December 20: Calm Before the Storm
Thank you to historian Natalie Grueninger for sharing this excerpt with us. It's from her latest book, "The Final Year of Anne Boleyn", which is an excellent read.
After spending most of Advent at Richmond Palace, the court moved to Eltham for Christmas. It’s possible that the Princess Elizabeth’s household was also in residence, as during the 1530s, the palace primarily functioned as a royal nursery. It was common for a lord of misrule or ‘master of merry disports’ to oversee the Christmas entertainments at court, which ran from Christmas Day to Twelfth Night, 5 January. His duties involved organising ‘fine and subtle disguisings, masks and mummeries’, as well as various games, including card games. In 1552–1553, George Ferrers was appointed master of the king’s pastimes, a role that required him to create and perform traditional lord of misrule shows, many of which he described in a letter to Sir Thomas Cawarden, master of the revels. This document shines an important light on the range of events organised at this time of year – from arriving at court ‘on some strange beast’ to sending ‘an orator speaking in a strange language’ to the king on Christmas Day. Henry VIII appointed a lord of misrule in 1533 and 1534, but there is no record of one being present at court in 1535. Nevertheless, there would have been lively entertainments and a great deal of revelry.
On Christmas Day, the court gathered in their finery to watch the king and Anne, resplendent in either purple or red velvet, process to the chapel under a cloth of estate. The palace interiors, dressed in seasonal flowers and wreaths, and evergreens such as holly, laurel and ivy, provided a suitably magnificent backdrop to the day’s events. Following the formalities, the fun and feasting would begin. Fanfare announced the arrival of the centrepiece of the Christmas Day meal, the boar’s head, which was presented to diners by the steward or head of the household. Many other courses of meats, pies and delicacies followed. The leading members of the royal couple’s households and the nobility were expected to join in the celebrations. If illness or some other misadventure prevented one from attending, it was prudent to advise the king, like Lord Sandys, Henry’s Lord Chamberlain, did in November 1535. The only member of the queen’s immediate family that we know was present was her brother, Lord Rochford, although it’s entirely possible that her mother and father were there too. Although Lady Lisle was unable to be there in person, she sent one of her agents to court to enquire as to what gift would best please the queen. According to Margery Horsman, ‘the Queen’s Grace setteth much store by a pretty dog, and her Grace delighted so much in little Purkoy that after he was dead of a fall there durst nobody tell her Grace of it, till it pleased the King’s Highness to tell her Grace of it. But her Grace setteth more store by a dog than by a bitch’. Whether Lady Lisle took Margery’s advice and presented Anne with a dog is unknown, as the New Year’s gift roll for 1536 does not survive.
On Wednesday, 29 December, Henry left Anne at Eltham and travelled to nearby Greenwich Palace to meet with Chapuys. While the king had solicited the meeting to discuss ‘matters of great importance’, the ambassador was anxious to speak with Henry about Katherine’s failing health, which Henry had known about for several weeks. At first, her physician concluded that it was nothing serious and intimated that he expected her to make a full recovery. Indeed, by 13 December, Katherine appeared to have turned the corner and was well enough to pen letters to Chapuys, Charles V and Dr Ortiz, containing news ‘which would move a stone to compassion’. But her condition soon worsened.
While the court feasted and celebrated, Katherine lay dying in her bed at Kimbolton. She was unable to keep down any food or drink, and the pain in her stomach prevented her from sleeping more than an hour at a time. Her apothecary, Philip Grenacre, scribbled a desperate letter to Chapuys’ secretary, Montesse, begging him to tell the ambassador to visit Katherine as soon as possible. Eventually, Henry granted permission for him to do so, but not out of compassion for his former wife, whom he coolly assured Chapuys would not live long. Henry gloated that her death would mark the end of his troubles because the emperor would have no cause to concern himself with the affairs of his kingdom. Chapuys retorted that Katherine’s death ‘could not profit anyone’. How right he was. Ironically, the death of Henry’s first wife would leave Anne more vulnerable than ever.
The Final Year of Anne Boleyn is available from bookstores in the UK and can be purchased via online retailers, including Amazon UK, Amazon US and The Book Depository, which offers free worldwide shipping.
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