Eustace Chapuys, Imperial Ambassador (c1491-1556)
Eustace Chapuys was the second son of Louis Chapuys, a notary of Annecy in the duchy of Savoy, and of Guigone Dupuys. He became a doctor of civil and canon laws after studying at Turin University. By August 1526 he was the Duke of Bourbon's ambassador to Charles V's court in Granada. In the summer of 1527, after the death of the Duke of Bourbon in the sack of Rome, Chapuys joined the imperial service, working under Nicholas de Perrenot, seigneur de Granvelle. He arrived in England in September 1529 to begin working as Catherine of Aragon's adviser in negotiations regarding the annulment. He was her link to the Emperor and to Rome. He detested Anne Boleyn, never referring to her by name but as "the concubine" or "the putain" [whore].
Jane Seymour (c1508/09-1537)
Jane Seymour was born in 1508 or 1509, probably at the family seat, Wolf Hall in Wiltshire. She was the daughter of Sir John Seymour, soldier and courtier, and of Margery Wentworth. Like all of Henry VIII's wives, she was descended from Edward III. It is thought that she arrived at court around 1529. She served Catherine of Aragon and then Anne Boleyn as a lady-in-waiting. Her brothers, Edward and Thomas Seymour, were on the rise in the 1530s and it is thought that they and Sir Nicholas Carew coached Jane to appeal to the King.
The Lady Mary, formerly Princess Mary (1516-1558)
Mary was born on 18th February 1516 at Greenwich Palace and was the only surviving child of the marriage of Catherine of Aragon and Henry VIII. She lost both her legitimacy and her title of Princess when her parents' marriage was annulled in 1533. She refused to recognise her father's second wife, Anne Boleyn, as queen, saying that she knew of no queen apart from her mother.
Princess Elizabeth (1533-1603)
Elizabeth was born on 7th September 1533 at Greenwich Palace, the only surviving child of the marriage of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII. She was given her own household of staff at Hatfield, Hunsdon and then Eltham, and was put into the care of Lady Margaret Bryan. She was just two years old when her mother was executed in May 1536 and she was made illegitimate.
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500-1558)
Charles was born on 24th February 1500 to Joanna of Castile (Juana la Loca), sister of Catherine of Aragon, and to Philip I of Castile. His maternal grandparents were the Catholic Reyes, Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, and his paternal grandparents were Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, and Mary of Burgundy. He became King of Spain in 1516 and Holy Roman Emperor in 1519.
In 1521 Charles became betrothed to five year old Princess Mary, daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. However, in 1525, he married Isabella of Portugal. The couple had seven children: Philip II of Spain, Maria of Spain, Isabella, Ferdinand, Joan of Spain, John and Ferdinand.
Henry Courtenay, Marquis of Exeter (1498/9-1538)
Henry Courtenay was born circa 1498-9 and was the son of William Courtenay, Earl of Devon, and of Katherine, daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. In 1519 he married his second wife, Gertrude Blount, daughter of William Blount, fourth Baron Mountjoy, the Queen's chamberlain. Gertrude was a pious Catholic, associated with Elizabeth Barton, the Nun of Kent, and both Henry and Gertrude were religious conservatives whose sympathies lay with Catherine of Aragon.
Elizabeth Fitzgerald, Countess of Kildare (d.1548)
Elizabeth Fitzgerald (née Grey) was the daughter of Thomas Grey, first Marquess of Dorset, and of Cicely Bonville. She was the widow of Gerald Fitzgerald, ninth Earl of Kildare, who died in 1534. In 1536 she was a supporter of the Lady Mary.
Henry Pole, Baron Montagu (1492-1539)
Henry Pole was the eldest son of Sir Richard Pole and of Margaret Plantagenet, daughter of George, Duke of Clarence. His mother, Margaret Pole, was the Countess of Salisbury. She was a member of Catherine of Aragon's household and godmother and governess of the Lady Mary. His brother was Cardinal Reginald Pole. The family's sympathies lay with Catherine of Aragon.
John Skip (d.1552)
John Skip was a Norfolk man who studied at Gonville Hall, Cambridge, where he became a member of a group of Reformers who met at the White Horse tavern. He supported the King's annulment and became chaplain and almoner to Queen Anne Boleyn in 1535.
Sir Nicholas Carew (c.1496-1539)
Sir Nicholas Carew was born circa 1496 and was the eldest son of Sir Richard Carew of Beddington, Surrey, and of Maline Oxenbridge. Carew was brought up at court and was serving the King as a groom of the privy chamber by 1511. In 1515 he became an esquire of the body and in 1518 he became a gentleman of the privy chamber. His wife, Elizabeth, was the daughter of Sir Thomas Bryan, vice chamberlain of Catherine of Aragon, and of Lady Margaret Bryan who was governess to the Princess Mary and then to Princess Elizabeth.
Carew was best friends with his brother-in-law, Sir Francis Bryan. In 1535 he sheltered the King's fool who had angered the King by calling Anne Boleyn "a ribald" and the Princess Elizabeth "a bastard". He thus showed his clear sympathy with the Catholic conservatives, Catherine of Aragon and the Lady Mary.
Matthew Parker (1504-1575)
Matthew Parker was born in Norwich on 6th August 1504 and was educated at Corpus Christi College in Cambridge, where he became friends with a group of Reformers and was linked to Lutheran Thomas Bilney. He became one of Queen Anne Boleyn's chaplains in 1535, and Anne's patronage led to him being appointed Dean of the collegiate church of Stoke by Clare in Suffolk.
Sir Henry Norris (late 1490s-1536)
Sir Henry Norris was the son of Richard Norris. He married Mary Fiennes sometime before 1526 and the couple had three children before Mary's death circa 1530. Norris was Henry VIII's Groom of the Stool and was one of the King's best friends. By 1536, he was courting Anne Boleyn's cousin, Margaret Shelton.
Mark Smeaton (d.1536)
Mark was a talented musician who had been a member of Cardinal Wolsey's choir before joining the King's Chapel Royal. He became a Groom of the Privy Chamber in 1529 and was a member of the Boleyn circle.
Sir Francis Weston (c.1511-1536)
Sir Francis Weston was the son of Sir Richard Weston and Anne Sandys, a former lady-in-waiting to Catherine of Aragon. He became a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber in 1532 and was a popular courtier and member of the Boleyn circle.
Sir William Brereton (c.1487/1490-1536)
Sir William Brereton was the sixth son of a leading, landowning Cheshire family and himself became an important man in Cheshire and North Wales. He was married to Elizabeth Savage, daughter of Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester. He had a colourful reputation and was not a member of the Boleyn circle of friends.
Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury (1489-1556)
Thomas Cranmer was born in Nottinghamshire in 1489 to Thomas and Agnes Cranmer. At the age of 14 he attended Jesus College, Cambridge, where he studied for a Bachelor of Arts degree, followed by a Masters. He was then elected to a fellowship but had to relinquish this when he married. Unfortunately, his wife, Joan, died in childbirth. He married his second wife, Marguerite, in 1532.
In 1526, Cranmer was awarded a Doctorate of Divinity and from 1527 he was involved in the proceedings to get Henry VIII's first marriage to Catherine of Aragon annulled. He was consecrated as Archbishop of Canterbury on 30th March 1533 and opened a special court for the annulment proceedings on 10th May 1533. On 23rd May, Cranmer ruled that the marriage between Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon was against the will of God, the marriage was declared null and void. Five days later, on 28th May, Cranmer declared the marriage between Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn valid and on the 1st June he crowned Anne Boleyn Queen of England. In September 1533, he had the pleasure of baptising the couple's daughter, Elizabeth, and becoming her godfather.
Sir Thomas Wyatt the Elder (1503-1542)
Sir Thomas Wyatt, "the Father of English Poetry", was born in 1503 at Allington Castle, Kent. He was the son of Sir Henry Wyatt and Anne Skinner. In 1520, Wyatt married Elizabeth Brooke, the daughter of Lord Cobham. In 1521, the couple had
a son, Thomas Wyatt the Younger.
In 1524, Wyatt followed his father's example and started a career at court as Clerk of the King's jewels. In 1525 he was made Esquire of the Body and he went on to become an ambassador, undertaking many foreign missions for King Henry VIII. He served Anne Boleyn at her coronation in 1533 and was knighted in 1535.
Sir Richard Page (d.1548)
A gentleman of the privy chamber from 1516 and a man who started his court career in the employ of Cardinal Wolsey.
Sir Francis Bryan (c.1490-1550)
Sir Francis Bryan was born circa 1490 and was the first surviving son of Sir Thomas Bryan and Lady Margaret Bryan (née Bourchier). He was a cousin of Anne Boleyn, and had a reputation for liking rich clothing and for gambling. He was a popular courtier, skilled hunter and jouster, and lost an eye in a joust in 1526. Both Thomas Cromwell and the King referred to Bryan as "the Vicar of Hell".
Sir William Kingston (c.1476-1540)
Nothing is known of the early life of Sir William Kingston or of his first two marriages, but by 1534 he had married Mary Scrope, daughter of Richard Scrope and the widow of Edward Jerningham of Suffolk.1 From 1497-1509, he served Henry VII as a yeoman of the chamber and was a gentleman usher at the King's funeral. In the early years of Henry VIII's reign he served as a soldier and was knighted for his part in the Battle of Flodden. He served on the jury at the trial of the Duke of Buckingham in 1521and benefited from his fall. He represented Gloucestershire in the Parliaments of 1529 and 1536, and accompanied the King and Anne Boleyn to Calais in 1532. He was Constable of the Tower of London from 28th May 1524 until his death.
William Latymer (1498/9-1583)
William Latymer (Latimer) was the second son of William Latymer of Freston, Suffolk, and of his wife, Anne Bokinge. Latymer read canon law and arts at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he met Reformers like Matthew Parker. It is thought that Latymer was probably introduced to Anne Boleyn by Parker, who became one of Anne Boleyn's chaplains. In 1536 he was approached by Tristram Revell, a student of Cambridge, who wanted Anne's patronage for his translation of "Farrago rerum theologicarum". Latymer told Anne of the work but she refused to support it, probably because it was too radical for the vulnerable queen to be linked with at that time. In the spring of 1536, Latymer was in the Low Countries sourcing evangelical books for the Queen.
Henry Percy,
6th Earl of Northumberland (c.1502-1537)
Henry Percy was the eldest son of Henry Algernon Percy, fifth Earl of Northumberland, and of Katherine Spencer. He was brought up in Cardinal Wolsey's household and it was while he was there that he fell in love with Anne Boleyn on her return to the English court in late 1521. However, his father had already planned Percy's marriage to Mary Talbot, daughter of George Talbot, fourth Earl of Shrewsbury. In addition, Anne was meant to be marrying James Butler, son of Piers Butler of Ireland. As a consequence, Wolsey and Percy's father put a stop to the relationship between Percy and Anne Boleyn.
Percy married Mary Talbot in 1524 but the marriage was not happy. In 1532, Mary accused her husband of being pre-contracted to Anne Boleyn and Percy was examined by the Archbishops of York and Canterbury, He swore that there was no truth to the story.
Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk (1473-1554)
Thomas Howard was the eldest son of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk, and of Elizabeth Tilney. He was the brother of Elizabeth Boleyn (née Howard) and so was uncle to Anne Boleyn. Howard's father and grandfather had fought on Richard III's side at the Battle of Bosworth but Howard was able to work his way back into royal favour by fighting for the Crown against both the Cornish rebels and the Scots in 1497. He was made a Knight of the Garter in 1510, was created Earl of Surrey in 1514 and succeeded his father as Duke of Norfolk in 1524. In September 1514 he was prominent in leading the English army in defeating the Scots at the Battle of Flodden.
In the 1520s, he clashed with Cardinal Wolsey over foreign policy – he preferred war and Wolsey preferred diplomacy – and was involved with the Duke of Suffolk's and the Boleyn family's push for Wolsey to be removed from power. In the 1530s, Norfolk carried out diplomatic missions and advised the King on the situation in Ireland. As Lord Steward of England, he presided over the trials of Anne and George Boleyn, his niece and nephew in May 1536.
Jane Boleyn (née Parker, d. 1542)
Jane was the daughter of Henry Parker, the 10th Baron Morley, and of his wife Alice St John, from Great Hallingbury in Essex. She married George Boleyn, Anne Boleyn's brother, in late 1524 or early 1525. Although some historians and authors view the marriage as loveless, there is no evidence of this. Jane accompanied her sister-in-law and the King on their visit to Calais in 1532 and served Anne as a lady-in-waiting. In October 1534, Jane was banished from court temporarily after helping Anne in her attempt to get rid of a "young lady" who had caught the King's eye. Jane was also the person in whom Anne confided regarding the King's lack of sexual prowess.
The Executioner
Known as the "Hangman of Calais", the executioner beheaded Anne Boleyn with his famous "sword of Calais". Mary of Hungary2 referred to the executioner being from St Omer, as did The Spanish Chronicle,3 but the disbursements in Letters and Papers refer to "the executioner of Calais" being paid "100 crs., 23l. 6s. 8D" for "his reward and apparel".4 Sir William Kingston, Constable of the Tower of London, also referred to him as "the "executur" of Cales"5 and The Chronicle of Calais referred to him as "the hangman of Caleis".6
Although, in his novel "The French Executioner, C C Humphrey named the executioner as Jean Rombaud, this is simply because a "Jean Rombaud" was listed as the executioner in St Omer in the 1530s. We do not know who executed Anne Boleyn.
The Spanish Chronicle noted that the executioner was ordered "a week before"7 Anne's execution, so before a trial had even taken place.
Timeline of Anne Boleyn's Fall, 1536
7th January - Death of Catherine of Aragon
8th January - Henry VIII, and possibly Anne Boleyn, celebrate news of Catherine's death by dressing in yellow.
24th January - Henry VIII's jousting accident at Greenwich
29th January - Burial of Catherine of Aragon. Anne Boleyn miscarries
10th February - Record of Henry VIII showing favour to Jane Seymour
March 1536 - Act for the Suppression of the Lesser Monasteries
1st April - Chapuys meets with Catholic Conservatives and hears of their plans for Jane Seymour and a breach between Anne Boleyn and Thomas Cromwell
2nd April - John Skip preaches a controversial sermon
18th April - Chapuys tricked into recognising Anne Boleyn as Queen
23rd April - Sir Nicholas Carew elected to the Order of the Garter
24th April - Commissions of oyer and terminer set up for offences committed in Middlesex and Kent
25th April - King refers to Anne Boleyn as his "most dear and entirely beloved wife the Queen" and writes of his hope for a son
26th April - Anne Boleyn charges her chaplain, Matthew Parker, with the spiritual care of her daughter, Elizabeth
27th April - Writs issued summoning Parliament
28th April - The King's Council recorded as meeting "every day"
29th April - Chapuys records meetings between Cromwell and Dr Richard Sampson, an expert on canon law. Anne and Sir Henry Norris have an argument
30th April - King and Queen's visit to Calais is cancelled. Anne and Henry argue. Mark Smeaton is taken to Cromwell's house to be interrogated. He confesses to adultery with the Queen
1st May - May Day joust. Henry VIII rushes off with Sir Henry Norris and questions him
2nd May - Sir Henry Norris taken to the Tower of London, Smeaton is already there. Anne Boleyn is arrested and taken to the Tower. George Boleyn arrested at Whitehall and taken to the Tower
3rd May - Archbishop Cranmer writes to Henry VIII expressing his shock at finding out about Anne Boleyn's arrest. Anne speaks to her attendants in the Tower of her conversations with
Norris and Sir Francis Weston
4th May - Arrests of Sir Francis Weston and Sir William Brereton. Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford, sends a message to her husband
5th May - Sir Thomas Wyatt and Sir Richard Page are recorded as being imprisoned in the Tower. Sir Francis Bryan is ordered to London for questioning
6th May - Date of a letter traditionally attributed to Anne Boleyn and written to Henry VIII from her prison in the Tower
7th May - William Latymer, Anne Boleyn's chaplain, searched on his arrival in England
9th May - King had meetings with noblemen and gentlemen
10th May - Middlesex indictment drawn up
11th May - Kent indictment drawn up
12th May - Trial of Norris, Smeaton, Weston and Brereton at special commission of oyer and terminer. Found guilty and sentenced to death
13th May - Queen Anne Boleyn's household is broken up. Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, denies a pre-contract between himself and Anne Boleyn
14th May - Sir Nicholas Carew moves Jane Seymour to Chelsea. Cromwell informs Wallop and Gardiner of the Queen's "incontinent living"
15th May - Trials of Anne and George Boleyn. Both found guilty and sentenced to death
16th May - Archbishop Cranmer visits Anne Boleyn
17th May - Executions of Norris, Smeaton, Weston, Brereton and George Boleyn on Tower Hill. Cranmer declares the marriage between Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn null and void
18th May - Anne Boleyn's execution is postponed
19th May - Execution of Anne Boleyn within the Tower walls
20th May - Betrothal of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour
30th May - Marriage of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour
4th June - Jane Seymour proclaimed Queen at Greenwich
The Fall of Anne Boleyn: A Countdown Page 2
