Elizabeth Boleyn, Countess of Wiltshire and Ormonde

Lady Elizabeth Howard, later Elizabeth Boleyn, Countess of Wiltshire and Ormonde (c. 1480 – 3 April 1538) was one of the many daughters of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk by his first wife Elizabeth Tilney. She was also a direct descendant of King Edward I. ["The Six Wives of Henry VIII", by Antonia Fraser, p. 116 (1992).] She is most famous for having been the mother of Anne Boleyn, who became the second wife of King Henry VIII of England. As such, she was also the maternal grandmother of Queen Elizabeth I.

Marriage and children

Little is known of her but a rough chronology of her life can be pieced together through the comments and mythologies of her contemporaries.

Her family managed to survive the fall of their patron, Richard III in 1485 and Elizabeth successfully joined the royal court as a young girl. There, she wed Thomas Boleyn, an ambitious young courtier, sometime before 1500, probably in 1498. ["The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn", by Eric Ives, p.17 (2004).] According to Thomas, his wife was pregnant many times in the next few years but only five children are thought to have survived birth and only three into adulthood:

*Mary Boleyn, mistress of Henry VIII (c. 1499 – 19 July 1543).
*Anne Boleyn, Queen Consort of Henry VIII of England (c. 1501/1507 – 19 May 1536 )
*George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford (c. 1504 – 17 May 1536).
*Thomas Boleyn—thought to have died young.
*Henry Boleyn—thought to have died young.

As lady-in-waiting for the royal court

Throughout this time, Elizabeth was a lady-in-waiting at the royal court; first to Elizabeth of York and then to her successor, Catherine of Aragon. To judge from later gossip, Elizabeth Boleyn must have been a highly attractive woman. ["Anne Boleyn," by Marie-Louise Bruce, p. 13 (1972).] Rumours circulated when Henry was involved with Anne Boleyn that Elizabeth had once been his mistress, with the suggestion even being made that Anne Boleyn might be the daughter of Henry VIII. However, despite recent attempts by one or two historians to rehabilitate this myth, it was denied by Henry and never mentioned in the dispensation he sought in order to make his union with Anne lawful. Most historians believe it is likely that this rumour began by confusing Elizabeth with Henry's more famous mistress Elizabeth Blount, or from the growing unpopularity of the Boleyn family after 1527. ["The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn," by Eric Ives, p. 16 (2004).]

candals involving both daughters

In 1519, Elizabeth's elder daughter, Mary, was living in the French royal court. According to the papal nuncio in France fifteen years later, the French King had called Mary "my English mare", and later in his life described her as "a great whore, the most infamous of all". ["Anne Boleyn," by Marie-Louise Bruce, p. 23 (1982).]

In the words of historian M.L. Bruce, both Thomas and Elizabeth "developed feelings of dislike" for their daughter. [Ibid.] In later years, Mary's romantic involvements would only further strain this relationship. Around 1520, the Boleyns managed to arrange Mary's marriage to Sir William Carey, a respected and popular man at court. It was sometime after the wedding that Mary became mistress to Henry VIII (the exact dates as to when the affair started and ended are unknown), although she never held the title of "official royal mistress," as the post did not exist in England. It has long been rumoured that one or both Mary Boleyn's children were fathered by Henry and not Carey. Some historians, such as Alison Weir, now question whether Henry Carey or Catherine Carey were fathered by the King. [Henry VIII: The King and His Court, by Alison Weir, p. 216.] Few of Henry's mistresses were ever publicly honoured, except Elizabeth Blount, who was mentioned in Parliament and whose son, Henry Fitzroy was created Duke of Richmond and Somerset in an elaborate public ceremony in 1525. ["The Six Wives of Henry VIII," by Alison Weir, p. 81 (1991).] Henry's relationship with Mary was so discreet that within ten years, some observers were wondering if it had ever taken place. [ "The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn," by Eric Ives, pp. 15–16.]

In contrast to Mary, Elizabeth's other daughter, Anne, is thought to have had a close relationship with her mother. Elizabeth had been in charge of Anne's early education and she had taught her music and religion, as well as embroidery, reading and writing. ["The Six Wives of Henry VIII," by Alison Weir, p. 148 (1991).] In 1525 Henry VIII fell in love with Anne, and Elizabeth became her protective chaperone. She accompanied Anne to Court as a chaperone, since Anne was attempting to avoid a sexual relationship with the King. ["Divorced, Beheaded, Survived: A Feminist Reinterpretation of the Wives of Henry VIII," by Karen Lindsey, pp. 58–60 (1995).] It was Elizabeth who travelled with Anne to view York Place after the fall of the Boleyn family's great political opponent, Thomas Cardinal Wolsey — an intrigue which had given Anne her first real taste of political power. She was crowned queen four years later.

Elizabeth remained in her daughter's household throughout her time as queen consort. Tradition has it that Anne's only daughter, Elizabeth I was named after her maternal grandmother. However, it is more likely that she was named after Henry's mother, Elizabeth of York, although we cannot rule out the possibility that she was named after both grandmothers.

Elizabeth Boleyn sided with the rest of the family when her eldest daughter Mary was banished in 1535 for eloping with a commoner, William Stafford. Mary had initially expected her sister's support (Anne had been Mary's only confidante within the Boleyn family since 1529). ["Divorced, Beheaded, Survived: A Feminist Reinterpretation of the Wives of Henry VIII," by Karen Lindsey, p. 73 (1995).] but Anne was furious at the breach of etiquette and refused to receive her. ["The Six Wives of Henry VIII," by Alison Weir, p. 273 (1991).]

Only a year later, the family was overtaken by a greater scandal. Elizabeth's younger daughter, Anne, and her only living son, George, were both executed on charges of treason, adultery and incest. Anne's two chief biographers, Eric Ives and Retha Warnicke, have both concluded that these charges were fabricated. ["The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn," by Eric Ives (2004) and "The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn," by Retha Warnicke (1989).] They both agree that the King wanted to marry his mistress, Jane Seymour. Beyond this obvious fact, the sequence of events is not completely clear and historians are divided about whether or not the key motivation for Anne's downfall was her husband's hatred of her or her political ambitions. [For the debate, see the introduction to J.J. Scarisbrick's 1997 edition of his biography "Henry VIII," "The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn," by Eric Ives, pp. 319–337 and "The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn," by Retha Warnicke, pp. 189–233 (1989).] Despite the claims of several recent novels, academic historians generally agree that Anne was innocent and that she was sexually faithful to her husband. Nonetheless, the judges obeyed the King and condemned Anne and George Boleyn and four others to death. Elizabeth's husband Thomas Boleyn and her brother Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk were no help to the condemned. The accused men were beheaded by the axe on 17 May 1536 and on this day Henry's marriage to Anne was annulled, on the grounds of his previous relationship with her sister. This made Elizabeth's granddaughter, then heir to the throne, a bastard of doubtful paternity. Anne was executed by a French swordsman two days later.

Following the annihilation of the family's ambitions, Elizabeth retired to the countryside. She died only two years after the deaths of Anne and George and her husband died the following year.

Footnotes

*http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7042957