This kind of thinking on faith and works must have influenced Anne Boleyn; it featured in the literature she was reading. Historian Maria Dowling points out that "Poor relief was both a humanist and a Lollard preoccupation, and Anne was, according to all her panegyrists, outstandingly generous to the poor",2 something that was emphasised in The Ecclesiaste. This book was given to her by her brother, George Boleyn. It contained a translation based on Lefèvre's translation of Ecclesiastes, as well as a commentary by Johannes Brenz, the German theologian and reformer.
In the Bible, Ecclesiastes 11 verses 1 and 2 say:
"Be generous: Invest in acts of charity. Charity yields high returns. Don't hoard your goods; spread them around. Be a blessing to others. This could be your last night."
And Anne's copy of The Ecclesiaste said:
"The court of kings, princes, chancellors, judging places and audiences be the places where one ought to find equity and justice. But, oh good Lord, where is there more injustice, more exactions, more oppressions of poor widows and orphans, where is there more disorder in all manners and more greater company of unjust men than there, whereas should be but all good order and just people of good and holy example of life."3
Anne, being first the King's queen-in-waiting and then queen, was in just such a place, and she was also in a position to obey the Bible and help those who needed it. Charity and the dissemination of the English Bible were the two reformist principles that were close to Anne's heart.
But just how generous was Anne? What evidence is there of her charitable giving and how did she help people? Let's consider some 16th century sources...
John Foxe (1516/17-1587)
John Foxe was an English historian, reformer and martyrologist who is known for his accounts of religious martyrs, which were published as Actes and Monuments and abridged as Foxe's Book of Martyrs. Actes and Monuments contains a section on Anne Boleyn, a woman who Foxe clearly saw as a Protestant martyr. Foxe also wrote of Anne's charitable giving:
"Also, how bountiful she was to the poor, passing not only the common example of other queens, but also the revenues almost of her estate; insomuch that the alms which she gave in three quarters of a year, in distribution, is summed to the number of fourteen or fifteen thousand pounds; besides the great piece of money which her grace intended to impart into four sundry quarters of the realm, as for a stock there to be employed to the behoof of poor artificers and occupiers."4
However, historian Eric Ives believes that Foxe is exaggerating when he quotes the sums of £14-15000. We have to remember that Foxe was writing in Elizabeth I's reign; he may have been flattering the Queen or trying to get her to be just as generous as her mother.
William Latymer
William Latymer was a man who knew Anne Boleyn personally. He had acted as her chaplain and had also undertaken travels abroad to bring back religious books for Anne. In his biography of Anne, his Cronickille of Anne Bulleyne written in Elizabeth I's reign, he described Anne as "generous to the poor" and gave the following examples of her generosity, charitable giving and kindness:
• Anne's Maundy giving: "For upon a certain Maundy Thursday, after she had most humbly (humbly, I said, because kneeling on her knees she washed and kissed the feet of simple poor women) embased herself to perform the ceremonyies of that day, she commanded to be put pivily into every poor woman's purse one george noble, the which was 6 shillings 8 pence over and besides the almes that wanted to be given."5 While it was traditional for the monarch and his consort to wash the feet of as many poor people as years they were old, in addition to giving them purses of coins, both Latymer and John Foxe record how the amount in the royal Maundy purses increased when Anne was Queen. Indeed, the 1536 court expenses show that the "costs of the Queen's maundy" were 31 pounds, 3 shillings and 9 and a half pence.
• Her "myndefull remembrance of the poore" when she was on royal progresses. She would "give in special commandment to her officers to buy a great quantity of canvas to be made into shirts and smocks and sheets to those of the poor."
• Her orders to her ladies to make shirts, smocks and sheets for the poor and her ordering of "flannell" to be made into "pettycotes for poore men, wemen and children." These items were then distributed "to every of whome was distributed by her graces commaundemente a shurte, smok or petticote, and 12 pence [xiid] in money, and to some more, according as here grace understod of their nede and necessitie." Anne also made sure that pregnant women were given two shillings and a pair of sheets.6
• Anne's speech to her chaplains where she told them that they should all "take special regard in the choice of such poor people as shall be found most needy, not vagrant and lazy beggars, who in every place besides are relieved abundantly, but poor needy and impotent householders over-charged with children, not having any sustenance, comfort or relief otherwise; and to such I command my alms liberally. In like manner, if you assuredly perceive any poor men of women having cause of suit either to me or my council to be delayed from their answer, whereby they suffer loss of time and goods to their great hindrance, I command you to open the matter to my council and other officers to whom such cases it shall appertain."7 Anne was asking her chaplains to make sure that they always let her know if they found people in need.
• The example of Mrs Jaskyne, who attended the queen. The former's husband, sergeant of the queen's pantry, was "greviouslye sick" and had called for his wife. One of Anne's chaplains informed Anne and she "not only graunted her licence to depart..., but also most bountyfullye commaunded to be prepared for her sufficiente furniture of horse and other necessarys for her jorney, and tenne pounds in monye towarde the charge of her travaill."8
• The story of a Mr Ive at Kingston who lost most of his cattle "almost to his utter undoing". Anne gave his wife a purse of gold with xxli in it (£20) and said to tell her if they needed further help.9
• The aid she gave to refugees and reformers in danger. This is mentioned by Latymer, Nicholas Bourbon and Thomas Alwaye. Latymer writes of a Mrs Marye who fled France and was helped by Anne.10
• Anne's concern over the use of the money from the dissolution of the monasteries. Anne commanded Hugh Latimer, another of her chaplains, to preach "to dissuade the utter subversion of the said houses and to induce the kinges grace to the mynde to converte them to some better use."11 Latimer preached in front of the King and based his sermon on Luke 20 verses 9-16, the parable of the vineyard. Here is a modern text of that parable from the New International Bible:
"A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time. At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out. Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.' But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. 'This is the heir,' they said. 'Let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others."
It is a fitting text when you consider the first fruits and taxes that the monasteries had to pay. William Latymer wrote of this sermon in his Cronickille of Anne Bulleyne. He explained that Hugh Latimer emphasised that the owner of the vineyard did not destroy the vineyard when the tenants could not pay him in fruit. Instead, he commanded it "to be farmed and let to others, who should by their industry and husbandry amend the negligence of the other farmers." In other words, the owner let it be used by others who would do the right thing. Latimer, and Anne through him, were saying that instead of dissolving the monasteries, the King could "converte the abbeys and prioryes to places of studye and goode letres and to the contynuall releve of the poore." This was obviously som
ething that Anne felt strongly about. It was backed up by the Passion Sunday sermon of 1536 given by Anne's almoner John Skip. This sermon called on those advising the King to "reject the lure of personal gain". Both sermons were controversial; in order to risk the backlash, Anne must have felt strongly about this issue.
According to Latymer, Anne was of the opinion that "where as God hadd indued her with greate riches, dignitie and estate, even so she wolde not spare thankefuly to dedicate thereof some porcion to his glorye."12 She had been blessed by God and felt that it was her duty to share that with others who were less fortunate.
Thomas Alwaye
Thomas Alwaye, who is described by historian Maria Dowling as "an otherwise obscure evangelical prosecuted by Wolsey and the bishops for buying English new testaments and other prohibited books",13 petitioned Anne Boleyn in 1530 or 1531, seeking her help and intervention. In his letter, he wrote:
"But anon I remembered how many deeds of pity your goodness had done within these few years, and that without respect of any persons, as well to strangers and aliens as to many of this land, as well to poor as to rich."
He also made mention of Anne's "charity" and said that her "Christian mind is everywhere ready to help, succour and comfort them that be afflicted, troubled and vexed". He may well have been flattering Anne to gain her assistance but, as Dowling points out, for him to even turn to her in his hour of need shows that Anne was known for helping reformers. Would he have dared write to her otherwise?
George Wyatt
George Wyatt was the grandson of courtier and poet, Sir Thomas Wyatt the Elder, and author of "The Life of the Virtuous Christian and Renowned Queen Anne Boleigne" which was written towards the end of the 16th century, during the reign of Elizabeth I. His account of Anne's life was based on information given to him by his family and by Anne Gainsford, former lady-in-waiting to Anne Boleyn. Wyatt wrote of Anne:
"And yet far more rich and precious were those works in the sight of God which she caused her maids and those about her daily to work in shirts and smocks for the poor. But not staying here her eye of charity, her hand of bounty passed through the whole land."14
He then concurred with Foxe over the sum of money which Anne gave as poor relief:
"Her ordinary amounted to fifteen hundred pounds at the least, yearly to be bestowed on the poor. Her provisions of stock for the poor in sundry needy parishes were very great. Out of her privy purse went not a little to like purposes. To scholars in exhibition very much: so as in three quarters of a year her alms was summed to fourteen or fifteen thousand pounds."
Foxe's book was first published in 1563, so perhaps Wyatt used that as a source; we just don't know. Historian Eric Ives believes that the regular amount of £1500, mentioned by Wyatt, would be more credible. According to Ives a sum of £14-15000 was "twelve times larger than the annual surplus on Anne's expenditure". In this case, the sum does not make sense unless it is a typo, a case of an extra 0 being added.
William Marshall
In 1535, William Marshall, a man who was enlisted by Cromwell to draft legislation for poor relief, dedicated to Anne his work The Form and manner of subvention or helping for poor people, devised and practised in the city of Ypres. Marshall wrote:
"My very mind, intent and meaning is (by putting of this honourable and charitable provision in mind) to occasion your grace (which at all times is ready to further all goodness) to be a mediatrix and mean unto our most dread sovereign lord... for the stablishing and practising of the same (if it shall seem so worthy) or of some other, as good or better, such as by his majesty or his most honourable council shall be devised."
Maria Dowling points out that it is "a telling indication of the distribution of political influence that Marshall, primarily a Cromwell protégé, should consider it more effective to present his work through Anne rather than through his own patron".15 It shows that Anne had a reputation for being concerned with poor relief, that she had influence over the King and that she did play a part in the government's decision to provide poor relief.
Anne Boleyn and Thomas Cromwell's Poor Law
Contrary to popular opinion, Thomas Cromwell was not a greedy money-grabbing statesman whose main motivation in office was to line Henry VIII's pockets, and his own on the way. Cromwell, like Anne Boleyn, was concerned about poverty. In June 1535, Eustace Chapuys, the imperial ambassador, reported to Emperor Charles V that Cromwell had told him that he (Cromwell) "and other privy councillors are now looking out for the means of checking this King's avarice, and making him spend his money for the benefit of the nation".16 As the Thomas Cromwell Experience website explains, "Cromwell, and his army of staff, spent a year investigating the causes of poverty. Among their conclusions were: cruel employers, ill health/incapacity, crime, and bad living conditions/poor upbringing."17 With the main causes of poverty identified, Cromwell then began planning how the problem could be tackled. His biographer John Schofield explains that, "an ambitious plan of public works was then laid out. It included new buildings, repairs to harbours, highways, and fortresses, and scouring and cleansing of water courses; all under the direction of officers reporting to a central council."18
By Autumn 1535, Cromwell had the draft bill prepared, legislation that would provide help for the unemployed, relief for those in poverty and care for those who were incapacitated. However, the rather conservative House of Commons did not agree to Cromwell's legislation and the resulting "poor law" was much more modest than Cromwell's draft policy. Cromwell's investigations and proposals show that Cromwell was on the same page as Anne with regards to charity. Whether or not they argued on the proceeds from the dissolution of the monasteries, they were both concerned with poor relief.
Figure 22 - Vintage engraving of Thomas Cromwell
Did Anne have any input into Cromwell's poor law plans? We don't know, but, as Maria Dowling points out, William Marshall was linked to Cromwell and the Boleyns, and he was definitely involved in Cromwell's plans. Eric Ives goes as far as to describe Marshall as a Boleyn protégé, so Anne may well have been involved.
Patronage
Humanist scholars, who believed that society could be rescued by education and scholarship, dedicated their works to Anne Boleyn. These scholars included Robert Whittington, Robert Wakefield and Louis de Brun.19 Anne also supported men at Cambridge – John Elmer and William Barker for example – as well as those studying abroad, e.g. Wolsey's illegitimate son, Thomas Winter, and John Beckynsaw, who was given £40 per year. In the dedication of his Nobility of Women to Anne's daughter, Elizabeth I, in 1559, William Barker mentioned Anne's "bountiful benevolence".
Men like Edward Fox, Hugh Latimer, Matthew Parker, William Barlow, Nicholas Shaxton, Edward Crome, Thomas Garrett and William Betts were just some of the reformers who gained positions due to Anne's help and patronage. Eric Ives writes of Anne being seen "as someone for reformers to turn to". People in prison for possessing heretical books petitioned her for help; and she was "the prime mover" in rescuing Nicholas Bourbon from trouble in France and then employing him as a schoolmaster for her ward, Henry Carey, along with Henry Norris the Younger and Henry Howard. Nicholas Bourbon thanks and praises Anne for her help in his verses:
"A poor man, I lie shut in this dark prison:There is no one who would be able or would dare to bring help: Only you, Oh, Queen: You, Oh noble nymph both can and will dare: As one whom the King and God Himself loves."20
Also, Bourbon's friend, Etienne Dolet, wrote a favourable epitaph on Anne after her execution entitled Reginae utopiae falso adulterii crimine damnatae et capite mulctatae epitaphium21 (Queen of Utopia falsely charged of adultery and condemned and punished, the epitaph).
John Cheke, in a letter to Matthew Parker asking him to intercede with the Queen on behalf of William Bill, "praised Anne's munificence to scholars",22 so it was obviously no secret that Anne helped those of a reformist persuasion. We also know that Anne supported the universities of Oxford and Cambridge by means of annual subventio
ns, and interceded with her husband, Henry VIII, to secure exemption of both universities from the clerical tax which had been introduced. She also supported the collegiate church of Stoke by Clare, the church to which her chaplain, Matthew Parker, had been appointed dean in 1534. Anne was not only supporting education and scholarship, she was also advancing the cause of reform by supporting men of reformist persuasions and influencing appointments within the Church. When Nicholas Shaxton and Hugh Latimer were made Bishops (of Salisbury and Worcester respectively), neither man could afford to pay their first-fruits to the King. Anne stepped in and lent each of them £200. They were, after all, reformers and men she knew.
Conclusion
Anne Boleyn is often portrayed as a woman who only thought about herself, as someone who was ambitious, greedy and power hungry. However, this is far removed from the truth. Evidence shows that she was a religious woman with a true and living personal faith, and that her faith led her to commit to doing good with what God gave her.
The Anne Boleyn Collection II: Anne Boleyn & the Boleyn Family Page 15
