The Anne Boleyn Collection II: Anne Boleyn & the Boleyn Family

by Ridgway, Claire

  A woman was generally "confined" for a month, but the exact length of time depended upon her recovery and also upon her domestic circumstances. Two to three weeks after the birth, there would be the "upsitting". This involved the family potentially holding a feast to celebrate the woman's recovery and neighbours bringing gifts. The woman could now bathe and change, but was confined to her chamber, although no longer to her bed. Sometimes there would also be a second gossips' supper.

  Christening

  The next ritual after the birth of the child and the upsitting was the baptism or christening. Baptism was the foundation of Christian life and it opened the doors to eternal life. The Elizabethan prayer book instructed pastors and curates to tell people to make sure that baptism took place no later than the Sunday or first holy day after the birth, but obviously weaker babies were baptised by the midwife at birth. Tudor people believed that man was born in sin, because of original sin, but that he could be born anew of the water and the Holy Spirit.

  In baptism, the priest named the child, dipped it in water or poured water on it, then marked a cross on its forehead as the baby was received into "the congregation of Christ's flock". During Elizabeth I's reign, 2% of babies died on their first day of life, 5% within the first week, 8-9% within a month and 12-13% within a year, so baptism was an important rite of passage.22 It saved the child from God's wrath. If a priest was not available, any Christian male or female was permitted to conduct a baptism; the 1549 prayer book had instructions for a private baptism. In 1537, Bishop Rowland Lee instructed his clergy to "teach and instruct your parishioners, at the least twelve times in the year, the spiritual manner and form of christenings in English; and that the midwife may use it in time of necessity; commanding the woman when the time of birth draweth near, to have at all seasons a vessel of clean water for the same purpose."23

  At the baptism (or christening) service, the baby was wrapped in the "chrisom cloth", a white cloth which symbolised the child's innocence. The midwife would present the baby at the font. A baby boy would generally have two godfathers and one godmother, and a baby girl would have two godmothers and one godfather. The godparents would name the baby, although this was purely symbolic as the name would have already been chosen by the parents in advance of the service. The godparents would also give the baby gifts; in the upper classes, this tended to be silverware. Edward VI's christening gifts included a gold cup from his half-sister Mary, three bowls and two pots of silver and gilt from the Archbishop of Canterbury, the same from the Duke of Norfolk, and two flagons and two pots of silver and gilt from the Duke of Suffolk. A christening was usually followed by a christening supper, where the men enjoyed drinking copious amounts of alcohol and the women enjoyed gossiping. Gifts were put on display at the christening supper.

  David Cressy writes that "The Orders and Regulations for an Earl's House" (1525) specified how the church should be decorated for a noble child's christening. It also specified the processional order for the guests and what gifts were appropriate. At the 1589 christening of the Earl of Huntingdon's baby, the church was decorated with arras and cloth of gold and silk, the font was draped with cloth of gold and silk, and the baby was wrapped in silk, lawn and wool. This was obviously a wealthy child's christening, but it gives us an idea of just how important this rite of passage was.

  Mothers did not attend their baby's christening because they had not yet been churched, so guests would visit the mother and baby after the service. They would also make sure that food and drink was taken up to the mother so that she too could enjoy a part of the celebrations.

  Princess Elizabeth's christening

  On 10th September 1533, when Elizabeth was three days old, she was christened at the Church of Observant Friars in Greenwich. She was processed along a carpet of green rushes from the Great Hall at Greenwich to the church. A contemporary record give us details of the christening:

  "The mayor, Sir Stephen Pecock, with his brethren and 40 of the chief citizens, were ordered to be at the christening on the Wednesday following; on which day the mayor and council, in scarlet, with their collars, rowed to Greenwich, and the citizens went in another barge.

  All the walls between the King's place and the Friars were hanged with arras, and the way strewed with rushes. The Friars' church was also hanged with arras. The font, of silver, stood in the midst of the church three steps high, covered with a fine cloth, and surrounded by gentlewomen with aprons and towels about their necks, that no filth should come into it. Over it hung a crimson satin canopy fringed with gold, and round it was a rail covered with red say.

  Between the choir and the body of the church was a close place with a pan of fire, to make the child ready in. When the child was brought to the hall every man set forward. The citizens of London, two and two ; then gentlemen, squires, and chaplains, the aldermen, the mayor alone, the King's council, his chapel, in copes ; barons, bishops, earls ; the earl of Essex bearing the covered gilt basons ; the marquis of Exeter with a taper of virgin wax. The marquis of Dorset bare the salt. The lady Mary of Norfolk bare the chrisom, of pearl and stone. The officers of arms. The old duchess of Norfolk bare the child in a mantle of purple velvet, with a long train held by the earl of Wiltshire, the countess of Kent, and the earl of Derby. The dukes of Suffolk and Norfolk were on each side of the Duchess. A canopy was borne over the child by lord Rochford, lord Hussy, lord William Howard, and lord Thomas Howard the elder. Then ladies and gentlewomen.

  The bishop of London and other bishops and abbots met the child at the church door, and christened it. The archbishop of Canterbury was godfather, and the old duchess of Norfolk and the old marchioness of Dorset godmothers. This done, Garter, with a loud voice, bid God send her long life. The archbishop of Canterbury then confirmed her, the marchioness of Exeter being godmother. Then the trumpets blew, and the gifts were given ; after which wafers, comfits, and hypocras were brought in. In going out the gifts were borne before the child, to the Queen's chamber, by Sir John Dudley, lord Thos. Howard, the younger, lord Fitzwater, and the earl of Worcester. One side was full of the Guard and King's servants holding 500 staff torches, and many other torches were borne beside the child by gentlemen. The mayor and aldermen were thanked in the King's name by the dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk, and after drinking in the cellar went to their barge."24

  In his chronicle, Windsor Herald Charles Wriothesley writes that "and the morrowe after their was fiers[bonfires] made in London, and at everie fire a vessell of wyne[wine] for people to drinke for the said solempnitie."25 However, the imperial ambassador, Eustace Chapuys, contradicts this in his report to Charles V on the 15th September, saying "the christening has been like her mother's coronation, very cold and disagreeable, both to the Court and to the city, and there has been no thought of having the bonfires and rejoicings usual in such cases."26 We know that Anne Boleyn's coronation was lavish, so I'm not sure that we can believe Chapuys.

  Anne and Breastfeeding

  There were some rather strange ideas about breastfeeding in Tudor England, one of them being that the milk was actually menstrual blood turned white. Some also believed that colostrum, the highly nutritious milk produced in the first few days after birth, was harmful, so the baby was sometimes given to a wet nurse for a few days.

  Breastfeeding was recommended in Richard Jonas' 1540 book The Byrth of Mankynde, a translation of an earlier manual, recommended breastfeeding, but noblewomen ignored this advice and hired wet nurses because it was important for the new mothers to conceive again quickly. Wet nurses were chosen carefully because it was believed that the mother could pass on her characteristics via breast milk. In the early days, when feeding was frequent, babies would often live with the wet nurse to make things easier.

  As a queen, Anne would have been expected to hand over Elizabeth to a wet nurse. The wet nurse would have been well vetted to make sure that she had the right temperament and plenty of milk for the royal princess. In her book on Elizabeth, historian Tracy Borman write
s of how Anne wanted to breast-feed Elizabeth. However, David Starkey states that the story that Anne wanted to breastfeed, and was prevented from doing so by Henry VIII, is just a "tale... derived from Leti's fictionalised account and is without foundation."27 Gregorio Leti was an historian, but he was known for mixing facts with fiction; other than Leti, there is no source for Anne wanting to feed Elizabeth herself. Perhaps she did want to breastfeed, but it was not the done thing and she would have had to have followed royal protocol.

  The advice of the time was that babies should be breastfed for two years, but in reality it tended to be one year. The Tudor equivalents of baby rice and rusks as weaning foods were gruel, bread and sugar, or bread dipped in water or milk to make it soft. Finger food for older babies included chicken legs, if the family could afford the meat. In poorer families, the baby would eat the same food as the rest of the family: gruel.

  Instructions were given to Lady Bryan, Princess Elizabeth's nurse, to wean the little princess at twenty-five months of age. The instructions were from the King, "with the assent of the queen's grace", and records show that with this order was included a letter from Anne Boleyn. We do not know what the letter said, but perhaps Anne was giving Lady Bryan instructions regarding weaning.28

  Churching

  Although churching is often seen as a purification ceremony, cleansing the woman after the unclean business of childbirth, it was more a celebration of her survival, a thanksgiving service, and a rite of passage marking her return to normal life after her confinement. It also marked the woman's survival and her return to everyday life. It was celebrated with more drinking, feasting and gossiping, and the actual ritual involved the woman dressing in fresh, clean clothes, leaving her chamber and attending her local church. The priest would meet her at the church door, where he would sprinkle her with holy water. The woman would then enter the church, accompanied by two married female friends and wearing a white veil and carrying a candle. The priest would then recite psalms – such as Psalm 121, a psalm of thanksgiving for God's protection – and talk about how the woman had been delivered from the dangers associated with childbirth. He would finish with the Lord's Prayer and a prayer of thanks. As an offering, the woman would then give the church either the chrisom cloth which had been used for her baby's christening, or a cash equivalent.

  We don't have any details of Anne's churching ceremony but it would have taken place a few weeks after Elizabeth's birth. It was usual for the service to take place about a month after the birth, but records from a church in Lancashire show that women were churched anywhere from eight to forty-eight days after the baptism of the child.29

  Anne and Elizabeth

  Whatever the truth about Anne's wish to suckle her own child, and go against the usual royal protocol and tradition, Anne was quite clearly pleased with and proud of her little girl. Courtiers were often embarrassed by Anne's displays of affection for her baby and by her preference for placing Elizabeth next to her on a cushion, rather than shutting her away in a nursery.30 Elizabeth's removal from court to her own household at Hatfield on the 10th December 1533 must have been a huge wrench for Anne. Even though it was just a few miles away, Anne would not have been expected to visit her daughter very much and, instead, would have been expected to get on with her queenly duties and to leave Elizabeth's upbringing to Lady Bryan and her staff. Anne had to concentrate on conceiving again and providing Henry VIII with a prince.

  We don't know exactly how much time Anne was able to spend with Elizabeth, but we know the following:

  • That Anne visited Elizabeth at Hatfield in Spring 153431 32

  • That Elizabeth was moved to Eltham, just 5 miles from Greenwich, at the end of March 1534 and that her parents visited her there a few weeks later33

  • That she was at court with her parents for five weeks in the first quarter of 153534 35

  • That she was at court at Christmas 1535, and that she was still there at the end of January 1536 when news reached the court of Catherine of Aragon's death. Henry paraded his daughter around in celebration.36

  • That she was at court at the end of April 1536, shortly before Anne's fall. Alexander Alesius described Anne holding Elizabeth in her arms while she appealed to her husband.37 David Starkey discounts this report, saying that Elizabeth was most probably at Hunsdon at the time.

  • That Anne kept in touch with Elizabeth's nurse, Lady Bryan.

  At the end of the day, Henry and his council had the last word regarding Elizabeth's upbringing, but the stylish Anne Boleyn involved herself in buying items for her daughter's chamber and for her clothing. The Account of materials furnished for the use of Anne Boleyn and Princess Elizabeth 1535-3638 by Anne's mercer, William Loke, included the following items for Elizabeth:

  • White sarsenet to line an orange velvet gown

  • Black velvet for a partlet

  • Black satin for a partlet

  • Russet velvet

  • Black buckram

  • Crimson, purple, white, yellow sarsenet

  • Yellow velvet to edge a yellow kirtle

  • White damask for a kirtle

  • White velvet for edging the kirtle

  • Russet damask for a bed cover

  • Black satin for a muffler and taffeta for its lining

  • Embroidered purple satin sleeves

  • Green velvet for edging a green satin kirtlet

  • Black velvet for mufflers

  We learn more about the Queen's expenses in The Queen's reckoning, beginning in December 1535. Hen. VIII.39 (the debts owed by Anne at her death. This account includes the following items for Elizabeth:

  • "Boat-hire from Greenwich to London and back to take measure of caps for my lady Princess, and again to fetch the Princess's purple satin cap to mend it."

  • "A purple satin cap, laid with a rich caul of gold, the work being roundelles of damask gold, made for my lady Princess."

  • "A pair of pyrwykes for my lady Princess, delivered to my lady mistress." Eric Ives explains that pyrwykes were a device to straighten the fingers.40

  • "2¼ yds. crimson satin, at 15s., an ell of "tuke" and crimson fringe for the Princess's cradle head."

  • "2 fine pieces of "nydle rybande" [ribbon] to roll her Grace's hair withal."

  • " A white satin cap laid with a rich caul of gold for the Princess, 4l., and another of crimson satin."

  • "A fringe of Venice gold and silver for the little bed."

  • "A cap of taffeta covered with a caul of damask gold for the Princess."

  Anne obviously made sure that Elizabeth looked the part of a royal princess and Henry's heir.

  Anne and Elizabeth's Future

  On 26th April 1536, just days before her arrest, Queen Anne Boleyn met with her chaplain of two years, her "countryman", thirty-two year-old Matthew Parker. Parker recorded later that Anne had asked him to watch over her daughter, the two year-old Princess Elizabeth, if anything happened to her. In other words, Anne was entrusting him with her daughter's spiritual care.41 Eric Ives writes that this was a request that Parker never forgot and something which stayed with him for ever.42 Parker obviously came to be important to Elizabeth, because in 1559 she made him her Archbishop of Canterbury. This was a post which, Parker admitted to Lord Burghley, he would not have accepted if he "had not been so much bound to the mother".43

  By getting Parker involved with Elizabeth's upbringing and her future, Anne was putting her daughter into the hands of a man with important connections, connections with a set of men with humanist and Protestant ideals who would influence and help her daughter. This cohort included John Cheke, Roger Ascham, William Cecil, Anthony Cooke, William Grindal and John Dee. Three of these men – Grindal, Cheke and Ashcam – tutored Elizabeth, and Dee may even have spent time with the young Elizabeth. He certainly taught Edward VI and Robert Dudley. It is no coincidence that Elizabeth relied on these men when she became queen. Her mother had made sure that she was surrounded by men
who could help her in the future.

  Elizabeth's Household of Boleyn Relatives

  The young Elizabeth was also surrounded by Boleyn relatives:

  • Anne Boleyn's uncle, Sir John Shelton, was comptroller of the joint household of Elizabeth and Mary, and was helped by his wife, Lady Anne (née Boleyn).

  • Lady Margaret Bryan, Elizabeth's nurse, was related to Anne Boleyn by marriage.

  • Katherine Champernon (or Champernowne) was appointed to Elizabeth's household in July 1536 and became her governess in 1537. She became related to the Boleyns when she married Sir John Ashley (Astley) in 1545. Ashley's mother, Anne Wood, was the sister of Lady Elizabeth Boleyn whose husband, James Boleyn, was Anne Boleyn's paternal uncle.

  • Thomas Parry, Elizabeth's "cofferer", or treasurer, was was also connected to the Boleyns. His wife, Anne Reade, was the widow of Sir Adrian Fortescue, whose mother, Alice Boleyn, was an aunt of Queen Anne Boleyn.

  J.L. McIntosh writes:

  "The presence of these Boleyn relations and the evidence of Queen Anne's interest in the material splendor of her daughter's environment indicates that Anne, before her death, was an important, if indirect, early influence on the development of her daughter's household's culture. Henry VIII funded the household and had the final say in all important aspects of his daughter's upbringing, such as when she was weaned, but it was Anne who was guiding the routine behavior and agenda of the household...The queen also may have begun to draw up plans for Elizabeth to receive a Protestant humanist education."44