The Anne Boleyn Collection II: Anne Boleyn & the Boleyn Family (37 page)

Two of Anne Boleyn's reformist books were presented to her by her brother, George, who had actually translated them. The first is
Les Epistres et Evangiles
which James Carley thinks "was very likely a New Year's Gift, composed and executed in the autumn of 1532 as a tribute to Anne's elevation as marquess." It consisted of the dates of the liturgical calendar followed by the Epistle or Gospel in French and was derived from a book written by Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples. Carley explains that
Les Epistres et Evangiles
is important as a codification of the evangelical doctrine established at Meaux in the 1520s, based on a principle of making the Gospel accessible to the laity and an emphasis of the centrality of Christ above the tradition of the Church." It was condemned by the Sorbonne because of "its possible Lutheran overtones". Meaux was the diocese of Bishop Guillaume Briçonnet, who was committed to reforming his diocese, and who invited a number of evangelical humanists to work in the bishopric to help implement his reform program. This group of humanists became known as the "Circle of Meaux", and included Josse van Clichtove, Guillaume Farel, Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples, Martial Mazurier, Gérard Roussel, and François Vatable. The members of the Meaux circle were of different talents, but they generally emphasized the study of the Bible and a return to the theology of the early Church. Briçonnet was an evangelical and a humanist, and actually condemned Martin Luther. George's book was based on the second edition of Lefèvre's book published by Simon Du Bois in 1530-1532.

The second book presented to Anne by George was
The Ecclesiaste
, written between 1533-36 when Anne was queen. The commentaries were in English and the text derived from Lefèvre's
L'Ecclesiaste
printed by Simon Du Bois at Alençon ca.1531. Carley explains: "Translated by Lefèvre, the commentary derives from Johannes Brenz... Brenz was evangelical in his orientation; by nature his enterprise emphasizes the pre-eminence of the Bible itself over the traditions and sacraments of the Church."
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Johannes Brenz was a German theologian and reformer whose Bible commentaries received praise from Martin Luther, a man by whom he was influenced. Brenz was investigated in 1522 for teaching Lutheran ideas; in 1525 he wrote
Syngramma Suevicum
which attacked his former teacher, reformer Oecolampadius, and defended the doctrine of the real presence of Christ's body and blood in the Lord's Supper.

We know that George translated these books for Anne because he wrote a dedication to her in the first one, saying that it was from her "moost lovyng and fryndely brother". He also wrote that he undertook the translation at her request: "by your commandement". The second book was definitely prepared by the same person. Eric Ives notes the "obvious similarities" in the penmanship, the fact that the text is in French but the exhortation in English, and the use in both manuscripts of blue for editorial matter. Ives even wonders if George had them produced by Flemish trained craftsmen in a studio under Anne's patronage.

In his execution speech, George described himself as "a settar forthe of the word of God"; these manuscripts are definite examples of him promoting reform and spreading God's message.

Another book related to Anne Boleyn is the Hever Castle Book of Hours. It is in that book that we can see not only Anne's signature but also the inscription "le temps viendra": "the time will come", under an illumination of the Last Judgement. These words are an abbreviation of the proverb "a day will come that shall pay for all", a precis of part of
The Ecclesiaste
, which says "the judgement of God shall be general and universal where as all things shall be discovered and nothing shall abide hidden, whether it be good or evil."
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The fact that Anne wrote this inscription in her own Book of Hours shows that these words had real meaning to Anne and were something that she was pondering deeply.

As I said earlier, the Boleyn siblings' book collection consisted of works by French reformers. Two of those reformers are Clément Marot and Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples, so here are some facts about them:

Clément Marot

1. Figure 42
   - Clement Marot
   

• • Marot was the famous 16th century French poet who put into verse the Biblical Psalms that were to be sung all over France and become the well-known Huguenot Psalter.
  
• • His father was court poet to Anne of Brittany
  
• • Marguerite of Angouleme/Navarre was his sponsor. She appointed him valet de chambre, court poet, and her secretary.
  
• • In 1526, he was imprisoned for religious infraction at Châtelet while Marguerite was in Spain negotiating the release of Francis I. Francis had Marot released on his return.
  
• • Marot's religious views caused him to be charged with heresy in 1529 and sent to prison. He was released by Francis I, who then chose him as his court poet
  
• • In 1534, when the French King turned against reform, Marot was in danger both because of his attacks on the conservative religious views of the Sorbonne and for his reformist convictions. His home was raided, and forbidden tracts and a translated copy of the Bible were found. These were hanging offences, but Marot had fled to Marguerite's court at Nérac, a known shelter for those with reformist beliefs. Marguerite was also under suspicion, so she sent him to Italy to the court of her cousin Renée of Ferrara. However, Renée's husband was a Catholic so Marot couldn't stay there long; he soon moved to Venice, a city known for tolerance.
  
• • In 1539, he offered François I the manuscript of the first thirty Psalms. They were set to music by using famous or secular tunes and were tremendously successful, both at the court and all over France.
  
• • In 1542, Marot was forced to take refuge in Geneva with Calvin
  

Lefèvre d'Étaples

1. Figure 43
   - Jaques Lefèvre d'Étaples
   

• • Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples was a French theologian and humanist and is viewed as a precursor of the Protestant movement in France. He saw himself as a Catholic seeking to reform the Church within, rather than as someone trying to separate from it.
  
• • His 1517 work
  de Maria Magdalena et triduo Christi disceptatio
  , which argued that Mary the sister of Lazarus, Mary Magdalene, and the penitent woman who anointed Christ's feet were different people, provoked violent controversy and was condemned by the Sorbonne and Bishop John Fisher.
  
• • In 1520, he moved from Paris to Meaux, where he was appointed vicar-general to Bishop Briconnet in 1523 and where he also published his French version of the New Testament.
  
• • His works were often viewed as heretical, but he was protected by Francis I and Marguerite of Angoulême.
  
• • He was a prolific Bible translator and emphasized the literal sense of Scripture over the medieval fourfold approach, which emphasized the allegorical interpretation. Ives writes of "the spiritual revivalism and non-schismatic reform of Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples."
  
• • His approach to reform, reforming the church from within, seems to have had a real impact on Anne's beliefs and way of thinking.
  

Marguerite of Angoulême

One person that Lefèvre and Marot have in common is Marguerite of Angoulême, Queen Consort of Navarre and sister of Francis I. She was a famous Renaissance figure and is known for her patronage of the arts and her strong religious views. Marguerite wrote
Le Miroir l'âme pécheresse
("The Mirror of the Sinful Soul"). Coincidentally, this is the same poem which Anne Boleyn's daughter, Elizabeth, translated as a gift for her stepmother, Catherine Parr. This poem is a mystical verse which combines evangelical reformist ideas with Marguerite's idea of her relationship with God as a familial one: God as her brother, father or lover.

Simon Du Bois was the printer of Lefèvre's books, which were later translated by George Boleyn. Du Bois was a protégé of Margaret d'Angoulême. James Carley comments that "during her brief period of ascendancy, Anne's name was often associated with that of Margaret [Marguerite] of Angoulême" :

• • In 1532, Henry VIII hoped that Marguerite would come to Calais to meet Anne
  
• • In 1534, George Boleyn took a message to Marguerite concerning Henry's cancelled meeting with Francis
  
• • In 1535, Anne sent a message to Marguerite stating that "her greatest wish, next to having a son, was to see you again."
  
• • Nicholas Bourbon and Clément Marot were both protégés of Marguerite and were also linked to Anne Boleyn. Anne helped Bourbon flee from France and employed him as a tutor for her ward, Henry Carey; she also read works by Marot. Carley points out, too, that in Anne's copy of
  Le Pasteur Evangélique,
  Marot "specifically linked Henry and Francis, Anne and Margaret."
  

Carley believes, and I agree with him, that Anne's links with books printed by Du Bois, whose patron was Marguerite, and with French evangelicals, both point to Marguerite being "an intellectual model for Anne during the 1530s." We cannot say for certain that Anne spent significant time with Marguerite in France, but it's possible; she clearly had an impact on Anne.

Anne Boleyn's Actions

Anne Boleyn's own actions provide evidence of her evangelical faith:

• • Anne had links with known reformers - Edward Fox, Hugh Latimer, William Barlow, Nicholas Shaxton, Edward Crome, Thomas Garrett and William Betts are just some of the reformers who gained positions due to Anne's help and patronage.
  
• • One of Anne's silkwomen was the wife of mercer Stephen Vaughan, an evangelical agent of Thomas Cromwell. Cromwell used Vaughan to negotiate with Bible translator William Tyndale in Antwerp.Another silkwoman, Jane Wilkinson, helped William Latymer, Anne Boleyn's chaplain, import religious works for Anne.
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• • Anne rescued Nicholas Bourbon from trouble in France and was also petitioned for help by those in trouble for possessing heretical books. Bourbon praised and thanked 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."
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• • William Latymer recorded Anne helping a French woman, Mrs Marye, who was forced to flee to England because of her reformist faith. According to Latymer, the woman said that she had "gayned more by her banishment then she coulde have hoped for at home emongest her deare frendes and naturall countrye men of Fraunce."
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• • Anne's support of poor relief. 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."
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  This quality was emphasised in
  The Ecclesiaste
  .
  
• • Dissemination of the Bible. Anne believed that the Bible should be available to everyone to read in English and supported the translation and trade of such Bibles. She kept an English Bible open in her apartments and encouraged her ladies to read it. She also gave each of her maids a book of devotions to hang on their girdles "for their constant use and meditation."
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  William Latymer recorded that Anne told her chaplains "I have carefully chosen you to be the lanterns and light of my court" to teach her household "above all things to embrace the wholesome doctrine and infallible knowledge of Christ's gospel."
  
• • Her refusal of Tristram Revell's book. Revell's version of Lambertus'
  Farrago Rerum Theologicarum
  was presented to Anne by Revell through William Latymer in 1536, but Anne refused it. The book denied transubstantiation, salvation through good deeds and prayers for the dead, and it is not known whether Anne refused it because she didn't agree with it or because it was too risky for her to endorse it. Eric Ives writes that her refusal to accept the dedication of Revell's book shows that "she had no time for radicals"; but she had also just miscarried a son, so it may have been a case of bad timing.
  
• • John Skip's Sermon. On Passion Sunday 1536, Anne Boleyn's almoner, John Skip, preached a rather controversial sermon in front of the King. Skip's theme was "Quis ex vobis arguet me de peccato?", or "Which of you can convict me of sin?", and was an attack on the King's council and the advice the council was giving the King. It was, however, not a reformist sermon. In preaching about the abuses of ancient and traditional ceremonies, Skip said that it was right to get rid of the abuses of the ceremonies but that it would be a "greite pyte" if the ceremonies themselves were taken away:
  "As for theis litle ceremonys of the churiches (he sayde) I am suire their is none of you that wold haue them takon awey and no marvell therof for they cost you litle and litle ye shall gayne by the takyng awey of them."
  Skip was defending the ceremonies of the church and attacking its abuses. He wanted superstition to go away and pure religion to replace it. The sermon was also an attack on the decision to secularize monastic endowments instead of diverting them to reforming purposes, something which Anne had argued with Thomas Cromwell about.
  
• • Anne's link to Hans Holbein the Younger's painting "The Ambassadors". The painting is packed with symbolism about religious division and the hope of reunion. It is linked to Anne because she was Holbein's patron at the time and because the date shown on the pillar dial in the painting was 11th April 1533. This was both Good Friday and the day that the royal court were informed that Anne was queen. Eric Ives wonders if we can guess from the themes of the painting that Anne had sympathy with "the reunionist position".
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