Of late Sarah has found herself more and more drawn to the least famous of the Boleyn siblings and has dedicated much time to reading and researching Mary’s life.

In this guest article Sarah outlines what we do know about Mary and also looks at some of the great mysteries that surround her life.

I hope you enjoy the article!

Mary Boleyn: Fact vs Fiction by Sarah Bryson

It has been proposed that this portrait by Lucas Horenbout, once thought to be Anne Boleyn, is in fact the true face of Mary Boleyn.

If you are interested in Tudor history you have probably heard of Anne Boleyn. She was the second wife of King Henry VIII and Queen Consort of England. Much has been written about the life of Anne Boleyn from debate over the date of her birth, her role in the English Reformation, to the tragic details of her fall and execution. Yet Anne Boleyn had an older sister, Mary. Mary Boleyn was the sister of one of the most famous Queens of England and yet so little has been detailed and recorded about her life. She lead quite a fascinating life, at one point even defying the social norms and the wishes of her father, and her sister the Queen and following her heart to marry for love. In this short piece I will outline some of the facts that are known about Mary’s life and some of the great mysteries that surround her.

Read the full article here.

The Crown by Nancy Bilyeau

To celebrate the UK release of the historical thriller ‘The Crown‘ by Nancy Bilyeau, I am delighted to share with you a guest article that Nancy has written about George Boleyn.

I am currently reading The Crown and enjoying every moment of it! I was hooked from the very first line,

“When a burning is announced, the taverns of Smithfield order extra barrels of ale, but when the person to be executed is a woman and one of noble birth, the ale comes by the cartload.”

I relish returning home in the evenings and losing myself in the pages of this truly engrossing story. Here is a little taste…

George Boleyn
By Nancy Bilyeau

On May 15, 1536, took place one of the most sensational trials of the 16^th century. George Boleyn, the brother of Queen Anne, answered charges of high treason—that he had committed incest with his sister and conspired at the king’s death.

Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII, had directly before been found guilty of treason. A jury declared that she had committed adultery with her brother and four other men. The Lord Mayor of London said, “I could not observe anything in the proceedings against her, but that they were resolved to make an occasion to get rid of her at any price.”

It would seem impossible that any other verdict than guilty could be reached for George Boleyn. Yet after hearing the evidence, Viscount Rochford defended himself “so well that several of those present wagered ten to one that he would be acquitted, especially as no witnesses were produced against him,” said a contemporary.

Read the full article here.

At the Mercy of the Queen by Anne Barnhill

A sweeping tale of sexual seduction and intrigue at the court of Henry VIII, At the Mercy of the Queen is a rich and dramatic debut historical novel about Madge Shelton, cousin and lady-in-waiting to Anne Boleyn.

At the innocent age of fifteen, Lady Margaret Shelton arrives at the court of Henry VIII and quickly becomes the confidante of her cousin, Queen Anne Boleyn. But she soon finds herself drawn into the perilous web of Anne’s ambition.

Desperate to hold onto the king’s waning affection, Anne schemes to have him take her guileless young cousin as mistress, ensuring her husband’s new paramour will owe her loyalty to the queen. But Margaret has fallen deeply in love with a handsome young courtier. She is faced with a terrible dilemma: give herself to the king and betray the love of her life or refuse to become his mistress and jeopardize the life of the her cousin, Queen Anne.

At the Mercy of the Queen by Anne Barnhill is the story of Anne Boleyn told through the eyes of her young cousin, Madge Shelton. Madge arrives at court as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Anne Boleyn but is unfamiliar with the machinations of the Tudor court and relies heavily on the guidance of her mistress.

Madge soon becomes one of Anne’s most trusted confidantes and privy to the queen’s innermost thoughts and feelings. While striving to help Anne keep the love of her king – sacrificing much in the process – she finds herself desperately trying to fend off the unwanted passes of a very sly Sir Henry Norris.

As the king’s love for Anne fades, Madge’s love for the Duke of Suffolk’s illegitimate son, Arthur Brandon, intensifies. Although we know how the story ends for Anne and Henry, Madge and Arthur’s fate is uncertain and I found myself eagerly wishing for a happy ending.

Barnhill has done a wonderful job of weaving fact and fiction and for the most part, has stuck to the facts but where history falls silent, Barnhill has employed a certain amount of artistic license. The result, in my opinion, is a fresh view of these well-worn characters and a highly engaging and absorbing story.

I turned the last page feeling like I had seen another side to Anne, a much more human side. I was also left with a desire to learn more about Barnhill’s young heroine. Who was the real Madge Shelton?

At the Mercy of the Queen is a tale of love, loyalty and friendship and a must read for fans of historical fiction and romance alike.

(Read my interview with Anne Barnhill here.)

Miniature Whistle Pendant - possibly a gift from Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn

By family tradition, Henry VIII’s first gift to Anne Boleyn was a gold and enamel ‘pendant in the form of a pistol, chased with scrolling foliage’ (Starkey, 1991, p. 115).

A snake is entwined around the barrel and it contains ‘a set of tooth and ear picks, with spear, scythe and spatula shaped blades’ (Starkey, 2003, p.11).

The whistles were designed like pieces of jewellery and used to summon servants and hounds (Starkey, 2003, p.11). In this portrait of Nicholas Bacon we see him wearing one shaped like a dragon.

Sir Nicholas Bacon, 1579.

These devices were sewn onto the King’s masque costumes in large quantities. In September 1510, Robert Amadas was paid £266 for ‘wreaths, hearts and roses of fine gold’; of which many were ‘lost off the King’s back’, stolen or ‘given away at his pleasure.’ (Starkey, 1991, p. 115)

A separate tradition has Anne Boleyn giving this pendant to a Captain Gwyn, officer of the guard, who supposedly escorted her to the scaffold on the morning of her execution. She is said to have given this to him in acknowledgement of his ‘respectful conduct’ and told him that it had been the King’s first gift to her and ‘that a serpent formed part of the device, and a serpent the giver had proved to her.’ (Weir, p. 265)

According to Weir, Agnes Strickland discovered that the Gwyn family still owned the trinket in the 1840s, however Weir doubts the authenticity of the tale.

Professor Ives in The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn echoes these sentiments,

‘There is no contemporary record of Anne giving gifts on the scaffold, which must cast doubt on the pendant supposedly given to a Captain Gwyn’ (p. 407).

Apart from there being no contemporary record, one must seriously question whether Anne would have so publicly criticised the King knowing that this would seriously jeopardise the safety of those that would be left behind – most importantly, her two year old daughter Elizabeth.

Furthermore, it was simply not in keeping with Tudor scaffold etiquette. When considering how Anne could have gone to her death without protesting her innocence, instead acquiescing in such injustice, Ives points out,

‘Convention demanded it; religion demanded it, and it would be Elizabeth who would suffer from the luxury of defying the king and his supposed justice.’ (p. 358).

Anne Boleyn’s scaffold speech makes the pendant tale all the more unlikely,

Good Christian people, I am come hither to die, according to the law, for by the law I am judged to die, and therefore I will speak nothing against it. I come here only to die, and thus to yield myself humbly to the will of the King, my lord. And if, in my life, I did ever offend the King’s Grace, surely with my death I do now atone. I come hither to accuse no man, nor to speak anything of that whereof I am accused, as I know full well that aught I say in my defence doth not appertain to you. I pray and beseech you all, good friends, to pray for the life of the King, my sovereign lord and yours, who is one of the best princes on the face of the earth, who has always treated me so well that better could not be, whereof I submit to death with good will, humbly asking pardon of all the world. If any person will meddle with my cause, I require them to judge the best. Thus I take my leave of the world, and of you, and I heartily desire you all to pray for me. Oh Lord, have mercy on me! To God I commend my soul.

The pendant is now housed in the British Galleries in room 58E of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Stephen Gardiner

This letter was written by Anne Boleyn on 4 April 1529 and is important because not many of Anne’s letters from the period of the divorce survive and, furthermore, it demonstrates the personal interest Anne took in the divorce proceedings.

Stephen Gardiner was sent to Pope Clement VII on a number of occasions to try and persuade him to grant Henry VIII’s wish and annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. His missions though proved disappointing, as he was never able to persuade the Pope to accede to Henry’s request.

In this letter Anne refers to Gardiner’s previous mission, with Edward Foxe, to Italy – one that had obviously proven disappointing to Anne. Elizabeth Norton offers some background information on previous embassies:

‘The pair had visited the Pope at Orvieto and received his confirmation that he would satisfy the King as far as he was able. On hearing this, Foxe had rushed back to England, sailing from Calais in April 1528. When he arrived at the court at Greenwich Henry commanded him to go straight to Anne’s chamber. The couple were pleased to her the news, which led, in June 1528, to the Pope agreeing to send Cardinal Campeggio to England to hear the divorce case.’

Anne Boleyn to Stephen Gardiner, 4 April 1529

A copy of Anne Boleyn's letter to Stephen Gardiner

Master Stephen.

I thank you for my letter, wherein I perceive the willing and faithful mind you have to do my pleasure, not doubting but as much as it is possible for man’s wit to imagine, you will do. I pray God to send you well to speed in all matters, so that you will put me in a study how to reward your service. I do trust in God you shall not repent it, and that the end of this journey shall be more pleasant to me than your first, for that was but a rejoicing hope, which ceasing, the lack of it does put to the more pain, and they that are partakers with me, as you do know. Therefore I do trust that this hard beginning shall make the better ending.

Master Stephen, I send you here the cramp-rings for you, and Master Gregory, and Master Peter; pray you to distribute them both, as she, that (you may assure them) will be glad to do them any pleasure which shall be in my power. And thus I make an end, praying God send you good health.

Written at Greenwich the 4^th day of April,

By your assured friend,

Anne Boleyn

Queen Anne Boleyn

What a great year for Tudor enthusiasts living in England! The Boleyn Blickling Festival will run from the 17th-20th May 2012 and promises to be ‘a feast of all things Anne Boleyn’.

Historians, novelists, costumiers and musicians will all come together to celebrate the life of Queen Anne Boleyn, who most of today’s historians (the debate about her year of birth has raged for centuries!) believe was born at Blickling.

Confirmed speakers include Eric Ives, Alison Weir, Suzannah Dunn, Sarah Gristwood, David Loades, George Bernard, Neil Storey, Suzannah Lipscomb and Harriet Castor.

I don’t think this is an event I can miss, so I am working very hard to get there… More on this to follow soon.

Visit the Boleyn Festival Blickling for more information.

Queen Katherine Parr Quincentenary, Sudeley Castle

2012 is also 500 years since the birth of Katherine Parr and Sudeley Castle is celebrating the life of this Tudor queen – who lived, died and is entombed on their grounds – by hosting a range of historical, literary and musical events throughout the year.

Highlights include Tudor family fun days, guest lectures, a champagne reception with Dr David Starkey, a Tudor banquet and the grand finale – a recreation of Katherine Parr’s funeral.

For information on dates, times and events please visit Sudeley Caste.

Sudeley Castle in one my favourite places in the world and I would love to be a part of these celebrations.

Be sure to let me know if you’ll be attending any of these wonderful events.

Anne Boleyn, attributed to John Hoskins

On the 29 January 1536, Anne Boleyn miscarried.

The details appear in Chapuys’ dispatch to Charles V dated February 10:

‘On the day of the interment the Concubine had an abortion which seemed to be a male child which she had not borne 3½ months, at which the King has shown great distress. The said concubine wished to lay the blame on the duke of Norfolk, whom she hates, saying he frightened her by bringing the news of the fall the King had six days before. But it is well known that is not the cause, for it was told her in a way that she should not be alarmed or attach much importance to it. Some think it was owing to her own incapacity to bear children, others to a fear that the King would treat her like the late Queen, especially considering the treatment shown to a lady of the Court, named Mistress Semel, to whom, as many say, he has lately made great presents. The Princess’s gouvernante, her daughters, and a niece, have been in great sorrow for the said abortion, and have been continually questioning a lady who is very intimate with the Princess whether the said Princess did not know the said news of the abortion, and that she might know that, but they would not for the world that she knew the rest, meaning that there was some fear the King might take another wife. The Princess is well. She changed her lodging on Saturday last, and was better accompanied on her removal and provided with what was necessary to her than she had been before. She had an opportunity of distributing alms on the way, because her father had placed about 100,000 crowns at her disposal. It is rumoured that the King, as Cromwell sent to inform me immediately after the Queen’s death, means to increase her train and exalt her position. I hope it may be so, and that no scorpion lurks under the honey. I think the King only waited to summon the said Princess to swear to the statutes in expectation that the concubine would have had a male child, of which they both felt assured. I know not what he will do now. I have suggested to the Princess to consider if it be not expedient, when she is pressed to take the oath, if she be reduced to extremity, to offer that if the King her father have a son she will condescend to his will, and that she might at once begin throwing out some such hint to her gouvernante. I will inform you of her reply.’

Continue reading here.

Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel

Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel is the sequel to the Man Booker Prize winning Wolf Hall. I am really looking forward to reading this but unfortunately we all have to wait a little longer.

Australian release date: 01 May 2012

UK release date:10 May 2012

For now you can enjoy the synopsis!

‘My boy Thomas, give him a dirty look and he’ll gouge your eye out. Trip him, and he’ll cut off your leg,’ says Walter Cromwell in the year 1500. ‘But if you don’t cut across him he’s a very gentleman. And he’ll stand anyone a drink.’

By 1535 Thomas Cromwell, the blacksmith’s son, is far from his humble origins. Chief Minister to Henry VIII, his fortunes have risen with those of Anne Boleyn, Henry’s second wife, for whose sake Henry has broken with Rome and created his own church. But Henry’s actions have forced England into dangerous isolation, and Anne has failed to do what she promised: bear a son to secure the Tudor line. When Henry visits Wolf Hall, Cromwell watches as Henry falls in love with the silent, plain Jane Seymour. The minister sees what is at stake: not just the king’s pleasure, but the safety of the nation. As he eases a way through the sexual politics of the court, its miasma of gossip, he must negotiate a ‘truth’ that will satisfy Henry and secure his own career. But neither minister nor king will emerge undamaged from the bloody theatre of Anne’s final days.

In ‘Bring up the Bodies’, sequel to the Man Booker Prize-winning ‘Wolf Hall’, Hilary Mantel explores one of the most mystifying and frightening episodes in English history: the destruction of Anne Boleyn. This new novel is a speaking picture, an audacious vision of Tudor England that sheds its light on the modern world. It is the work of one of our great writers at the height of her powers.

Anne Barnhill in her Tudor shift, stomacher and red petticoat

I am delighted to welcome Anne Clinard Barnhill, author of At the Mercy of the Queen: A Novel of Anne Boleyn, back to On the Tudor Trail and excited to share, not only our interview but also details of a book giveaway made possible by Anne’s generosity!

You can read my interview with Anne here and an entertaining guest post by this author entitled ‘Playing Dress-Up’ here.

All you need to do to be in the running to win an autographed copy of At the Mercy of the Queen, is leave a comment after our interview detailing why you would like to win this book before January 19, 2012.

Once all entries are in, Anne will select one lucky winner! It’s as easy as that.

Now, enjoy our interview and don’t forget to leave a comment!

Wicked Women of Tudor England: Queens, Aristocrats, Commoners (Queenship and Power)

Just a quick post to bring to your attention a new book that will be released on April 10, 2012 called ‘Wicked women of Tudor England : Queens, Aristocrats, Commoners (Queenship and Power)’ by Retha M. Warnicke.

Contents

I have not been able to find a synopsis but did find mention of a project that Warnicke worked on entitled ‘Re-Inventing the Wicked Women of Tudor England’ described here as revealing:

‘how historians have validated negative gossip about Alice More, Anne Boleyn, Katherine Howard, the Duchess of Somerset and the Countess of Leicester. This gossip, mostly mined from diplomatic dispatches or Catholic polemical literature, was spread by individuals who had little or no personal contact with the women they slandered. The context for her research is the gender and cultural hierarchy that privileged men.’

Anne Seymour, Duchess of Somerset (née Stanhope)

For those of you interested in reading Warnicke’s article ‘Inventing the Wicked Women of Tudor England: Alice More, Anne Boleyn, and Anne Stanhope’, originally published in Quidditas: Journal of the Rocky Mountain Medieval and Renaissance Association, Vol. 20 (1999), click here.

I will endeavour to keep you updated as more information on this title arises.