Thomas Boleyn is often portrayed as a man who’s only interest was in furthering himself, to the detriment of his daughter. Or someone completely lost to his daughter’s ambition and the King’s will. Thomas though was neither and both. He was highly intelligent, cruel and charitable. Like all of us, he was good and bad, a person of many contradictory personality traits.
A man of ambition
He first entered the service of King Henry VII and stayed within the court when Henry VIII came to the throne. Educated in languages, he was promoted by Henry VIII and became a diplomat and ambassador. Thomas Boleyn married the daughter of the Duke of Norfolk, Elizabeth Howard. A very good marriage for him. Together they had 4 children surviving to adulthood. The eldest son Thomas Boleyn named after his father, died at Oxford university in the year 1520. It’s not known where in the year he died. There is a grave at Hever chapel marked Thomas Boleyn 1520, which appears in the book by Alison Weir about Mary Boleyn.
Thomas the elder would have been in France working as a diplomat for Henry VIII at the time of his son’s death. Working towards the triumphant meeting between King Francis I of France and King Henry VIII known as the Field of Cloth of Gold. His wife and daughters joined him at this meeting as ladies-in-waiting to the French and English Queen’s.
Anne’s education had taken place is Bruges, while Mary went into the French court.
It’s difficult to ascertain which was older so its possible Anne was put before her sister. George entered the English court. From this snap shot we can see Thomas as providing careers and good marriages to all his children.
A man of honour
An insight into his character is given when Anne wrote home to her father. She assured him of her duty and commitment to doing her best and behaving. This was obviously something that he prized.
Mary however didn’t achieve her father’s good opinion and nor did she achieve a note of recommendation from the French court. This seriously damaged her progression and she never actually became a lady in waiting to Queen Katherine. Only at the Field of Cloth of Gold did she serve her. What brought Mary Boleyn to Henry VIII’s court was her marriage to William Carey. He was the cousin of the king. It was a good match for her considering Mary did have scandal around her name regarding the French king but again this is rumour. However, it could go to explain the difficult relationship between Thomas and Mary.
The Field of Cloth of Gold was a great success for Thomas and he was keen to progress again in the court. Years before, Thomas did speak to king Henry about being made Treasurer of the household but was baffled when he didn’t get it. He thought he had offended Cardinal Wolsey. He spoke of his disappointments to another ambassador who then wrote this conversation to Wolsey. This can be read online at www.british-history.ac.uk letters and papers, foreign and domestic, Henry VIII.
A man of enemies
Wolsey does seem to be the one inhibiting Thomas’ promotion, worse still Thomas was saying it was a done deal so imagine his embarrassment when he didn’t get it. This is the first time we see on paper of a discrepancy between Thomas and Wolsey. Wolsey’s dislike of him could have been for a number of political or personal reasons. We’ll never know but I hazard a guess at Thomas’ connections to the Duke of Norfolk, then Earl Surrey. An influential person in Henry’s life and born to power. Wolsey on the other hand was a self-made man. Yet there was a distinctive shift two years later for in 1521 Thomas was made Treasurer. What could have changed Wolsey’s mind? Well nothing.
It is possible that around this time Mary was in the eye sight of the King. No one knows what Thomas thought of the affair or if he even knew, at least to begin with. Mary’s husband was given keeperships of houses of King Henry, keeping him away from court. Before he would have been sleeping in the same room as Henry as one of his personal body guards - awkward!
By 1525 the affair had cooled, Mary had produced a daughter certain to be the King Henry’s and a son, less likely but still not impossible. Henry’s mood reaches a very low ebb. He’s depressed and angry. His Queen, Katherine of Aragon admits to him she can no longer have children. This meant no heir for Henry.
Henry decided to promote his Illegitimate son Henry Fitzroy and give him his own court. This obviously deeply grieved Queen Katherine who then requested the same for Princess Mary.
As treasurer Thomas had to decide whether this was something the king could afford and truth be told he couldn’t. All of his money had been wasted in the war against France. His choice was to incur the wrath of the King or Wolsey. Thomas chose to fund the King’s wish. Wolsey was against funding an illegitimate child but by Thomas agreeing he could finally make radical changes to the court.
Wolsey acted ruthlessly with anyone he felt divided Henry‘s attention or influence from him. That included the Queen, who Wolsey wanted to punish for her nephew’s actions. Queen Catherine lost her Spanish ladies-in-waiting and her daughter was placed into a court of her own. Worse still she had to witness and endure the humiliation of the rise of Henry Fitzroy.
Thomas Boleyn lost his place at court, as did his son George who was a page to the King. The Duke of Norfolk lost his place as well. Wolsey’s argument to Henry was that it had to be done because the Treasury was so low it was cost-cutting. However there was one person who remained and that person was Anne Boleyn. She remained as Queen Katherine’s lady in waiting.
A man of success
We’ll never know if the romance between Henry VIII and Anne happened organically or if someone was scheming in order to get Norfolk and the Boleyn’s back to court. Either way by 1527 there was another shift to Thomas’ favour. Henry visits Hever castle to see Anne while she is staying there. Thomas is called back to court.
By 1528 the plague hit; known as the sweating sickness. Both Thomas and George get it, as does Anne. Mary’s husband William Carey dies from it.
Mary moved back to Hever after her husband’s death but was soon told to leave by Thomas. A reason is never given but it took intervention from Anne and then Henry in order to see her returned to Hever. In fact Anne did a lot to help her sister. An annual payment was arranged and she adopted Mary’s son. So Mary’s crime couldn’t have been too bad if both Anne and Henry stood by her and felt Thomas’ punishment to harsh. Perhaps there was tension between Mary and Thomas. Perhaps Mary resented Thomas acceptance of Anne and Henry. We will never know why Thomas abandoned his daughter when she needed him most.
By 1529 it was clear Henry had every intention of divorcing Katherine. Thomas did everything to assist. Including opening his home to Thomas Cranmer. It would be Cranmer who danced around religious theology in order to free Henry from Katherine.
Thomas and Cranmer went to The Vatican in order to meet with the Pope and to get the divorce decreed but of course Thomas made little effort to show any respect to the Pope or to King Charles V who was also there. It was reported that rather than kiss the feet of the Pope Thomas pushed his dog to go to the job for him. He was a trained diplomat and he knew what this type of behaviour would result in. Could this be the reason why Henry had to break with Rome? Could Thomas’ arrogant behaviour mean than Rome was now not willing to compromise.
1530 would begin the spilt from Rome. Wolsey would be silenced forever. And by 1533 Anne made Queen.
A man of tragedy
During this time Mary Boleyn had met a younger man who she’d fallen in love with and secretly married. Suspicions were raised when she appeared at court pregnant. This greatly upset Anne who was having trouble getting pregnant and then seeing the pregnancy to full term. She was under immense stress and pressure and this only added to it. Mary was sent away from court and lost everything which Anne and Henry had given to her. Mary fled to Calais with her husband where he took a soldier’s post with Lord Lisle. Lady Lisle must have been a friend of Elizabeth Boleyn as it was her who announced Elizabeth death years later. I’m guessing of course but it’s a coincidence the name Lisle appears in both matters.
While Anne was Queen Thomas took a back seat, he would never have envisaged the tragedy that would be for his daughter and son by doing so. When Anne is taken to the tower she asks for her father and her mother a clear indication of how close they were. The Duke of Norfolk was to preside over the court findings and to convict them as guilty. Thomas knew the worst case scenario if Anne refused to sign the divorce papers. She could be burnt at the stake which would’ve been an incredibly painful death. It is likely he did everything to avoid that happening and conceded the best thing that he could do was to accept the decision of the king and let Anne die quickly. He made no public comment at all and did not fight to save his daughter. However it should be mention that Cranmer was visiting Anne. Thomas remained close to Cranmer to his dying day. I would suspect Thomas was sending messages to Anne throughout her ordeal. It’s hard to believe he would just abandon her.
A man of forgiveness
His wife Elizabeth died two years later in London. It would appear the marriage broke after their children’s deaths as she died at a friends house but I speculate. A year after her death, Thomas thought to remarry but illness descended. He intrusted his friend Cranmer once again to ensure his belongings went to his last surviving child Mary Boleyn. Hever would go to the crown but the belonging and effects could go to her. He was concerned about some woodland that he had promised to the King but changed his mind and wanted Mary to inherit.
We will never know if Thomas and Mary ever spoke again. If they reunited after the tragic events and if not what made Thomas leave everything to her as he had siblings and grandchildren. My personal feeling is Thomas is both victim and villain. When riding high he could be incredibly cruel to those who stood in his way. The treatment of Queen Katherine and Wolsey attest to that but he could also be charitable. A man of great intellect and ambition. Who believed in his children success, regardless of sex, does him merit. I wonder in his dying days did he realise Mary had made the right choice to choose a simple life over great wealth and power. We’ll never know but what we do know, is there is so much more to Thomas Boleyn than just a back-ground character.
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