The Anne Boleyn Collection II: Anne Boleyn & the Boleyn Family (6 page)

Even though Anne Boleyn was one of Mary Tudor's attendants, she did not travel back to England with Mary in 1515, but, instead stayed on in France and served the new queen consort, Queen Claude. Claude and Anne were of a similar age and Anne was fluent in French, so it is possible that Anne had acted as an interpreter between Claude and Mary Tudor, and that Claude and Anne had got to know each other. Anne went on to serve Queen Claude for seven years and this is a period of Anne's life about which we know relatively little.

The French Legends and Traditions Regarding Anne Boleyn

French tradition links Anne Boleyn with Briare, a town on the River Loire, and also with the village of Briis-sous-Forges, where there is even a tower called the Tour d'Anne Boleyn. According to one French website,
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this tower is the only remaining part of a medieval castle which was once stayed in by Anne, before her marriage to Henry VIII; her parents were friends of Du Moulin, the castle's owner. This story is backed up by the work of seventeenth century French historian, Julien Brodeau,
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who wrote that Anne Boleyn was educated in the home of nobleman Philippe de Moulin de Brie, a relation of her parents.

Nicholas Sander, writing in the reign of Elizabeth I, wrote that Anne Boleyn was sent to France at the age of fifteen after she had "sinned first with her father's butler, and then with his chaplain" and was placed "under the care of a certain nobleman not far from Brie". Sander also writes that "soon afterwards she appeared at the French court where she was called the English Mare, because of her shameless behaviour; and then the royal mule, when she became acquainted with the king of France."
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This makes me wonder if he was confusing Anne with her sister, Mary Boleyn, who was, allegedly, the mistress of King Francis I and who was, apparently, referred to by the King as an "English Mare" and "una grandissima ribalda, infame sopra tutte" (a great and infamous whore).

In one of her recent talks on Mary Boleyn, Alison Weir quoted historian Sarah Tytler (1896) as saying that Anne Boleyn went to a convent school at Brie to finish her education. However, Weir wonders if historians have confused the two Boleyn girls and hypothesises that the Boleyns, upset at Mary's bad behaviour at the French court, could have entered her into a French convent for educational purposes.

The link between Anne Boleyn and Briare could have some foundation because "the town was well placed in relation to the movements of the court of Queen Claude, where Anne's duties kept her."
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Claude was constantly pregnant, giving birth to seven children between 1515 and 1523. Claude tended to spend her pregnancies in the Upper Loire area, at Amboise and her palace in Blois, and Anne would obviously have accompanied her there.

The French Court

When she moved from Mechelen to the French court, Anne Boleyn went from one sophisticated centre of culture to another. Lancelot de Carles wrote that Anne "knew perfectly how to sing and dance… to play the lute and other instruments" and Nicholas Sander said of Anne "She was handsome to look at, with a pretty mouth, amusing in her ways, playing well on the lute, and was a good dancer. She was the model and mirror of those who were at court, for she was always well dressed, and every day made some change in the fashion of her garments."
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It is clear that Anne had learned music, dance and style during her time in France.

Anne's love of illuminated manuscripts blossomed in France because Queen Claude, like Margaret of Austria, loved illumination, as is clear from her Prayer Book and Book of Hours from 1517. Claude's prayer book, which is now held by the Morgan Library and Museum in New York, is described as "a tiny, jewel-like manuscript" which is "richly illustrated... with 132 scenes from the lives of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and numerous saints."
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The prayer book and its matching Book of Hours were made by an artist known as Master Claude, who "worked in a style that can be characterized as the pinnacle of elegance." They are beautiful books. Anne Boleyn went on to have her own illuminated manuscripts and books; these were made in the Renaissance style, which had been popular in France and used by Claude, rather than being made in the style she had seen in the Low Countries. Like Margaret of Austria, Claude was also an art lover (she was a patron of the miniature), so Anne was surrounded by art and culture; she couldn't help but be influenced by this amazing experience.

Those seeking to blacken Anne Boleyn's name say that Anne must also have been influenced by the loose morals and sexuality of the French court, but we have to remember that Anne Boleyn was serving Queen Claude, a woman known for her piety and who was often away from court due to her annual pregnancies. Anne was serving in a morally strict household, not one of scandal.

Anne Boleyn would also have probably taken part in the coronation of Queen Claude at St Denis in May 1516, in her triumphant entry into Paris, and also in her entry into Cognac in 1520. Queen Claude was also present at the banquet at the Bastille on 22nd December 1518. This banquet was given in honour of the visit of the English diplomats sent to negotiate a marriage between the Dauphin and Henry VIII's daughter, Mary. She was also present at the Field of Cloth of Gold in June 1520, just outside Calais. At both events, Claude was accompanied by her ladies; it is likely that Anne would have been useful as an interpreter.

The French Influence

It wasn't just the Renaissance culture which influenced the young Anne Boleyn; she was also heavily influenced by the women she saw and spent time with in France.

Claude of France

Claude was the eldest daughter of Louis XII of France and of Anne of Brittany, who Pierre de Bourdeille, seigneur de Brantôme, described as "the most worthy and honourable queen that has ever been since Queen Blanche, mother of the King Saint-Louis, and very sage and virtuous".
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In his chapter on Anne of Brittany, Brantôme wrote that "she was the first queen to hold a great Court of ladies", a "noble school for ladies" where "she had them taught and brought up wisely; and all, taking pattern by her, made themselves wise and virtuous".
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Claude was the heiress of the Duchy of Brittany and also first in line to the throne. However, as I mentioned earlier, Salic law prevented her becoming the Queen of France when her father died. Instead, she became queen by marrying Francis, Duke of Angoulême, who became Francis I of France.

Millicent Garrett Fawcett writes of how Claude "was from her birth delicate, plain and lame",
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Antonio de Beatis, secretary to the Cardinal of Aragon, described her as "young and though very small in stature, plain and badly lame in both hips, is said to be very cultivated, generous and pious" and the Austrian ambassador said that "she was a retiring young girl with a pale complexion, thin, a little sickly, slightly hunchbacked, and rather unattractive."
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As far as her character was concerned, Brantôme described Claude as "very good, very charitable, and very gentle to all, never doing any unkindness or harm to any one either at her Court or in the kingdom" and it is clear that she followed her mother's example by running a virtuous and learned court. The virtuous, pious and kind Claude would have been a role model to Anne. I'm sure that when Anne herself became queen, albeit in England, in 1533, she must have thought back to Claude's behaviour as queen.

Claude's husband, Francis I, was brought up at the Royal Château Amboise and he was often there during his reign (as well as being present at Fontainebleau and the Louvre), living a life full of banquets, balls and tournaments. In 1515, Leonardo da Vinci was invited by Francis I to live and work in Clos Lucé, which was connected to the royal château by an underground passage. Queen Claude preferred nearby Château Blois, which Francis had renovated for her; this is where Anne would have served her royal mistress.

Claude had seven children, including Henry II, King of France, but died in 1524 at the tender age of twenty-four. Brantôme declared that Claude's husband, Francis I, gave her "a disease that shortened her days", meaning syphilis, but it is not known for certain. It seems that after it lost its pious queen, the French court slid into debauchery.

1. Figure 5
   - Engraving of Château Blois
   

Louise of Savoy

Louise of Savoy was the mother of Francis I and Marguerite of Angoulême (later Marguerite of Navarre), and the daughter of Philip II, Duke of Savoy, and of Margaret of Bourbon. Louise, an intelligent, ambitious and politically astute woman, ensured that Francis and Marguerite had a Renaissance education. After the death of her husband, Charles of Orléans (cousin of Louis XII), she moved to the French court with her children, a move that was responsible for her son, Francis, becoming one of the King's favourites and ensuring his succession to the throne. Louis XII gave Louise the royal château at Amboise where she brought up Francis and Marguerite.

Louise acted as regent for Francis whenever he was away and, along with his sister Marguerite of Angoulême, was the most powerful woman at court, particularly in the early years of Francis's reign. Between them they ran Francis's court for him. Louise was serving as regent in 1515, when Anne Boleyn was at the French Court, and Anne would have seen this strong, politically active woman run the country.

Marguerite of Angoulême

Louise's daughter, Marguerite of France and Navarre, or Marguerite of Angoulême, is praised by Brantôme for her "perfect beauty" and is described as the "rare princess" and a woman who "was full of majesty and eloquence… full of charming grace in gay and witty speech" and "a queen in all things".
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She was brought up with her brother, Francis, and given an excellent Renaissance education. However, Marguerite soon outstripped her brother "in her knowledge of Greek, Latin and Hebrew, and in her easy grasp of modern languages."
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But it wasn't just education that Marguerite was passionate about; she also felt strongly about religious reform. As well as being known for her patronage of the arts, Marguerite is also known for her work
Le miroir l'âme pécheresse
, the same poem which Anne Boleyn's daughter, Elizabeth, later translated as a gift for her stepmother, Catherine Parr. This wonderful literary work is a mystical poem which combines evangelical Protestant ideas with Marguerite's idea of her relationship with God as a very personal and familial one. The editors of
Marguerite (Queen, consort of Henry II, King of Navarre): Selected Writings
say this of
Le Miroir
:

"In addition to the obvious intimate familiarity with biblical literature, the poem follows closely the reformist views Marguerite learned from her mentor/confessor, Guillaume Briçonnet. Here we find all the essential earmarks of the devotio moderna, with its heavy emphasis on personal piety, exaggerated self-deprecation, preoccupation with death, and total dependence on divine grace for salvation."
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Le Miroir
is a beautiful piece of writing, very moving and obviously written from the heart, and it shows the depth of Marguerite's faith and her personal relationship with God her Father.

1. Figure 6
   - Marguerite of Angoulême
   

Although Marguerite's work was condemned as heresy, Fawcett writes of how Marguerite never broke with the Church and became Protestant. However, "she never wavered from the position she took up all through the years… of the protector of the new learning and the humble devotee of a religion which was pure and undefiled."
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Those same words could be used to describe Anne Boleyn, I feel. Both women had a true faith, religious fervour, and were passionate about reform and new ideas, but they did not want to 'throw the baby out with the bath water'. They wanted to reform the Catholic Church from within.