Hotel de Cluny in Paris
Background
In 1514, shifting political alliances meant that Anne Boleyn was recalled from the court of Archduchess Margaret and placed as a lady in waiting to the new queen consort of France, Mary Tudor. Anne’s command of the French language and her familiarity with the culture were of great help to the new queen.
King Louis dismissed most of the Queen’s English maids but it is likely that Anne Boleyn joined her new mistress in Paris around the time of her coronation on November 5.
It seems that married life to such a young lady proved hazardous to King Louis and he died on 1 January 1515 after only a few months of marriage. His successor was 20-year-old Francis.
Connection to Anne Boleyn
In the weeks following the death of old Louis, Francis I kept a close eye on Mary Tudor. Eager to learn whether or not she was pregnant with an heir to the throne, he sent her to the Hotel de Cluny to spend six weeks in seclusion (Wilkinson, p.g. 30).
Anne and Mary Boleyn remained in the service of the widowed queen until her marriage to the Duke of Suffolk and her return to England (Weir, p.g. 150).
Anne accompanied her mistress during part of her stay at the Hotel de Cluny. During Mary’s period of mourning, Francis I dismissed her English attendants but once her seclusion was over the French ladies were dismissed and her English attendants recalled. It is possible that Anne and Mary Boleyn were witnesses to Mary’s marriage to Charles Brandon.
Hotel de Cluny
The Hotel was started in 1334 and used as a house for the abbots of Cluny. It was rebuilt in its present form between 1485-1500 and combines gothic and renaissance styles.
Today the Hotel de Cluny is a museum in Paris, France and houses a variety of important medieval artefacts. Of particular importance are The Lady and the Unicorn tapestries, from the late 15th century, considered one of the greatest works of art of the Middle-Ages in Europe.
Another fabulous stop On the Tudor Trail.
For information on visiting this Museum click here.
References:
Weir, A. The Six Wives of Henry VIII, 2007.
Wilkinson, J. The Early Loves of Anne Boleyn, 2009.
Other Sources:
Ives, E. The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn, 2004.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musée_de_Cluny
I am really happy about your research about places where Anne Boleyn stayed in France. I never imagined that she would have stayed at Hötel de Cluny !… One of the things that I would most like to discover is what she did in France, how she lived, who she met, how she was considered. It would help to better understand her career in England. I hope you find more French places where she stayed for our Tour of Anne Boleyn’s places. I am wondering if in Calais, there still exist buildings in which Anne stayed on the state visit of 1532.
Louis XII, King of France, « Father of the People », was only 53 when he died on January 1st 1515. He married Mary Tudor on October 9th, 1514, because he had the same problem as Henry VIII : he wanted a son !
There was a 34 years’ difference between Louis and Mary. When we look at Hollywood actors and actresses, we see quite a lot of them married to people much younger than they are. For example, here are people who did better than the 34 years’ difference between Louis XII and Mary Tudor : Woody Allen and Soon-Yi (35 years difference), Clint Eastwood and Dina (35 years), James Wood and Ashley (39 years’ difference) etc… Louis XII was unlucky as regards history, because the propagandists of his cousin, son-in-law and young successor, King Francis 1st (who was only 20 at the time) spread the rumour about Louis XII’s senility and sexual impotence and added that he had worn himself out trying to conceive a son with Mary Tudor (In Arlette Jouanna, La France du XVIe siècle : 1483 1598, PUF, 1996, p. 688). It is true that it is a good story ! I kept repeating it, because I found it so funny until I discovered that this rumour was spread by propagandists… Francis must have been so impatient to take the throne ! I can imagine all the ridiculous things he must have invented about Louis !!! That’s why I have a tendency to side with Louis who was a good king.