Tag: peremadeleine

This is something I’ve been wondering about for a while, and I thought maybe you’ll know more details: is there any evidence of the Boleyns’ relationship with Elizabeth prior to May 1536? Being the king’s daughter and having her own household, I’m not under the illusion that her grandparents stopped by for the Tudor equivalent of cookie-baking or anything, but it breaks my heart to think of Thomas & Elizabeth Boleyn losing access to their grandchild and last connection to Anne (and vice-versa).

Idk if there ever has been a comprehensive biography of Thomas or Elizabeth Boleyn? That would be helpful in this regard, for sure. 

I know Thomas and George Boleyn were at her christening, and it was Thomas Boleyn’s sister that ran Hatfield starting 1533…presumably it’s possible he [and/or his wife] had visited, but I don’t know of any record of such. 

It’s also equally (or more, maybe?) plausible that his court career was too busy to ever give a visit. He had one of the highest attendance rates in Parliament in 1534, for example.

As for after May 1536 (although I know you didn’t include that in the ask), presumably Thomas also saw Elizabeth at court (she was there in October 1536–  a report from the time reads “[that] the King is very affectionate to [Elizabeth]. It is said he loves her much”–  around which time Boleyn assisted in squashing the Pilgrimage of Grace). He was at the christening of Edward VI, and by 1538 was firmly back at court.

Information on Elizabeth Boleyn is, sadly, even more scarce than sources for Thomas Boleyn– so I have no idea, in regards to any times she may have been around her granddaughter. She was in Anne Boleyn’s household during her period as Queen Consort, though, so I assume she spent some time with Elizabeth during the few months before she went to an official residence. 

And it was Thomas Howard, another of Elizabeth’s great uncles, that accompanied her to Hatfield in late 1533 (I don’t have a source on me but I feel like I remember…reading that, a few places….  [ x ]). 

But, hey, Elizabeth wasn’t taken to Hatfield until December 1533– it stands to reason that her grandparents might have had time with her before then, in chambers with Anne, perhaps? Also, Anne kept Elizabeth beside her at court before then: “courtiers were often embarrassed by Anne’s displays of affection for her baby[…]she loved to have Elizabeth next to her on a cushion, rather than shut away in a nursery.” Stands to reason, also, that her grandparents may have been around during some of these occasions.