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Anne Boleyn's Childhood and Adolescence*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2009

Retha M. Warnicke
Retha M. Warnicke
Affiliation:
Arizona State University
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The Historical Journal , Volume 28 , Issue 4 , December 1985 , pp. 939 - 952
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Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1985

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References

1 Gairdner, James, ‘Mary and Anne Boleyn: The age of Anne Boleyn’, English Historial Review, VIII (1893), 53–60CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and ‘The age of Anne Boleyn’, ibid, X (1895), 104; Camden, William, Annales rerum Anglicarum et Hibernicarum regnante Elizabetha (London, 1615), p. 2Google Scholar; Dixon, W. H., ‘Anne Boleyn’, Gentleman's Magazine, XVI (1876), 289–302Google Scholar; Round, J. H., Early life of Anne Boleyn (London, 1886), pp. 12–23Google Scholar; Letters and papers, foreign and domestic, of the reign of Henry VIII, I(i), lXV and IV, ccxxvi–vii.

2 Some authors continued to believe that Anne had been born sooner than 1507. See, for example, Richardson, Walter C., Mary Tudor, the white queen (London, 1970), p. 88Google Scholar; and Chapman, Hester W., The challenge of Anne Boleyn (New York, 1974), p. 19Google Scholar; Paget, Hugh, ‘The youth of Anne Boleyn’, Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research, LIV (1981), 163 and 166Google Scholar; in my book, Women of the English Renaissance and Reformation (Westport, Conn., 1983), p. 37Google Scholar, I accepted Paget's dating of her birth. My subsequent research on this topic and my belief that Weever's, John statements about Anne in Ancient funerall monuments (London, 1631), pp. 514 and 799Google Scholar, need to be given more serious attention led me to change my opinion about this issue after my book was in print.

3 John Weever, pp. 514 and 799; W. H. Dixon, p. 297, did include Weever in a list of later scholars who claimed Anne was the older child; for Boleyn's letter, see The manuscripts of J. Eliot Hodgkin, esq., F.S.A. of Richmond, Surrey, Historical Manuscripts Commission, XV (ii), 30.

4 John Weever, pp. 514 and 799; MrUrban, , ‘Funeral monuments’, Gentleman's Magazine, CII (1807), 808–9Google Scholar; Wharton, Henry, Anglia sacra (London, 1691), pt. 1, p. 668Google Scholar; ‘John Weever’, Dictionary of National Biography; for evidence of plagiarism see Huntley, Frank Livingstone, Essays in persuasion (Chicago 1981), pp. 22–33Google Scholar; Astbury, Raymond, ‘Horace, Drant and Weever’, Notes and Queries, XXVI (1979), 409–10CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

5 John Weever, pp. 514 and 799; William Camden, p. 2; Weever's discussion of their age seems to be lifted from Camden, William, Annales; or the history of the most renowned and victorious princesse Elizabeth, late queen of England, tr. Norton, R., third edition (London, 1635)Google Scholar.

6 W. H. Dixon, p. 296; William Camden, p. 2.

7 William Camden, p. 2; Sergeant, Philip (The life of Anne Boleyn (New York 1924), p. 39)Google Scholar said merely that Anne returned to court some time between 1525 and 1527.

8 Herbert, Lord of Cherbury, , The life and reigne of King Henry the eighth (London, 1694), pp. 230 and 257–8Google Scholar; Cavendish, George, ‘The life and death of Cardinal Wolsey’, in Two early Tudor lives, ed. Sylvester, Richard and Harding, Davis P. (New Haven, Conn, 1962), pp. 32–3Google Scholar; for the quote see the introduction to Cavendish, p. X.

9 Harpsfield, Nicholas, A treatise on the pretended divorce between Henry VIII and Catherine, ed. Pocock, Nicholas, Camden Society, n.s. XXI, 176 and 183–4Google Scholar.

10 Herbert, pp. 257–8; Hugh Paget, p. 163; see also Sander, Nicholas, The rise and growth of the Anglican schism (1585), tr. Lewis, David (London, 1877)Google Scholar.

11 James Gairdner (1895); Clifford, Henry, The life of Jane Dormer, duchess of Feria, tr. Estcourt, Canon E. E., ed. Stevenson, Joseph (London, 1887), pp. 76, 80, 86, 90, 97Google Scholar.

12 James Gairdner (1893), pp. 58–9; Letters and papers, IV, ccxxvi–vii; Calendar of state papers, domestic series of the reign of Elizabeth, IV, 510.

13 Friedmann, Paul, Anne Boleyn, a chapter of English history (London, 1884), II, 320Google Scholar.

14 For the inscription, see Collins' peerage of England, ed. SirBrydges, Egerton (London, 1812), III, 614–16Google Scholar; Philip Sergeant, p. 302, explored this issue carefully. Although he found two later seventeenth-century pedigrees listing Anne as the elder; quoted the York Herald in 1619 who contradicted himself, calling Anne the elder inhis discussion but listing her second to Mary in the familey chart (this placement could have resulted from his knowledge that Mary and her heirs were the heirs of Sir Thomas); and pointed out that John Smyth of Nebley, an attendant of Lady Berkeley's, had said Mary was the second daughter; he still accepted Gairdner's conclusion that Anne was the younger daughter. Camden, William, Annales. The true and royall history of the famous empress Elizabeth, queene of England, tr. Darcie, Abraham from the French version by de Bellegent, Paul (London, 1625)Google Scholar; John Weever, p. 514; see also Smyth, John, The Berkeley manuscripts: lives of the Berkeleys, ed. SirMaclean, John (Gloucester, 1883), II, 32Google Scholar.

15 Although Hugh Paget, pp. 165–6, admitted that being educated with the young Habsburgs would be a great advantage for Anne, he still insisted that she must have been about thirteen in 1514. Thesemaids of honour could be appointed at a later age than thirteen or fourteen. When she was sixteen, the Viscountess Montague, for example, was appointed a maid of honour to Queen Mary of England; see Smith, Richard, The life of the most honourable and vertuous Lady, the La. Magdalen viscountess Montague, tr. Fursdon, Cuthbert (Menston, 1970), pp. 4–6Google Scholar; for information about the maids and their education see Toudouze, Georges G., Anne de Bretagne, duchesse et reine (Paris, 1938), p. 190Google Scholar; Wilson, Violet, Queen Elizabeth's maids of honour (New York, 1922), p. 10Google Scholar; Byrne, Muriel St Clare, The Lisle letters (Chicago, 1981), III, 142–8, 163–4Google Scholar and 172–3; for the quote see Strong, Roy and Oman, Julia, Eliz R (London, 1971), p. 6Google Scholar.

16 Brandi, Karl, The Emperor Charles V, tr. Wedgwood, C. V. (London, 1939), p. 57Google Scholar; see also de Iongh, Jane, Margaret of Austria, regent of the Netherlands, tr. Hester, M. D. (New York, 1953)Google Scholar.

17 Stone, Lawrence, The family, sex and marriage in England, 1500–1800 (New York, 1977), pp. 105–14Google Scholar; for information about royal habits, see Karl Brandi, pp. 48 and 55; Knecht, R. J., Francis I (Cambridge, 1982), pp. 9 and 90Google Scholar; E. Rodocanachi, Renée de France, duchesse de Ferrare (reprint, 1970), p. 17; Watson, Francis, The life and times of Catherine de Medici (NewYork, 1935), p. 108Google Scholar; Jordan, W. K., The chronicle and political papers of King Edward VI (Ithaca, N.Y., 1966), pp. xi–xiiGoogle Scholar; Ryley, M. Beresford, Queens of the Renaissance (Boston, 1907), p. 202Google Scholar; de Saint-Armand, Imbert, Women of the Valois court, tr. Martin, Elizabeth G. (New York, 1899), p. 19Google Scholar.

18 Hugh Paget, pp. 164–5; the letter is reproduced in Letters and papers, IV (i), no. 1.

19 Ibid.; Andre Joseph Le Glay, Correspondence de l'Empereur Maximilien I er et de Marguerite d' Autricht sa Fille, gouvernante de Pays Bas (reprint, 1966), II, 461, note 2.

20 George Elliott Howard, A history of matrimonial institutions (reprint, 1964), 1, 357; Lawrence Stone, pp. 46–54; although twelve was the canonical age, those who married at this young age did not usually live together for several years. The average age for marriage was about twenty. Those who were heiresses were the most likely to be married young; The manuscripts of J. Eliot Hodgkin, p. 30; Hugh Paget, p. 167, note 29 suggested that ‘petitte’ was Margaret's pet name for Anne; for a discussion of her height see Philip Sergeant, p. 27; Jourda, Pierre, Marguerite d' Angoulême, duchesse d' Alencon, reine de Navarre (Paris, 1930), 1, 44Google Scholar referred to four-year-old Renée as ‘la petite’. While interpretations of what young or even ‘petite’ meant to Anne's contemporaries must remain speculative, it does seem extraordinary that Cavendish, p. 32, should refer to Anne as ‘very young’ when she went to France as a maid of honour if she had, in fact reached the usual age for that office of thirteen or fourteen years.

21 For information about Margaret, see her biography by Jane de Iongh; Philip Sergeant, pp. 2–3; Wandruszka, Adam, The house of Habsburg, tr. Cathleen, and Epstein, Hans (Garden City, N.Y., 1964), p. 94Google Scholar; Crawford, Anne, ‘The career of John Howard, duke of Norfolk, 1420–85’, University of London, M.Phil. dissertation, 1975, p. 161Google Scholar.

22 Letters and papers, 1(i), nos. 1241, 1252, 1338, 1350, 1430; Oxford English Dictionary.

23 Hugh Paget, pp. 169–70; the first quote from Adam Wandruszka, p. 81; the second quote from Trevor-Roper, Hugh, Princes and artists, patronage and ideology at four Habsburg Courts, 1517–1633. (New York, 1976), pp. 14–18Google Scholar; Karl Brandi, p. 55; Armstrong, Edward, The Emperor Charles V (London, 1911), 1, 9–11Google Scholar; see also de Iongh, Jane, Mary of Hungary (New York, 1958)Google Scholar.

24 Karl Brandi, p. 54; R. J. Knecht, p. 89; for information about culture at Margaret's court see Picker, Martin, ed., The Chanson albums of Marquerite of Austria (Berkeley, 1965)Google Scholar, and Hugh Paget.

25 Philip Sergeant, p. 14; Jourda, Pierre, Marguerite d' Angouléme, 1, 44Google Scholar; for the February procession see Jackson, Lady Catherine, The court of France in the sixteenth century (Boston, n.d.), 1, 42Google Scholar; for information about the wedding and Mary's letters see Letters and papers, 1 (ii), nos 3348 (3), 3355, 3357, and 3411.

26 M. Beresford Ryley, p. 147; Lady Catherine Jackson, 1, 39; E. Rodocanachi, p. 9; for the royal children's housing see Francis Watson, pp. 4–7; Le Boterf, Herve, Anne de Bretagne (Paris, 1976), pp. 145–9Google Scholar; Stephens, Winifred, Margaret of France, duchess of Savoy (New York, 1912), pp. 13 and 16–17Google Scholar; and Martin Picker, p. 8; there is a tradition that Anne Boleyn lived at Briis-sous-Forges, a village on the road between Limours and Arpajon. It is possible that the children stopped there on their journeý to París, as Francis I did have a hunting lodge at Limours (see Winifred Stephens, p. 70) but, since the royal family is not a part of the tradition, perhaps Anne spent some time there with her father in 1519 or stayed there on her way home during the winter of 1521–2. See also Bruce, Marie, Anne Boleyn (New York, 1972), pp. 19–20Google Scholar.

27 Memoirs of Marguerite de Valois, queen of France, wife of Henry IV, of Madame de Pompadour of the court of Louis XV and of Catherine de Medici, queen of France, wife of Henri II (New York, 1910), p. 15Google Scholar; there are virtually no extant personal papers of Renée from her childhood; see Weitzel, Sophie, Renée of France, duchess of Ferrara (New York, 1883), pp. 22, 37 and 41Google Scholar; the Journal of Louise of Savoy was probably written by Francis du Moulin in 1522. See Orth, Myra Dickman, ‘Francis du Moulin and the Journal of Louise of Savoy’. Sixteenth Century Journal, XIII (1982), 55–66CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Even Margaret, Duchess of Alençon, left little evidence of her brother's first years as king; see Correspondance de Marguerite d' Angoulême, ed. Jourda, Pierre (Paris, 1930), p. 47Google Scholar; for some information about Renée's governesses see E. Rodocanachi, pp. 4–5; for the influence of the queen see Pierre Jourda, Marguerite d' Angoulême, 1, 43; for references to gossip based on myths see Lingard, John, The history of England (Dublin, 1878), IV, 232, note 4Google Scholar; and Lowinsky, Edward E., ‘A Music Book for Anne Boleyn’, Florilegium historiale: essays presented to Wallace K. Ferguson, ed. Rowe, J. G. and Stockdale, W. H. (Toronto, 1971), p. 229, note 72Google Scholar; in de Bourdeille, Pierre, de Brantôme, seigneur, Lives of Gallant Ladies, tr. Brown, Alec (London, 1961), pp. 274–5, 293–4, 357Google Scholar, stories are told about Mary Tudor, Renée, Margaret of Austria, and two of her nieces; see also Brantôme's (Euvres complétes, ed. Paul Lalanne (reprint, 1968), especially VIII.

28 Bulletin de la Société de l' histoire du Protestantisme français, XVII, 545, quoted by E. Rodocanachi, p. 26, note 5; Edward E. Lowinsky, pp. 186–7; Carles used a form of the verb ‘nourrir’, a strange choice when discussing a royal maid of honour; see also Paul Friedmann, II, 317, note 4.

29 William Camden, p. 2; Winifred Stephens, pp. 6–13; R. J. Knecht, p. 88; Claude was married on 18 May 1514 and gave birth to seven children before her death on 26 July 1524, the last three being born in August 1520, January 1522 and June 1523; for Sir Thomas's sponsorship see Letters and papers III (i) no. 306.

30 Letters and papers, III (i), nos. 1004, 1011; George Cavendish, pp. 32–8.

31 Letters and papers, III (ii), nos. 1762, p. 1559;IV (2), nos, 3105 (p. 1413) and 6085; Herbert, p. 257; for the reference to her dancing with the king see John Lingard, IV, 237; the interesting controversy about whether Wyatt was actually in love with Anne is of no importance to the thesis of this paper. In Women of the English Renaissance and Reformation, pp. 37–8, I did suggest that in 1527 when Queen Katherine asked him to translate a treatise of Petrarch for her, the poet surely was not then in competition with the king for Anne's favours; see also George Wyatt, ‘Extracts from the Life of the virtuous Christían and renowned Queen Anne Boleigne written at the close of the sixteenth century’, in Cavendish, George, The life of Cardinal Wolsey, ed. Singer, George, 2nd edn (London, 1827)Google Scholar, appendix; see also Byrne, Muriel St Clare, The letters of King Henry VIII (New York, 1968)Google Scholar.

32 Sir Thomas may possibly have got office in the royal household before 1522: in the draft of a letter to the Irish council of c. September 1520, Henry VIII referred to him as comptroller (State Papers, Henry VIII, II, 57). Since, however, no other evidence for such an appointment exists, the draft may express an intention which was not carried out.

33 Letters and papers, III (i), nos. 1519 (p. 1539) and 704; III (ii), no. 2481; and IV (i), no. 1939 (4); one difficulty with this speculation is that in February 1520 Mary Boleyn was surely not twelve years old. If Anne were born in May 1507 (the earliest month possible according to the suggestion of Henry Clifford, p. 81), her mother could probably not have had another infant before March or April 1508. It is possible there were personal reasons for speeding up the marriage. The king, who was present, may have found it inconvenient to have a wedding at court in March, or Sir Thomas, who was in France, may have wanted the family alliance confirmed before his return. Canonically marriages could take place as early as the seventh year but consummation was prohibited until the girl's twelfth year. See George Elliott Howard, 1, 337; for information about the importance of positions at court, especially the privy chamber, see Starkey, David Robert, ‘The King's Privy Chamber, 1485–1547’, Ph.D. dissertation, University of Cambridge (1973)Google Scholar.

34 For references to Pole see John Lingard, IV, 232, note 1; and Dictionary of National Biography; Philip Sergeant, p. 38 and Paul Friedmann, II, 324; Letters and papers, IV (2), nos. 1431 (8) for Viscount Rochford and 3105 for the rumours about the child's royal father.

35 Elton, G. R., Studies in Tudor and Stuart politics and government, III (Cambridge, 1983), 48CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

36 Letters and papers, III (i), CCCXXX, for Brewer's speculations; III (i), no. 704, for the Field of Cloth of Gold; IV (ii), 4408 for Carey's death; V, no. 1274 for the marquisate; V, no. 1484 for the 1532 trip to France; VII, appendix, no. 1655 for the clandestine marriage; and X, no. 450 for Francis' insult; see also James Gairdner, pp. 54—5; and Paul Friedmann, II, 13.