fraser, 2002, pp. 45-46).

Although the dispensation from the first degree of affinity was finally granted to enable the matrimony between Catherine and Henry, the treaty was not possible to be realized untill 28 June 1506, the date of Henry`s fifteenth birthday (Loades, 2014, p. 27).

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2 The Early Reign of Henry VIII and the Relationship with Catherine

The chapter will describe the early years of the reign of Henry VIII in connection with the position of Catherine of Aragon at the Royal Court and the relationship between the Queen and the King until Anne Boleyn`s debut at the English Court, since the knowledge of the Court atmosphere is vitally important in order to understand the circumstances and environment Anne Boleyn finally entered.

2.1 The Ascension to Throne

Despite all the successes both at home and abroad, Henry VII`s reign was apparently perceived as a treaty of harshness by all social classes towards the end of the governing caused chiefly on the ground of the financial policy, namely imposing heavy taxes. It is generally assumed by historians that it was the death of Elizabeth, Henry`s beautiful and adored wife that undeniably contributed to both a series of critical illnesses and the severity of the character reflecting lately in the reign. Henry VII died at his favourite palace of Richmond on the 21 April 1509, at the age of fifty-two, five years after the death of Elizabeth and twenty-four years after having gained the throne (Ridley, 2002, pp. 28-30; Starkey, 2010, chapter 15). Henry VIII was proclaimed the King of England on the 22 April 1509, aged seventeen years and ten months, amid the scenes of feasting, dancing and rejoicing. The most impressive tribute was paid by the great scholar and lawyer, the author of Utopia Thomas More in Latin poem created for the coronation, celebrating the day of Henry VIII`s ascension to the throne as "the end of our slavery, the fount of our liberty; the end of sadness, the beginning of joy" (as cited in Starkey, 2002, p. 24). Under the pressure from the councillors, one of Henry`s first acts as the King were to marry Catherine of Aragon, being six years his senior and subsequently to order the execution of Empson and Dudley, two main financial advisors of Henry`s father responsible for the heavy taxes imposed on England, that were "thrown to the wolves to win popularity" (Morgan, 1993, p. 273).

2.2 The First Years of the Reign

Both being fired with juvenile idealism and having been raised on the romantic legends

12 of King Arthur, Henry highly appreciated traditional medieval kingship. The gregarious, vigorous and chivalric personality along with firm belief that a great, heroic king should be a great warrior transformed Henry`s reign into an obsessive search for glory, followed by the aspiration to both be a great jouster, enjoying the magnificent court full of tournaments and above all, to conquer France. The vision became a reality in 1513, when the French army was defeated at the Battle of the Spurse by one of the largest and best organized army of England, led by the King in person (Starkey, 2010, chapter 15).

2.3 The Position of Catherine of Aragon

Catherine was the governor of the realm within absence of Henry that was treating the campaign in France between 30 June and 21 October 1513. Although the Queen faced several crisis, she finally proved as a Regent of energy and determination. Nevertheless, her position was made difficult in 1514 by the English belief that they were tricked by Spain since Ferdinand, Catherine`s father, failed to support Henry and used the army to conquer Navarre entirely for himself (Davies and Edwards, 2011). Catherine understood Henry`s anger with Ferdinand, and lately decided to "forget Spain and everything Spanish to gain love of the King of England and of the English" (in Loades, 2014, pp. 43-44).

Speaking of the relationship with the King, the marriage in the first years of matrimony was described as warm and loving, both in public and private the Queen and the King appearing to be a well-matched couple, sharing similar intellectual tastes, educational backgrounds and finally love for finery and hunting. Furthermore, Henry not being trained in the state affairs, Catherine served as a trusted councillor until the rise of Thomas Wolsey in 1512. The Queen was depicted as a tiny woman, with golden-auburn hair of great length and pink-white complexion—both considered important by the contemporary standards of beauty; the personality being characterized as highly intelligent, a serene person of a strong piety, with a gift for friendship, being able to rectify the relationships with aristocratic families Henry VII had either accidentally or deliberately destroyed. The King rewarded the Queen by desire to please her with anxiety described as "ostentatious and occasionally childish" (Loades, 2014, pp. 36-37; Fraser, 2002, p. 69). At the time of the marriage Catherine was not yet at the age of twenty-four, still possessing all the prettiness making easy for innocent Henry to fall in love. Not only did Henry have reasons for admiring his spouse but also it was not difficult for Catherine, supported by

13 the strong belief in God that the King was not "only her lawful but also her destined husband" to requite the affection (Fraser, 2002, pp. 68-69).

2.4 Deficiency of a Male heir

Fraser (2002) introduces the circumstances of sexual intercourse between Henry VIII and Catherine as the convention that used to be typical of the Kings:

When Henry VIII decided to make love to his wife, the curtains of his bed were drawn back, his night-robe (or dressing-gown) was sent for, and he was assisted to put it on, and an escort of pages and Grooms of the Bedchamber was summoned to accompany him with torches down the passage to the Queen`s chamber. In no way was this an inhibiting process: it was manner in which Henry`s ancestors-kings-had behaved, and the way the kings who came after him would behave too (p.74).

Amy Licence, a journalist and historian dealing with queenship, fertility and gender relations in Tudor Era, completes that the elaborate procession was followed by the ritual of disrobing and regards the visual display to provide "a foil for the occasions when Henry desired privacy" (2016, "Not such a Prude after all: The Secrets of Henry VIII`s Love Life"). Since the elemental reason of the conjugal route taken on a regular basis by Henry was "not to gratify lusts but to procreate children" (Fraser, 2002, p.76), ideally a son, it was not surprisingly that Catherine did conceive the first child in a short time after the wedding in June 1509, considered to be an excellent omen demonstrating the fertility of the Royal Couple. On 31 January 1510, a stillborn girl was delivered at seven months of Catherine`s pregnancy. Nevertheless, the couple did not succumb to disillusion and several weeks later, the Queen was pregnant again and on 1 January 1511 a son named Henry was born making England exulted for rejoicing. In order to both praise the birth of an heir and manifest the loving accord between Henry and Catherine, the elaborate tournament was staged at Westminster, celebrating the great event appearing to ensure the Tudor succession to the thrown of England. Solely over seven weeks later, the King and Queen were grief-stricken since the young Prince Henry Tudor died in the majestic nursery at Richmond. As a consequence, Catherine turned to prayer; on the contrary, Henry being younger and occupied with the onset of war, thus he was distracted from domestic tragedy and recovered from the loss of the son more quickly than Catherine, being deeply stricken with sorrow for a long time (Loades, 2014, pp. 38-39; Fraser, 2002, pp. 75-77). 14

The only surviving child, Princess of Wales

In the years 1513 and 1514 the stillborn children, a male and a female, were delivered by Catherine. The only surviving child was a daughter, Princess Mary, born on 18 February 1516 (Davies & Edwards, 2011, "Katherine [1485-1533]"). Two days later, the Princess Mary Tudor was christened by Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, one of her godparents. When congratulating on the event, the Venetian ambassador provided the King with the sincere remark "your serenity would have experienced greater satisfaction had it [the baby] been a son". The reaction of the King followed immediately "Sons will follow, the Queen and I are both young". Concerning young Mary, despite continuous hope for a Prince of Wales, Henry did not regard the birth of daughter as a kind of failure; on the contrary, the report of the birth was viewed as a "promising news, from which important diplomatic consequences might flow" or a "new and useful card to play in the universal game of European matrimonial alliances" in the hands of the King of England (Fraser, pp. 90-91).

Royal extramarital liaisons

After Mary had been born, it was not possible for Catherine to conceive directly, and the relationship between the King and the Queen was not ideal since the King desperately pined for an heir. Meanwhile young and beautiful Elizabeth Blount, called Bessie, became Henry`s mistress. Bessie was characterized by the contemporary courtiers as a great dancer, having a pretty singing voice, excelling in all accessible pastimes. Being accompanied by Bessie "with her high spirits and energies which match the King`s own, was fun" (Fraser, 2002, p. 71). Elizabeth Blount was arranged for playing a role as a Royal mistress since she was keen on participating in the King`s passion―Masques display― the occasion offering a great amount of opportunities to dally with numerous riotously entertaining girls from fairly good families, coming to court with the aim to secure profitable marriage (in Fraser, 2002, p. 71); the ambiance of the scene full of dancing and flirtation is clarified in the study of Amy Licence:

And yet, even under the scrutiny of his courtiers, Henry found the perfect vehicle for flirtation. His love of masques and dancing gave him a degree of licence for intimacy; under the guise of planning entertainments, he might ‘borrow’ maids of honour in order to rehearse elaborate pageants that required dancing, costumes and song. Writers Juan Luis Vives in the 1520s and John Heywood in the 1530s both drew the

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connection between dancing and sex, with the lines of contemporary plays full of bawdy and suggestive lyrics. (2016, "Not such a Prude after All: The Secrets of Henry VIII`s Love Life")

In the study mentioned above (2016), Amy Licence additionally reports that not only Elizabeth Blount was the mistress of the King, but a certain amount of Royal affairs were witnessed, and apparently assisted to be arranged by friends of Henry, namely William Compton and Cardinal Thomas Wolsey.

The Royal Couple being estranged

The Queen was finally pregnant at the age of thirty-three in 1518, and delivered a stillborn child on 18 November. Despite Catherine had dealt with the previous tragedies bravely in the statement that "it was the will of God" (Fraser, 2002, p. 92), Catherine realized the failure in the primary duty of the Queen and her spirit was momentarily undermined. Both her health and vitality were ruined with the numerous pregnancies followed with the strain of repeated stillbirths and spontaneous abortions (Loades, 2014, p. 47). Decaying physical appearance was no exception since her beauty was no longer commented by the ambassadors; on the contrary, Catherine was described as a stout, rather fat little woman; one report depicting the Queen even as the "King`s old deformed wife". By contrast, the King, nearly seven years her junior, was characterized by glamorous, athletic figure (Fraser, 2002, p. 93). The diverse sources refer to the fact that the age gap, disregarded at the time of marriage, began to be mentioned since being increasingly appreciable. Henry was conscious of the physical attractiveness, being characterized formerly as having inherited good looks of his grandfather, Edward IV, and being reported by a Venetian diplomat, having visited the English court, in the written account of 1515 as:

…the handsomest potentate I ever sat eyes on; above the usual height, with an extremely fine calf to his leg, his complexion very fair and bright, with auburn hair combed straight and short, in the French fashion, and a round face so very beautiful, that would become a pretty woman (Borman, 2014, p. 28).

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Thomas More was no less laudatory proclaiming "Among a thousand noble companions, the King stands out of the tallest, and his strength fits his majestic body. There is fiery power in his eyes, beauty in his face, and the colour of twin roses in his cheeks" (Borman, 2014, pp. 28-29). After 1518, gradually giving up hope of conception, the Court turned to scepticism and both the Queen and the King faced the reality: the hopeless deficiency of legitimate male heir. The Court events were loaded with irony for Catherine since dashing Bessie Blount had become pregnant, Henry being the father, shortly before Catherine`s recent sorrowful experience. Nevertheless, with the composure, typical of Catherine, she made no comment on the matter. On the contrary, the Queen attended the festivities arranged to celebrate the birth of a healthy boy at the beginning of June 1519, being given "his father`s Christian name and the traditional surname of a royal bastard which pointed proudly to his parentage: Fitzroy" (Fraser, 2002, pp. 102-103). In February 1519 the Emperor Maximilian died and in summer the same year, Charles V, the nephew of Catherine, was elected as the new Emperor after a protracted campaign, meaning that Spain was a potential valuable ally for England. Despite the propitious foreign affairs, with no further evidence of pregnancy and with Wolsey firmly insinuated into the favour of the King, Catherine became increasingly ignored by Henry. In 1520s the marriage was rather formal, the Queen devoted time to charitable activities, education and patronage of scholars, and was highly praised by Erasmus and Thomas More. As far as the King was concerned, Bessie Blount was replaced by a new mistress Mary Boleyn; the King realizing there is undeniably no prospect for Catherine to conceive and deliver a surviving son, Henry ceased to have sexual relations with the Queen presumably in 1524 (Loades, 2014, pp. 47-48, pp. 54-55; Davies &Edwards, 2011, "Katherine [1485-1533]").

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3 Cardinal Wolsey

The chapter will be devoted to Thomas Wolsey, the man of significant prominence, considered to be an intimate friend and advisor to the King. The aim of the chapter is primarily to emphasize the power and influence he had on the domestic affairs since being firmly entrenched in the favour of Henry VIII and to introduce different points of view as far as the rising power of Wolsey is concerned. Neither domestic nor foreign political events are depicted in greater details but rather solely outlined since it is not the purpose. On the contrary, comprehension of Wolsey`s potency is needed for understanding the reasons of the later fall of the Cardinal.

3.1 Personality and the Raising Power of Cardinal Wolsey

Thomas Wolsey, born to the family of a butcher and innkeeper apparently in 1472 in Ipswich, Suffolk, was regarded the architect of the victories over France in 1513; although he was nominally a royal chaplain, being successful in organizing the French campaign, and gradually retaining the royal favour, he was finally granted the title of Cardinal by the Pope at Henry VIII`s request and thus became a superior authority in state and Church within the year 1515 (Starkey, 2002, p. 37) and was further rumoured that he had aspirations to be the Pope (Borman, 2014, p. 31). Starkey (2002) provides us with a clear description of Wolsey being a courtier-orator of genius, a brilliant administrator, a vigorous amateur lawyer of originality, a decisive diplomat and a "discerning patron of music, scholarship and the visual arts" (p. 44). There is no doubt that Thomas Wolsey, despite the humble origin as far as the family roots of his father are concerned, was a person of a brilliant intellect, educational enthusiasm, and a persuasive speaker.

Wolsey perceived from the points of view of the proponents

George Cavendish, the eye-witnessed biographer of Thomas Wolsey in the work The Life of Cardinal Wolsey points out that Wolsey quickly recognized the King`s proclivity for leisurely pastimes than the affairs of state and described Wolsey as "puttyng the kyng in Comfort that he shall not nede to spare any tyme of his pleasure for any busynes that shold

18 necessary happen in the Councell as long as he beyng there" (as cited in Sybil, 2012, "Wolsey Thomas [1470/71-1530]"). Wolsey used Henry strategically, exploiting the advantageous moments by bringing Henry into and out of the play, as the Church historian of the seventeenth-century John Strype noted: "Wolsey, though he knew how to indulge the King in his pleasures, yet he reminded him sometimes of business too…" (as cited in Borman, 2014, p. 30). In an illuminating passage, Cavendish agrees that Wolsey`s "endevour was oonly to satisfie the kynges mynd knowyng rightwell that it was the very vayn and right Cours to bryng hyme to highe promocion" and he follows in the same manner:

…he (Wolsey) dayly attendyd uppon the kyng in the Court beyng in his especyall grace and favour who had than great sewte made unto hyme as Councellours most comenly have that be in favour … In whome the kyng conceyved suche a lovyng fantzy especyally for that he was most earnest and Redyest among all the Councell to avaunce the kynges oonly wyll and pleasure without any respect to the Case The Kyng therfore perceyved hyme to be a mete Instrument for the accomplysshement of his devysed wyll and pleasure called hyme more nere unto hyme and estemed hyme so highly that his estymacion and favour put all other councellours owt of ther accustumed favour that they ware in byfore… (as cited in Sybil, 2012, "Wolsey Thomas [1470/71-1530]").

As far as Henry was concerned, he was in complete accord with Wolsey`s policy, regarding the English Church "best controlled by a churchman who was a royal servant" and the clergy to accept that "it was better to be obedient to an ecclesiastical rather than a secular tyran", being undeniable that the Church was protected from the worst excesses of secular opinions when Wolsey was in office (Morgan, 1993, p. 276).

Wolsey perceived from the points of view of the opponents

With a rapid promotion, being appointed the title of Cardinal, to be able to meet domestic and public needs, Wolsey was obliged to acquire both trustworthy new servants a magnificent household, including the most impressive palace Hampton Court. Borman (2014) additionally illustrates Wolsey from the point of view of the contemporary courtier:

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Soon he began to use a golden seat, a golden cushion, a golden cloth on his table, and when he went on foot, he had his hat – the symbol of his cardinal`s rank – carried before him by a servant, and raised aloft like a holy idol, and he had it put upon the very altar in the king`s chapel during divine service. Thus Wolsey, with his arrogance and ambition aroused against himself the hatred of the whole country, and by his hostility towards the nobility and the common people, caused them the greatest irritation through his vainglory. He was, indeed, detested by everyone, because he assumed that he could undertake nearly all his offices of state by himself (p. 31-32).

Erasmus of Rotterdam, a Dutch Renaissance humanist, social critic, teacher and theologian, being invited by Henry to spend considerable time at the Royal Court, defined Wolsey as governing "more really than the King himself" and agreed with the opponents of the Cardinal that he was " feared by all and loved by few if any" (Borman, 2014, pp. 31-32). When mentioning the critics, one cannot omit the name of Polydore Vergil, the Italian humanist scholar, the author of Anglica Historia, the work regarded to be the best contemporary history of England by the vast majority of experts on history. Polydore Vergil contended that "Wolsey, with his arrogance and ambition…claimed he could undertake himself almost all public duties" (Borman, 2014, p.30). As a result, the Cardinal was able to secure Henry`s confidence in Wolsey`s negotiations and was further able to assume the autonomy as far as both the Church and secular promotions are concerned. Furthermore, Vergil explained the way Wolsey directly manipulated the royal mind:

Every time he wished to obtain something from Henry, he introduced the matter casually into his conversation; then he brought out some small presents or another, a beautifully fashioned dish, for example, or a jewel or ring or gifts of that sort, and while the King was admiring the gift intently, Wolsey would adroitly bring forward the project on which his mind was fixed (as cited in Starkey, 2002, pp. 44-45).

By appointing Wolsey Lord Chancellor at the end of the year 1515, it was sure that there was no check to the Cardinal`s authority leading in the great anger of the fellow ministers, resenting "the increasing concentration of power in the hands of this butcher`s son" (as cited in Borman, 2014, p.32).

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Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, undeniably, was an ambitious person of great diplomacy and manipulation, the councillor that Henry did completely trust in, presumably the privileged character having the affinity with the King established on the absolute reliance. It is generally thought that the fall of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey was, to a largely extent, caused by the impact Anne Boleyn had on Henry VIII. Regardless the actual reasons leading in the fall of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, it is undeniable that Wolsey was a man of a great royal prominence, playing a significant role in Tudor Era.

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4 Anne Boleyn, Family Background and Education

Although both the date and the year of the birth of Ann Boleyn are widely debated, the year 1501 is generally recognized by historians as a resolution of one long-running dispute. Ann was born in a family of London merchants, probably in Norfolk, at the Boleyn residence at Blickling. Her father Thomas was the eldest son of Sir William Boleyn of Blickling and grandson of Geoffrey Boleyn, having served as an alderman and rising to become the Lord Mayor of London in 1457-8. The Boleyns were in fact not bourgeois, and it was Geoffrey` s mercantile wealth that enabled him both to arrange an advantageous marriage to the daughter of the Lord Hoo and facilitate his son William (the eldest surviving son of that marriage) to establish himself as a leading gentleman of Norfolk. William was knighted in 1483 and he gradually became one of the prominent country gentlemen having gained a position of Justice of the Peace the Monarch relied on in time of crisis. Sir William Boleyn made even more advantageous match with Margaret Butler, one of the two daughters and co-heiress of earl of Ormond coming from the wealthy and noble Anglo-Irish family. Ann´s father Thomas Boleyn continued the tradition of placing himself firmly in the rank of nobility after having married a woman originating from noble family into the third generation when Elizabeth Howard, the daughter of Earl of Surrey, and later the Duke of Norfolk became his wife (Ives, 2005, pp. 3- 5). There is no doubt that Anne was of a noble origin, belonging to the same environment as a majority of Tudor upper class. Furthermore, according to Norton (2011), "…Ann’s ancestry was, for the most part, noble and, with the possible exception of Anne’s first cousin, Catherine Howard, Anne was the most nobly born of Henry’s English wives" (chapter 1).

4.1 Boleyn Children, the Age and the Order

When speaking of Ann`s family, her only siblings to survive to maturity, Mary and George, have to be mentioned since the roles they both played at the court significantly influenced her later life. There is known no date of birth for Mary and only contradictory speculations are introduced as far as the date of birth for George is concerned. The age and even the order of the three siblings have been a matter of dispute for centuries. However, Norton (2011) mentions that Sir Thomas Boleyn himself later complained that his and Elizabeth Howard`s children had been born every year of the couple`s early marriage (chapter 1). When taking Boleyn`s words

22 literally, Mary, Anne, George and at least two other children were born in a quick succession between the years 1499 and 1504 (Ives, 2005, p. 17); supposing Mary to be the eldest daughter since her first marriage was dated on 20 February 1520 and it would have been the standard for the eldest daughter to be married the first; however, the possibility that the younger sister could have married the first cannot be completely excluded (Norton, 2011, chapter 1). To sustain the evidence of Mary`s seniority over Ann, Norton also introduces the letter written by Mary’s grandson, Lord Hunsdon, to Ann`s daughter, the Queen Elizabeth I, claiming the Earldom of Ormond on the ground of having been the descendant of the eldest Boleyn sister Mary. To make his claim eligible to be received the title, he provided the detailed and precise facts of the history of Boleyns:

Sir Thomas Bulen was created Viscount Rocheforde and Erle of Ormonde to him and his heires general, Erle of Wirtshire to him and his heires male, by whose death without issue male the Erldome of Wirtshire was extinguished, but the Erldome of Ormonde he surviving his other children befire that time attained, he in right lefte to his eldest daughter Marye, who had issue Henrye, and Henrye my selfe…Her Majesty is a coheire with me to the said Erledome viz: daughter and heire of Anne youngest daughter of the saide Sir Thomas Bulen late Erle of Ormonde. The saide dignitie of the Erledome of Ormonde together with his lands and mannors and tenements descended to my Grandmother his eldest daughter and sole heire and accordinglie she sued her liverie as by the recorde of the same doth and maie appeare. But admit now as equallitie of desent than is it to be considered whether my Grandmother being the eldest daughter ought not to have the whole dignitie as in the Erldome of Chester (2011, chapter 1).

4.2 Boleyn Sisters in France

Mary spent most of her early years in England and was later, along with her younger sister Anne, sent to accompany Mary Tudor, sister of Henry VIII and expectant wife of the aged King Lois XII, the French king, at the French court. After the King had died only three months after the wedding in 1515, Mary Tudor, newly widowed, rashly returned to England. Nevertheless, both Boleyn sisters did not and remained in France instead (Borman, 2014, pp. 57-58). According to Norton (2011, chapter 3) they were offered the place at the household of the Queen Claude, the daughter of dead French King, the step daughter of Mary Tudor and wife of Francis I that she had married both on her father`s request and the position as Brittany heiress 23 only at the age of fifteen. During the period spent with the French court, Anne developed her interest in literature, poetry and education in general; in actual facts, it was her perfect language knowledge having facilitated to act as an interpreter between Claude and Mary Tudor, apparently proving as the occasion when the Queen Claude and Anne Boleyn came first into a contact. Not only did Anne make an impression at the French court when having found favour with Claude but she also must have made a great impression on Francis` sister, Marguerite dʼAngouleme, the religious reform supporter that is believed by scholars to serve as a source of inspiration for independent thinking for Ann in the next years. Norton even cites one critical writer suggesting that it was first in France that Anne "embraced the heresy of Luther", having been exposed to the reformist ideas at the Court (2011, chapter 3). The Boleyn sisters really impressed the French court; however both in very different ways. While Anne was successful in receiving and adopting educational training and court polish, Mary gained completely different manners as she appears to have acquired a decisive reputation of the court prostitute that was strengthened by Francis I himself, having pronounced Mary to serve as his " 'English mare' and 'hackney', whom he had the pleasure of riding on many occasions" (Borman, 2014, pp. 57-58). Nevertheless, considering the fact that Francis I is generally believed by many to have been a "notorious womaniser", one would hesitate if Mary was either a victim of Francis` unsolicited attention or an initiator of the sexual games having played the role of mistress intentionally. As a result, to avoid further scandals, Thomas Boleyn recalled Mary from France in 1515 while Anne was allowed to stay for a further educational training (Loades, 2012, pp. 46- 47).

Mary Boleyn, the mistress of the King

After having returned in England, Mary joined her father at court and was placed to attend the household of Queen Katherine. Subsequently, on 4 February in 1520, most likely at the age of twenty-one, Mary was married to William Carey, a coming gentleman of the privy chamber. The fact that King Henry VIII was invited as a main guest at the wedding is worth mentioning since apparently two years after the ceremony, in 1522, Mary Carey born Boleyn, became Henry`s mistress (Hughes, 2009, "Marry Stafford"). To explain the reason that the liaison between Henry and Mary took place after, not before her marriage to William, Ives introduces the possibility that "the king had realized that it was safer to risk begetting children whose paternity could be denied than bastards who only emphasized his lack of legitimate 24 heirs" since it was the case of infidelity between Henry and Mary’s precursor Elizabeth Blount having resulted in 1519 in giving birth to Henry Fitzroy, later the duke of Richmond, an only acknowledged bastard of the King (2005, pp. 16-17). It is generally thought that the illegitimate relationship between the King and Ann`s sister Mary did not start until the year 1522 since William Carey was the beneficiary of a sequence of royal grants of lands between the years 1522 and 1525 that is commonly recognized as an acknowledgement of his wife`s status as the royal mistress during the years mentioned above. Not only the royal grants donated to Carey but chiefly the existence of the ship the Mary Boleyn, named after the royal mistress by King himself in 1523 serves as in indication to the acknowledgement of the extramarital relationship (Loades, 2012, pp. 48-51). According to Hughes (2009), there is no exact date known for the end of the liaison; however, the affair is expected to be finished in 1525 presumably by the time Mary had begun to cohabit with William and was subsequently pregnant with son Henry Carey, born on 4 March 1526. Later the supporters from the anti-Boleyn political camp, namely the adherents of Catherine of Aragon, the Queen of England since 1509, spread the rumours about Henry Carey to be the King`s bastard son; on the contrary, a majority of sources strongly refuse Henry`s paternity of both Mary`s children, Henry and the daughter Catherine, born in 1524. While being on maternity leave, Mary commenced to be gradually overshadowed by her sister Anne. Nevertheless, after death of William Carey in 1528 having not recovered from the sweating sickness, King himself ordered Thomas Boleyn to take care of Mary and assigned her the annuity of £100, the exact amount of money she had been used to enjoy formerly by her husband ("Mary Stafford"). Anne became the Queen in the year 1533, and a year later, in 1534 Mary secretly married Sir William Stafford, a Calais garrison member, a young man of a low social status and hardly any fortune; the marriage was revealed only due to her visible pregnancy when returning to the court later in 1534. Not only was Anne furious since Mary had not asked the Queen and the King for permission to marry again as it was prescribed for the sister of the Queen but Anne also suffered from the miscarriage or the stillbirth, immediately having Mary and her husband banished from the court and discontinuing former allowances as a consequence for both the reasons described above. Furthermore, Anne even refused to speak to Mary and persuaded Henry VIII not to cancel the banishment (Borman, 2014, pp. 174-175). As a consequence, Mary wrote a letter to Thomas Cromwell, a master secretary of a great influence in 1530s, begging him to intercede with the royal couple:

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Good master secretary, this shall be my suit to you, that, for the love that well I know you do bear to all my blood …sue for us to the king`s highness, and beseech his highness, which ever was wont to take pity, to have pity on us; and, that it will please his grace of his goodness to speak to the queen`s grace for us; for, so far as I can perceive, her grace is so highly displeased with us both that, without the king be so good lord to us as to withdraw his rigour and sue for us, we are never like to recover her grace`s favour: which is too heavy to bear. And seeking there is no remedy, for God`s sake help us (as cited in Borman, 2014, p. 175).

In addition, in the letter Mary explained and justified the reasons for the marriage reported in Weir (1991) "For well I might have had a greater man of birth, but I assure you I could never had one that loved me so well"; despite the fact Mary longed for recovering the favour of both, her family and the court, she could not resist adding "I had rather beg my bread with him [Stafford] than be the greatest queen christened" (p. 273) There is no retained evidence whether Thomas Cromwell replied the letter; however Mary was never received at the court again and lived a life in obscurity with William Stafford until her death on 30 July 1543. Nevertheless, both her daughter Catherine and son Henry Carey were provided certain advantages by the King Henry VIII: Catherine being appointed a maid of honour to the King`s fourth wife and the later Queen of England, Anne of Cleves in 1539, while Henry being designated a member of the royal household by 1545. They both were even more privileged during the reign of Elizabeth I, having enjoyed the benefits of the court. Furthermore, on the ground of expanses of the Queen Elizabeth, Catherine and Henry Carey were buried in St. Edmund`s Chapel, Westminster Abbey, being provided opulent funerals and lavish monuments (Hoskins, 2007, "Mary Boleyn`s Carey Children"). Having considered King`s absolute disfavour with Boleyn`s blood after the fall of Boleyn`s family in 1536, one would inquire about the reasons leading Henry VIII to provide both Carey children with royal attention and profits of the court followed by extraordinary favour shown by Elizabeth I. To support further evidence of Henry VIII`s paternity to Careys, Hoskins (2007) points out that Catherine was born in 1524, meanwhile the affiliation between Henry and Mary (not in 1530s as it had been believed) and primarily quotes the contemporary statement to the Council of 20th April 1535 made by John Hale, the vicar of Isleworth, executed at Tyburn after having denied the King`s supremacy two weeks later, "Morever, Mr. Skydmore

26 dyd show to me yongge Master Care, saying that he was our suffren Lord the Kynge's son by our suffren Lady the Qwyen's syster, whom the Qwyen`s grace myght not suffer to be yn the Cowrte" ("Mary Boleyn`s Carey Children"). On the contrary, Hughes regards the statement as not proven allegations noting "There is no need to postulate that they [Catherine and Henry] were the children of Henry VIII and Mary Carey" (2007, "Marry Stafford"). Although the majority of historians dealing with Tudor era openly deny Henry VIII`s paternity to Catherine and Henry Carey, the question remains open to dispute since no definite evidence resulting in a clear outcome has been brought. In my opinion, whatever the truth is, at least the King himself was convinced of the paternity, thus showing the extraordinary interest in Carey children-possibly finding their blood more Tudor than Boleyn. The fact they both are buried in Westminster Abbey, the burial site of English and, later British monarchs does support my belief. In the chapter, the brother of Anne, George Boleyn is not focused on since his role and connections to the Court will be depicted later in the thesis.

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5 The Debut at English Court

5.1 First Meeting with the King

As it was mentioned in the previous chapter, Anne was educated at the French Court that was regarded as the considerable Renaissance centre of literary and artistic patronage. Performing as one of the French Queen`s lady, in 1520, Anne accompanied Claude to the Field of Cloth of Gold (Loades, 2012, chapter 4), the vast international meeting, realized in order to increase the bond of alliance between England and France following after the peace treaty of 1514 had been concluded. The summit was executed under the guidance of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, attempting to make the peace "look more glorious than war" (Hutton, 2010, p. 35). The meeting was considered by many to be a "reunion of Boleyn family" (Loades, 2012, chapter 4), since not only Anne but also Mary and Thomas Boleyn, both attending the English side, participated in the meeting of international significance. Although Thomas Boleyn apparently utilized the opportunity to present a young daughter to the King, Anne departed unnoticed (ibid).

5.2 The Reasons for Return from France

Despite the certain objections at the Field of Cloth of Gold, a successive decision to prefer to ally with superstate Holly Roman Empire rather than to join France was made by Henry VIII; the decree resulted in the deterioration of Anglo-French relations to the extent that war between England and France was in prospect in the autumn of the year 1521 (Loades, 2009, p. 114). The failure of the former conferences on the alliances organized by Wolsey is commented in the words of Hutton (2010) "Ultimately, they were bound to fail, because nobody except Wolsey wanted peace: Henry, Charles V, and the two successive French kings, Lois XII and Francis I, were all natural warlords" (p. 63). As a result, all nationals of England were recalled from France and Anne, being no exception, returned home before Christmas 1521 (Plowden, 1979, p. 60). Nevertheless, Loades (2014) concludes that since there were no negotiations for Anne―being at the age of nineteen or twenty― to marry in France and for the purpose that Thomas Boleyn had always intended to recall her, the departure from the household of the Queen Claude was to be inevitable even if there had been no reversal of the international climate (p. 64). Precisely, the recall of Anne was already being linked with the arrangement of matrimonial trade between Thomas Boleyn and Thomas Butler to settle the dispute over 28 inheritance of Earldom of Ormonde in Ireland. The compromise was guided under Earl of Surrey, Thomas Howard (maternal uncle of Anne), having been formerly instructed by the King in order to perform in Boleyn`s favour. The son of Sir Piers Butler, Lord James Butler, was deliberately located as a guest in the household of Wolsey, that stayed momentarily in Calais when he wrote the letter to the King, simultaneously pledging "I shall, at my return to your presence, devise with your Grace how the marriage betwixt him and Sir Thomas Boleyn’s daughter may be brought to pass … for the perfecting of which marriage I shall endeavour myself at my return, with all effect" (Loades, 2009, p. 114). Although an unbiased solution was to be promised by the marriage of Anne and Lord James Butler, the marriage was never concluded on the grounds of the variety of reasons associated with Irish politics. The title of Ormonde was secured to Sir Thomas Boleyn solely in the year 1529 (Fraser, 2002, pp. 149; Loades, 2014, pp. 64-65).

5.3 The Debut of Lady Anne

In February 1522, after the matter of the marriage to Butler had been resolved, Anne joined the household of Catherine, the Queen of England, in order to be granted the post of a maid of honour. Nevertheless Anne had to wait until the year 1526 before she had bestowed the post that had originally been arranged by Thomas Boleyn with no difficulty (Norton, 2011, chapter 4; Plowden, 1979, p. 61). The first recorded appearance at Royal Court was solely several weeks after the arrival at Greenwich, exactly on 1 March 1522 on the occasion of pageant following a great banquet at Court, originally organized to honour the ambassadors of the newly established ally with Charles V (Ives, 2005, p.37). Anne Boleyn was given a prominence to take part in the characteristically Burgundian pageant, the siege of the Château Vert, playing the part of Perseverance, one of the eight females defending the castle Chateau. The eight court ladies involved in the play were dressed in satin gowns and both the masks and bonnets of gold and jewels were worn. The chivalric tradition qualities of the perfect mistress were presented; in other words, the roles of historical appropriateness were assigned to the ladies - Beauty, Honour, Perseverance, Kindness, Constancy, Bounty, Mercy and Pity – with Mary, the sister of the King that led as Beauty, Mary, sister of Anne playing the Kindness and the role of Constancy demonstrated by Jane Parker, the fiancée of George Boleyn, brother of Anne and Mary (Norton, 2011, chapter 4). The depiction of the assault on the Chateau Vert was completed with eight ladies dancing with the masculine counterparts, portraying ideal courtier male virtues―Amoress, 29

Noblessnes, Youth, Attendance, Loyalty, Pleasure, Gentleness and Liberty. Not only Henry VIII`s sister did play a part in the siege, but also the King was involved, playing the role of a leader to protect the castle. At the end of the dance, the masks were removed and the identities of ladies and courtiers were revealed (Ives, 2005, pp. 37-38). The name of the partner of Anne was not recorded and Norton (2011) also hesitates concerning the identity of the King`s counterpart in the final dance. The name Mary, presumably referring to the sister of the King, definitely was on the list; however, the possibility the name was connected to Marry Boleyn, the King`s contemporary mistress, was not excluded (chapter 4).

5.4 Anne`s Appearance and Attractiveness

Since Anne, a daughter of a courtier, was educated abroad and returned home having earned a good reputation (differently from her sister Mary), she appeared to be a highly prospective bride when entered the Royal Court. Additionally, according to Ives (2005), Anne Boleyn "made her debut on an occasion which allowed her to show off all she had learned in her years abroad" (p. 39). Presumably, the Court was not considerably impressed by the appearance of Ann but the courtiers were captivated primarily by French manners obtained when the lady was educated abroad. The presumption has been obvious in Lancelot de Carle, a poet, French ambassador and Anne`s contemporary biographer, claiming that Anne "became so graceful, that no one would ever have taken her to be English by her manners, but a native-born Frenchwoman" (in George Wyatt, 1968, p. 423). Lancelot de Carle later developed appreciation of the continental experience at the French Court further in written verses:

To France, which brought her such fortune, Ah! What honour, what a debt She owed to the skill Of those from whom she had learned such accomplishments, Which have since made her queen of her own people. She was happy, but how more happy If she had trodden the way of virtue, And had kept to direction of the way Which her honourable mistress had shown her (in Ives, 2005, p. 45)

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The style of dressing and elegance was remembered even in the account of Nicolas Sander (1877), the following generation writer and polemicist, renowned as a strong exponent of the "monster myth" associated to the appearance and personality of Ann Boleyn. Despite being an opponent, Sander admitted that Ann "was the model and the mirror of those who were at court, for she was always well dressed, and every day made some change in the fashion of her garments" (p. 25). Her elegant long neck was considered to be an appearance aspect of a great importance when Anne entered the Court, further described as contributing to her grace and charm, especially noticeable when she danced (Fraser, 2002, p. 152). On the contrary, various sources concur Ann was not a great beauty but rather excellently skilled as far as a gracious dance and great singing voice are concerned. Furthermore, all Europe was avidly concerned about the person of lady Boleyn (Fraser, 2002, p. 150) when the Venetian ambassador simultaneously described her as "not one of the handsomest women in the world; she is of middling stature, swarthy complexion, long neck, wide mouth, a bosom not much raised…" (in Ives, 2005, p. 50). The opinion was further supported when the certain chaplain had been asked to compare the appearance of Bessie Blount to Anne Boleyn; the cleric subsequently provided the opinion that Bessie was considerably beautiful and Ann "only moderately pretty" (in Fraser, 2002, p. 150). Nevertheless, Loades (2012, chapter 4) points out that the judgement of Anne`s appearance cannot be regarded as objective. The reason is evident: Anne`s appearance, since she was depicted as dark woman with dark hair, black eyes and with rather flat bosom, did not respond to the ideal of Henry VIII`s Tudor Era, representing fair hair, blue eyes and full-breasts as a standard, preferably personified in the appearance of the King`s sister Mary Tudor (Fraser, 2002, p. 150). There is a disagreement between diverse sources assessing Anne`s prettiness dependently on either the contemporary criteria of beauty or manners and charm Anne had received in the formative years at the French Court. On the contrary, the absolute concord among the authors is evident as far as Anne`s sexual attractiveness is concerned, being a beauty or not. According to Fraser, the elements of the attraction were set in the kind of sexual fascination, exercised "over most men who met her [Anne]; whether it aroused desire or hostility, the fascination was there" (2002, p.150). The very black eyes played a great part of Anne`s attraction and sexuality. De Carles expressed that "…eyes always most attractive which she knew well how to use with effect…sending a message to carry the secret witness of the heart…power that many surrendered to their obedience" (in Denny, 2007, p. 20). Ives considers

31 the attraction of Anne to be established solely on sexuality; however, the historian emphasises that sophistication, elegance, continental polish and independence were the actual attributes making Anne excel and remarkable (2005, p. 45). Solely the copied versions of portraits or portraits not originated within Anne`s lifetime have survived. The suggestion that the actual contemporary portrait depicting Anne, the later Queen, must have mysteriously disappeared is authorized on the ground of the fact that the drawing of Anne hopefully created by the genius artist and portraitist of the Royal Court Hans Holbein remains highly unconvincing, thus not regarded to be an original masterpiece of Holbein, great artist that dominated the Era of Henry VIII (Danny, 2007, p. 18). Nevertheless, with or without an original portrait of Anne Boleyn, possibly reflecting her actual appearance— the idea lady Boleyn completely captivated the Royal Court with her education, wit, spirit, independence, dressing style, flirtatious conversation, sexuality and French manners, being an apparition at the Royal Court, has been agreed on by diverse amount of sources.

Anne and the "monster legend"

The hostile, even venomous propaganda was led primarily by the Catholic recusant and the professor of canon law Nicolas Sander in the account of Anne Boleyn in the work Rise and Growth of the Anglican Schism, printed in 1585 for the first time (Fraser, 2002, p. 150). Sander (1877) asserts that Ann`s complexion was sallow, "as if troubled with jaundice"; moreover, the following generation polemicist concludes: "She [Anne] 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" (p. 25). George Wyatt later disproved the statement, explaining and presenting the family tradition that conceded solely a negligible vestige of a nail (Loades, 2012, chapter 4) and small birthmarks (Ives, 2005, p. 40) instead of wens or warts being described in order to contribute to assure of the witchcraft Anne was later accused of. As far as Anne’s personality and mind are concerned, Sander states "…she was full of pride, ambitions, envy, and impurity" (1877, p. 25). When commenting on the propaganda and generally widespread monster legend about Anne, the reader has to realize that the myth has the foundation in the antagonistic account of Nicolas Sander. However, Sander was presumably not Ann`s eyewitness, being at the age of nine when Ann was executed (Fraser, 2002, p. 150). According to sundry suggestions of

32 historians on Tudor Era, the account, thus, presumably resulted from the circumstances of Anne`s later fate rather than from the actual facts of her life.

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6 The Men at Court Captivated with Anne`s Glamour

6.1 The Dangerous Love Affair with Lord Henry Percy

Lord Henry Percy, an heir of the great estates and the title of Earl of Northumberland, attended the Court, having been educated at the household of Cardinal Wolsey between 1522 and 1524 (Loades, 2014, p. 67). Both with no respect for the birth of a great nobility and having a low opinion on young Lord Percy, Wolsey was a "bullying and controlling master" (Borman, 2014, p. 66). The account of George Cavendish (1905), serving as the only source for the romantic relationship between Anne and Percy, presents the inception of secret love. When Percy accompanied Cardinal Wolsey to the Court, young Lord attended the Queen`s chamber in order to enjoy entertainment and dalliance with the maids of the Queen, being utterly fascinated by Anne, the Queen`s maid that returned the same affection (p. 31). At the age of fourteen, Lord Percy had already been betrothed to Lady Mary Talbot, the daughter of the Earl of Shrewsbury, thus the relationship between Percy and Anne, being no kind of legitimate heiress, is recognized by Fraser as "dangerous love affair" (2002, p. 153). Nevertheless, according to Cavendish (1905), the couple intended to marry and a promise of marriage was made. The romance was finally discontinued by Wolsey at the request of the King, being considered to act in compliance with his lustful intentions of having a sexual relationship with Anne. Henry Percy, after a long debate with a furious father, finally succumbed to the press of both Wolsey and Sir Percy and promised to follow the original betrothal and duly married the daughter of an Earl of Shrewsbury (pp. 31-34). The testimony of Cavendish, being Ann`s contemporary and eyewitness, is generally regarded highly valuable. Nevertheless, concerning the lustful motives of the King as being described in Cavendish, the particular account is considered to be wrong, since between the years 1522 and 1525, Henry VIII was completely captivated with Mary Boleyn, being the Royal mistress. Furthermore, the most likely explanation for denying the love affair described above is that the relationship contradicted the Butler-Boleyn marriage concurrently promoted by both the King and Cardinal Wolsey (Fraser, 2002, p. 154). Regardless the purpose, Wolsey strongly ordered Percy to avoid Ann`s company and Ann, feeling deeply offended, openly warned Wolsey that "if it lay ever in her power, she would work the Cardinal so much displeasure" (Cavendish, 1905, p. 35) as a revenge.

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6.2 Brunet Exalted in the Poetry of Thomas Wyatt

What word is that, that changeth not Though it be turn`d and made in twain? It is mine Anna, God it wot, The only causer of my pain Yes, is it loved, what will you more? It is my salve, and eke my sore! (Thomas Waytt in Licence, 2014, part 5)

The relationship, and primarily the nature of affinity between Anne Boleyn and Thomas Wyatt, the first great poet of Tudor Age, attracted the attention of subsequent generations. The evidence of the affair originates both in the poetry of Thomas Wyatt and the biography of Anne by George Wyatt, the grandson of Thomas, living in the Era of the reign of Elizabeth I, Anne`s daughter. Wyatt family lived in Kent and was the neighbour of Boleyn family, attending the same Court circles; thus, the suggestion Anne and Thomas had been old acquaintances appears to be highly presumable. After Anne had returned from France, Thomas was enchanted forthwith and felt in love with the Brunette (the appellation Anne received in the poetry of Thomas Wyatt) regardless the marital status. Although Thomas was married, he was first enthralled by an exotic prettiness of the beauty and successively by Anne`s spirit, mind and cultivated speech (Fraser, 2002, p. 156) and a great amount of verses were devoted to Brunette thereafter. Norton (2011) points out that although Wyatt was deeply in love, Anne gently rejected the poet, still searching for prospective, eligible husband while enjoying endless flirtation, admiration, and close relationship when she was distracted from the Court after the love affair with Percy had proved terminated. Furthermore, Anne, having always been in the spotlight, now idly waited at Hever for the summons to Court and Wyatt served as a perfect companion to fill the gap (chapter 5). The nature of the affinity cannot be assumed; however, according to the historians attempting to demonstrate the sexual relationship, there are certain elements in the poetry indicating Anne and Thomas Wyatt were lovers. On the other hand, the dispute over the poetry being autobiographical or not both in general and in the particular case of Thomas Wyatt still prevails (Ives, 2005, p. 68). 35

6.3 The King and Anne Boleyn

Anne, the subject matter of the King`s attention

Anne was finally provided with the second chance and summoned back to the household of the Queen Catherine of Aragon in late 1525 or early in 1526 (Norton, 2011, chapter 5). Anne arrived at the Royal Court in the atmosphere when Henry VIII presumably finished a liaison with Anne`s sister Mary (Hughes, 2009, "Marry Stafford"), having ceased to have sexual relations with the Queen Catherine already in 1524 (Davies &Edwards, 2011, "Katherine [1485-1533]"). Thus, Henry was without a mistress and with the regard of King`s personality keen on enjoying the pastimes of all kinds, it was no surprise that the King focused the attention to explore the opportunities at the Court, as it was a habitual practise of Henry. Finally, through Thomas Wyatt, Anne became the subject matter of the King`s attention (Norton, 2011, chapter 5). In 1526, Henry VIII was at the age of thirty-five. Despite being middle-aged according to the standards of the time, the King was energetic, handsome, and attractive with an athletic figure. However, differently from having been described in former years, now the King was depicted as confident, passionate, even ruthless when eager to reach all he wanted, convinced of having natural right to assert the power and will, corresponding to the title of the King (Fraser, 2002, pp. 157-158). Anne naturally noticed the attention of the King and returned a mild flirtation, being experienced enough to equally play the sexual games. Henry definitely considered coquetting with Anne to be a course for a prospect of ordinary dalliance he was used to be involved (Plowden, 1997, p. 66). However, the reaction was different. Starkey (2002) introduces two reasons; the first is "Anne herself", since "She was not a nice girl, like Elizabeth Blount; nor a silly slut like her sister" (p. 76) and the second reason arises from the opportune circumstances, concretely a lack of legitimate heir and the King`s desperate desire to have a son (ibid). Notwithstanding, Anne Boleyn strongly rejected the suggestion to replace Bessie Blount and Mary Carrey (Boleyn) and become the Royal mistress (Plowden, 1997, p. 66). On the contrary, with the deterrent example of her sister, Anne kept a certain distance from the King and left for Hever. Not being accustomed to being refused, Henry was actuated by desire, not to say ruling passion for the Lady Boleyn. With a foreign appearance, French manners, sexual magnetism and being unapproachable — Anne was a kind of woman Henry had never met before and the King was gradually driven "into a wild and uncontrollable lust for her" (Norton, 2011, chapter 5). 36

Henry, the royal suitor

Apparently within the year 1526 and certainly in the years 1527 and 1528, the King wrote a sequence of love letters to Anne, momentarily intentionally absent from the Royal Court. The fact all seventeen letters (nine being written in the French language) are written in hand serves as an undeniable evidence of passion and love since the King felt a great aversion to writing letters and was used to dictate both private and public correspondence. Despite dating and textual difficulties, the content assists to clarify both the depth of courtly love Henry felt and the potential response of Anne, possibly estimated solely from the replies of the King, since except for one, no letters from Anne have survived (Norton, 2011, chapter 6). As far as the letters written by the King were concerned, the secret testimony of love between Henry and Anne emerged in Vatican Library in the late seventeenth century and is still found in Rome today (Fraser, 2002, p. 158).

The unique series of seventeen letters serves as a chronicle of the development of the relationship between Anne and Henry. At the outset of the romance, the King aspired to win favour with his mistress, the word frequently mentioned in the letters, however, not necessarily bearing the modern, sexual connotation. Nevertheless, Henry proved as a greedy suitor, beseeching Anne to become the only Royal Mistress (Fraser, 2002, p. 159); the evidence being seen in the first letter written by Henry VIII (as cited in The Love Letters of Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn: With Notes, 1906, p. 3) in hand:

…I put myself into great agony,... having been for above a whole year stricken with the dart of love…beseeching you earnestly to let me know expressly your whole mind as to the love between us two… But if you please to do the office of a true loyal mistress and friend, and to give up yourself body and heart to me, who will be, and have been, your most loyal servant, (if your rigour does not forbid me) I promise you that not only the name shall be given you, but also that I will take you for my only mistress, casting off all others besides you out of my thoughts and affections, and serve you only.

Although Henry manifested his desire to turn a conventional courtly romance into an exceptional, more serious relationship (Ives, 2005, p. 84), according to George Wyatt, Anne strongly replied: "I would rather lose my life than honesty…" (as cited in Weir, 1991, p. 160).

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Norton suggests that Boleyn`s reaction only encouraged King`s interest and desire. Anne rejected to be at the same position Bessie Blount or Mary, her sister used to be. On the contrary, Anne ostentatiously demonstrated her attitude to being a Royal mistress; however, she simultaneously endeavoured to persist in transmitting the signals of flirtation, making Henry utterly confused about mixed feelings. Although the affinity between Anne and Henry appeared to be entirely platonic, a certain degree of physical relationship developed between Anne and the King meanwhile the courtship (2011, chapter 6) that is supported by the content of the fifteenth letter: "…wishing myself (especially an evening) in my sweetheart` s arms, whose pretty dukkys I trust shortly to kiss" (Henry VIII as cited in The Love Letters of Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn: With Notes, 1906, p. 40). Anne evidently provoked the King; however, she knew the borders not to provide Henry with all he pined for. As a result, Henry was without any doubts fascinated, even obsessed with Brunet (Norton, 2011, chapter 6). The King of England was deeply in love; nevertheless, to estimate the depth of Anne`s feelings appears to be difficult. Although the part of contemporary historians supporting Anne Boleyn believe in her deep affection with Henry and do not vacillate on a deep emotion as far as both Anne and the King are concerned, some authors regard the relationship based solely on passion and sexual games with Anne being a winner. E.g. Hilary Mantel (2012), the author of historical novels on Tudor Era Wolf Hall and Bring Up the bodies, being received a high credit for historical value perfectly reflecting reality and atmosphere of the Royal Court despite being a fiction, pronounces openly in the article on Anne Boleyn:

We don` t know exactly when he [Henry VIII] fell in love with Anne Boleyn… The court's erotic life seems knotted, intertwined, almost incestuous…. He valued discretion, deniability. His mistresses, whoever they were, faded back into private life. But the pattern broke with Anne Boleyn…He drew a heart and wrote his initials and hers, carving them into the paper like a moody adolescent… She allowed him to kiss her breasts. Her "pretty duckies", he called them. She had made man a fool ("Anne Boleyn: witch, bitch, temptress, feminist").

On the contrary, according to Norton, lady Boleyn was interested in Henry both as a King and man and the primal sexual attraction finally transformed into a mutual love (2011, chapter 6).

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Although Anne strongly believed in the prospect of marriage, she must have been shocked by the Royal proposal that was finally made by Henry in the spring of 1527. Furthermore, Anne Boleyn insisted on time being left for her to consider the offer. George Wyatt implies that Anne was reluctant to accept the marriage proposal since she was devoted to Queen Catherine (ibid). In addition to the suggestion of George Wyatt, further motives may be open to dispute: whether the procrastination of the subsequent agreement on the wedding was solely a part of the plan or Anne commenced to be conscious of the possible danger resulting from accepting a Henry` s offer. Nevertheless, before May 1527, the King of England was determined to "get rid of his first wife (to whom, it transpired, he had never really been married) and procreate a new family with the aid of a fresh young damsel" (Fraser, 2002, p. 162), referring to the will of God (ibid).

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7 Great Matter

The chapter will focus primarily on events after spring of 1527, generally referred as the King` s Great Matter. The word divorce is occasionally applied to the Great Matter. However, an expression annulment will be used instead of divorce since Henry did not want to divorce in 1527 and onwards — the King demanded a declaration the marriage to Catherine of Aragon had never been valid.

7.1 Circumstances Revealing the Royal Romance

The stories Henry VIII contemplated the divorce as early as 1514 are described in diverse sources. Nevertheless, regarding the fact, Queen Catherine was pregnant at the time — and naturally, the son was expected, the story cannot be taken into serious account (Fraser, 2002, p. 168). The actual date the King considered the divorce was apparently after June of 1525, when Henry Fitzroy, an illegitimate son born in June 1519, was widely recognized as the son of Henry VIII and was provided with the title of the duke of Richmond. (Ives, 2005, p. 83). Apparently, Henry VIII thought of replacing Catherine before 1527; nevertheless, the idea of annulment of the marriage to Queen occurred for the first time. In the spring of the year 1527, Henry was deeply in love, determined to marry Anne Boleyn. Concurrently, the marriage prospects of Princess Marry were actively negotiated by Cardinal Wolsey with the third choice, being finally in favour of Henri Duc d`Orléans, the son of French King (Fraser, 2002, p. 161). In order to honour the French ambassadors, the banquet was held on 5 May 1527 in the Queen`s chamber. The occasion served for Henry as the opportunity to openly demonstrate the relationship to Anne Boleyn since the banquet was the first time Henry "publicly led Anne out as his partner" (Norton, 2011, chapter 6). Fraser describes the circumstances of revealing the relationship to Anne further: Henry VIII was no longer engaged in a solution to the throne succession on the ground of the matrimony of his daughter Mary. Furthermore, according to Henry`s subsequent account, the French ambassador the Bishop of Tarbes questioned the legitimacy of the Princess, dealing with the hesitation over the validity of the marriage of Royal Couple. Pronouncing the doubts without royal encouragement was a gross insult. Nevertheless, the reality was the French ambassador, being supposed to fashion an alliance, pronounced the doubts having been strongly provided with the support of King. According to additional account, despite threatening the position of own Princess, the first doubts were, furthermore, voiced from English embassy.

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However, in May 1527 the secrecy of love affair between Anne and Henry VIII was revealed — finally by the choice of the King (2002, p. 161). Nevertheless, although the close surrounding of King Henry had an idea of Anne Boleyn`s existence, hardly any person at Royal Court anticipated her role as far as the Great Matter was considered, with both, Thomas Wolsey and Queen Catherine being no exceptions.

7.2 Struggle over Annulment

The first tribunal, the church council at Westminster

Ives introduces April of 1527 to be the first time the King consulted the annulment of marriage; nevertheless, the exact moment Henry VIII commenced to consider validity of the marriage to Catherine can solely be estimated. On the contrary, the actual reason for King was apparent: with a desire to divest of Catherine being out of a fertile age, young Anne Boleyn was a great solution for both sexual and matrimonial frustrations Henry had experienced (2005, p. 90) . Nevertheless, the real intention of the King of England was successfully hidden under the pretext of Henry`s guilty conscience. Norton (2011, chapter 7) regards 18 May 1527 the date of very first actions that should have led to the Royal Couple marriage annulment. On the contrary, the date 17 May is introduced by Borman (2014, p. 69). Despite the dating differences, the authors agree on the event: the church council at Westminster summoned by Thomas Wolsey in order to focus on the validity of marriage between Henry and Catherine. Thomas Wolsey was not convinced of the rightness of Henry`s decision when being instructed in King`s privy chamber to originate the proceedings to the annulment. Furthermore, Cardinal endeavoured to persuade Henry to reconsider, begging on his knees for more than an hour. Although Wolsey was aware of his master`s obsession with lady Boleyn, Cardinal apparently underestimated Henry`s infatuation to Anne since he made a remark of hope to find a suitable princess being able to replace current Queen; nevertheless, King of England remained adamant. Wolsey, having known his master the best, apparently judged the affinity between Anne and Henry to be transitory and nothing serious. On the contrary, Cardinal was also well aware of possible consequences in case of disobeying King`s commands. As a result, a secret tribunal without Queen`s presence was held (ibid). Pronouncing the sentence of annulment was deemed granted by both, Anne and King, believing to marry in the course of months (Norton, 2011, chapter 7). The pivotal premise used

41 in the trial was established on the ground of Leviticus "If a man shall take his brother`s wife, it is an unclean thing… they shall be childless" (in Borman, 2014, p. 69). According to Henry, the sequence of miscarriages and stillbirths Catherine had suffered, served as a punishment for not following the Bible but breaking the law of God instead. As far as the birth of Princess Marry was concerned, the daughter was beside the point since the lack of sons was tantamount to be childless for the King (Norton, 2011, chapter 7). Furthermore, the Hebraist translator of Leviticus Robert Wakefield claimed conveniently for Henry the original version in Hebrew did not state: "they shall be without children" but "they shall be without sons" (in Loades, 2014, p. 73). Henry VIII was thus strongly committed to conviction the lack of sons was the punishment for Royal Couple since the law of God had been broken. Consequently, the opinion the predecessor of current Pope was powerless to grant the dispensation in 1504 was expressed (ibid). The proceeding was intended to remain secret from very commencement to end before pronouncing the sentence of the annulment in order to prevent Queen Catherine from appealing to the Emperor Charles V, being both, a powerful European sovereign and Catherine`s nephew. Nevertheless, the tactics of keeping the tribunal in secret proved unsuccessful and Catherine and Imperial ambassador ascertained true about the trial within hours. As a consequence, Charles V was pleaded by Catherine to alert Pope with a request to prevent Wolsey from pronouncing the annulment of Royal Couple marriage (Norton, 2011, chapter 7). Between 17 and 31 May, a number of sessions were held; however, on 1 June the news from Rome reached the Court and Wolsey was forced to abandon the trial (Loades, 2014, 76).

Subsequent strategy to achieve the goal of annulment

As far as the presence of Anne Boleyn was concerned, as the hearing had progressed before it was terminated, Lady Boleyn was kept in the background, unable to be an attendant of the proceeding, waiting anxiously for the result that did not ultimately fill expectations Anne had deemed for granted. Although Anne and Henry were presumably disappointed by the result of the secret tribunal, realizing a need for seeking the annulment directly from Pope Clement VII, they both still did not anticipate obstacles in achieving the goal (Norton, 2011, chapter 7). However, the same month the secret trial was held in England, Rome was sacked by the mutinous troops of Charles V and Pope was ultimately a prisoner of the Holy Roman Emperor. The circumstances of European political situation solely made the solution of annulment for the King of England even more complicated since being a timid person, desperately feared of 42

Charles V, the Pope`s capacity for action was limited (Borman, 2014, p. 70). The annulment from Pope was thus unfeasible for all—religious, law and political reasons. With a regard to the current situation of the beleaguered Pope, a certain solution had been taken into consideration: Wolsey, being a Papal legate, had a power to lead the tribunal; thus, to convince the whole body of Bishops of England to the result the royal marriage was invalid was a tactics Wolsey chose in order to attempt to reach the goal without Pope. The strategy, however, also proved mistaken since John Fisher Bishop of Rochester, learned and highly respected, strongly insisted on the validity of the marriage (Fraser, 2002, p. 171). Apparently, not only European but also internal situation was nothing but unfavourable as far as the annulment was concerned. When the English Royal Court was reached with the news of imprisonment of the Pope, Wolsey was immediately dispatched in order to make an alliance with France (Norton, 2011, chapter 7). According to Fraser, for the time being, Queen Catherine and even Wolsey were presumably under an incorrect impression a French Princess Madam Renée was in prospect to replace Catherine at English throne. Although having been acquainted with the King`s desire to remarry, the date 22 June 1527 is generally considered as the first time the Queen was communicated by Henry in person (2002, p. 172). Martin Hume and Garrett Mattingly describe and explain the circumstances of an interview informing the Queen of the King`s believe of having lived together in sin for nearly twenty years in details:

He [King] chose to accost Catherine "in her closet"; one imagines that he must have dreaded such an interview, and perhaps hoped that the cosy domestic settings would somehow palliate the blow. If so, he was so disappointed. He explained …they were living in sin…than the Queen became overwhelmed with "great grief" and burst into floods of tears (ibid).

The original intention of the King to confront Catherine is solely to be estimated. Presumably, Henry endeavoured to persuade his current spouse to withdraw from the royal court voluntarily, having expected the Queen to be compliant. However, the action proved an additional mistaken step, since Catherine, despite her quiet, submissive personality was now convinced not to yield. On the contrary, being officially informed, she immediately notified Charles V of the situation and asked for aid. In spite of the fact that the Emperor barely knew Catherine, Charles regarded the treatment his aunt had experienced as a direct attack against

43 family and was thus decided to use the power of Emperor in order to protect honesty of the Spanish lineage (Norton, 2011, chapter 7). In order to protect public revealing of King`s real intentions, i.e. to marry fertile, loved Anne not to risk fail with achieving the declaration of the annulment on the ground of Leviticus—lady Boleyn still remained shadowed, patient, dependant solely on the letters and the picture of Henry set in bracelet sent by the King instead of his presence (Fraser, 2002, p. 174). Anne well realized that bringing the purpose to marry Henry to effect needs enough time and thus no premature action was favoured (Loades, 2014, p. 79). As far as intentions of Thomas Wolsey in France were concerned, Cardinal endeavoured to gain a kind of new European balance, rudely disrupted by recent events in sacked Holy City. (Fraser, 2002, p. 174). Wolsey wanted to gain an alliance with France against Spain and attempted to ascertain the possibility of French bride for Henry. By the time being, despite having undoubtedly known of Anne Boleyn`s existence, Wolsey was still not acquainted with the real purpose of annulment, being highly on his agenda. The following step in France was to influence cardinals not present in San Angelo with the imprisoned Pope to call a congregation in Avignon with the apparent goal: to invest Wolsey with a power to circumvent Papal authority and establish an interim Church government. Nevertheless, the cardinals denied leaving Italy and Wolsey was forced to contemplate a new strategy to deal with (Loades, 2012, chapter 4; Norton, 2011, chapter 7). Within Wolsey`s absence, own emissary Sir William Knight was despatched and secretly instructed by the King to attend Rome and inquire into dispensation from the first degree of affinity. Obtaining dispensation was mandatory to avoid potential obstacles concerning preceding affair with Mary Boleyn, Anne`s sister. December 1527 was the month the dispensation was ultimately granted; nevertheless, concurrently, the declaration was useless since the first marriage had not been annul (Fraser, 2002, pp. 174-175).

Papal Legate commission

In December 1527 Clement VII was first successful to escape to Orvieto. Since the Pope was indignant at the treatment he had recently suffered, Henry had a great opportunity to win Clement` s favour; nevertheless, not only did the King not use the potential of the current situation, but he also missed the last opportunity to achieve the aim. Furthermore, after repeated failures to defeat the Emperor concerning French army, Pope commenced reassessing advantages and disadvantages of own position within European powers in the course of the 44 following term. Charles, potentially having the military control over north of Italy, was hardly a power to provoke without a consequence. Although English missions, occurring on a regular basis, were deliberately postponed with no verdict, in the summer of 1528 a Decretal Commission was permitted to be heard in London in favour of Henry. The Legate Cardinal Lorenzo Campeggio was sent by Pope to hear the case (Loades, 2012, chapter 4). As far as the relationship between Anne and Wolsey was concerned, the relation appeared to be positively cordial owing to hope offered by Cardinal, being successful in obtaining the special commission. Thomas Wolsey even sent a letter to Anne in order to congratulate on the sweating sickness recovery. The illness struck Londoners in the early part of June. Not only was it a disaster for the citizens, primarily coming from the upper class—but it also temporarily disrupted the romance between King and Anne, since Henry was persuaded by Wolsey not to risk an infection and Henry thus left London until the early part of August, time the danger was not in prospect (Loades, 2014, pp. 80-81). Anne Boleyn, having been present occasionally at Court in summer 1528, was instructed by Henry to leave for Hever in September 1528, since the prospect of Campeggio` s arrival was imminent. Subsequently, Anne stayed with her mother and Henry ostentatiously continued to live with the Queen (Ives, 2005, p. 97). If Anne and Henry were pleased Campeggio had been chosen as a Papal Legate, they both were disappointed, since Cardinal Campeggio came under secret instruction in order to prevent from the annulment despite any kind of circumstances. In other words, the Commission was actually designed to thwart King`s expectations, to cheat Henry within his own plan. Although Anne, in case of being present at Court, was given lodgings closed and primarily easily accessed for Henry, it was Catherine that publicly presided the Court. Meanwhile the rumours of real purpose to hear the case commenced to be spread; nevertheless, the name of Anne Boleyn was not mentioned. However, Catherine was provided with an increasing both aristocratic and public support. On the contrary, considering the King established the question over annulment on the ground of troubles with conscience concerning living in sin (Loades, 2012, chapter 4), it was not a surprise he mendaciously pronounced in front of the crowd of courtiers, counsellors and leading citizens of London on Catherine in November 1528:

I assure you all, that beside her noble parentage of which she is descended, she is a woman of most gentleness, of most humility and buxomness, yea and of all good qualities appertaining to nobility, she is without comparison, as I this twenty years

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almost have had true experiment, so that If I were to marry again, if the marriage might be good, I would surely choose her above all other women (in Ives, 2005, p. 97).

Henry further commented on his perplexed conscience:"… for this only cause, … I have sent for this Legate [Campeggio] as a man indifferent only to know the truth and to settle my conscience" (in Loades, 2012, chapter 4). Nevertheless, the response of the crowd was contradictory to expectations King originally believed in since an opinion of the multitude was rather split (ibid). Henry promptly became extremely irritated, shouting to the crowd in order to demonstrate the position of a master over the subjects daring to criticize the sovereign: "There was no head so fine" the King warned, "that he would not make it fly" (Claremont in Fraser, 2002, p.191). Henry commenced being in an unstable, furiously impatient mood, apparently losing hope in a quick resolution of the matter. After Henry had vacillated on the successful solution, he presumably endeavoured to beseech Anne repeatedly to become his mistress. To the contrary, Lady Boleyn replied with strong conviction her opinion concerning becoming a royal mistress remained unchangeable. Furthermore, a pressure was exerted on Henry and King was directly told to continue the business of securing an annulment instead. Not only did Anne persuade the King to persist, but she also insisted on her presence at Royal Court and ultimately returned by December 9. The Court was moved to Greenwich for Christmas celebration. Since Anne was provided with a grand accommodation even in the palace, Queen Catherine was currently assured she had utterly lost all influence over Henry to a younger, fertile and highly attractive lady and thus, with all the comfort from the sympathy and support received from the people of England, Catherine decided to fight as an equal rival within the curious love triangle (Loades, 2014, pp. 82-83). According to Warnicke, although Catherine was certainly grief-stricken with the loss of a relationship with a man she had loved, Queen, being deeply religious, was more interested in the integrity of honesty, reputation, and the lineage future instead of restoring a spousal relationship. Regardless the question of honour and religious conviction, Catherine primarily focused on the legitimacy of the twelve-years-old daughter Mary. Had the Queen agreed to the suggestion of annulment, not only having lived in a sin for more than twenty years would have been admitted, but also the legal status and inheritance would have been imperilled. Nevertheless, Catherine was determined to "fight to her last breath to save her child from that disgrace" (1998, p. 84).

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The second trial concerning the Great Matter was in prospect early in 1529 with Campeggio as a key person as far as the final verdict was concerned (Loades, 2014, p. 84). After having ultimately recovered from the sickness of gout, the Papal Legate rapidly endeavoured to follow the secret instructions, i.e. either to persuade Queen Catherine in order to accept the annulment or to discourage the King from the struggle over the matter. Nevertheless, Campeggio realized in a short time that the King of England was not pliable to any rational argument, thus no kind of development in both Charles V and Pope`s favour was possible. Consequently, Lorenzo Campeggio focused his concentration on Catherine. Since the Legate was aware of the potential political danger established on the ground of Henry`s intransigence, Campeggio brought an intelligible and plausible solution offering legitimacy of the royal daughter Mary intact: to influence Catherine in order to enter religion and become a nun, since in case either spouse entered religion, the union was subsequently dissolved without a dispute. Henry was greatly appealed to the suggestion; however, intemperate violence was used by the King when insisting importunately on Queen` s acceptation. As a consequence, although the solution did neither attack her honour, nor defend Mary`s rights to succession, Queen Catherine adamantly refused (Loades, 2014, pp. 85-86; Norton, 2011, chapter 7). Campeggio had endeavoured to delay the second trial; nevertheless, under circumstances mentioned above, he was forced to commence the proceedings on 31 May 1529. Within the trial, both Catherine and Henry were summoned to be involved at Blackfriars on Friday 18 June 1529. On 21 June in the parliament chamber at Blackfriars, the Queen confronted the King with the most famous speech in her life, kneeling at his feet (Ives, 2005, p.96; Norton, 2011, chapter 7):

Sir, I beseech you for all the love that hath been between us, and for the love of God, let me have justice and right. …This 20 years or more I have been your true wife and by me ye have had divers children, although it hath pleased God to call them from this world, which hath been no default in me. And when ye had me at first, I take God to my judge; I was a true maid, without touch of man (in Denny, 2006, p. 140).

Since Henry continued to sit mortified in an embarrassed silence, Catherine stood up and abandoned the hall. When being ordered by King to return, Queen strictly refused the command: "It makes no matter, for it is no impartial court for me, therefore I will not tarry" (Norton, 2011, chapter 7). In July 1529 Henry insisted on pronouncing the verdict of the trial

47 led without a presence of Catherine, as she was constantly absent and firmly decided not to return to the Court. Nevertheless, under the pressure from the Emperor Charles V, the case was revoked from Campeggio to hands of the Pope in Rome (Plowden, 1979, p. 79). The prospect of hearing the case in Rome instead of England definitely ceased Henry`s hope in a near successful resolution.

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8 Anne Boleyn, the Rising Star at the Court

8.1 The Fall of Wolsey

The failure at Blackfriars was equal to a total debacle for Thomas Wolsey since the Cardinal was believed to be the convenient person able to achieve the goal of annulment. Subsequently, Wolsey was inevitably assigned the blame for the fiasco and was thus naturally the first person to experience wreath of either Henry or Anne, having been originally prepared for cooperating with the Cardinal since she had hoped in Wolsey to secure the annulment. On the contrary, the failure of the final attempt provided Anne Boleyn with a great opportunity to dispose of the first minister (Norton, 2011, chapter 8). A great amount of stories surrounding the fall of Wolsey exists; nevertheless, in fact, the idea the royal anger was successfully appeased after a number of intimate conversations with the King in September 1529 was expressed by the Court observers (Loades, 2014, p. 91). Furthermore, Henry was universally accompanied by Anne Boleyn, a lady that calculatedly indulged a taste in dress and fashion and enjoyed all the attention attained from the King. In summary, Anne successfully exercised all her influence over King in order to debilitate the power of Wolsey (Plowden, 1979, p. 79). According to George Cavendish, it was Lady Boleyn responsible for the decisive subsequent events, having never forgiven Wolsey to cease love with Lord Percy (Fraser, 2002, p.203). To the contrary, Loades points out that although the fall of Wolsey was interpreted as a victory for Anne and her supporters, the decision of the King to dismiss Cardinal as Lord Chancellor in October was not established solely on the charm and female wiles of Anne Boleyn (2014, p. 91), since the fiasco of the Legatine Court was not a sole failure Wolsey was confronted. Preoccupied with the Great Matter, Cardinal had additionally missed Franco- Imperial peace negotiations. As a result, England was not represented at the conference table at Cambria in August 1529. Wolsey ultimately realized the mistake, and a hastily despatched delegation signed the Ladies Peace on 5 August in time; however, the interests of England were practically ignored since no input in content was made on the ground of the motion of England`s side (Loades, 2012, chapter 5). In fact, Wolsey was not allowed to enter Cambria, since Henry commanded the Cardinal in order to deal with the Great Matter instead. Concerning foreign Franco-Imperial policy, Wolsey`s original purpose was to offer French military a greater support in order to exert the pressure on the Emperor and subsequently on the Pope. Wolsey believed that the diplomatic backing had been guaranteed by the ongoing war. By contrast,

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Rochford and Gardiner were successful in persuading Henry that in order to further the annulment of the marriage with Catherine, maximum concessions to France were necessary to be made, and advice of Wolsey was rejected (Sybil, 2012, "Wolsey Thomas [1470/71-1530]"). In summary, Thomas Wolsey failed in further crucial points, Anne was hardly able to affect. Nevertheless, the new situation at Court was commented by the French ambassador: "at the head of all, Mademoiselle Anne" (in Fraser, 2002, p. 203). In September, before the final dismissal, Wolsey naturally endeavoured hard in order to be reconciled with the King. On 19 September, the Cardinal arrived at Northamptonshire, Grafton, for the Legate Campeggio to take the formal leave. According to George Cavendish, the visit commenced in humiliation; however, continued in an awkward manner with Lady Boleyn endeavouring to do her utmost in order to obstruct the reconciliation between the King and the Cardinal (Sybil, 2012, "Wolsey Thomas [1470/71-1530]"). Furthermore, Fraser describes the King`s treating Wolsey in greater details: the King, being on the horseback in the courtyard of Grafton, made a motion towards Wolsey in order to replace a cap— a marked symbol of favour. "the King clattered away; and never saw Wolsey again" (in Fraser, 2002, p. 203). Anne Boleyn was not responsible for the failures of Thomas Wolsey, however, Lady Boleyn apparently had a great impact on Henry as far as the treatment with the Cardinal was concerned. In political terms, the Cardinal faced more powerful enemies: Anne`s uncle, the Duke of Norfolk-Thomas 3rd, and the Duke of Suffolk, Henry`s brother-in-law. Although not in a mutual alliance, both Dukes were persistently hostile to Wolsey, prepared to benefit from Anne`s influence upon Henry and support the conviction that the Cardinal had betrayed Henry, since the plot over annulment had failed. In case the King was not certain enough of the betrayal, after having been continuously promoted with the intentional opinions of both Dukes— Henry, being under the constant pressure, was ultimately convinced of the treachery (ibid). Combination of all, unsuccessful attempts to make the King`s marriage invalid, the pressure exerted on Henry by Anne and her supporters, jointly with the simultaneous failure concerning the foreign policy, made the position of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey indefensible. As a result, on the 9th October, the Cardinal was accused of praemunire in the King's settle, i.e. exercising powers of Papal Legate in the realm of the King and on 19th October was consequently dismissed as the Lord Chancellor on the ground of the demands of the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk in Star Chamber. Wolsey was replaced in the position of the Lord Chancellor by Sir Thomas More (Sybil, 2012, "Wolsey Thomas [1470/71-1530]").

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Certain authors introduce the date 16th October as a date of the dismissal; nevertheless, despite the dating difficulties, a fact that Wolsey was denied all the benefices is reported generally. Nevertheless, Wolsey was allowed to retire to the borrowed house at Esher instead of being imprisoned. With no political force, no service and without a property, he still endeavoured to regain the lost authority. However, Wolsey`s enemies were determined to prevent his revival: Norfolk, Suffolk, and Rochford were not quite certain about the impossibility of resurgence of Wolsey at the end of 1529 having presumably reflected the judgement of Mendoza, the imperial ambassador from 1527: "Wolsey was too able and powerful to be suffered to live in retirement or even in disgrace" (ibid). Having suffered all the losses, Lady Boleyn was a sole person to be blamed by Wolsey. The role Anne played as far as his fall was concerned was fully recognized; furthermore, the Lady was provided with a pejorative nickname The night-crow, used by the Papal Legate within a conversation with William Cavendish:

By my submission, the King, I doubt not, had a great remorse of conscience, wherein he would rather pity me than malign me. And also there was a continual serpentine enemy about the king who would, I am well assured, If I had been found stiff-necked, have called continually upon the king in his ear (I mean the night-crow) with such a vehemence that I should with the help of her assistance have obtained sooner the king`s indignation than his lawful favour (as cited in Norton, 2011, chapter 8).

Innes (2004) observes that not only the apparent enemies but also Wolsey`s successor Thomas More, despite his character, publicly insulted the preceding Royal Servant. Nevertheless, Wolsey, being ill, poor, and without political force, denied to surrender and, in order to exercise restoration of the power, a risky rapprochement was settled between Wolsey and the Queen Catherine, being still out of the Court. Furthermore, the hasty attempts to open a secret communication with Francis I followed at the beginning of the year 1530. However, to the contrary of Wolsey`s hope, the Duke of Norfolk was acquainted with the secret correspondence. In comparison with Wolsey, Norfolk was regarded as simpler and less antagonistic diplomatic by Francis, thus the King of France had no purpose to support reinstalling of the Cardinal. Consequently, with no warning, Wolsey was arrested and accused of high treason (pp. 208-209; Loades, 2014, p.94)).

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Thomas Wolsey commenced his final journey to London for trial; however, the Papal Legate died on 29th November 1530, only three weeks after having been arrested, stricken with mortal illness (ibid). Although the suggestion exists that Cardinal drank a kind of poison in order to avoid an outrageous death in the form of public execution that was in prospect, Wolsey was likely to die old, ill and broken (Norton, 2011, chapter 8). Nevertheless, a large banquet rejoicing the recent events was held by father of Anne Boleyn. The entertainment depicting the Cardinal "going down to hell" (in Fraser, 2002, p.204), being established on the text the Duke of Norfolk had printed was involved in the festivity (ibid). The death of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey was rejoiced by Anne, since the threat of Wolsey`s return to power passed jointly with his life (Norton, 2011, chapter 8).

8.2 Boleyn Political Camp

In December 1529, Boleyn family was provided with further honours: Sir Thomas, father of Anne, received a title of Earl of Wiltshire and Ormonde, brother George became Viscount Rochford, and ultimately Anne was in prospect to be known as Lady Anne Rochford. Anne presided all the women at the Court, and was treated as a spouse of the King (Plowden, 1979, pp. 79-80). By the beginning of the year 1530, a new post-Wolsey regime was established with Sir Thomas More as Lord Chancellor, the Duke of Norfolk as President of Council and, above all Anne Boleyn. Despite being supported by the people of England, Queen Catherine had no impact on political matters (Loades, 2009, p. 118). The Boleyn faction—the adherents of Lady Boleyn, created presumably the strongest faction in the Privy Chamber and were solid enough to oppose the former minions—convinced conservatives intensively and personally devoted to religious Queen Catherine and the Princess Mary. The Boleyn faction was led by Sir Francis Bryan, a former minion having split with the fellows on the ground of the issue concerning annulment and primarily by George Boleyn. Anne`s brother, being very bosom to the Lady, shared an amount of talents with her. By the time being, with Anne as a rising star in Henry`s eyes, the position of George was apparently untouchable. Among members of the Boleyn faction belonged Cheyney and William Brereton, major representatives in term of the local politics of Kent and Cheshire. Henry Norris, the Groom of the Stool, was a principal figure regarded as a person very close to Henry, being constantly in the King`s favour (Starkey, 2002, pp. 79-80).

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Although the Boleyn ascendancy was evident at the Court, the King`s matrimonial crisis was not enabled to be resolved by the Boleyn family. However, the sole success achieved by Henry`s restless and occasionally directionless diplomacy was a delay of the sentence against him in Rome, being considered by the observers as inevitable. Rising voices of doubts were caused on the ground of both Anne`s increasing unpopularity with the Courtiers and the apparent lack of momentum. Furthermore, a prolonged estrangement from the Emperor contributed to the atmosphere of doubts and even the supporters of Henry commenced contemplating persuading the King to change opinion. The ambiance was further sustained by Eustache Chapuys, a Spanish ambassador having arrived in the autumn of 1529; however, rapidly becoming the most effective opponent of the Boleyn ascendant party (Loades, 2014, pp. 94-95). Meanwhile, the sovereign of England did not surrender concerning achieving the annulment of the marriage with Catherine. Nevertheless, increasingly frustrated Anne proceeded to distract the King from his pointless determination to require the solution in Rome. By contrast, Anne acquainted Henry with the book The obedience of a Christian Man by William Tyndale. Thus, the idea of full autonomy of royal authority was introduced to the King and subsequently, his enthusiasm for the theological opinions of Thomas Cranmer, a great name of the later Reformation, was encouraged (Loades, 2014, p. 95). Consequently, according to Loades (2012), Anne persuaded Henry to examine new initiatives: firstly, the advantages of anti-clerical moods of House of Common were taken and the acts against probate and mortuary fees were passed; secondly, the theological opinions at Universities were canvassed. The later were proceeded with the aid of Thomas Cranmer, having been summoned to the Court in the summer of 1529 in order to note his theological suggestions in the form of treatise that ultimately satisfied King`s expectations. As a result, Thomas Cranmer was received into a team of advisors desperately seeking alternative concerning the annulment in 1530. Subsequently, Cranmer was joint to Nicolas de Burgo and Edward Fox, in order to create a Collectanea satis copiosa, arguing that the title of the King enables to seek the resolution within own realm with the aid of the authority of Archbishop of Canterbury (chapter 5). Collectanea satis copiosa, being a product of Boleyn camp researchers, introduced a variety of theoretical and historical arguments demonstrating that Henry was justified to solve the matrimonial crisis without Pope. The King summoned clerics and lawyers in October 1530, with an approach of a new parliamentary session, in order to propose that the archbishop of

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Canterbury was allowed to decide an annulment suit. The indicated kind of attack had hardly been anticipated from the supporters around the Queen Catherine. Furthermore, her proponents` impregnable position concerning canon law immediately provided no kind of defence at all. Nevertheless, the parliament denied acting according to the Henry`s proposal. As a consequence, the King reacted with anger and managed to postpone the meeting until a new year, continuing in a sharp anti-papal tirade, promising to supress the papal nuncio on the ground of Collectanea arguments. Since the product was still in progress, Thomas Cranmer, jointly with further researchers, maintained to enjoy both Boleyn and Henry`s patronage (Ives, 2005, pp. 136-137; Loades, 2014, p. 95-96). The momentum of anti-papal tirade was violently utilized by both, Anne and her father Thomas since even Chapuy, a Spanish ambassador hardly to be disconcerted, was shocked being driven from the Court of England on the request of the Boleyn family (Ives, 2005, p. 137). By banishing the primary opponent from the Court, additional obstacle for the rising power of the Boleyn political camp was destroyed. Concerning the hostile mood between clergy and the Boleyn party, the turning point ultimately appeared within the first weeks of January being the month the King ordered to assembly the whole body of Convocation in order to coerce the clergy into paying £100,000 in return for complicity and thus confess adopting the King`s authority being superordinate on 19 January 1531 (Starkey, 2010, chapter 15).

8.3 Growing Impact of Lady Boleyn

The solution of ménage à trois

The longer the liaison between Anne and Henry continued, the greater impact the Lady had on the Court was evident and her pride grew jointly with her status. The King was constantly accompanied with Anne: eating, praying, hunting and dancing were activities occurring almost daily in the constant presence of Lady Rochford. The sole thing that was not shared was consummation of their relationship (Borman, 2014, p.123). Anne was full of confidence and courageous, even daring at the onset of the year 1531 and directly declared: "I wish that all Spaniards were at the bottom of the sea…" (as cited in Norton, 2011, chapter 9); furthermore, the Lady continued in the language offensive to Catherine that she "cared not for Queen or any of her family and that she would rather see her hanged than have to confess that she [Catherine] was her Queen and mistress!" (Ives, 2005,

54 p.138). Norton (2011) implies that the kind of utterance pronounced by Anne on Catherine was rather outrageous; however, with the pronouncement Anne`s independent spirit was repeatedly demonstrated (chapter 9). Queen Catherine endeavoured to preserve both the position of the Queen and the wife of the King. With Henry`s will not to interrupt the standard routine of the Court—the King, the Queen and Lady Rochford created a curious love triangle, ménage à trois (ibid). Anne was occasionally jealous to the edge in case of any kind of even an infinitesimal sign of affection between the Royal couple that "anyone would have thought she was the spurned wife and Catherine the cherished mistress" (in Borman, 2014, p.123). To displeasure of Anne, Catherine and Henry in spite of all events, still appeared to be able to have a civilised conversation in the regular time of dinning (Norton, 2011, chapter 9). Nevertheless, having discovered that on the request of Henry, Catherine still mended the shirts of the King, Anne infuriated in a jealous rage (Borman, 2014, p.124). Not only for Catherine but also for Anne did a curious ménage à trois certainly bring a plenty of frustrating situations. In order to solve the love triangle, final attempt was made on 31 May in order to persuade the Queen to surrender the obstinacy; however, Catherine of Aragon reaffirmed the status of a lawful spouse of the King despite a thirty councillors and peers delegation waited at Greenwich in order to plead on behalf of the sovereign and the realm (Loades, 2014, 94). Since Anne was subsequently fully aware that the chance for the Queen to leave the King voluntarily was not in a prospect regardless all cruel behaviour Catherine faced; and jointly being well acquainted with a sexual frustration Henry suffered, the Lady ultimately threatened to abandon the King in case of no forthcoming reversal of the current situation. Consequently, Henry, obsessed with Anne, assured the Lady that the matters leading in the Tudor-Boleyn matrimony were soon to be arranged and thus, the concern the Lady had expressed was temporarily soothed (Borman, 2014, p. 124). Nevertheless, the constant pressure Anne exerted on Henry proved successful: on 11 July 1531 Lady Rochford and Henry Tudor left Windsor in a secret solely with a small company of followers. Anne was exhilarated since the Queen was left behind; by contrast, Catherine felt stunned by the disappearance of the King and after six days of Henry`s absence, the Queen and the King exchanged a couple of correspondences, ceased with the final message sent by the King stating angrily "…that he did not consider himself as her [Catherine] husband" (in Norton, 2011, chapter 9). The message full of wrath was a final utterance towards Catherine, since the Royal couple was never to meet directly in either the mutual conversation or the

55 correspondence. As a consequence, in the summer of 1531 Henry VIII Tudor split with the Queen Catherine of Aragon, ordered to be banished from the Court, forced to face the royal cruelty further (ibid).

Anne and the enemies at Court

Anne, in spite of the fact she was now the Queen in all except the name, alienated the major part of population having forced Henry in order to expel Catherine from the Court. Great sympathy for Catherine was expressed by people of England; to the contrary, Anne was derided as the "Great Whore" (in Borman, 2014, p.124). Not only did Lady Rochford withdraw the affection of the ordinary population but Anne also made enemies at Court: Princess Mary was firm in the loyalty to her mother and although Mary desired to dwell with Catherine, they were kept separated on the command of Henry as a punishment. Although Mary— having been a cherished sole child, beloved by the father before Anne occurred —carefully professed that the devotion to Henry did not change, the princess did not hesitate in case of any opportunity to express openly the hatred towards Anne Boleyn, being nicknamed by Mary as "a concubine" (Borman, 2014, pp. 124-125). Consequently, the attacks were repaid: the Lady endeavoured to eliminate Mary`s meeting with Henry and simultaneously ensured that the spies were present in case the conversation between daughter and father occurred on rare occasions. Anne appeared to hate Mary even more than the Queen, presumably on the sake for the affection Henry still felt for the daughter. Having perceived Mary as an obstinate obstruction in achieving the goal, Anne Boleyn treated the teenaged Princess with a hardly defensible cruel behaviour (Norton, 2011, chapter 9). Beside the enemies from the Catherine`s ranks of supporters, namely Bishop Fisher, having openly defended the Queen of England against Henry`s claims, Anne was additionally confronted by the supporters of the King. The Duke of Suffolk committed the first fault in May 1530 since the King`s brother-in-law had provided the King with the story of the romance between Anne and Thomas Wyatt in order to convince Henry that the Lady was not a woman without past. Additionally, after spring 1531, Suffolk agreed with the household treasurer Fitzwilliam as far as the Great Matter was concerned, on the cooperation "to unseat the King from his folly" (as cited in Ives, 2005, p.140). As a result, a private life of Suffolk was exploited by Anne to present an allegation that the Duke had an incestuous affinity with the fiancée of the own son. The accusation was a double pleasure to Anne, since the girl was the daughter of

56 the Spanish attendant having been invited on the appeal of Queen Catherine (Ives, 2005, p.140- 141). Anne was notorious for disagreements with the Court members. Even the Duke of Norfolk, the uncle of the Lady felt offended after a dispute with Anne, being demonstrated a lack of any kind of respect. Nevertheless, expecting the benefits of keeping an alliance with Anne Boleyn, the Duke remained silent. By contrast and to the displeasure of the husband, the Duchess of Norfolk, the aunt of the Lady, had presumably always disliked the niece and made no secret of continuing a strident support towards Queen Catherine (Norton, 2011, chapter 9). As far as the motives of the Duchess were concerned, Ives describes the purposes in greater details: the dislike of Anne played a significant part; nevertheless, the Duchess had more powerful motive since the aunt of the Lady desired to strike her husband for having blatantly maintained a mistress Elizabeth Holland, one of Anne`s ladies (2005, p. 141). Under no conditions was the disloyalty to the Boleyn family tolerated and the Duchess was banished from the Court at the request of Anne in the spring of 1531(Norton, 2011, chapter 9). Not only the enemies but also both Henry and Thomas Boleyn, her father, occasionally experienced "the sharp end of Anne`s tongue"(ibid), typical of her independent and temper personality.

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9 The Turning Points

9.1 Decisive Steps within the Internal and Foreign Policy

Regardless all the success Anne had reached concerning dismissing Catherine from the presence of Henry, the actual state of the matters was the marital status of the King was still not solved. Furthermore, an ascendancy of Lady Anne was dependant entirely on her sexual magnetism and the willingness of Henry to be attracted and impressed by Anne`s refusal. Lady Rochford was received no kind of legal security and "the next year must have been a radical test of nerve" (Loades, 2009, p.118). Nevertheless, Henry VIII intentioned to terminate the struggle over the Great Matter without a Parliament that did not appear to offer any kind of aid. On the contrary, the King relied on the Commons since Henry felt no difficulties in persuading the Commons members in order to attack the Church. With the absolute submission of clergy, Great Matter was able to be proceeded independently from Rome; however, the appearances of canon law and orthodoxy were still intended to be preserved (Plowden, 1979, pp. 81-82). The religious reform and the King`s supremacy concept was master-minded by Thomas Cromwell, the new councillor having been successful in a quick assessment of the Court politics, thus intentionally aligned in haste with the Boleyn party (Loades, 2009, p. 118). A bill for an Act of Conditional Restraint of Annates was introduced to Parliament in March 1532, being preceded by Supplication against the Ordinaries a few days earlier. The document prompted by Thomas Cromwell was, in fact, a list of complaints against the current Church. Not only Boleyn party with the Lutheran point of view but also humble persons suffering from the frequent obligation to pay ecclesiastical fees and tithes shared the objections. With the reformist tendencies joint with the Boleyns, Thomas Cromwell formed the Supplication in order to be first presented to the Sovereign and solely in case of approval, passed to the clergy. The document suggested that all clerical legislation was to be required a royal assent in future. The radical proposal was at first denied by the Convocation of clergy with the Archbishop of Canterbury, William Warham as a head; however, on 15 May 1532 the Convocation ultimately surrendered under the thread (Fraser, 2002, pp. 223-224), having being terrorized to succumb the freedom from the control of the King (Plowden, 1979, p. 82). As a result, Sir Thomas More resigned as Lord Chancellor afterwards (Borman, 2014, p. 130). Despite achieving the submission of the clergy, the King was not satisfied enough and desired to pursue radical policies further by appointing Thomas Cranmer as the new Archbishop

58 of Canterbury (Fraser, 2002, p. 223). The reason was apparent: Cranmer, differently from an old and frightened Archbishop William Warham, had no difficulties in disobeying the strict ban of Pope to hear any case of the annulment in England (Plowden, 1979, p. 82). Additionally, Thomas Cranmer`s intimate association with the Boleyn family was presumably the actual clue to the unexpected appointment, since the elevation was not possible to be distinguished as warranted on the ground of the short duration of the Cranmer`s career, despite having worked hard on the solution of Great Mater in Europe . The sole obstacle was the current Archbishop of Canterbury; however, the cause was solved in August 1532 since the aged William Warham died and thus, a great opportunity to appoint Cranmer was rapidly presented to the King (Fraser, 2002, p. 224). Subsequently, Lady Anne Rochford was provided with a heritable title of Marquess of Pembroke. The patent letter was read aloud in the chamber of Windsor Castle by Steven Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester on 1 September 1532. Simultaneously, Anne was further furnished with an extra document, now presented by the King, warranting Madam Anne an independent income of one thousand pounds a year. Thus, on Anne`s plea, the future of both, Anne and her potential children, was legally secured on the unprecedented occasion in case of any kind of matter was to be proved as a failure for the very last moment of the bright prospects (Plowden, 1979, pp. 82-83). According to Loades (2009, p. 118), "in one sense this creation was merely a temporary expedient, designed to give her some official status ahead of Henry’s planned meeting with Francis of France in the autumn, but in another sense, it was a recognition of her real status". Although Francis had recently married Eleanor of Austria, the sister of Emperor, the King of England believed in a support of the King of France to counteract the hostility of Charles V and possibly, to intimidate the Pope. The royal visit to France was in prospect and jointly with the appointment of an amenable archbishop, favourable circumstances enabled Henry to publicly present Anne Rochford to the world (Fraser, 2002, p.225). Nevertheless, Madam Anne did not formally encounter Francis of France, since Anne was not officially involved in the Council Board, despite being "far more really a councillor than many who did… She was knowledgeable, opinionated, and a leader of men – not just in the obvious way of a woman, but in a real political sense" (Loades, 2009, pp. 118-119). In fact, Anne did not meet Francis formally solely for the reason mentioned above, but also for the sake of the fact Francis had been pressured by own women in order to avoid personal encountering with an exotic beauty (ibid). Nevertheless, Marquess of Pembroke eventually met with the King of France

59 within an informal visit in Calais, since she assisted in being a good companion in order to entertain Francis (Loades, 2014, p. 101) presumably by reminiscing about the old times spent at French Court. The meeting was an inexperienced success for Anne since the French King`s ultimate approval of a new royal marriage was considered to be a final recognition both Anne and Henry needed in order to proceed to the ultimate conjunction. Consequently, Anne ultimately succumbed to Henry`s long-frustrated passion and the relationship was consummated for the first time presumably within several weeks of waiting for the change of the weather, Anne and Henry being jointly lodged in Calais (Norton, 2011, chapter 9).

9.2 The Commencement of the English Reformation

A large part of Anne`s allure was established on remaining a prudent refusal of Henry`s grasp, thus, to succumb the virginity for the time being was a great risk for the Madam (Borman, 2014, p.150); nevertheless, Anne and Henry commenced to share one bed by the middle of November 1532 (Loades, 2009, p. 119) and the King exceeded all expectations to the disgust of Spanish ambassador noting "the King cannot leave her [Anne] for an hour" (Borman, 2014, p. 150). As a result, Anne was discovered to be pregnant before the end of December (ibid). Thus, forcing the issue with the rapid action was necessary: In January, an Archdeacon of Taunton, Thomas Cranmer, had already been withdrawn from the diplomatic mission in Germany (Loades, 2009, p. 119) offering him an acquaintance with several leading Lutherans. Furthermore, instantly smitten, Cranmer entered into an Anglo-German marriage to a young woman Margaret after a very short time spent in the territory of the faith of Lutherans. By a secret marriage, a new faith of Archbishop of Canterbury was indicated since the old tradition of clerical celibacy was rejected, being typical of evangelicals. With no knowledge of a secret marriage, Pope Clement VII had no difficulty in confirming the appointment and Thomas Cranmer was duly enthroned on 19 April 1533. Cranmer was a prominent person needed for the Reformation being in prospect in the hands of Thomas Cromwell. For the time being, Thomas Cranmer was invited to create a pro form challenging the validity of the marriage between Catherine and Henry (Borman, 2014, p.149; Loades, 2009, p. 119). For Anne and Henry, 25 January 1533 was a date of a significant prominence, since they were secretly married by a chaplain Rowland Lee in the Whitehall at Westminster, being attended solely by members of Privy Chamber- Norris and Mr Henage and Lady Barkeley, a friend of Anne. The marriage act remained secret even to the closest supporters of the couple in order to assure that the news was not to reach the Emperor and Rome until the certain steps 60 established by Cromwell proceeded. Nevertheless, a few surviving details of the secret ceremony report that the wedding was presumably one of the happiest moment concerning Henry`s life and certainly a moment of a great triumph for Anne; however, Anne was fully aware that despite becoming a wife of the King, she was still not the Queen of England (Norton, 2011, chapter 9-10). In order to both, make the conscious of the King of England satisfied with proceeding the new union by law, and secure the legitimacy of a son expected to be born, Henry and the ministers were not allowed to waste time. Solely a day after a wedding ceremony, the Parliament was summoned by Thomas Cromwell in order to pass the mandatory legislation. Thus, Cromwell assured that the Parliament was to be composed of the men known to be favourable to the Great Matter. Furthermore, Cromwell`s confederate, Sir Thomas Audley, was appointed as Lord Chancellor in order to consolidate the office over the House of Lords (Borman, 2014, pp. 151-152). The sessions were commenced on 4 February with a bill restricting the right to appeal to the Pope. In practice, the suggestion meant that the decisions of both, the King and the Archbishop of Canterbury were final and irrevocable. All opposition was disregarded; furthermore, the list of opponents daring to speak openly was prepared by Cromwell, e.g. Sir George Throckmorton was swiftly ensured an exit from the Court, being instructed not to meddle and serving God at home instead. The Additional primary barrier to the annulment was removed after Cranmer had been consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury since with Thomas Cranmer as a head, the Convocation of clergy was ultimately in an accord that the marriage to Catherine had not been lawful. Thomas Cromwell succeeded in creating the masterpiece the Act in Restraint of Appeals (ibid), formally and for the first time achieving the King to be claimed as the final legal authority concerning all spiritual issues within a realm (Loades, 2014, p.104) on the ground of declaring England to be an Empire and thus the jurisdiction over the Church emerged from the "imperial crown" (Borman, 2014, p. 152). The formal verdict that the marriage between Anne and Henry was valid was pronounced by Cranmer on 30 May 1533. Seven days later, the coronation of a new Queen occurred on White Sunday, and Catherine`s arms were stripped not only from the walls of the royal mansions but also the royal barge faced workmen busy stripping the arms in haste (Loades, 2014, p. 105).

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The coronation of a new Queen

After six years of waiting, Anne was anxious to make grand preparations for the coronation, being a culmination of all hopes and ambitions she had always believed in and fought for. Anne intentionally desired to outshine Catherine of Aragon and display "herself every inch the Queen" (Norton, 2011, chapter 11); thus, the stage was carefully managed and Anne was pleased being provided with an opulent reception. The Spanish ambassador reported to Charles V that:

On Saturday, Easter Eve, dame Anne went to mass in Royal state, loaded with jewels, clothed in a robe of cloth of gold friese. The daughter of the duke of Norfolk, who is affianced to the duke of Richmond, carried her train; and she had in her suite 60 young ladies, and was brought to church, and brought back with the solemnities, or even more, which were used to the Queen. She has changed her name from Marchioness to Queen, and the preachers offered prayers for her by name. All the world is astonished at it for it looks like a dream, and even those who take her part know not whether to laugh or to cry (ibid).

Despite being a pompous, expensive, and magnificent spectacle, the coronation was further described as "a cold, meagre and uncomfortable thing, to the great dissatisfaction, not only of the common people, but also of the rest" (Chapuys in Bormann, 2014, p. 152). All the City was busy preparing for the parade on the requirement of the King. Nevertheless, the dissatisfaction of the crowd described by Chapuys was ultimately transformed into an open mockery, since the monogram HA, being displayed along the processional route, originally meant to express the love between Henry and Anne, altered to the parody with malicious cries of "Ha, ha" among the crowds that disdained for Anne as the procession passed by (ibid). The French presence was greeted correspondingly "Whoreson knave, French dog" (Ives, 2005, p. 178) by the crowd. Furthermore, according to an anonymous account reaching Brussels, a very few members of the crowd cheered a new Queen and even a few of the citizens uncovered their heads. Consequently, the mayor was challenged by the servant of Anne in order to command the crowd to be more respectful; nevertheless, the servant was subsequently answered that "he [the mayor] could not command people`s hearts, and even the King could not do so" (Norton, 2011, chapter 11). The fool of Anne was ultimately left in order to save the situation with telling the people to keep their caps to cover the scurvy heads. The similar story appears in Cronica

62 del Rey Enrico, that describes Anne admiring the decoration of London; however, expressing complaints to the King: "Sir, I liked the City enough but I saw a great many caps on the heads, and heard but few tongues" (in Ives, 2005, p. 178). On the contrary, according to the Venetian ambassador, regarded as the most objective eyewitness, the occasion was greatly pompous with the enormous crowd being tranquil (ibid). In summary, the behaviour of the crowd of people is difficult to be estimated; however, Norton (2011) suggests that although the majority of the crowd appeared not to oppose, the certain hostile objections were loudly expressed by minor observers (chapter 11). Nevertheless, as far as the public relations were concerned, the coronation miserably failed (Borman, 2014, p. 153), differently from the silent support towards Catherine and Mary.

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10 The English Reformation

10.1 The Parliament Acts of Momentous Consequences

Thomas Cromwell played a decisive part concerning the English Reformation. Having perceived the resentful English people denying a new Queen, the minister was determined to prevent from undermining the legislation he had achieved after a demanding fight. Thus, attempts to bully the people in case of not accepting a new Queen commenced to appear (Borman, 2014, p. 153). In spite of the fact Cromwell had successfully persecuted any kind of opposition, a plenty of home-grown resistance to the reforms prevailed. An opponent called Elizabeth Barton, a nun from the camp supporting Catherine of Aragon, had claimed the visions of the disaster in case the King would marry Anne. Both Cranmer and Cromwell exerted the pressure upon the nun in order to confirm her to recant; nevertheless, Elizabeth Barton held firm. As a consequence, a nun jointly with her supporters was sent into the Tower in 1533 on the request of Thomas Cromwell. A new, clear signal was sent to all potential dissenters to the new regime established by the minister (Borman, 2014, p. 159). Since John Fisher did not report disloyal prophecies of Elizabeth Barton, although having conducted several interviews with the nun, the Bishop was thus suspected of having colluded with Barton. Nevertheless, Thomas Cromwell did not stop with the case of John Fisher and being actuated by the desire to secure the King` supremacy, he was determined to satisfy the Royal Master with using any kind of opportunity presented by the apprehension of the nun. As a result, Sir Thomas More, the preceding Lord Chancellor was additionally accused of conspiracy with Barton. Thomas More was interrogated personally by Cromwell; however, even the skilled Cromwell did not achieve the goal; nevertheless, the salary was removed from More in order to cause more harm to the supporter of Catherine and the old faith (Borman, 2014, p. 160-161). The Pope, having been acquainted with the controversy concerning the cases of Fisher and More, refused to issue any kind of papal bills dealing with the appointment of the bishops of England. Furthermore, the bullying tactics of Cromwell appeared to be successful for the time being and jointly with the sanction of the King, a fierce campaign in English history was triggered with a complete breakdown on diplomatic relations with Rome. The draft for necessary legislation to break all remaining links between England and Rome was designed by Cromwell and the Parliament was summoned in 1534 in order to pass the Acts of a great

64 prominence: Firstly, the Act of Succession, declaring Princess Mary illegitimate and recognizing Elizabeth or any potential child of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII as a heir to the English throne. Secondly, the Dispensations Act, abolishing the payment collected annually from the householders owning a definite amount of land, having been obliged to pay the tax to Rome. The Dispensation Act was further complemented by the second Act in Restraint of Annates that completely deprived the Pope of the revenues formerly collected from English Church; however, the payments were now sent into the royal coffers and the submission of the clergy was statutorily re-confirmed. The incontrovertible break with Rome was ultimately obtained with the end of the session on 30 March 1534. As a reward, Thomas Cromwell was confirmed as the primary secretary and a chief minister of the King in April 1534 (Borman, 2014, p. 161). According to Cromwell, in order to proceed the Acts to full effect, all subjects in the Realm had to formally acknowledge the legitimacy of the marriage to Anne Boleyn. As a result, the entire country was forced to swear an oath in favour of the Boleyn-Tudor marriage. The process was commenced in London on 13 April with the clergy that accepted the oath. Nevertheless, a number of high-profile figures refused; principal among members of the opposition were Sir Thomas More and John Fisher that were arrested and subsequently sent into the Tower after having rejected to accept the oath (Borman, 2014, p. 162). Borman further describes Cromwell appearing to be the most outraged person according to the letter written by Thomas More to his daughter Margaret:

Master Secretary sware a great oath that he had level [rather] that his only son had lost his head than that More should have thus refused the oath, for the King would now conceive a great suspicion against him, and think that the matter of the nun of Canterbury was contrived by his drift (ibid).

Since Cranmer endeavoured to resolve the situation peaceably with the suggestion that both More and Fisher needed to swear solely to the oath instead of the preamble in order to evade the conflict, the Archbishop was consequently regarded by Cromwell as an unreliable ally. Meanwhile, all the citizens of the Capital were commanded in order to follow the requirement to swear to the oath. In spite of the fact the London citizens duly swore, Cromwell was determined to destroy any possibility of potential resistance to the reforms and thus decided to display the strength by a brutal verdict, i.e. Elizabeth Barton and five supporters of the old

65 religion and Catherine of Aragon were condemned to death and faced the traitor` s death in full public view at Tyburn in 1534. The punishment without a trial in case of the treason was authorized under an Act of Attainder, with Thomas Cromwell being the initiator (Borman, 2014, pp. 162-163). Burning was the official punishment for the female traitor; however, on the ground of concession made by Thomas Cromwell, Elizabeth Barton was hanged and her head was decapitated afterwards. A turning point concerning the extant of both, the powers and ruthlessness of the chief minister was marked with the execution of Barton and her supporters and even close people to Cromwell were shocked by a new brutality demonstrating a control over any opposition to the reforms being in progress (Borman, 2014, pp. 163-164). The model having been tested in the City was transferred to the rest of the Kingdom. The commissions were established in all shires in order to guarantee the acceptance of swearing to the oath. Realising the greatest resistance stemmed from the clergy, Cromwell was no longer satisfied with the Act of Succession; however, the formal acknowledgement of the royal supremacy was demanded on all new bishops. Jointly with colleges and universities, the ecclesiastical bodies were required to swear a corporate oaths and individual figures of the clergy were obliged to sign an affirmation that "the bishop of Rome has no greater power conferred on him by God in this realm than any other foreign bishop" (Borman, 2014, pp. 164- 165). Nevertheless, a certain kind of dissent was expressed afterwards; thus a severe Treason Act was introduced by Cromwell to Parliament in November 1534 stating that to convey a rebellion against the royal family, to reject their titles, or to name the King a tyrant or a heretic usurper was regarded as a treason. Furthermore, the act of a significant prominence, the Act of Supremacy was passed in the same Parliament clarifying and confirming the position of the King as a "Supreme Head on earth of the Church of England" (Borman, 2014, p. 165), stipulating that the King or the successors of the Supreme Head:

shall have full power and authority from time to time, to visit, repress, redress, reform, order, correct, restrain, and amend all such errors, heresies, abuses, offences, contempts, and enormities, whatsoever they be ...any usage, custom, foreign laws, foreign authority, prescription, or any other things to the contrary hereof notwithstanding (ibid).

Meanwhile, a new taxation upon clergy representing a new heavy burden was assessed through the Act of Payment of First Fruits and Tenths. The taxation diverted an average annual

66 income of 40, 000 pounds from the Pope to the coffers of the English Crown. Jointly with the heavy imposition of a new tax, the religious reforms had a swift and brutal effect on the clergy that consequently ended either in the Tower or in exile abroad in case the members of the ecclesiastical body dared to express the opinions against the King or a new Queen. As a result, both Thomas Cromwell and Anne Boleyn became the subjects of enduring hatred (Borman, 2014, pp. 165-166).

10.2 The Opposition Facing the Consequences of the Reforms

The Henrician regime was terrifying in 1535, any kind of open defiance was immediately solved with a public execution. In May 1535, a series of executions were organised in order to demonstrate an example of the members of the order that still remained loyal to the Pope, e.g. Reynolds, a member of the clergy, ventured to express openly to Cromwell that "all good men in the Kingdom believed…that the King had no right to call himself head of the English Church" (in Borman, 2014, p. 191). As a punishment, Reynolds jointly with Houghton and Hale—all being open adversaries to Henry, Anne and Cromwell—faced a horrific death on the demand of the chief minister: they were hanged with ropes and disembowelled being still conscious. Ultimately, they were beheaded and the bodies were quartered in front of the crowd of bystanders (ibid). In order to terrify the population to the greatest extant and to full effectiveness of the threats, a high-profile example was needed. Thus, John Fisher, at the age of sixty-six, being one of the most influential churchmen of Tudor age, and a significant figurehead for the traditional Catholic faith having served even Henry` s grandmother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, was executed for treason at Tower Hill on 22 June in front of the dazed and speechless crowd (Borman, 2014, p. 192). Solely several days later, diverse councillors were dispatched to the Tower in order to force Sir Thomas More to change his mind. Even the wife of an erstwhile Lord Chancellor endeavoured to persuade him to recall his beliefs:

I marveyle that you, who have beene alwayes hitherto taken for soe wise a man, will nowe soe play the foole to lye here in this close filthye prisonne, and be contente thus to be shutt upp amongst myse and rattes, when you might be abroade at your libertie (in Borman, 2014, p.193)

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However, all efforts to influence Sir Thomas More were to no avail. As a result, Thomas Cromwell, accompanied with Ralph Sadler, commenced persuading More in order to retire from a firm resistance within numerous visits in the cell of the Bell Tower, employing all the lawyer `s skills of reasoning and cogency. Cromwell did not originally intend to send More directly to execution for the reasons described in Borman (2014): Firstly, despite being diametrically opposed as far as the faith and doctrine were concerned, a certain respect between the two adversaries was fostered on the ground of the similarity of interests and careers; thus Cromwell did not yearn for sending Thomas More to the block. Secondly, a powerful message would have been received by conservatives in case the most influential figurehead had been persuaded to conform. Nevertheless, after having spent fourteen months in a cold and damp prison, More was not afraid of death; furthermore, Sir Thomas More appeared to welcome the end of suffering (pp. 193-194). In spite of the fact he had been imprisoned on the ground of refusal to recognize the Act of Succession in 1534, Thomas More was ultimately accused of treason, having rejected the title of the King as a Supreme Head of the Church on 12 June 1535. Consequently, Sir Thomas More faced bravely the sentence of death on 6 July 1535, urging the crowds of people to remember that he was to die "in and for the faith of the holy chatholick churche" (in Borman, 2014, p. 195). After the execution of More, "The people, horrified to see such unprecedented and brutal atrocities, muttered in whispers about these events, and often blamed Queen Anne …" (Loades, 2012, p. 123). In accordance with Cromwell` s fearful expectations, Sir Thomas More was immediately proclaimed a martyr not only among the dissenters in England but also across Europe (ibid).

10.3 The Religious Reformation

With the death of Thomas More, Cromwell was fully aware of the battle between the old and new faith and intended to assert the reforms with a renewed vigour. The King contemplated his role as Supreme Head of English Church very seriously. Having always been interested in theology, even not sharing increasing evangelical opinions against the bribery and immorality of the current Church expressed by Cromwell, Henry VIII was open to accepting new ideas. A perfect ally to Cromwell` s intentions of reforms was presented in Anne Boleyn since a new Queen spread the ideas of Protestant writers within the Royal Court (Borman, 2014, p. 198). Furthermore, Anne introduced Henry to William Tyndale` s Obedience of a Christian Man, containing the clear message concerning the full autonomy of the authority of the King 68 and a new Queen further managed to maintain the copy of Tyndale` s English translation of the New Testament in order to lend the translation to any person keen on reading the book of protestant ideas. Anne Boleyn was demonstrated as a "Champion of Reformation" (Loades, 2014, p. 95), apparently on the ground of her later patronage of reforming preachers. Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Shaxton, Thomas Goodrich were said to owe their position to Anne Boleyn (Borman, 2014, p. 198). An Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, significantly propagating Lutheran thoughts, was a firm ally to Anne (Ives, 2005, p. 144) and identically to Latimer, Shaxton and Goodrich—Cranmer had an obligation to Anne for his status. A new Queen was described in a posthumous account reported by the reformist cleric William Latymer as "well read in the scriptures" and "a patron of Protestants" (in Borman, 2014, p. 198). In addition to the Royal Court influenced by the ideas of Protestantism through the intervention of the circle of Anne Boleyn, the universities, primarily Cambridge and the City of London became rapidly penetrated with numerous books of Luther` s revolutionary thoughts offering the coherent doctrinal expressions to the individuals distrusting of Rome (Morgan, 1993, p. 279-280). The invention of printing highly contributed to the transmission of new ideas across the Western part of Europe (Morgan, 1993, p. 278); nevertheless, as far as the English Kingdom was concerned, the royal supremacy "became a vehicle of the Protestant Reformation" (Morgan, 1993, p. 283). The major assignment of Thomas Cromwell, being regarded as an architect of Reformation (Starkey, 2002, p. 100), was the Dissolution of Monasteries (Morgan, 1993, p.284). Although having been in preparation since the Act of Succession was passed in 1534, the first suppression of monastic houses was performed in 1536. Cromwell obtained a position of the King` s vicar-general for the business, a title granting "the precedence over every lord, spiritual or temporal" (Allies, 1895, p. 68). According to Morgan (1993), three primary purposes for Cromwell to manage the Dissolution of Monasteries existed: Firstly, regardless the Acts of Appeals and Supremacy, the parent institutions outside England and Wales still enjoyed an invariable loyalty of the English religious houses. The allegiance of monasteries to the foreign religious establishment was unacceptable for the minister. Secondly, Henry VIII, being bankrupt, needed to annex the estate of the Church in order to restore the financial capital of the Crown. Thus, the ecclesiastical census was implemented under the commission of the King in order to record a careful survey called Valor Ecclesiastical evaluating the conditions and property of the English Church. The survey further served both as the record of the value of monastic properties and as a report of

69 clerical earnings of individuals for an imposition of taxes. Thirdly, to achieve an appeasement of the nobility and gentry was highly important for the King to be able to continue in force the Reformation with a massive patronage of scholars (p. 284). The rising classes of landowners and merchants were provided with the monastic houses and lands at a reduced or even no price in order to supply the influent class with good purposes to maintain the settlement of the Reformation (Dowal, 2006, p. 70; Morgan, 1993, pp. 284-285). The lesser monasteries were closed in 1536, and the greater monastic houses followed to be dissolved in 1538. The process of Dissolution of Monasteries was temporarily interrupted by a dreadful northern rebellion that was ultimately brutally suppressed with the aid of martial law and exemplary public hanging executions. Nevertheless, the devastation and plunder were rapidly completed (Morgan, 1993, pp. 284-285). As a result, 560 monasteries were dissolved between 1536 and 1539 (Dowal, 2006, p. 70). Consequently, the ex-monastic cathedrals were reorganized and labelled as the Cathedrals of the New Foundations, revising staff and statues. Regarding the interim income of the Crown, the profit rising from the sale of lands, houses and silver and golden belongings discovered in the monasteries doubled the royal financial capital (Morgan, 1993, p. 285). As far as the fates of monks and nuns were concerned, the servants of the God were directly ejected. A certain number of the clergy was provided with small sums of money; however, since the majority of monks and nuns was not able to find an employment, they became the beggars wandering across the Realm. The Dissolution of Monasteries is regarded as the "greatest act of official destruction in the history of Britain" (Dowal, 2006, p. 70). The English Reformation was a part of a revolutionary process having been implemented in Western Europe; nevertheless, differently from the Protestant Reformation of foreign countries that was established on the ground of the religious ideas, the Reformation in England originated from the political purposes to legally achieve the annulment of the marriage to Catherine of Aragon. However, the Protestant beliefs of both, Anne Boleyn and Thomas Cromwell, undeniably played a significant role as far as the English Reformation was concerned.

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11 Anne Boleyn as a New Queen

11.1 The First Years of the Reign

The chief minister had fulfilled the bargain since Cromwell without any doubts succeeded in releasing England from the Papal authority and thus the annulment of the proceeding marriage was ultimately achieved. The entire religious and political life of England was capsized by the King in order to be lawfully married to Anne Boleyn, on the promise that the son, the Prince of the Realm would be delivered. The stability of the Kingdom was dependant on the heir; nevertheless, differently from Thomas Cromwell, Anne failed and the expected son was ultimately a daughter, born in the early hours of 7 September 1533. Consequently, Anne manifested both regret and anger and the King was bitterly disappointed; thus, all the parades that had been planned in order to celebrate the birth of a son were cancelled. To the contrary, the Spanish ambassador made bare secret of being gleeful: "…the people are doubly glad that it is a daughter rather than a son, and delight to mock those who put faith in such divinations, and to see them so full of shame" (in Borman, 2014, pp. 154-155). The fury and disappointment were suppressed and Henry VIII visited a new daughter for the first time with the response to Anne:" You and I are both young, and by God`s grace, boys will follow" (in Borman, 2014, p. 155). An identical utterance was pronounced towards Catherine of Aragon, having been found in the same situation in 1516; however, differently from the reaction to Catherine, the pronouncement of 1533 was rather a threat than a reassurance and Anne was fully aware of the state of the matters (ibid). Nevertheless, the initial disappointment was ultimately subsided and the birth of a daughter, being called Elizabeth after the mother of the King, was ultimately accepted more happily by both, Henry and Anne. Elizabeth was a healthy child, resembling her father; thus, the evidence of Anne's fertility and ability to deliver a healthy child in a very good condition was proved. Furthermore, in spite of the fact Elizabeth was not a boy, the Princess was to be an heir of the Realm, until being supplanted by a brother (Norton, 2011, chapter 11). The daughter was christened under the standard ceremonies marking all the usual observances; nevertheless, jointly with her mother, the child immediately became the subject of hatred: two friars were arrested since they proclaimed that the water Elizabeth was christened in was "not hot enough" (in Borman, 2014, p. 155). Simultaneously, the Spanish expressed with a glee that the Princess was a representative of the punishment of God for Henry `s banishment of the Papal authority, and called Elizabeth the "concubine` s daughter", "a little whore" and "a

71 little bastard" (ibid). To the contrary, despite the expectations of Anne` s enemies, the Boleyn ascendancy was not weakened by the advent of the daughter; however, the birth of Elizabeth was a small victory won by Catherine of Aragon, remaining firm concerning recognition of a new royal marriage stating "that her conscience took priority over all earthly allegiance" (Loades, 2014, pp. 109-110). Catherine was threatened with the persecution for treason; nevertheless, Henry did not desire to act to extremes (Loades, 2014, p.109). Passing the Acts of Succession and Supremacy in 1534 represented deep hopes Anne believed in; however, not all people did swear to the oath and the refusal was perceived by a new Queen as a direct assault on the legitimacy of both, the Boleyn-Tudor marriage and the royal daughter Elizabeth. The individuals rejecting to swear to the oath thus rapidly became Anne` s adversaries: John Fisher, Thomas More and naturally Catherine and Mary were among the most distinguished enemies to Boleyn camp. In April 1534, Anne was in a strong position since the new Queen was pregnant again, wishing to bear Henry a desired son (Norton, 2011, chapter 13). Henry felt confident that the second child was to be a son, and the royal goldsmith was ordered to create an elaborate cradle made of silver for the Prince being in prospect (Loades, 2014, p. 115). However, a disaster struck in July 1534 since presumably a stillborn son was born. The entire episode was obscure and intentionally concealed with no announcement of the birth being made. The tragedy was surrounded by secrecy and even the sex of the eight-month- old foetus was not recorded and the speculation the stillborn baby was a male was estimated solely on the ground of the reference of Chapuys (Loades, 2014, p. 115; Weir, 2010, p. 15). Repeatedly, Catherine of Aragon must have felt a certain satisfaction (Loades, 2014, p. 115). Anne` s insecurity was fuelled after failing to provide Henry with the son after the second pregnancy. Furthermore, having unsuccessfully endeavoured to exclude from the Royal Court a beautiful young lady that appealed to Henry, the King reacted extremely sharply to Anne that: "she had good reasons to be content with what he had done for her, for were he to begin again, he would certainly not do as much, and that she ought to consider where she came from" (in Weir, 2010, p. 17) and the honeymoon appeared to be terminated. Anne Boleyn had swiftly conceived again in the autumn of 1534 (Weir, 2010, p. 15); nevertheless being fully aware that her future was dependant solely on the child being expected, jointly with the conscious her charm and sexual panache were the properties that won the King`s favour, the Queen commenced being bitterly jealous. In February 1535, Anne became furious, even hysterical: having a conversation with French Admiral at a banquet, Anne had spotted

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Henry flirting with an unknown lady of the court. Anne was alternately found in a mood of anger, despair, hope, grief and gaiety. Furthermore, Anne openly quarrelled with the King in public, ridiculing Henry` s clothes and demonstrated that she was bored in the King` s company (Weir, 2010, p. 17). As a result, the King expressed he perceived Anne` s behaviour as "tiresome" (Loades, 2014, p. 117).

11.2 The Fall of the Queen Being in Prospect

In June 1535, Anne Boleyn faced the second stillbirth in three pregnancies and Henry ultimately realized that the disastrous pattern of the obstetric history of Catherine of Aragon was repeated with Anne Boleyn (Weir, 2010, p. 15). Consequently, the French Ambassador described in October 1535 that "his [King` s] regard for the Queen is less than it was and diminishes every day" (in Weir, 2010, p. 14); the same Ambassador, Bishop of Tarbes, further noted that the King had a new amour, having observed Henry commenced his pursuit of young Jane Seymour, current Anne` s maid of honour and the future Queen of England (Weir, 2010, p. 18). To the contrary, several reports of October 1535 commented that the royal couple appeared to be merry, furthermore, in November a reliable source noted with a praise that Anne had "more authority with the King than Thomas Cromwell" (Loades, 2014, p. 124). Thus, no actual reasons existed to admit that the position of Anne Boleyn had been challenged before 1536 (ibid). Nevertheless, the estrangement concerning the relationship between Anne and Henry was apparent. Furthermore, the suggestion of diverse authors that the time after the second miscarriage represented the onset of the fall of Anne was made on the ground of the fact that Jane Seymour was simultaneously closely introduced to the King. At the onset of 1536, Anne was found pregnant, and the hope for the offspring of a royal son satisfied Henry` s disappointment; nevertheless, the contentment had been premature. Simultaneously, Catherine of Aragon was in the pure state of health, and the report of her death ultimately reached the Royal Court with Anne greatly rejoicing the death of the old rival on 7 January 1536 (Borman, 2014, p. 208). Anne` s triumph appeared to be crowned; however, the victory did not last long since exactly the same day Catherine was buried at Peterborough Cathedral, Anne had suffered from a miscarriage, in a cruelly ironic twist of fate. Chapuys did not waste time and conveyed the news to Charles: "The Concubine had an abortion which seemed to be a male child which she had not borne three and half months, and on which the King has shown great distress", the Spanish Ambassador further continued, assessing brutally, 73 however, accurately a future fate of Concubine, that "She has miscarried of her saviour" (Borman, 2014, p. 213). The dazzling future commenced unravelling for Anne. The resentment and distaste towards the Queen were directly expressed by the King. Having miscarried, Henry hardly said a word to Anne and although the King endeavoured to maintain appearances at Court, Henry deliberately avoided her company in private. Not only spouse` s disfavour, but primarily the fact a new lady was found in order to replace the position of Anne destroyed both her mind and emotions. Immediately the rumours were spread that Cromwell was presumably very busy arranging a new royal marriage (Borman, 2014, pp. 213-214). Consequently, Thomas Cromwell made a decision to joint with the Seymour party, being an official indication that the intentions of the secretary were to get rid of Anne Boleyn. Furthermore, Cromwell expressed in a later account that the position of both, the entire Realm and his own status of the secretary, were threatened by the presence of Anne as the Queen of England. The truth was Thomas Cromwell was fully aware of the fate of Wolsey, and the minister felt a duty to provide the King with a new spouse that would hopefully bear Henry a male heir. Thus, the secretary was busy leading an open season for Anne` s destruction (Fraser, 2002, p. 297). As a result of the plan, the end of April and the beginning of May 1536 was noticeable for the men of the Court being arrested: Henry Norris, Francis Weston, William Brereton and Mark Smeaton were accused of having had intimate relations with the Queen. Additionally, although he was subsequently released, Sir Thomas Wyatt was arrested on 8 May for having had intimacy with Anne. Even chilling for the observers of the complot was the accusation of Lord Rochford, brother of the Queen since George Boleyn was arrested for incest with own sister. Both Cromwell and the King solely used the opportunity to destroy the person very closed to Boleyn. All the men except for Smeaton, presumably having been in platonic love with Anne, swore not to be guilty. However, the fate of apparently randomly selected men fitting the plan to destroy the current Queen was clear: the horrifying execution being in prospect. Ultimately, Queen Anne Boleyn was accused of adultery, incest, witchcraft, and conspiracy with Sir Henry Norris in order to murder the King (Fraser, 2002, pp. 299, 304-307). Anne Boleyn was arrested at Greenwich on Tuesday 2 May 1536, facing the commissioners —with Norfolk, an enemy despite being her uncle, as a chairperson— that led the investigations, reading a long list of accusations against the Queen. The members of commission installed in the trial were known enemies to Boleyn party, apparently appointed by

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Cromwell to secure passing the sentence that was ultimately announced by Norfolk (Loades, 2014, p. 143-144; Fraser, 2002, p. 299). After having been accused, Anne was sent to the Tower; nevertheless, before reaching the Tower, the Queen was on the point of collapse: at the sight of the dungeons of the Tower, Anne commenced screaming: "I was received with great ceremony last time I was here" (Fraser, 2002, p. 300). Before the execution, Anne swore her innocence upon the Eucharist as far as the fabricated accusations were concerned. The Queen ultimately stated to be prepared for death since she incurred Henry` s disfavour and unwittingly lost the King; nevertheless, Anne expressed a deep sorrow at the innocent men that were to die with horrible death on her account (Loades, 2014, p. 144). Anne Boleyn, the Queen of England of 1533-1536, died at the block with a sword, being imported specially for the occasion of her definite fall on 18 May 1536, stating amicably:

Good Christian people, I have not come here to preach a sermon; I have come here to die, for according to the law and by the law, I am judged to die, and therefore I will speak nothing against it. I am come hither to accuse no man, nor to speak of that whereof I am accused and condemned to die, but I pray God save the King and send him long to reign over you, for a gentler nor a more merciful prince there never was… And thus I take my leave of the world and of you all, and I heartily desire you all to pray for me (in Loades, 2012, chapter 8).

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Conclusion

The main aim of the diploma thesis is to focus on Anne Boleyn, particularly on her role within the British history. The work deals with a great impact the Queen of England of 1533- 1536 had on the King, with all the consequences influencing both, the clergy and secular people of the Tudor England. Additionally, the personality of Anne and the contradictory view from both, the supporters and enemies of Boleyn are depicted in the work. Nevertheless, the thesis does not depict the very last days of Anne in greater details in order not to withdraw from the original intention to concentrate on the consequences for the history of the Realm. On the contrary, the circumstances surrounding the events of significant importance, e.g. fight for annulment, the break with Rome, political Acts of Parliament resulting in the Religious Reformation are described in depth. In the first chapter the reader is briefly acquainted with the reign of Henry VII in terms of foreign policy with the subchapter A dispensation from the Pope being primary for understanding the circumstances of the Great Matter being occurred later in the study. The second chapter describes the reign of Henry VIII, chiefly the first years of the flourishing relationship between Catherine of Aragon and Henry until Anne Boleyn entered the Court. The third chapter is concerned with Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the man of a great prominence having a momentous influence on the domestic affairs. Wolsey is described from the different points of view of the Court observers and the rising power of the Cardinal is emphasized jointly with the potency of Wolsey that is vitally important to be comprehended. The topic of the family background of Anne Boleyn is dealt with in the fourth chapter. Furthermore, the education she gained at the French Court is reported jointly with the focus on Mary, sister of Anne, being a mistress of the King before Anne. The chapter further offers the suggestions of Henry` s paternity concerning both children on Mary Boleyn. The fifth chapter is devoted to the circumstances of the Debut of Anne at the Royal Court of England. Vitally important are the subchapters concentrating on both the appearance and sexual attractiveness and the monster legend created by Nicolas Sander. The sixth chapter provides the reader with men being captivated by the Brunnet, a romance with Henry Percy or the connection with Thomas Waytt are mentioned; nevertheless the chapter focused on Henry and the loving letters. The Great Matter of the King is demonstrated in the seventh chapter dealing with the struggle over annulment and the relations with Rome and the Emperor Charles V. 76

The eighth chapter is concerned with the growing power of Anne Boleyn and simultaneously a lower impact of Wolsey. It describes in greater details events and circumstances leading to the fall of Wolsey. Additionally, both the Boleyn Camp and the adversaries to Anne are noted. The ninth chapter explains the turning points as far as the achievement of annulment of the marriage between Henry and Catherine are concerned. The coronation of the Queen portrays the public relations being opposed to a new royal marriage. And the position of Thomas Cromwell being a winner within the political area is dealt with. The reader is acquainted with both the Parliament Acts in hands of Cromwell and the horrible consequences for Thomas More, John Fisher and Elizabeth Barton. Religious Reformation, involving the Dissolution of Monasteries is naturally being focused on in the chapter. The final chapter is a summary of the years of Anne Boleyn as a Queen, concentrating on the hopes represented in numerous pregnancies that ultimately failed to bear a healthy male heir. The chapter further briefly introduces Jane Seymour as a final step to fit the onset of the fall of Anne, the hated Queen of England. To conclude, it is apparent that in case Anne Boleyn provided Henry with the son, she would never terminated her life at the block. Nevertheless, the fall of Wolsey, the struggle for annulment with all the impact, mainly treating the clergy and dissolution of the monasteries jointly with the execution of Thomas More and additional opposition would presumably not be proceeded without Henry being obsessed with intelligent Brunet, being—in my opinion— not a victim nor a concubine. The same way Anne gained the King` s love, the same way she lost it. And the tyranny of the King the Protestant Queen had significantly contributed to, ultimately turned against Anne herself.

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Summary

The diploma thesis deals with the historical period related to the Tudor England, namely the era of Henry VIII. The main aim of the study is to focus on Anne Boleyn, particularly the role and influence the Queen had on the King with all the consequences concerning the political and social life of the sixteenth century England. The Tudor figures of significant prominence are further depicted in relation with the Royal Court. The special interest is paid to Cardinal Wolsey, Thomas More and Thomas Cromwell. Since a majority of the compilation discusses the struggle over annulment of the Aragon-Tudor marriage, the position of Catherine of Aragon is thus a part of the study. Not only does the study describe the break with Rome and English Reformation, involving Dissolution of Monasteries but the entire work also serves as an account of decisive parts of the life of Anne Boleyn, providing the reader with explanations of the dramatic fall of the Queen.

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Resumé

Diplomová práce se zabývá historickým obdobím Tudorovské Anglie, jmenovitě érou Jindřicha VIII. Hlavním cílem práce je zaměřit se na Annu Boleynovou, obzvláště na její roli a vliv, který měla na krále i se všemi důsledky týkající se politického a občanského života Anglie 16. století. Významné postavy Tudorovské Anglie jsou vyobrazeny v souvislosti s královským dvorem. Zvláštní zájem je věnován kardinálu Wolseymu, Thomasu Morovi a Thomasu Cromwellovi. Jelikož většina práce projednává snahu o získání anulace Aragonsko-Tudorovského sňatku, postavení Kateřiny Aragonské je tudíž také součástí práce. Nejenže studie popisuje odluku od Říma a Anglickou reformaci zahrnující zrušení klášterů, ale celá práce složí také jako vylíčení rozhodujících částí života Anny Boleynové, poskytující čtenáři vysvětlení dramatického pádu královny.

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