In Defence of Thomas Boleyn, Father of Anne Boleyn

Thanks for this very interesting article. I have not really thought too much about Thomas before beyond his caricature on films/ tv, but this has rally made me want to follow up what you have put forward.

You have to remember the times in which they lived and not judge them by the standards of today. Women had very little standing and were used to the advantage of the male family members. Unless you were a woman of remarkable status, ability and forceful personality, you stood very little chance of notice. Compare Mary to Anne. And even if you did have status, it could easily be ripped away by the male members of your family – Kathrine of Aragon, Anne herself. Thomas Boleyn was making his way through life in a manner consistent with the times, and should not be judged harshly.

I have believed, just like Anne and all the Boleyns, Thomas was maligned also. There is no way he would not mourn the fact his son and heir was “killed”. What had he gained power and wealth for if not his son. He was a victim of the time and Henry! As Nan Boleyn stated, he must have had great worth and skills to work back into favor, but obviously dying after only a few years, I am sure his spirit was broken by the loss of his children, but self preservation prevails..

Dear Claire,

Thank you so much for bringing these interesting facts about Sir Thomas Boleyn to your readers. Can you tell us, what is the modern reason, motivation for the on-going defamation of Anne, George and Thomas Boleyn and who do you think is behind it?

Thank you.

Thanks for the great article Claire!
Blame for Anne’s death sholud be placed where it belongs, at the feet of Henry VIII.

Dear Claire,

Hi my name is Miranda Lynn Reed. I have my own opinion to express about sir Thomas Boleyn! I think Sir Thomas Boleyn was a good man. I think he tried to save his children but new if he tried he would of probably lost his own life in the process of trying to save his children from being killed. I think henry and Sir Thomas Cromwell ploted against the Boleyn’s! I don’t think the Seymour had anything to do with Queen Anne Boleyn’s and Sir Gorege Boleyn’s downfall! Queen Anne Boleyn and Sir Gorege Boletn caused their own downfall.I think If Queen Anne hadn’t argued with Sir Thomas Cromwell and hadn’t threatened to behead him I think Queen Anne Boleyn would of lived a little longer I think Queen Anne Boleyn hadn’t had any man/men in her bed chambers and just had her ladyi in waiting in her chambers she would of live a longer live. I hope i am making sense here. let me know i am not making sense. And also let me know if i am making sense here as well.

Sincerely,

Miranda Lynn Reed

Regardless of his ability to compartmentalize the outcome of the trials of his children, and later, his daughter-in-law, Thomas Boleyn’s lot in life could not have been easy, emotionally.

His only surviving son was executed.
His daughter, while ‘only’ a female, was clearly engaging, attractive, beguiling – and executed.
His son’s wife, later, was executed.
His wife’s niece was executed at the same time.

His heart must’ve been broken.
Such a price to pay for his family’s ambitious actions!

Always great to read your posts, Claire! I’m relatively new to the Anne Boleyn Files, but like so many of us who thirst for ever more information on a time and on events from so long ago, I’m thrilled to see consistently new research, fresh insights and an even handed view!
Having fallen hard for Anne Boleyn solely on the intrigues (however far fetched and clearly created more to grip a television audience and not to ‘tell it like it was’) of “the Tudors”, I confess I’m most thankful to have had this made-for-tv attempt at both drawing & holding an audience and giving an outline, however flawed in inaccuracies, of the events of those amazing years, people, politics, sex, ambition, etc. Lucky for me and perhaps many others, herein began MY thirst for as much factual information on this same story told of the Tudors and much other surrounding historical facts as well. “The Tudors” created, at least a notion of people and not just names, something that many history books do not or choose not to do. Without context it all falls rather flat. Now though, there will be few books left unopened or posts left unread, for I am hooked! Wow! not the place for all this, sorry!
I do have much studying to do, of course, and I could be accused of naively viewing Thomas Boleyn as the man who put his children in harms way solely to raise his own level of prestige, power, income and sway within Henry’s court. While Clearly, long before Mary or Anne ever laid in Henry’s bed, Thomas Boleyn’s list of accomplishments was beyond extensive and his favor with both Henry VII & Henry VIII was remarkably close. I wonder then, why did a man whose personal clout stood far and away beyond so many courtiers put his children into this environment at all, unless it was to take ever further steps of favor toward the King and receive even greater position, benefit, wealth and power within court. Who better to know the true cost of a life of in Henry’s court. True, he had not yet seen the harsh removal (which he, it appears, assisted in stepping along, arguably to his own benefit) of a 20+ year sitting Queen, or the ‘kill or be killed’ bent Henry’s own take on execution would become, but surely Thomas Boleyn, so close to the man who would ultimately, ‘personally’ kill his own children had to have recognized the risk of courtly life, along with what only a genuinely intelligent, trained man so close to the crown must have sensed as, at the very least, rolling the dice of one’s neck it was to take that next step toward what he later saw as the kind of favor that could ONLY be achieved through being a member of Henry’s family by marriage. I wonder what the list of gifts & wealth were as Henry courted Anne, likely only to be topped by what a Father-in-Law may receive in properties, titles, and accumulating wealth. It was a fantastic bet he made putting his strikingly exotic, uniquely mannered, precisely educated and relentlessly brave daughter Anne, especially after the ‘failure’ of daughter Mary, ‘in Henry’s sights’ for what can honestly only be seen by this novice as a playing of his own hand, with the gem of a card he had in Anne…all an incredible gambit, right up till the bough broke and his ‘cradle of children’ lost their heads as a result. This privileged courtier, father of 3 whom he so diligently educated, had placed in courts where they would come out multi-lingual, carefully trained in all manner of the arts, particularly performing music & dance, in writing (George was known to be a poet, and Anne, at least it was suggested dabbled, if ever privately ~ since we apparently have no actual poetry to get that deeper window into her person! her thoughts and feelings ~ sadly), and perhaps more importantly the more nuanced skills and manner that made each stand out in their own way! not as the wallflower English men & women in court, whom Henry could generally have without fuss (including Mary, whose skill set suggested she was most highly suited as a sovereign’s Mistress, evidently immediately interesting, yet rather quickly and without fuss ultimately disposable, despite even the fact that she bore Henry a son {or so my research has said} she too went the way of most all of ‘Henry’s cast-off mistresses, or as in the case of Mary, would be known as the “Great wh*re” for the rest of her life it seems).
Was Thomas Boleyn forced to bring his children to court, get positions for them? Could he not have used that same savvy that had him initially place them in other courts to continue the paths of their own lives, loves (perhaps), religion and continued learning. Were they forced by their sovereign to appear and serve? If Henry had never seen Anne, might she have stood a chance, with all her fine graces, manner and exotic appeal, of finding a decent husband and a life of child rearing, and possibly leisure, left to bloom as the remarkable woman she’d become in the French and Hapsburg Courts? Or was she always being groomed to be that championship winning card in fathers’ hand to lay before a king, just in case it meant winning the ultimate prize, Afterall, sincerely, WHAT WAS Thomas Boleyn raising Anne to be?? It seems only reasonable that all that education, special training, etc, was not to give her a special life of leisure and to be, to the English Court, a “Nobody”.
Again, only a novices view…and a scattered one at that, but perhaps something to consider. And I will continue to read your fantastic posts, Claire!! Thanks much!

Just what did Thomas Boleyn do to his daughters? One became Queen because she fell in love and Henry wanted to end a marriage to get a son and Mary was married to a good husband and then married her own choice.. Please correct me but I thought it was Henry Viii who ruled England not the Boleyn family. I also thought it was Henry who had poor Anne and her brother beheaded on trumped up charges. Thomas Boleyn had risen through the ranks long before Henry fancied either of his daughters. Mary was one of his favourite mistresses according to myth but in fact we know little about her and the King and her family did not get that much material gain from it. Thomas was talented, ambitious, hard working, charismatic, skilled as an Ambassador and astute political player. He was no different than anyone else in royal service. His talents and skills were used by four Kings, not just Henry Viii, but Edward iv and Richard iii and Henry Vii. He was over sixty when he died in 1539. He was rewarded for his services. His status depended on being ambitious and service to the crown. He was not responsible for the King’s libido. Henry noticed his daughter Mary and he didn’t stand in the way of their relationship. Anne was too well educated not to be at Court and Henry noticed her. She was not forced to have an affair with the King and her family protected her by allowing her to come home when she rejected Henry’s early advances. As the relationship developed, however, of course he took advantage and encouraged Anne and of course the entire family were rewarded just as the Woodville family were and the Seymour brothers would be in similar situations. Anne and Henry fell in love and he wanted her for his Queen. Her family are hardly going to say no, are they? Mary was dismissed by her sister and disowned by her father because she married below her station and without parental consent. Before people comment on Facebook they need to educate themselves in how things were in the sixteenth century. Thomas is the head of the entire household and the women belong to him. He can do with them what he wants within reason, especially when it comes to marriage. He can’t force them into marriage but he can arrange a good marriage and it is their duty to obey. We might not like it but we have to accept it as it was how life was 500 years ago. Mary wanted to marry and live in the country as she had enough of being insulted at court. So she chose a man who made her happy, but who was poor. She didn’t ask permission and this was not very dignified. Her father responded within his rights and as any other father would at that time and cut off her allowance. With the help of Thomas Cromwell and being humble she got financial support. It was not cruel but a father acting in what he felt was his daughters best interests.

Thomas Boleyn paid for whatever ambitions his family had, if we see it that way, although I don’t, because Anne was arrested and tried with her brother on false charges of adultery, treason and incest. Him and his wife, Elizabeth, had to endure the horrible execution of two of their children. Thomas was excused the trial of his children. He had to sit in judgement on the other innocent men. He lost his wife in 1538. His return to Court during 1537 to 1539 was not a disrespect for his children or disregard or unfeeling. It was a matter of survival. He had suffered financially from their fall and he needed some dignity and status for his remaining family. He had to swallow his pride and return to face the man responsible, Henry Viii. I actually believe that took courage. He was pragmatic as were so many others who had to go on and restore family name and fortune after a member had been executed. He was not the first or last person to do so and to condemn him is unfair. There was very little other choices career wise for him and he may have been feeling he needed the money from employment at Court. Like so many others he did the wise thing and returned to Court and was welcomed back, had some favour restored and ended his life with some dignity and remembrance.