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| Battle of Pavia |
War
William
Carey was given responsibility for the monies Henry intended to use in his war
on France; £49,000[i];
sure proof of Henry’s trust in William. Two years after the Field of the Cloth
of Gold, Thomas’s brother-in-law, the Earl of Surrey was leading English troops
to fight over the same land that had seen the embrace between Henry and
François.
By 1525 Emperor
Charles V had captured François at the battle of Pavia and his promises to Henry of renewed domination in France
and hints to Wolsey of the Papal tiara faded away. Henry and Wolsey were
furious and another volte-face took place. Wolsey was soon negotiating with the
Pope and when François was released in 1526 he too joined the anti-imperial
league against the Hapsburg family machinations. Out of control, Charles’
troops sacked Rome in 1527 and Charles was forced to hold his coronation by a
captive Pope at Bologna in 1529.
It may have
seemed to the contrary to his compeers but Charles claimed an indifference to
worldly affairs in a conversation with the Venetian ambassador;
‘Some people say I want to
be monarch of the world. My ideas and my achievements prove the contrary: my
intention is to fight not Christians but the infidel, and to see Italy and
Christendom living at peace.’[ii]
In early
1529 Imperial troops again bested the French at the battle of Landriano; François sued for peace at Cambrai. The continent was left mainly under
the control of the Hapsburgs and England, much to Henry’s chagrin, was ignored.
He had poured money into this war and was left with nothing; the treasury left
full by Henry VII was now empty; emptied not just by war, but also by Henry’s
personal extravagance.
The Rewards of a Royal Affair
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| Coat of Arms of Thomas Boleyn |
Mary Boleyn
seems to have been almost invisible at court; Henry preferred to keep his
amours secret. Whether the gifts and tasks heaped on Thomas Boleyn, while his
daughter was the king’s mistress, were as a result of that liaison or because
Thomas was valued by Henry in his own right is a moot point. But Thomas’s
appointment on an embassy to Spain in October 1521 was surely based on his own
merits; he had undertaken many such missions in the past.
But the
stewardships and keeperships in Kent, Norfolk, Essex and Nottinghamshire and
other honours are more suspect. In April 1522 Thomas was appointed Treasurer of
the Royal Household and on 23rd April 1523 Thomas was made a Knight of the Garter. He was further honoured by being
appointed Vice Chamberlain of the Household and then Chamberlain.
Thomas was
made Viscount Rochford on 18th June 1525, a title that came down to
him through his mother’s side of the family. Thomas was not pleased when, at
the same time, he was forced to resign from the post as Treasurer without any
financial restitution and for this he blamed Wolsey.
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| Ditton Park House |
William
Carey also received marks of appreciation from his king; in addition to the
Keepership of Beaulieu he was given a joint wardship on 12th May
1522; the following year he received an annuity of 50 marks[iii], another annuity of £100[iv] was granted later. Carey
was appointed Steward of the Duchy of Lancaster and keeper of the royal castle
of Pleshey.
Further
grants and estates followed; in May 1526 William was given the keepership of
Greenwich Palace and the keepership of Ditton Park; both were royal properties. By the following year William
Carey had landed estate worth £333, 6s 8d[v] for tax purposes. But
William was not greatly endowed with the cash needed to uphold his place at
court; courtiers and their wives were required to dress sumptuously.
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| Henry Parker by Durer |
In July 1524
Henry gave George Boleyn the manor of Grimston; in late 1524. In early 1525 George was married to Jane, daughter
of Henry Parker, Baron Morley and a remote cousin of
the king’s. According to Weir George was;
"[A] talented young
man... he was very good-looking and very promiscuous. In fact, according to George
Cavendish[vi], he
lived in 'bestial' fashion, forcing widows, deflowering virgins."[vii]
George was
given the post of Cup Bearer to the king in 1526 and was appointed as a
Gentleman of the Privy Chamber two years later; by then Henry was in the grip
of another passion.
The Younger Sister
By 1525 it
is likely that Henry’s sexual interests were now fixed on Anne, who had attracted
the attentions of Henry Percy, heir to the Earldom of
Northumberland, rather than her sister. According to George Cavendish, Wolsey’s secretary, Henry first
became attracted to Anne in 1523, but kept his feelings secret.
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| Henry Percy |
Anne and
Percy had different ideas and solemnly betrothed themselves before witnesses.
Percy was already betrothed to Lady Mary Talbot[viii] and Wolsey, as Percy’s master, laid
the matter before the king, who was not amused. Cavendish, in his biography of
his master, says that Henry confessed his secret desires to Wolsey who arranged
for the betrothal to be cancelled by the Earl, telling Percy that
‘His Highness intended to
have preferred Anne Boleyn unto another person, although she knoweth it not.’[ix]
Anne was furious
with Wolsey’s interference in her affairs; she had become known at court as a
trendsetter with her French manners and innovations in dress and now she was
being proclaimed as unfit to marry a Percy. She was ordered to rusticate at
Hever, where she remained for a year, returning to court in 1524 or 5.
The King in Earnest
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| Sir Thomas Wyatt |
On Shrove
Tuesday 1526 Henry appeared in the lists in a jousting costume of cloth of
gold, bearing the motto ‘Declare je nos’[x],
surmounted by a heart engulfed in flames. The object of his passion was
undoubtedly Anne Boleyn.
Anne was
refusing to barter her virginity for a tumble in Henry’s bed, presumably having
learned from her sister’s downfall. The refusal must have intrigued Henry, who
was very much in the habit of getting his own way. Anne started to show a
preference for Thomas Wyatt, a married man whose wife was well
known for her adulteries. George Wyatt claimed that Anne told Henry;
‘I think your Majesty speaks
these words in mirth to prove me, but without any intent of degrading your
princely self………..I beseech Your Highness most earnestly to desist………I would
rather lose my life than my honesty, which will be the greatest and best part
of the dowry I shall have to bring my husband.’[xi]
Anne
informed Henry that she knew that marriage between them was impossible. Henry
was smitten and sent Anne expensive presents that she kept; the keeping of
which gave Henry hope that Anne might relent. In late 1526 or early 1527 Henry
informed Anne of his firm intention to marry her, once he was divorced from
Katherine.
Divorce
_-_Pope_Clement_VII_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg/495px-Sebastiano_del_Piombo_(Italian)_-_Pope_Clement_VII_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg) |
| Clement VII |
In 1527
Henry started proceedings to annul his marriage to Katherine, but Katherine had
an ace in the hole; her nephew had the Pope in his custody and Charles V was
not prepared to allow his aunt to be discarded;
‘The Emperor is determined
to maintain the rights of his aunt, and will never consent to the divorce.’[xii]
When Clement VII escaped from captivity, Henry’s secretary was given an
audience and Clement agreed that if Henry was divorced from Katherine, he could
marry again within prohibited degrees. Dr Pedro Ortiz, a Spanish lawyer sent by
Charles to defend Katherine’s case, claimed in 1533;
‘It is certain that some
time ago [Henry VIII] sent to ask His Holiness for a dispensation to marry
[Anne Boleyn] notwithstanding the affinity between them on account of his
having committed adultery with her sister.’[xiii]
In 1527
Thomas’s sister Alice Clere became involved in a legal dispute with Lady Fineaux,
widow of Sir John Fineaux, a former Chief Justice of the
King’s Bench, over an outstanding debt of £400[xiv]. She retained Thomas
Cromwell, who advised Thomas that there was no remedy for the case in Common
Law;
‘Unless your lordship will
move my lord’s grace [Wolsey] to grant an injunction to Lady Feneux[to] no
further prosecute the [writ] of execution and to allow no writ of liberate[xv] to go out of
Chancery until the whole matter be heard.’[xvi]
Bibliography
Cardinal
Wolsey – Mandell Creighton, McMillan & Co 1891
Thomas
Cromwell – Robert Hutchinson, Phoenix 2008
Henry VIII –
Robert Lacey, George Weidenfeld & Nicholson & Book Club Associates 1992
The Earlier
Tudors – JD Mackie, Oxford University Press 1992
Thomas More
– Richard Marius, Weidenfeld & Nicholson 1993
Rivals in
Power – David Starkey (ed), Toucan Books 1990
The Six
Wives of Henry VIII – Alison Weir, Pimlico 1992
Mary Boleyn
– Alison Weir, AudioGO Ltd 2012
www.wikipedia.en
[i]
In 2013 the relative: historic standard of
living value of that income or
wealth is £29,310,000.00
economic
status value of that income or
wealth is £797,800,000.00 economic power value
of that income or wealth is £10,430,000,000.00 www.measuringworth.com
[ii]
The Holy Roman Empire - Heer
[iii]
Worth £4785 in 2014
[iv]
In 2013 the relative: historic standard of
living value of that income or
wealth is £57,960.00
economic
status value of that income or
wealth is £1,568,000.00economic power value
of that income or wealth is £20,700,000.00 www.measuringworth.com
[v]
In 2013 the relative: historic standard of living value of that income or wealth is £199,400.00
economic
status value of that income or
wealth is £5,684,000.00 economic power value
of that income or wealth is £72,130,000.00 www.measuringworth.com
[ix]
The Six Wives of Henry VIII - Weir
[x]
Declare I dare not
[xi]
The Six Wives of Henry VIII - Weir
[xii]
Ibid
[xiii]
Mary Boleyn - Weir
[xiv]
In 2013 the relative: historic standard of
living value of that income or
wealth is £239,300.00
economic
status value of that income or
wealth is £6,821,000.00 economic power value
of that income or wealth is £86,550,000.00 www.measuringworth.com
[xv]
A writ demanding that lands, tenements and chattels are returned to their
rightful owner
[xvi]
Thomas Cromwell - Hutchinson
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