1 | <html>
|
---|
2 |
|
---|
3 | <head>
|
---|
4 | <meta name="GENERATOR" content="Microsoft FrontPage 5.0">
|
---|
5 | <meta name="ProgId" content="FrontPage.Editor.Document">
|
---|
6 | <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=windows-1252">
|
---|
7 | <meta http-equiv="Content-Language" content="en-us">
|
---|
8 | <title>Primary Sources: The romance between Anne Boleyn and Henry Percy, 1523</title>
|
---|
9 | <style fprolloverstyle>A:hover {color: #0000FF; font-weight: bold}
|
---|
10 | </style>
|
---|
11 | </head>
|
---|
12 |
|
---|
13 | <body link="#0000FF" vlink="#0000FF" alink="#0000FF">
|
---|
14 |
|
---|
15 | <div align="center">
|
---|
16 | <center>
|
---|
17 | <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="4" width="94%">
|
---|
18 | <tr>
|
---|
19 | <td valign="bottom" colspan="3">
|
---|
20 | <p align="center"> <br>
|
---|
21 | <p align="center">
|
---|
22 | <img border="0" src="1523.gif" alt="Primary Sources: 1523: The romance between Anne Boleyn & Henry Percy" width="417" height="101"><p align="center"> </td>
|
---|
23 | </tr>
|
---|
24 | <tr>
|
---|
25 | <td></td>
|
---|
26 | <td></td>
|
---|
27 | <td></td>
|
---|
28 | </tr>
|
---|
29 | <tr>
|
---|
30 | <td valign="top" width="48%" bgcolor="#FFFFE8"><font size="2">The account
|
---|
31 | at right </font><font size="-1">was written by George Cavendish, Cardinal Wolsey's gentleman-usher.</font><p>
|
---|
32 | <img SRC="anne2.jpg" ALT="portrait of Anne Boleyn" BORDER=0 height=194 width=139 align=LEFT></p>
|
---|
33 | <p><font size="2">Anne Boleyn was the second wife of King Henry VIII.
|
---|
34 | The year of her birth is unknown; it was possibly 1501 or 1507. She
|
---|
35 | spent her adolescence at the French court but returned home to England in
|
---|
36 | 1522. As the daughter of an ambitious courtier and niece of the duke
|
---|
37 | of Norfolk, she was invited to serve at court as lady-in-waiting to
|
---|
38 | Katharine of Aragon. It was here that she caught the attention of
|
---|
39 | King Henry. Anne, however, had fallen in love with Lord Henry Percy,
|
---|
40 | heir to the earl of Northumberland. They were secretly engaged and
|
---|
41 | planned to marry. As Cavendish's account makes plain, Henry ordered
|
---|
42 | Cardinal Wolsey to end the engagement. The Cardinal did so, thus
|
---|
43 | earning Anne's lasting enmity.</font></p>
|
---|
44 | <p><font size="2">Henry's 'secret love' for Anne was highly controversial,
|
---|
45 | and not merely because he was already married. Kings did, after all,
|
---|
46 | have mistresses. But he had already had an open affair (and possibly
|
---|
47 | a son) with her sister, Mary. His relationship with Anne, however,
|
---|
48 | was far more serious. In love and desperate for a legitimate male
|
---|
49 | heir, Henry planned to annul his marriage to Katharine of Aragon and marry
|
---|
50 | Anne. The pope's refusal to help eventually led Henry to break with
|
---|
51 | the church of Rome and declare himself supreme head of a new English
|
---|
52 | church.</font></p>
|
---|
53 | <p><font size="2">It was all for naught. Anne did not give Henry a
|
---|
54 | surviving son and she was executed on 19 May 1536.</font></p>
|
---|
55 | <p> </td>
|
---|
56 | <td width="4%"></td>
|
---|
57 | <td valign="top" width="48%">
|
---|
58 |
|
---|
59 | <p> I will tell you as best I can how the king's love came about and what
|
---|
60 | followed thereafter. When this lady, Mistress Anne Boleyn, was very
|
---|
61 | young she was sent to France to be a lady-in-waiting to the French queen.
|
---|
62 | When the queen died she was sent back to her father who arranged for her to
|
---|
63 | become a lady-in-waiting to queen Catherine, wife of Henry. Such was
|
---|
64 | her success in this post, shown both by her exemplary behavior and excellent
|
---|
65 | deportment that she quickly outshone all the others. To such an
|
---|
66 | extent, in fact, that the flames of desire began to burn secretly in the
|
---|
67 | king's breast, unknown to all, least of all to Anne herself. </p>
|
---|
68 |
|
---|
69 | <p>At this time Lord Percy, the son and heir of the earl of Northumberland,
|
---|
70 |
|
---|
71 | was aide and secretary to Wolsey, the lord cardinal, and whenever the lord
|
---|
72 |
|
---|
73 | cardinal happened to be at court Lord Percy would pass the time in the
|
---|
74 |
|
---|
75 | queen's quarters where he would dally with the ladies-in-waiting.
|
---|
76 |
|
---|
77 | Of these, he was most familiar with mistress Anne Boleyn, to such an extent
|
---|
78 |
|
---|
79 | that a secret love grew up between them and they pledged that, in time,
|
---|
80 |
|
---|
81 | they intended to wed. When knowledge of this reached the king's ears
|
---|
82 |
|
---|
83 | he was greatly distraught. Realizing that he could no longer hide
|
---|
84 |
|
---|
85 | his secret love, he revealed all to the lord cardinal and discussed with
|
---|
86 |
|
---|
87 | him ways of sundering the couple's engagement to each other.
|
---|
88 |
|
---|
89 | <p>When the lord cardinal had left the court and returned to Westminster,
|
---|
90 |
|
---|
91 | he remembered Henry's request and summoned Lord Percy to his presence,
|
---|
92 |
|
---|
93 | saying in front of us, his servants: 'I am amazed at your foolishness in
|
---|
94 |
|
---|
95 | getting entangled, even engaged, to this silly girl at court - I mean Anne
|
---|
96 |
|
---|
97 | Boleyn. Have you not considered your position? After the death
|
---|
98 |
|
---|
99 | of your noble father you stand to inherit one of the greatest earldoms
|
---|
100 |
|
---|
101 | in the country. It would thus have been more proper if you had sought
|
---|
102 |
|
---|
103 | the consent of your father in this affair and to have made his highness
|
---|
104 |
|
---|
105 | the king privy to it, requesting his royal blessing. Had you done
|
---|
106 |
|
---|
107 | so, he was not only have welcomed your request but would, I can assure
|
---|
108 |
|
---|
109 | you, have promoted you to a position more suited to your noble estate.
|
---|
110 |
|
---|
111 | And thence you might have gained the king's favor by your conduct and wise
|
---|
112 |
|
---|
113 | council and and thus risen further still in his estimation.
|
---|
114 |
|
---|
115 | <p>'But now look what you have done by your thoughtlessness. You
|
---|
116 |
|
---|
117 | have not only offended your own father but also your sovereign and pledged
|
---|
118 |
|
---|
119 | yourself to someone whom neither would agree to be suitable. And
|
---|
120 |
|
---|
121 | do not doubt that I shall send for your father and when he comes he will
|
---|
122 |
|
---|
123 | break off this engagement or disinherit you forever. The king himself
|
---|
124 |
|
---|
125 | will make a complaint to your father and demand no less an action than
|
---|
126 |
|
---|
127 | I have suggested. Indeed, I happen to know that the king has already
|
---|
128 |
|
---|
129 | promised this lady to someone else and that though she is not yet aware
|
---|
130 |
|
---|
131 | of it, the arrangements are already far advanced. The king however,
|
---|
132 |
|
---|
133 | being a man of great prudence and diplomacy, is confident that, once she
|
---|
134 |
|
---|
135 | is aware of the situation, she will agree to the union gladly.'
|
---|
136 |
|
---|
137 | <p>'Sir,' said Lord Percy, weeping, 'I knew nothing of the king's involvement
|
---|
138 |
|
---|
139 | in all this, and I am sorry to have incurred his displeasure. I considered
|
---|
140 |
|
---|
141 | myself to be of sufficient age and in a good enough situation to be able
|
---|
142 |
|
---|
143 | to take a wife of my own choosing and never doubted that my father would
|
---|
144 |
|
---|
145 | have accepted my decision. And though she is just a simple maid and
|
---|
146 |
|
---|
147 | her father is only a knight, yet she is of very noble descent. On
|
---|
148 |
|
---|
149 | her mother's side she has Norfolk blood and on her father's side she is
|
---|
150 |
|
---|
151 | a direct descendant of the earl of Ormond. Why then, sir, should
|
---|
152 |
|
---|
153 | I query the suitability of the match when her pedigree is of equal worth
|
---|
154 |
|
---|
155 | to mine? Thus I humbly beg your favor in this matter and ask you
|
---|
156 |
|
---|
157 | to beg the king to be benevolent concerning this issue of my engagement,
|
---|
158 |
|
---|
159 | which I cannot deny, still less break it off?'
|
---|
160 |
|
---|
161 | <p>'See, gentlemen,' said the lord cardinal to us, 'what nonsense there
|
---|
162 |
|
---|
163 | is in this willful boy's head! I though that when you heard me explain
|
---|
164 |
|
---|
165 | the king's involvement in this business you would have relented in your
|
---|
166 |
|
---|
167 | suit and have submitted yourself to the king's will, allowing his highness
|
---|
168 |
|
---|
169 | to decide on the matter as he thinks fit.'
|
---|
170 |
|
---|
171 | <p>'Sir, and so I would,' said Lord Percy, 'but in this matter I have gone
|
---|
172 |
|
---|
173 | so far that I am no longer able to renounce my commitment in full conscience.'
|
---|
174 |
|
---|
175 | <p>'What?' said the cardinal, 'Do you think that the king and I do not
|
---|
176 |
|
---|
177 | know what to do in such a serious matter as this? One thing's for
|
---|
178 |
|
---|
179 | sure, I can see no point in your making any further pleas in this case.'
|
---|
180 |
|
---|
181 | <p>'Very well,' said Lord Percy, 'if it please you, I will submit myself
|
---|
182 |
|
---|
183 | completely to the king's will in this matter and will release my conscience
|
---|
184 |
|
---|
185 | from the heavy burden of the engagement.'
|
---|
186 |
|
---|
187 | <p>'So be it, then,' said the cardinal, 'I will send for your father in
|
---|
188 |
|
---|
189 | the north, and he, the king and I will take whatever measure for the annulment
|
---|
190 |
|
---|
191 | of this hasty folly the king thinks necessary. And in the meantime,
|
---|
192 |
|
---|
193 | I order you - and in the king's name command you - not to see her again
|
---|
194 |
|
---|
195 | if you intend to avoid the full wrath of his majesty.' Having said
|
---|
196 |
|
---|
197 | this, he got up and went off to his study.
|
---|
198 |
|
---|
199 | <p>Then the earl of Northumberland was sent for, who, learning of the request
|
---|
200 |
|
---|
201 | being at the king's command, made great speed to court. his first
|
---|
202 |
|
---|
203 | port of call after leaving the north was to lord cardinal, by whom he was
|
---|
204 |
|
---|
205 | briefed about the cause of his hasty summons and with whom he spent a considerable
|
---|
206 |
|
---|
207 | time in secret discussions. After their long talk, the cardinal ordered
|
---|
208 |
|
---|
209 | some wine and after they had drunk together the meeting broke up and the
|
---|
210 |
|
---|
211 | earl left.
|
---|
212 |
|
---|
213 | <p>As he was leaving, he sat down on a bench that the servants used and
|
---|
214 |
|
---|
215 | called his son Lord Percy to him, saying, in our presence: 'Son, you have
|
---|
216 |
|
---|
217 | always been a proud, presumptuous, headstrong wastrel. And you have
|
---|
218 |
|
---|
219 | so proved yourself once more. What possible joy, comfort, pleasure
|
---|
220 |
|
---|
221 | or solace could I ever receive from you who have so misconducted yourself
|
---|
222 |
|
---|
223 | without discretion and in such secrecy. With no regard for your own
|
---|
224 |
|
---|
225 | father, nor for your sovereign to whom all honest and loyal subjects give
|
---|
226 |
|
---|
227 | faithful and humble obedience, nor even for your own noble estate, you
|
---|
228 |
|
---|
229 | have ill-advisedly become engaged to this girl and thereby incurred the
|
---|
230 |
|
---|
231 | king's displeasure - an action intolerable in any of his subjects!
|
---|
232 |
|
---|
233 | <p>'If it wasn't for the wisdom of the king and his benevolence towards
|
---|
234 |
|
---|
235 | your empty-headedness and willful stupidity, his wrath would have been
|
---|
236 |
|
---|
237 | sufficient to cast me and all my family for generations to come into abject
|
---|
238 |
|
---|
239 | poverty and desolation. But by the supreme goodness of his grace
|
---|
240 |
|
---|
241 | and the worthy lord cardinal, I have been excused your transgression -
|
---|
242 |
|
---|
243 | they have decided to pity your stupidity rather than blame it - and have
|
---|
244 |
|
---|
245 | presented me with a command concerning you and your future conduct.
|
---|
246 |
|
---|
247 | <p>'I pray to God that this may serve as sufficient warning to you to conduct
|
---|
248 |
|
---|
249 | yourself with more care hereafter, for I can assure you that, if you do
|
---|
250 |
|
---|
251 | not amend your ways, you will be the last earl of Northumberland if I have
|
---|
252 |
|
---|
253 | anything to do with it. You do nothing but waste and consume everything
|
---|
254 |
|
---|
255 | that all your ancestors have built up and cherished with great honor.
|
---|
256 |
|
---|
257 | But in the name of the good and gracious king, I intend - God willing -
|
---|
258 |
|
---|
259 | so to arrange my succession that you will benefit from it but little.
|
---|
260 |
|
---|
261 | For I have no intention, I can assure you, of making you my heir.
|
---|
262 |
|
---|
263 | I have, after all, praise be to God, a wide choice of sons who will, I
|
---|
264 |
|
---|
265 | am sure, prove themselves worthier than you and abler to conduct themselves
|
---|
266 |
|
---|
267 | as true nobles should. And from these I will choose the best as my
|
---|
268 |
|
---|
269 | successor.
|
---|
270 |
|
---|
271 | <p>'Now gentlemen,' he said to us servants, 'it may so happen that when
|
---|
272 |
|
---|
273 | I am dead you will see these things that I have spoken of to my son prove
|
---|
274 |
|
---|
275 | to be the case. Yet in the meantime, I would be grateful if you could
|
---|
276 |
|
---|
277 | be his friends and tell him when he strays from the path or is at fault.'
|
---|
278 |
|
---|
279 | And with that he took his leave of us and said to his son: 'Go on your
|
---|
280 |
|
---|
281 | way and serve the lord cardinal, your master, and make sure you carry out
|
---|
282 |
|
---|
283 | your duty.' And thus he departed and went down through the hall and
|
---|
284 |
|
---|
285 | out to his barge.
|
---|
286 |
|
---|
287 | <p>After much debate and consultation about lord Percy's case it was finally
|
---|
288 | decided that his engagement to Anne Boleyn should be dissolved and that he
|
---|
289 | should instead marry one of the earl of Shrewsbury's daughters, Mary Talbot,
|
---|
290 | which he later did.<p> <p align="center">
|
---|
291 | <a href="monarchs/boleyn.html">
|
---|
292 | <font size="2">to the Anne
|
---|
293 | Boleyn website</font></a></p>
|
---|
294 | <p align="center"><a href="primary.html">
|
---|
295 | <font size="2">to Primary Sources</font></a></td>
|
---|
296 | </tr>
|
---|
297 | </table>
|
---|
298 | </center>
|
---|
299 | </div>
|
---|
300 |
|
---|
301 | </body>
|
---|
302 |
|
---|
303 | </html><!-- text below generated by server. PLEASE REMOVE --><!-- Counter/Statistics data collection code --><script language="JavaScript" src="http://hostingprod.com/js_source/geov2.js"></script><script language="javascript">geovisit();</script><noscript><img src="http://visit.webhosting.yahoo.com/visit.gif?us1108082595" alt="setstats" border="0" width="1" height="1"></noscript>
|
---|
304 | <IMG SRC="http://geo.yahoo.com/serv?s=76001524&t=1108082595" ALT=1 WIDTH=1 HEIGHT=1>
|
---|