Few British families have had the grasping ambition of the Boleyns. Not only did they rise from merchants to members of the extended Royal Family in just three generations, they also changed the course of British history forever.
There’s a reason we’re obsessed with Henry VIII and his second wife Anne Boleyn. It’s a story that has it all: lust, adultery, betrayal, politics, religion and murder. But as a new three-part documentary shows, at the heart of it is Thomas Boleyn, Anne’s father, whose ambition led to the destruction of almost his entire family.
‘There’s a thin line between great ambition and lunacy,’ says Gareth Russell, a historian who appears on the series The Boleyns: A Scandalous Family.
‘To understand Anne’s rise and fall you need to know about her power-hungry family. They’re an extraordinary example of hubris and pain.’
The Boleyn family’s hunger for power is revealed in new three-part series, The Boleyns: A Scandalous Family. Pictured: Anne Boleyn as shown in the documentary
Thomas Boleyn’s grandfather Geoffrey climbed from apprentice hatter to Lord Mayor of London, amassing a fortune along the way as a merchant. Thomas’s father William married into the Irish aristocracy, giving the family a passage into a more rarefied world.
Thomas married well too: his wife Elizabeth, Anne’s mother, was the Duke of Norfolk’s daughter. Elizabeth’s brother Thomas Howard, who inherited the dukedom, was one of the most important aristocrats in the land and it is through this connection that Thomas Boleyn was introduced to the royal court.
Yet having his brother-in-law as a patron wasn’t always beneficial.
‘Thomas Howard has been described as one of the most unpleasant men of the 16th century, which is quite the horse race to win,’ says Gareth.
‘It was not a century that produced cuddly, likeable figures. He wasn’t quite as stupid as some people assume, but nearly every member of his family hated him. He was physically abusive to his wife, and he felt overlooked because he was arrogant but a man of mediocre talent, and that can be dangerous in anyone.’
While Thomas Howard was getting plum roles at court, Thomas Boleyn climbed his way up using his wit and charm. He first became a diplomat, and when he befriended Archduchess Margaret of Austria Anne was sent, aged about 12, to be her maid of honour.
Historian Gareth Russell claims Anne saw the after-effects of how Mary was treated when her affair was over and arguably had no interest in the same happening to her. Pictured: Anne’s father Thomas, as shown in the documentary
When Thomas was made ambassador to France, he won Anne a place at the even more dazzling French court, where she was maid of honour to Queen Claude.
When Henry VIII’s attentions fell on Thomas Boleyn’s married daughter Mary and she was forced into becoming his mistress, the king made Thomas a viscount.
It was rumoured that two of Mary’s children were fathered by the king, yet when the affair was over and her husband died of the ‘sweating sickness’, she was left penniless and was later banished from court.
‘Mary was an unhappy mistress as the fling negatively impacted on her marriage,’ says Gareth.
‘It also meant that once it was over she had no influence at court. Anne saw the after-effects of Mary’s treatment and you could argue she had no interest in that happening to her.
‘So when the king’s eye fell on her she knew that if she didn’t play her cards right she too would be sent packing to the Shires.’
Gareth said letters written by Henry are quite cloying and obsessive, but obsessive love and intense hatred aren’t separated by much
Anne was different though. She had style and grace picked up at the French court, and she knew how to handle men. When the king turned his attention to her she initially rejected him.
This only served to make him keener – and she was advised on how best to play the situation by her father and her uncle Thomas Howard.
The series dips into fascinating letters written by the main protagonists, including love letters written by Henry.
‘They’re quite cloying and obsessive, there are lots of letters in which he’s pleading with her,’ says Gareth.
‘They also betray an element of self-loathing. He can’t understand why he loves her so much, but obsessive love and intense hatred aren’t separated by much.’
To facilitate the marriage, the king broke with Rome and even his great adviser Thomas Wolsey, who the Boleyns and Thomas Howard argued was taking too long to force through Henry’s divorce from first wife Catherine of Aragon. But the payback was brutal.
Anne and her brother George were beheaded for allegedly having an incestuous affair. Pictured: Portrait of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn’s first meeting
Wolsey’s man Thomas Cromwell had once been Anne’s champion, but when her family crossed him he moved against her.
‘They underestimated Cromwell and they certainly didn’t see their downfall coming,’ says Gareth.
‘The whole family was blindsided. But when you put all these personalities and powers into one place people get hurt.’
The Boleyn story ends, as we know, with death and ignominy for the family, but not for their line. Anne was beheaded, as was her brother George for allegedly having an incestuous affair with his sister.
But Anne’s daughter Elizabeth went on to become one of England’s greatest monarchs.
As a footnote, Thomas Howard later secured another of his nieces, Catherine Howard, a place at Henry’s court and in 1540, at the age of 17, she became his fifth wife. Yet she too lost her head for treason just over a year later.
The Boleyns: A Scandalous Family will be shown in August on BBC2.