As for Thomas Boleyn, he was indeed the English ambassador in France between 1518-1521, although there is no evidence that he abused any courtesans while there. Furthermore, history suggests that he indeed orchestrated the rise of his family by strategically promoting his two daughters to the king. However, after Anne and George were executed in 1536, he was left disgraced along with his family name. With his power at court diminished, he was stripped of his title as Lord Privy Seal and died discredited on the twelve of March 1539.
For narrative purposes Belfrigh the Valiant, although fictional has been linked with a real historical figure, that of Sir John Howard who was the son of the Second Duke of Norfolk, Thomas Howard and his first wife, Elizabeth Tilney. The Welthemore family, along with Eleanor, Agnese, Aeron, Edward’s sisters Margot and Jane, his mother Elizabeth, stepfather Thomas, Captain Rogers, Mary the Maid, Walter the Merchant and Charlotte the Courtesan are all fictional.
Bibliography
Ackroyd, P. (2013) Tudors (The History of England). Pan Books: London.
Borman, T. (2017) The Private Lives of the Tudors: Uncovering the Secrets of Britain's Greatest Dynasty. Hodder & Stoughton: London.
Borman, T. (2015) Thomas Cromwell: The untold story of Henry VIII's most faithful servant. Hodder & Stoughton: London.
Goodman, R. (2016) How to be a Tudor: A Dawn-to-Dusk Guide to Everyday Life. Penguin Books: UK.
Jones, D. (2015) The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses and the Rise of the Tudors. Faber & Faber: London.
Lipscomb, S. (2012) A Visitor’s Companion to Tudor England. Ebury Press: London.
Starkey, D. (2004) Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII. Vintage: London.
Weir, A. (2008) Henry VIII King & Court. Vintage: London.
About the Author
James M. Stuart is a writer and history enthusiast. He has studied English Language and Literature and has always been fond of reading and researching history, with a particular interest in the Wars of the Roses and the Tudor era. The Illegitimate Tudor is his first historical novel. James lives in Edinburgh, Scotland with his fiancée.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JamesM_Stuart
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