[27993] | 1 | <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="no"?>
|
---|
| 2 | <!DOCTYPE Archive SYSTEM "http://greenstone.org/dtd/Archive/1.0/Archive.dtd">
|
---|
| 3 | <Archive>
|
---|
| 4 | <Section>
|
---|
| 5 | <Description>
|
---|
| 6 | <Metadata name="gsdlsourcefilename">import/englishhistory.net/tudor/ab-percy.html</Metadata>
|
---|
| 7 | <Metadata name="gsdldoctype">indexed_doc</Metadata>
|
---|
| 8 | <Metadata name="Plugin">HTMLPlugin</Metadata>
|
---|
| 9 | <Metadata name="FileSize">12507</Metadata>
|
---|
| 10 | <Metadata name="Source">ab-percy.html</Metadata>
|
---|
| 11 | <Metadata name="SourceFile">ab-percy.html</Metadata>
|
---|
| 12 | <Metadata name="Language">en</Metadata>
|
---|
| 13 | <Metadata name="Encoding">windows_1252</Metadata>
|
---|
| 14 | <Metadata name="Title">Primary Sources: The romance between Anne Boleyn and Henry Percy, 1523</Metadata>
|
---|
| 15 | <Metadata name="FileFormat">HTML</Metadata>
|
---|
| 16 | <Metadata name="URL">http://englishhistory.net/tudor/ab-percy.html</Metadata>
|
---|
| 17 | <Metadata name="UTF8URL">http://englishhistory.net/tudor/ab-percy.html</Metadata>
|
---|
| 18 | <Metadata name="Identifier">HASH0157ce8f12563b15c09acf31</Metadata>
|
---|
| 19 | <Metadata name="lastmodified">1375764393</Metadata>
|
---|
| 20 | <Metadata name="lastmodifieddate">20130806</Metadata>
|
---|
| 21 | <Metadata name="oailastmodified">1375765207</Metadata>
|
---|
| 22 | <Metadata name="oailastmodifieddate">20130806</Metadata>
|
---|
| 23 | <Metadata name="assocfilepath">HASH0157ce8f.dir</Metadata>
|
---|
| 24 | <Metadata name="gsdlassocfile">1523.gif:image/gif:</Metadata>
|
---|
| 25 | <Metadata name="gsdlassocfile">anne2.jpg:image/jpeg:</Metadata>
|
---|
| 26 | </Description>
|
---|
| 27 | <Content>
|
---|
| 28 |
|
---|
| 29 | <div align="center">
|
---|
| 30 | <center>
|
---|
| 31 | <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="4" width="94%">
|
---|
| 32 | <tr>
|
---|
| 33 | <td valign="bottom" colspan="3">
|
---|
| 34 | <p align="center">&nbsp;<br>
|
---|
| 35 | <p align="center">
|
---|
| 36 | <img border="0" src="_httpdocimg_/1523.gif" alt="Primary Sources: 1523: The romance between Anne Boleyn &amp; Henry Percy" width="417" height="101"><p align="center">&nbsp;</td>
|
---|
| 37 | </tr>
|
---|
| 38 | <tr>
|
---|
| 39 | <td></td>
|
---|
| 40 | <td></td>
|
---|
| 41 | <td></td>
|
---|
| 42 | </tr>
|
---|
| 43 | <tr>
|
---|
| 44 | <td valign="top" width="48%" bgcolor="#FFFFE8"><font size="2">The account
|
---|
| 45 | at right </font><font size="-1">was written by George Cavendish, Cardinal Wolsey's gentleman-usher.</font><p>
|
---|
| 46 | <img SRC="_httpdocimg_/anne2.jpg" ALT="portrait of Anne Boleyn" BORDER=0 height=194 width=139 align=LEFT></p>
|
---|
| 47 | <p><font size="2">Anne Boleyn was the second wife of King Henry VIII.&nbsp;
|
---|
| 48 | The year of her birth is unknown; it was possibly 1501 or 1507.&nbsp; She
|
---|
| 49 | spent her adolescence at the French court but returned home to England in
|
---|
| 50 | 1522.&nbsp; As the daughter of an ambitious courtier and niece of the duke
|
---|
| 51 | of Norfolk, she was invited to serve at court as lady-in-waiting to
|
---|
| 52 | Katharine of Aragon.&nbsp; It was here that she caught the attention of
|
---|
| 53 | King Henry.&nbsp; Anne, however, had fallen in love with Lord Henry Percy,
|
---|
| 54 | heir to the earl of Northumberland.&nbsp; They were secretly engaged and
|
---|
| 55 | planned to marry.&nbsp; As Cavendish's account makes plain, Henry ordered
|
---|
| 56 | Cardinal Wolsey to end the engagement.&nbsp; The Cardinal did so, thus
|
---|
| 57 | earning Anne's lasting enmity.</font></p>
|
---|
| 58 | <p><font size="2">Henry's 'secret love' for Anne was highly controversial,
|
---|
| 59 | and not merely because he was already married.&nbsp; Kings did, after all,
|
---|
| 60 | have mistresses.&nbsp; But he had already had an open affair (and possibly
|
---|
| 61 | a son) with her sister, Mary.&nbsp; His relationship with Anne, however,
|
---|
| 62 | was far more serious.&nbsp; In love and desperate for a legitimate male
|
---|
| 63 | heir, Henry planned to annul his marriage to Katharine of Aragon and marry
|
---|
| 64 | Anne.&nbsp; The pope's refusal to help eventually led Henry to break with
|
---|
| 65 | the church of Rome and declare himself supreme head of a new English
|
---|
| 66 | church.</font></p>
|
---|
| 67 | <p><font size="2">It was all for naught.&nbsp; Anne did not give Henry a
|
---|
| 68 | surviving son and she was executed on 19 May 1536.</font></p>
|
---|
| 69 | <p>&nbsp;</td>
|
---|
| 70 | <td width="4%"></td>
|
---|
| 71 | <td valign="top" width="48%">
|
---|
| 72 |
|
---|
| 73 | <p> I will tell you as best I can how the king's love came about and what
|
---|
| 74 | followed thereafter.&nbsp; When this lady, Mistress Anne Boleyn, was very
|
---|
| 75 | young she was sent to France to be a lady-in-waiting to the French queen.&nbsp;
|
---|
| 76 | When the queen died she was sent back to her father who arranged for her to
|
---|
| 77 | become a lady-in-waiting to queen Catherine, wife of Henry.&nbsp; Such was
|
---|
| 78 | her success in this post, shown both by her exemplary behavior and excellent
|
---|
| 79 | deportment that she quickly outshone all the others.&nbsp; To such an
|
---|
| 80 | extent, in fact, that the flames of desire began to burn secretly in the
|
---|
| 81 | king's breast, unknown to all, least of all to Anne herself. </p>
|
---|
| 82 |
|
---|
| 83 | <p>At this time Lord Percy, the son and heir of the earl of Northumberland,
|
---|
| 84 |
|
---|
| 85 | was aide and secretary to Wolsey, the lord cardinal, and whenever the lord
|
---|
| 86 |
|
---|
| 87 | cardinal happened to be at court Lord Percy would pass the time in the
|
---|
| 88 |
|
---|
| 89 | queen's quarters where he would dally with the ladies-in-waiting.&nbsp;
|
---|
| 90 |
|
---|
| 91 | Of these, he was most familiar with mistress Anne Boleyn, to such an extent
|
---|
| 92 |
|
---|
| 93 | that a secret love grew up between them and they pledged that, in time,
|
---|
| 94 |
|
---|
| 95 | they intended to wed.&nbsp; When knowledge of this reached the king's ears
|
---|
| 96 |
|
---|
| 97 | he was greatly distraught.&nbsp; Realizing that he could no longer hide
|
---|
| 98 |
|
---|
| 99 | his secret love, he revealed all to the lord cardinal and discussed with
|
---|
| 100 |
|
---|
| 101 | him ways of sundering the couple's engagement to each other.
|
---|
| 102 |
|
---|
| 103 | <p>When the lord cardinal had left the court and returned to Westminster,
|
---|
| 104 |
|
---|
| 105 | he remembered Henry's request and summoned Lord Percy to his presence,
|
---|
| 106 |
|
---|
| 107 | saying in front of us, his servants: 'I am amazed at your foolishness in
|
---|
| 108 |
|
---|
| 109 | getting entangled, even engaged, to this silly girl at court - I mean Anne
|
---|
| 110 |
|
---|
| 111 | Boleyn.&nbsp; Have you not considered your position?&nbsp; After the death
|
---|
| 112 |
|
---|
| 113 | of your noble father you stand to inherit one of the greatest earldoms
|
---|
| 114 |
|
---|
| 115 | in the country.&nbsp; It would thus have been more proper if you had sought
|
---|
| 116 |
|
---|
| 117 | the consent of your father in this affair and to have made his highness
|
---|
| 118 |
|
---|
| 119 | the king privy to it, requesting his royal blessing.&nbsp; Had you done
|
---|
| 120 |
|
---|
| 121 | so, he was not only have welcomed your request but would, I can assure
|
---|
| 122 |
|
---|
| 123 | you, have promoted you to a position more suited to your noble estate.&nbsp;
|
---|
| 124 |
|
---|
| 125 | And thence you might have gained the king's favor by your conduct and wise
|
---|
| 126 |
|
---|
| 127 | council and and thus risen further still in his estimation.
|
---|
| 128 |
|
---|
| 129 | <p>'But now look what you have done by your thoughtlessness.&nbsp; You
|
---|
| 130 |
|
---|
| 131 | have not only offended your own father but also your sovereign and pledged
|
---|
| 132 |
|
---|
| 133 | yourself to someone whom neither would agree to be suitable.&nbsp; And
|
---|
| 134 |
|
---|
| 135 | do not doubt that I shall send for your father and when he comes he will
|
---|
| 136 |
|
---|
| 137 | break off this engagement or disinherit you forever.&nbsp; The king himself
|
---|
| 138 |
|
---|
| 139 | will make a complaint to your father and demand no less an action than
|
---|
| 140 |
|
---|
| 141 | I have suggested.&nbsp; Indeed, I happen to know that the king has already
|
---|
| 142 |
|
---|
| 143 | promised this lady to someone else and that though she is not yet aware
|
---|
| 144 |
|
---|
| 145 | of it, the arrangements are already far advanced.&nbsp; The king however,
|
---|
| 146 |
|
---|
| 147 | being a man of great prudence and diplomacy, is confident that, once she
|
---|
| 148 |
|
---|
| 149 | is aware of the situation, she will agree to the union gladly.'
|
---|
| 150 |
|
---|
| 151 | <p>'Sir,' said Lord Percy, weeping, 'I knew nothing of the king's involvement
|
---|
| 152 |
|
---|
| 153 | in all this, and I am sorry to have incurred his displeasure.&nbsp; I considered
|
---|
| 154 |
|
---|
| 155 | myself to be of sufficient age and in a good enough situation to be able
|
---|
| 156 |
|
---|
| 157 | to take a wife of my own choosing and never doubted that my father would
|
---|
| 158 |
|
---|
| 159 | have accepted my decision.&nbsp; And though she is just a simple maid and
|
---|
| 160 |
|
---|
| 161 | her father is only a knight, yet she is of very noble descent.&nbsp; On
|
---|
| 162 |
|
---|
| 163 | her mother's side she has Norfolk blood and on her father's side she is
|
---|
| 164 |
|
---|
| 165 | a direct descendant of the earl of Ormond.&nbsp; Why then, sir, should
|
---|
| 166 |
|
---|
| 167 | I query the suitability of the match when her pedigree is of equal worth
|
---|
| 168 |
|
---|
| 169 | to mine?&nbsp; Thus I humbly beg your favor in this matter and ask you
|
---|
| 170 |
|
---|
| 171 | to beg the king to be benevolent concerning this issue of my engagement,
|
---|
| 172 |
|
---|
| 173 | which I cannot deny, still less break it off?'
|
---|
| 174 |
|
---|
| 175 | <p>'See, gentlemen,' said the lord cardinal to us, 'what nonsense there
|
---|
| 176 |
|
---|
| 177 | is in this willful boy's head!&nbsp; I though that when you heard me explain
|
---|
| 178 |
|
---|
| 179 | the king's involvement in this business you would have relented in your
|
---|
| 180 |
|
---|
| 181 | suit and have submitted yourself to the king's will, allowing his highness
|
---|
| 182 |
|
---|
| 183 | to decide on the matter as he thinks fit.'
|
---|
| 184 |
|
---|
| 185 | <p>'Sir, and so I would,' said Lord Percy, 'but in this matter I have gone
|
---|
| 186 |
|
---|
| 187 | so far that I am no longer able to renounce my commitment in full conscience.'
|
---|
| 188 |
|
---|
| 189 | <p>'What?' said the cardinal, 'Do you think that the king and I do not
|
---|
| 190 |
|
---|
| 191 | know what to do in such a serious matter as this?&nbsp; One thing's for
|
---|
| 192 |
|
---|
| 193 | sure, I can see no point in your making any further pleas in this case.'
|
---|
| 194 |
|
---|
| 195 | <p>'Very well,' said Lord Percy, 'if it please you, I will submit myself
|
---|
| 196 |
|
---|
| 197 | completely to the king's will in this matter and will release my conscience
|
---|
| 198 |
|
---|
| 199 | from the heavy burden of the engagement.'
|
---|
| 200 |
|
---|
| 201 | <p>'So be it, then,' said the cardinal, 'I will send for your father in
|
---|
| 202 |
|
---|
| 203 | the north, and he, the king and I will take whatever measure for the annulment
|
---|
| 204 |
|
---|
| 205 | of this hasty folly the king thinks necessary.&nbsp; And in the meantime,
|
---|
| 206 |
|
---|
| 207 | I order you - and in the king's name command you - not to see her again
|
---|
| 208 |
|
---|
| 209 | if you intend to avoid the full wrath of his majesty.'&nbsp; Having said
|
---|
| 210 |
|
---|
| 211 | this, he got up and went off to his study.
|
---|
| 212 |
|
---|
| 213 | <p>Then the earl of Northumberland was sent for, who, learning of the request
|
---|
| 214 |
|
---|
| 215 | being at the king's command, made great speed to court.&nbsp; his first
|
---|
| 216 |
|
---|
| 217 | port of call after leaving the north was to lord cardinal, by whom he was
|
---|
| 218 |
|
---|
| 219 | briefed about the cause of his hasty summons and with whom he spent a considerable
|
---|
| 220 |
|
---|
| 221 | time in secret discussions.&nbsp; After their long talk, the cardinal ordered
|
---|
| 222 |
|
---|
| 223 | some wine and after they had drunk together the meeting broke up and the
|
---|
| 224 |
|
---|
| 225 | earl left.
|
---|
| 226 |
|
---|
| 227 | <p>As he was leaving, he sat down on a bench that the servants used and
|
---|
| 228 |
|
---|
| 229 | called his son Lord Percy to him, saying, in our presence: 'Son, you have
|
---|
| 230 |
|
---|
| 231 | always been a proud, presumptuous, headstrong wastrel.&nbsp; And you have
|
---|
| 232 |
|
---|
| 233 | so proved yourself once more.&nbsp; What possible joy, comfort, pleasure
|
---|
| 234 |
|
---|
| 235 | or solace could I ever receive from you who have so misconducted yourself
|
---|
| 236 |
|
---|
| 237 | without discretion and in such secrecy.&nbsp; With no regard for your own
|
---|
| 238 |
|
---|
| 239 | father, nor for your sovereign to whom all honest and loyal subjects give
|
---|
| 240 |
|
---|
| 241 | faithful and humble obedience, nor even for your own noble estate, you
|
---|
| 242 |
|
---|
| 243 | have ill-advisedly become engaged to this girl and thereby incurred the
|
---|
| 244 |
|
---|
| 245 | king's displeasure - an action intolerable in any of his subjects!
|
---|
| 246 |
|
---|
| 247 | <p>'If it wasn't for the wisdom of the king and his benevolence towards
|
---|
| 248 |
|
---|
| 249 | your empty-headedness and willful stupidity, his wrath would have been
|
---|
| 250 |
|
---|
| 251 | sufficient to cast me and all my family for generations to come into abject
|
---|
| 252 |
|
---|
| 253 | poverty and desolation.&nbsp; But by the supreme goodness of his grace
|
---|
| 254 |
|
---|
| 255 | and the worthy lord cardinal, I have been excused your transgression -
|
---|
| 256 |
|
---|
| 257 | they have decided to pity your stupidity rather than blame it - and have
|
---|
| 258 |
|
---|
| 259 | presented me with a command concerning you and your future conduct.
|
---|
| 260 |
|
---|
| 261 | <p>'I pray to God that this may serve as sufficient warning to you to conduct
|
---|
| 262 |
|
---|
| 263 | yourself with more care hereafter, for I can assure you that, if you do
|
---|
| 264 |
|
---|
| 265 | not amend your ways, you will be the last earl of Northumberland if I have
|
---|
| 266 |
|
---|
| 267 | anything to do with it.&nbsp; You do nothing but waste and consume everything
|
---|
| 268 |
|
---|
| 269 | that all your ancestors have built up and cherished with great honor.&nbsp;
|
---|
| 270 |
|
---|
| 271 | But in the name of the good and gracious king, I intend - God willing -
|
---|
| 272 |
|
---|
| 273 | so to arrange my succession that you will benefit from it but little.&nbsp;
|
---|
| 274 |
|
---|
| 275 | For I have no intention, I can assure you, of making you my heir.&nbsp;
|
---|
| 276 |
|
---|
| 277 | I have, after all, praise be to God, a wide choice of sons who will, I
|
---|
| 278 |
|
---|
| 279 | am sure, prove themselves worthier than you and abler to conduct themselves
|
---|
| 280 |
|
---|
| 281 | as true nobles should.&nbsp; And from these I will choose the best as my
|
---|
| 282 |
|
---|
| 283 | successor.
|
---|
| 284 |
|
---|
| 285 | <p>'Now gentlemen,' he said to us servants, 'it may so happen that when
|
---|
| 286 |
|
---|
| 287 | I am dead you will see these things that I have spoken of to my son prove
|
---|
| 288 |
|
---|
| 289 | to be the case.&nbsp; Yet in the meantime, I would be grateful if you could
|
---|
| 290 |
|
---|
| 291 | be his friends and tell him when he strays from the path or is at fault.'&nbsp;
|
---|
| 292 |
|
---|
| 293 | And with that he took his leave of us and said to his son: 'Go on your
|
---|
| 294 |
|
---|
| 295 | way and serve the lord cardinal, your master, and make sure you carry out
|
---|
| 296 |
|
---|
| 297 | your duty.'&nbsp; And thus he departed and went down through the hall and
|
---|
| 298 |
|
---|
| 299 | out to his barge.
|
---|
| 300 |
|
---|
| 301 | <p>After much debate and consultation about lord Percy's case it was finally
|
---|
| 302 | decided that his engagement to Anne Boleyn should be dissolved and that he
|
---|
| 303 | should instead marry one of the earl of Shrewsbury's daughters, Mary Talbot,
|
---|
| 304 | which he later did.<p>&nbsp;<p align="center">
|
---|
| 305 | <a href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fmonarchs%2fboleyn.html">
|
---|
| 306 | <font size="2">to the Anne
|
---|
| 307 | Boleyn website</font></a></p>
|
---|
| 308 | <p align="center"><a href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fprimary.html">
|
---|
| 309 | <font size="2">to Primary Sources</font></a></td>
|
---|
| 310 | </tr>
|
---|
| 311 | </table>
|
---|
| 312 | </center>
|
---|
| 313 | </div>
|
---|
| 314 |
|
---|
| 315 |
|
---|
| 316 |
|
---|
| 317 | <!-- text below generated by server. PLEASE REMOVE --><!-- Counter/Statistics data collection code --><script language="JavaScript" src="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=0&amp;href=http:%2f%2fhostingprod.com%2fjs%5fsource%2fgeov2.js"></script><script language="javascript">geovisit();</script><noscript><img src="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=0&amp;el=direct&amp;href=http://visit.webhosting.yahoo.com/visit.gif?us1108082595" alt="setstats" border="0" width="1" height="1"></noscript>
|
---|
| 318 | <IMG SRC="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=0&amp;el=direct&amp;href=http://geo.yahoo.com/serv?s=76001524&t=1108082595" ALT=1 WIDTH=1 HEIGHT=1>
|
---|
| 319 | </Content>
|
---|
| 320 | </Section>
|
---|
| 321 | </Archive>
|
---|