On this day in history, Sunday 1st September 1532, at Windsor Castle, Henry VIII fitted Anne Boleyn for the European stage by making her Marquis of Pembroke. The patent of nobility conferred this title on Anne in her own right, and on any subsequent offspring, and she was also granted lands worth £1000 per annum.

Anne Boleyn was now more than a former lady-in-waiting, she was a Marquis, and it was as Marquis and prospective Queen that she accompanied Henry VIII on a visit to France a month later. This visit introduced Anne to Europe as Henry VIII’s partner and ended with the consummation of their relationship, and possibly a secret marriage on St Erkenwald’s Day in November.

You can read the details of the ceremony at Windsor on the 1st September 1532 in my article “Anne Boleyn Becomes Marquis of Pembroke”. This was a big day for Anne.

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10 thoughts on “1 September 1532 – Anne Boleyn Becomes Marquis of Pembroke”
  1. It really must have been an awesome day for Anne 🙂 She must have looked regal with her clothing,jewels ! I’m quite proud to be born on September 1st,knowing that it was an important day in Anne’s life 🙂

    1. According to some books I have read, many of Anne’s enemies thought that her ennoblement was a reward for becoming Henry’s mistress. They were overjoyed … because they thought it would be the end of the planned divorce.

  2. A pity the patent could not have read “heirs of her body” rather than “heirs MALE of her body” because I’m sure there were times before she became Queen that Elizabeth could have used the income.

    Again, reading something like this – that Henry would go so far as to flout tradition and allow Anne such an important title in her own right, really makes you wonder WHAT went so wrong between the two of them, because less than four years later, he allowed her to be brought up on EXTREMELY questionable charges of treason and adultery and executed. Other garbage followed, that he believed she would have tried to poison Henry FitzRoy, Mary, and Katharine.

    I mean, really – he was the KING. Unless somehow Anne had gone insane, there was absolutely NOTHING in it for her to betray him, either sexually or to go so far as to plot his death. Her position was not the strongest, because she had not yet had the son/heir they both wanted so much.

    I kind of wonder if the accounts of her first trial no longer exist because Henry had those accounts burned after the fact; he re read the charges and realized how really gullible it made him seem.

  3. Big day for Anne, indeed!! I always think of her on the happy days of her life in June, September and January and also on the sad ones..

    I didn’t know people thought that Anne had finally slept with Henry and the title was her reward.. How wrong they were!

  4. What a year that was!
    Becoming the first female Marquis of Pembroke.
    Taken to France as Queen, in all but name.
    Finally becoming Henry’s mistress in the full sense of the word. (I bet the Christmas celebrations ay court were amazing that year)
    Finding that she had quickly become pregnant with her first child.
    Her marriage/marriages to the King.
    Her long awaited coronation.
    The love and attension she would have received during her pregnancy.
    And lastly the ceremony of her taking to her chambers, and the excitement, and apprehension, of the imminent birth of this baby.
    I wonder as she sat there, did she think, ‘this time last year…’ and recall all the wonderful things that had happened.
    It is hard to imagine that in 6 days time the downward spirell would begin for her, it is so heartbreaking, but all those years ago on this day she was still ‘The Most Happy’.

    1. I agree, at least for a year Anne must have been “The Most Happy”. All the events you so succesfully summarize came so quickly the one after the other that it really seemed like a blessing from God. As you say, it’s really heartbreaking to think how eveything collapsed in the end.

  5. Happy Birthday, Yann! This was an amazing day for Anne, no doubt. I, too, wonder how Henry could have done so many unprecedented things onluy to get rid of her in a few years…Had to have been the son issue–or rather, lack thereof.

    1. Yes, there certainly was no boundaries or limitations to his grand gestures and generosity to Anne and his favourites, but on the other side of the coin there was no boundaries or limits to his bloodyminded cruelty either, to anyone… a real live Jekyl/Hyde personality.

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