The Anne Boleyn Collection II: Anne Boleyn & the Boleyn Family (23 page)

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.

1. 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 epitaphium
²¹
(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 subventions, 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.

She didn't need to instruct her chaplains to look out for needy people and to tell her about them; she didn't need to increase the amount in the Maundy purses; she didn't need to be so generous with her time, money and influence; but she did so. Yes, it was good for her image, and some might call it public relations or propaganda, but through these deeds she risked her reputation and image to support reformers, so I don't believe that it was all about making Anne look good to the people. Her good deeds and her charity surely came from her faith and her love for her people.

Notes and Sources

1 Lindberg, "Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples by Guy Bedouelle," 25–26.

2 Dowling, "Anne Boleyn and Reform."

3 Ives, The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn, 283.

4 Fox (Foxe), Fox's Book of Martyrs: Acts and Monuments of the Church in Three Volumes, II:407.

5 Dowling, "William Latymer's Cronickille of Anne Bulleyne," 53.

6 Ibid., 54.

7 Ibid., 49.

8 Ibid., 52–53.

9 Ibid., 54.

10 Ibid., 56.

11 Ibid., 57.

12 Dowling, "William Latymer's Cronickille of Anne Bulleyne."

13 Dowling, "Anne Boleyn and Reform."

14 Cavendish, The Life of Cardinal Wolsey, 443.

15 Dowling, "Anne Boleyn and Reform."

16 "Calendar of State Papers, Spain, Volume 5 Part 1: 1534-1535," n. 170.

17 Stewart, "The Relief of the Poor Bill, 1535."

18 Schofield, The Rise and Fall of Thomas Cromwell: Henry VIII's Most Faithful Servant, 103.

19 Ives, The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn, 285.

20 Ives, "A Frenchman at the Court of Anne Boleyn."

21 Ives, "Anne Boleyn on Trial Again."

22 Dowling, "Anne Boleyn and Reform."

18.
Anne Boleyn and the Tower of London

The Tower of London, or Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, as it is officially called, is famous for being the site of much bloodshed and for being the prison of many hundreds, if not thousands, of people since it was first built by William the Conqueror in the late 11th century. However, during its 900-year history, it has enjoyed many different roles:

• • Fortress
  
• • Prison
  
• • Royal Palace
  
• • Armoury
  
• • Mint
  
• • Place of Execution
  
• • Home of the Royal Menagerie
  
• • Jewel house
  
• • Resting Place
  

In Tudor times, one of the functions of the Tower of London was a prison. Notable prisoners included:

• • Anne Boleyn and the five men condemned to death for committing adultery with her
  
• • Sir Thomas More and Bishop John Fisher
  
• • Thomas Cromwell
  
• • Catherine Howard and Lady Jane Rochford
  
• • Anne Askew
  
• • Thomas Cranmer
  
• • Lady Jane Grey and Guildford Dudley
  
• • Princess Elizabeth Tudor and Robert Dudley during Mary I's reign
  
• • Sir Walter Ralegh
  

1. Figure 23
   - A view of the Tower of London
   

However, the Tower was not just a prison; it was also a Royal Palace, complete with Great Hall and royal lodgings which were used by a monarch traditionally before his/her coronation.

Anne Boleyn and the Tower of London

There is much misinformation out there regarding Anne Boleyn, her execution and her links with the Tower of London. Errors and myths I've come across include:

• • Anne Boleyn was executed by an axeman
  
• • She was executed where the glass memorial stands today on Tower Green
  
• • Anne was imprisoned in a room in the Queen's House overlooking Tower Green where she carved "ANNE" into the stonework
  
• • The bodies in the chancel were exhumed and then buried in the crypt or in a mass grave
  
• • An extra finger was found when the Victorians exhumed her remains
  
• • Anne was escorted through Traitors' Gate
  

I haven't read these in fiction; I've read them on forums and websites, or heard tour guides like Yeoman Warders and Blue Badge Guides tell them to tourists. When one person confronted a Yeoman Warder and told him that Anne was not executed on the spot being pointed out, she got the rather sarcastic reply, "Oh, you've been reading Alison Weir". Oh dear.

Today, we think of the Tower of London as a prison and fortress. The Yeoman Warders tell you its history, and then concentrate on the grisly goings-on. Of course, this is what tourists want to hear about - executions, daring escapes, murders, the Princes, ghosts, the menagerie and the Polar bear who once swam in the moat. These are all interesting stories, but there is so much more to the Tower. There are plenty of books available on the history of the Tower, but in this chapter I'm going to focus on Anne Boleyn's links with the Tower.

The Tower and Anne's Coronation

It was traditional for monarchs to go to the Tower before their coronations and to process from there to Westminster; hence why Edward V, one of the Princes in the Tower, was housed there after his father's death. Henry VIII wanted his queen consort, Anne Boleyn, to follow this royal tradition, to thus show the people that Anne was his rightful wife and Queen. He spent a fortune refurbishing the royal palace and commissioning lavish timber-framed lodgings for Anne's comfort. Improvements included "a rebuilt great chamber and a rebuilt dining room, while a new bridge across the moat gave access from her private garden into the city."
¹
The great gallery had also been restored. It is estimated that Cromwell spent the equivalent of nearly £1.3 million in today's money on the repairs and improvements.
²
It is sad that these apartments became uninhabitable by the end of the 16th century and were demolished in the 18th century when so much was spent on them and when they had such history.

The royal palace consisted of :-

• • The Great Hall, the centre-piece of the palace and a huge hall built by Henry III in the 13th century
  
• • Kitchens
  
• • The Queen's lodgings, which overlooked the palace gardens
  
• • The jewel house
  
• • The Queen's gallery, used for promenades and viewing the gardens
  
• • The palace gardens with their courtyards, railings and posts topped with heraldic beasts
  

It was a sumptuous royal palace.

1. Figure 24
   - Plan of the Tower in 1597