Alas! Quote the first, with full heavy care,
And countenance sad, piteous, and lamentable,
George Boleyn I am, that now doth appear;
Some time of Rochford Viscount honourable,
And now a vile wretch, most miserable.14
This vilification continued for many years, during which, George and Anne Boleyn each came to be seen as persona non grata. But on Mary I's death, Anne's daughter Elizabeth came to the throne, and to a certain extent her mother came back into favour. This did not completely prevent Anne's continued vilification, or that of her brother, and although Elizabeth's ascension prevented her mother from being written out of history, George's immortality remained uncertain. Even today, despite all the evidence to the contrary, there are those who insist on George and Anne's guilt. This view is not helped by fictional works, some of which demonise the Boleyns, or play on the incest allegation for dramatic effect.
Love or hate them, George and Anne Boleyn, whether together or individually, were hard to ignore in a way with which plain, quiet Jane Seymour could never compete. No wonder, then, that Anne remains the most famous of Henry's queens. This book opened by noting that George and Anne were an immensely attractive pair, and that the court was a much less glamorous place without them. When they and the other four men died, Henry lost his six main sources of entertainment. The court must have seemed very dull in their absence. It is not surprising that following the Boleyns' fall, Henry aged rapidly. Within three years he became a flaccid, bloated, petulant old man who was never again able to fully capture the lively, intellectual, witty atmosphere of the Boleyn court. If he ever regretted his actions of 1536, this would no doubt have been because his gifted friends were no longer alive to entertain him. Their brightness had been snuffed out way too soon.
The court only regained its Boleyn charisma under Anne's daughter. Elizabeth's reign was one of the most glorious of any English monarch, and England prospered as never before. Under Elizabeth, England remained a Protestant country, and to this extent Anne and George Boleyn were eventually vindicated. The fear, which George expressed on the scaffold, of a return to the orthodox Catholic faith was only temporary. For this at least, George Boleyn would have felt that he did not die entirely in vain.
Part 4 - Additional Information
Chronology
28 June 1491 Birth of Henry VIII
21 April 1509 Death of Henry VII and accession of Henry VIII
11 June 1509 Marriage of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon
24 June 1509 Coronation of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon
c. 1499/1500 Birth of Mary Boleyn
c. 1501 Birth of Anne Boleyn
c. 1502-1504 Births of Thomas and Henry Boleyn
c. 1504/1505 Birth of George Boleyn
c. 1505-06 The Boleyn family move from Blickling Hall in Norfolk to Hever Castle in Kent
1513 Anne Boleyn travels to the Low Countries to serve Margaret of Austria
1514 Mary Boleyn travels to France as lady-in-waiting to Mary Tudor, where she is joined by Anne
Christmas 1514 George Boleyn appears in a Christmas Melee at the court of Henry VIII
c. 1515-16 George is appointed page to the King
18 February 1516 Catherine of Aragon gives birth to the Princess Mary
15 June 1519 Birth of Henry VIII's illegitimate son, Henry Fitzroy
c. 1519 Mary Boleyn returns from France and has an adulterous relationship with the King, which may have begun as early as 1519 and finished as late as 1525.
4 February 1520 Mary Boleyn marries William Carey
June 1520 Field of the Cloth of Gold meeting between the Kings of France and England
Late 1521 Anne Boleyn returns from France
1 March 1522 The The Château Pageant featuring Anne and Mary Boleyn, and Jane Parker
April 1522 Thomas and George Boleyn receive grants of various properties previously belonging to the executed Duke of Buckingham, including Tunbridge
c. 1524 Mary Boleyn gives birth to Catherine Carey
June 1524 George receives the grant of Grimston Manor, the first royal grant in his sole name
Late 1524/early 1525 George marries Jane Parker
c. 1525/1526 Anne first attracts the attention of the king
June 1525 Thomas Boleyn becomes Lord Rochford
January 1526 George loses his position in the Privy Chamber following the Eltham Ordinances. The same month he is appointed cupbearer to the King
March 1526 Mary Boleyn gives birth to Henry Carey
June 1528 George Boleyn travels with the court to Waltham Abbey where he contracts the disease known as sweating sickness. Anne and Thomas Boleyn also contract the disease at Hever Castle. All three survive.
22 June 1528 William Carey dies of sweating sickness
1528 George is appointed Master of the Buckhounds
26 September 1528 George is appointed Esquire to the Body
15 November 1528 George is appointed keeper of the Palace of Beaulieu
1 February 1529 George is appointed chief steward of Beaulieu
27 July 1529 George is appointed governor of St Bethlehem Hospital
October 1529 George is knighted
October 1529 George escorts the new imperial ambassador, Eustace Chapuys, to court
October 1529 George is appointed Ambassador to France and attends his first embassy to France at the end of the month
c. November 1529 George is restored to the Privy Chamber as a gentleman of the Privy Chamber
8 December 1529 Thomas, Lord Rochford becomes the Earl of Wiltshire, and George is granted the courtesy title of Lord Rochford. This ceases to become a courtesy title the following year
December 1529 George receives annuities from Cardinal Wolsey's estates of £200 and 200 marks
End February 1530 George returns from a four month embassy to France
10 February 1531 George delivers various tracts to Convocation to persuade them to agree to recognising Henry as head of the Church of England
March 1532 George and a group of leading courtiers attend a meeting with the clergy demanding their submission
16 May 1532 Formal submission of the clergy.
1 September 1532 Anne Boleyn is created Marchioness of Pembroke
11 October 1532 The King, the Boleyns and leading courtiers set sail for Calais where Anne is introduced to the King of France as Queen-in-waiting
25 January 1533 Anne Boleyn marries King Henry VIII in a secret ceremony at Whitehall
5 February 1533 George is called to Parliament for the first time
11 March 1533 George receives a warrant to travel to France to advice King Francis of the marriage, and to raise with him the differences between England and Scotland
8 April 1533 George returns from France with a wedding gift for his sister from Francis
April 1533 George is appointed the wardship of Edmund Sheffield
29 May 1533 George attends his third embassy to France (with his uncle, the Duke of Norfolk) to be present at a meeting scheduled between the Pope and the King of France
1 June 1533 The Coronation of Queen Anne Boleyn
28 July 1533 George arrives back in England with news that the Pope has excommunicated Henry
8 August 1533 George returns to France with instructions to try and prevent the meeting between the Pope and Francis until the threat of excommunication is lifted
End August 1533 George and Norfolk return to England
7 September 1533 Anne gives birth to the Princess Elizabeth
10 September 1533 Princess Elizabeth's christening at the Church of Observant Friars in Greenwich
October 1533 George is granted the Palace of Beaulieu, and immediately moves in
April 1534 The Act of Succession, enacted the previous month, comes into force
16 April 1534 George travels to France for his fourth diplomatic mission to urge Francis to adopt similar legislation against the Pope as that taken in England, and t
o arrange a meeting between the two kings, Anne,and Francis' sister
May 1534 George returns to England
16 June 1534 George is appointed Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports and Constable of Dover Castle
7 July 1534 George receives instructions to travel to France to reschedule the meeting between the Kings due to Anne's pregnancy
27 July 1534 George returns to England with confirmation that Francis had agreed to defer the meeting
Summer 1534 Anne has her first miscarriage/stillbirth
Autumn 1534 Lady Rochford is banished from court for allegedly conspiring with Anne to have a rival removed
Autumn 1534 Mary Boleyn is banished from court for falling pregnant and marrying William Stafford without permission
11 November 1534 The Admiral of France arrives in England, where he is escorted and entertained by George on the way to London
December 1534 George allegedly has a quarrel with his cousin, Francis Bryan, in which the King sides against his brother-in-law
February 1535 The Act of Supremacy, enacted in November 1534, comes into force
10 April 1535 George receives a grant of one of Thomas More's Kent Manors and sells it immediately afterwards
4 May 1535 George and his father are present at the executions of the Carthusian monks
20 May 1535 George arrives in France on his sixth, and final, diplomatic mission to negotiate a marriage between the Princess Elizabeth and the King of France's third son
22 May 1535 George and Norfolk meet the Admiral of France, but no agreement can be reached
24 May 1535 George returns to England for further instructions, arriving in London the following day. He sought a lengthy meeting with Anne before reporting to the King
Beginning of June 1535 George returns to France with instructions not to compromise, which results in the meeting breaking up in acrimony on 17th June
22 June 1535 Execution of John Fisher
1 July 1535 Trial of Thomas More, at which George and Thomas Boleyn form part of the special commission of oyer and terminer to hear the case
6 July 1535 Execution of Thomas More
Summer 1535 Demonstration in favour of the Princess Mary, at which Lady Rochford is alleged to have taken an active role
1535 Jane Seymour becomes one of Anne's ladies-in-waiting
7 January 1536 Death of Catherine of Aragon
29 January 1536 Anne has her second miscarriage
4 February 1536 Lord La Warr's proxy vote goes to George
March 1536 Further grants to George and his father, but an inventory of all grants made to them is prepared
18 April 1536 Eustace Chapuys is summoned to court to discuss an imperial alliance, where he is met and entertained by George. Chapuys is manoeuvred into recognising Anne as queen for the first time
23 April 1536 George fails to receive the Order of the Garter
24 April 1536 The King authorises the setting up of two special commissions of oyer and terminer
30 April 1536 Mark Smeaton is arrested
1 May 1536 May day joust at which George and Henry Norris are the principal jousters. The same day Henry Norris is arrested
2 May 1536 George and Anne Boleyn are arrested
Around 4 May 1536 Francis Weston and William Brereton are arrested
Around 5 May 1536 Thomas Wyatt and Richard Page are arrested, and Francis Bryan is ordered to London for questioning.
12 May 1536 Trials of the four commoners. All four are found guilty and sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered. Thomas Boleyn was on the jury, and found the men guilty
15 May 1536 Anne stands trial in the morning and is sentenced to be burned or beheaded, according to the King's wishes. George stands trial in the afternoon and is sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered
17 May 1536 George and the four commoners have their sentences commuted, and all five are beheaded on Tower Hill
19 May 1536 Anne is beheaded by sword on Tower Green
20 May 1536 Henry VIII and Jane Seymour become betrothed
29 May 1536 Henry VIII marries Jane Seymour
18 June 1536 Death of Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond
12 October 1537 Birth of Edward VI
24 October 1537 Death of Queen Jane Seymour
6 January 1540 Henry VIII marries Anne of Cleves
9 July 1540 Henry divorces Anne of Cleves
28 July 1540 Henry marries Catherine Howard, and Cromwell is beheaded
13 February 1542 Catherine Howard and Lady Jane Rochford are executed on Tower Green
12 July 1543 Henry marries Catherine Parr
28 January 1547 Death of Henry VIII
6 July 1553 Death of Edward VI
10 July 1553 Lady Jane Grey is proclaimed Queen
19 July 1553 Lady Jane is overthrown and Mary I takes the throne
12 February 1554 Lady Jane Grey is beheaded on Tower Green
17 November 1558 Death of Mary I and accession of Elizabeth I
15 January 1559 Elizabeth I's Coronation
24 March 1603 Death of Elizabeth I
Appendix A
George Boleyn's Poetry
See Chapter 3 for a discussion of these poems.
The Lover Complaineth the Unkindness of His Love
My lewt, awake! Performe the laste!
Labour that thow and I shall waste;
And ende that I have nowe begunne:
For when this song is sunge and past,
My lewt be still, for I have done.
As to be heard where eare is none,
As lead to grave in marble stone,
My song may pearce her heart as sone:
Shuld we then sighe, or singe, or mone?
No, no, my lewte, for I have done.
The rockes do not so cruellye
Repulsse the waves contynually,
As she my sute and affection;
So that I am past remedie,
Whearby my lute and I have done.
Vengeance shall fall on thie disdaine
That makest but game on earnest payne:
Thinck not alone under the sonne,
Unquyte to cause thie lovers playne,
Althoughe my lute and I have done.
Perchaunce they lye withered and olde,
The winter nightes that are so colde,
Playninge in vayne unto the moone:
Thie wishes then dare not be tolde,
Care then whoe liste, for I have done.
And then may chaunce thee to repent
The tyme that thow hast lost and spent,
To cawse thie lovers sighe and swone;
Then shalt thou know bewtie but lent,
And wishe and want as I have done.
Now cease my lewte! This is the last
Labour that thow and I shall waste,
And endid is that we begunne;
Now is this songe both sunge and past,
My lewte be still, for I have done!1
O death rock me asleep
Oh, death rock me on sleepe,
Bring on my quiet reste;
Let passe my verye guiltless goste,
Out of my careful brest:
Toll on the passinge bell,
Ringe out the dolefull knell,
Let the sounde my dethe tell,
For I must dye,
There is no remedy,
For now I dye.
My paynes who can expres?
Alas! They are so stronge,
My dolor will not suffer strength
My lyfe for to prolonge;
Toll on the passinge bell, etc.
Alone in prison stronge,
I wayle my destenye;
Wo worth this cruel hap that I
Should taste this miserye.
Toll on the passinge bell, etc.
Farewell my pleasures past,
Welcum, my present payne;
I fele my torments so increse,
That lyfe cannot remayne.
Cease now the passing bell,
Rong is my dolefull knell,
For the sound my deth doth tell,
Death doth draw nye,
Sound my end dolefully,
For now I dye.2
Appendix B
George Cavendish's Metrical Visions (Relating to Lord Rochford)
Set out below are George Cavendish's verses relating to George Boleyn, Lord Rochford. These verses were written almost solely on the basis of Cavendish's interpretation of George's scaffold speech. As can be seen, when they are read in context, Cavendish was suggesting that on the scaffold George admitted he deserved death due to his promiscuity. It was not until the late twentieth century that Cavendish's verses were re-interpreted to suggest that he was covertly referring to homosexual activity. These verses, however, cannot be seen as intimating that George was homosexual, they are actually saying the complete opposite.
Cavendish hated the Boleyns and everything they stood for. In his verses, he seeks to criticise and vilify them as much as possible. By the time of George's death, "buggery" had been made illegal by the Buggery Act of 1533. As a member of Parliament, George would have voted for the introduction of the act. If Cavendish had believed George Boleyn was guilty of not only a crime, but what in the sixteenth century would have been a perversion against God, then he had no incentive to hide the fact. Indeed, he, and every other Boleyn enemy, would have declared it to the rafters. See Chapter 22 on Jane Boleyn for more on this.
Cavendish's later verses relating to Henry VIII, upon the King's own death, accept that not all of the people executed during his reign were actually guilty of the crimes for which they were condemned. The verses confirm Cavendish's own belief that a number of the condemned traitors died merely because of Henry's love of change. Metrical Visions, in which the victims of the May 1536 plot are viciously demonised and insulted, appear to say far more about Cavendish's own pious hypocrisy than about the innocent people he slanders.
George Boleyn: Tudor Poet, Courtier & Diplomat Page 26
