The Anne Boleyn Collection II: Anne Boleyn & the Boleyn Family (14 page)

Behind her chancellor, "sergeants and officers of arms", came Queen Anne Boleyn in a litter decorated with white cloth of gold and led by two palfreys clad in white damask. Hall describes Anne as wearing a surcoat of white cloth of gold, a mantle, of the same cloth but trimmed with ermine, and a coif with a circlet of "rich stones". Her hair was loose and flowing. Above her was a canopy of cloth of gold, decorated with gilt statues and silver bells, and carried by the barons of the Cinque Ports. Following the Queen were her chamberlain, Lord Borough, and her master of the horses, William Coffin, then her ladies clothed in crimson velvet and cloth of gold and tissue. Then came chariots carrying the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk and the Marchioness of Dorset (or possibly Elizabeth Boleyn, Anne's mother), as well as other ladies of the court.

Rather than simply progressing Westminster, the procession stopped at points on the route to enjoy various pageants and displays. One pageant, on the corner of Gracechurch Street, depicted Apollo and the nine muses on Mount Parnassus. This "ryght costly" pageant had been designed by Hans Holbein the Younger. Another pageant, at Leadenhall, was of Anne's falcon badge. It had a castle with a green, and a "root", or stump, out of which white and red roses spilled. A white falcon descended from Heaven and landed on the stump, then an angel wearing armour descended and crowned the falcon. Yet another pageant consisted of St Anne, surrounded by her children, the three Marys, and their children. In this pageant, Queen Anne Boleyn was read poetry, the verses of which emphasised England's hope for her and for the child she was carrying. Other pageants included a recreation of the Judgement of Paris in which angels held out crowns to Anne whilst a lady prophesied that "Quene Anne whan you shalte beare a newe sone of y e kynges bloode there shalbe a golden worlde unto thy people."
³
Other displays included a fountain running with wine, children reading poems of praise for Anne and the King, the Virtues promising to never abandon the Queen, and children singing.

Finally, Anne reached Westminster Hall, which was described by Hall as newly glazed and decorated with "cloth of arras". There, Anne enjoyed refreshments such as "spice plates" and hippocras and wine, which she shared with her ladies. She then gave thanks to the lords, ladies and Mayor, and retired for the night. Both Hall and
The Noble Tryumphaunt Coronacyon of Quene Anne, Wyfe Unto the Most Noble Kynge
Henry VIII
record that Anne was then taken secretly to spend the night with the King at his "Manor of Westminster".

1. Figure 15
   - The Route of the Coronation Procession
   

Notes and Sources

1 Hall, Hall's Chronicle, 800–802.

2 Ibid., 800.

3 The Maner of the Tryumphe of Caleys and Bulleyn and The Noble Tryumphaunt Coronacyon of Quene Anne, Wyfe Unto the Most Noble Kynge Henry VIII.

12.
1st June 1533 – Anne Boleyn's Coronation

The 1st June 1533, Whitsun, was the day of Anne Boleyn's coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey. The chronicler Edward Hall
¹
records that the Mayor, clad in scarlet and wearing his chain of office, took a barge to Westminster at 7am. He was accompanied by the aldermen, by the sheriffs, and by the Council of the City of London. At Westminster they waited for the Queen. She arrived between 8 o'clock and 9 o'clock, and stood under the cloth of state as the royal court and peers gathered, dressed in their parliament robes. A railed blue "ray cloth" was spread all the way from the high dais of the King's bench to the high altar of the abbey, and the officers of arms helped organise those gathered into a procession.

1. Figure 16
   - Westminster Abbey
   

Hall records the procession order as:

• • Gentleman
  
• • Squires
  
• • Knights
  
• • Alderman of the City
  
• • Judges
  
• • Knights of the Bath
  
• • Barons and viscounts
  
• • Earls, marquesses and dukes
  
• • Lord Chancellor
  
• • Staff of the Chapel Royal and monks
  
• • Abbots and bishops
  
• • Sergeants and officers of arms
  
• • The Mayor of London
  
• • Marquess of Dorset, bearing the sceptre of gold
  
• • Earl of Arundel, bearing the rod of ivory topped with a dove
  
• • Earl of Oxford, High Chamberlain of England, carrying the crown of St Edward
  
• • Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk and High Steward of England for the day
  
• • William Howard, carrying the rod of the Marshal of England
  
• • The Garter Knights
  

1. Figure 17
   - Westminster Hall
   

Following this procession came the woman of the day, the pregnant Queen Anne Boleyn. Anne was wearing a surcoat and robe of purple velvet, trimmed with ermine, and the coif and circlet she had worn for the procession the previous day. Her train was carried by the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, and she walked barefoot under a canopy of cloth of gold carried by the barons of the Cinque Ports. Anne made her way to the "great chair", the chair of St Edward, where she rested for a while before descending to the high altar. There, Anne prostrated herself while Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, prayed over her. When she got up, he anointed her. She was then able to rest once again in St Edward's chair while orations were said. Cranmer crowned Anne with the crown of St Edward, which was usually reserved for crowning the reigning monarch. He placed the sceptre in her right hand and the rod in her left. The Te Deum was sung and Cranmer helped Anne exchange the heavy crown for a custom-made lighter version.

Mass was celebrated, and Anne took the sacrament before visiting St Edward's shrine and giving the traditional offering. She then rested for a few moments while everybody formed into a line to process back to Westminster Hall for the coronation banquet. Anne walked back, her right hand "sustained" by her father, the Earl of Wiltshire, and her left hand by Lord Talbot, who was acting as a deputy for his father, the Earl of Shrewsbury. Trumpets played as they processed to the hall. It was time for the celebratory banquet.

At the banquet, Anne sat on the King's marble chair, which has been set under a cloth of state. She sat next to Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, and was attended by the Dowager Countess of Oxford and by the Countess of Worcester, whose job was to "hold a fine cloth before the Queen's face when she list to spit or do otherwise at her pleasure."
²
This was not so that she could vomit between courses, as one website has suggested,
³
it was simply so that she could take care of personal hygiene (wiping her face, spitting etc.) in private. Anne was also attended by two gentlewomen positioned at her feet. The Earl of Oxford was high chamberlain, the Earl of Essex was the carver, the Earl of Sussex the sewer, the Earl of Derby the cupbearer, the Earl of Arundel the chief butler and Thomas Wyatt, on behalf of his father, the chief ewer. Between Anne and the Archbishop stood the Earl of Oxford with his white staff of office.

1. Figure 18
   - Vintage Engraving of Thomas Cranmer
   

When everyone was seated, the Duke of Suffolk and William Howard entered the hall on horseback to announce the first course, which was being carried by the Knights of the Bath. Suffolk is described by Hall as wearing a jacket and doublet "set with orient perle" and a gown of embroidered crimson velvet. He was sitting on a horse draped with crimson velvet which reached the ground and was embroidered with real gold letters. "Trumpets and hautbois sounded at each course, and heralds cried "largesse."" Henry VIII did not join the banquet but watched proceedings, accompanied by the ambassadors of France and Venice, from a special "little closet" which Hall described as situated "out of the cloyster of S. Stephens".

The banquet was followed by wafers and hippocras, then the Queen washed and enjoyed "a voyde of spice and comfettes", after over eighty dishes! After that, the Mayor passed her a gold cup, from which she drank, before giving it back to him. Anne then retired to her chambers where she had to go through the formalities of thanking everyone before she could rest. At 6pm it was finally over. It had been a long and exhausting day for her.

The coronation celebrations were not actually at an end. The four days of processions and pageantry were followed by jousts and further banqueting. King Henry VIII and Queen Anne Boleyn were triumphant.

Notes and Sources

1 Hall, Hall's Chronicle, 802.

2 Ibid., 804.

3 "Odd Food and Drink Facts,". Author Susan Higginbotham has noted that Elizabeth of York was also attended at her coronation by two women who at "certain times held a kerchief before her grace."

13.
Anne the Mother

It is impossible to talk about Anne, her pregnancies and motherhood without looking at what life was like for a Tudor woman who was pregnant or recovering from childbirth. The beliefs and rituals surrounding motherhood were part of Anne's life and the world she lived in. Procreation was a Tudor woman's duty, and a queen was expected to provide her king with a son and heir, as well as with "spares".

Upper class women like Anne married younger than their lower-class counterparts, and also had more children, often having a child every year. For example, Anne's niece, Catherine Carey, had fourteen children. However, it is estimated that 19% of "landed families" in the 17th century died childless either because they had trouble conceiving or because they lost their children to disease.
¹
Infant mortality was high - 13% in 1550-99 for children under 1 and 6% for 1-4 yr olds
²
- so it was important for women to have lots of children to ensure that the family name and line were carried on. Families who were keen on having a particular first name carried on would even give two of their children the exact same name, just in case one of them died. This explains why there were two Thomas Culpepers – one who served Thomas Cromwell, and the other who served in Henry VIII's privy chamber and who was known for being Queen Catherine Howard's lover.