"Gentle visitor pause a while,Where you stand death cut away the light of many days.Here, jewelled names were broken from the vivid thread of life.May they rest in peace while we walk the generations around their strife and courage,Under these restless skies."10
Figure 27 - The Glass Memorial, Tower of London
A must-see is Anne's resting place in the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula by Tower Green, marked "C" in Figure 31 on the plan. The Tower always seems to be changing the rules about entry to the Chapel and at the time of writing (summer 2013), you have to join a Yeoman Warder's tour to go in there, or to wait until after 4.30pm, when it's open to the public. Alternatively, you can worship at the chapel on Sunday mornings. Unfortunately, as I said before, the chancel area is roped off, so it's hard to see the memorial tiles. When I took a group there in 2010 the Chief Yeoman Warder actually took us past the rope and we were allowed to go and lay flowers on Anne's tile. It was a moving moment and one I will never forget. Sadly, they have never let us repeat that experience.
Figure 28 - The Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula, Tower of London
Figure 29 - Probable positions of interments in St. Peter ad Vincula
Figure 30 - Tiles in the chancel of St. Peter ad Vincula
Figure 31 - A modern plan of the Tower of London
Tudor Graffiti
One of my favourite places to visit at the Tower of London is the Beauchamp Tower, which is situated near the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula and the glass memorial on Tower Green. What I love about it is its graffiti, or, to be more precise, its carvings. Its interior stone walls are covered with carvings made by prisoners; I am always overawed by just how detailed they are, as well as moved by their poignancy. Graffiti today is done with spray paint or permanent markers; this graffiti was carved into stone and is amazing. Well worth a visit.
Here are my favourite carvings:
Dudley Brothers 1553-4
The beautiful carving of the Dudley coat of arms (Figure 32) is thought to have been made by John Dudley, son of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland. Dudley, his brothers and his father were imprisoned after the fall of Lady Jane Grey. The carving features the bear and ragged staff (the badge of the Earls of Warwick), the double-tailed lion rampant (the badge of the Dudley family), and a floral border with oak leaves and acorns for Robert Dudley (quercus robur is the Latin for English oak). It also features roses for Ambrose Dudley, honeysuckle for Henry Dudley (lonicera henryi) and Gilly Flower for Guildford Dudley.
The inscription reads:
"You that these beasts do wel behold and se, may deme with ease wherefore here made they be, with borders eke within [there may be found] 4 brothers names who list to search the ground."
It is a breathtakingly beautiful carving.
Figure 32 - Carving attributed to John Dudley
Jane 1553-4
The simple carving shown in Figure 33 is of the word "Jane" or "IANE", as it is written, with a simple rectangular border. It is unlikely that it was carved by Jane, because she was imprisoned "in a small house next to the royal apartments".11 However, her husband, Guildford Dudley, and his brothers were imprisoned in the Beauchamp Tower, so it was probably carved by one of them. It is a very simple carving, but I find it very poignant.
Figure 33 - Stone carving of "Jane" in the Beauchamp Tower
Thomas Abell ca.1533-40
The carving of a bell with an "A" on it (Figure 34) and the name "Thomas" above was the work of Thomas Abell, who was imprisoned in 1533 and executed in July 1540. Abell had been Catherine of Aragon's chaplain and was the author of the 1532 document An answere, That by no manner of law, it may be lawfull for the most noble King of England, King Henry the eight to be divorced from the queens grace, his lawfull and very wife. He was imprisoned in December 1533 for spreading the prophecies of Elizabeth Barton, the Maid of Kent, and for encouraging Catherine "obstinately to persist in her wilful opinion against the same divorce and separation".
Figure 34 - Carving by Thomas Abell in the Beauchamp Tower
Anne Boleyn's Falcon Badge ca. 1536
This simple rendition of Anne Boleyn's falcon badge (Figure 35) is thought to have been carved by a Boleyn supporter at the fall of Anne and her brother in 1536. The falcon is missing its usual royal crown and sceptre, so the carving speaks clearly of the fall of Anne. It's not an easy carving to spot because it is not on the list of famous carvings, but it is below that of Thomas Miagh and to the left of No. 31 on the wall.
Figure 35 - Anne Boleyn's falcon badge stone carving
Thomas Miagh 1581
Above Anne Boleyn's falcon badge is an inscription by Thomas Miagh which reads:
"THOMAS MIAGH WHICH LETH HERE THAT FAYNE WOLD FROM HENS BE GON BY TORTURE STRAUNGE MI TROUTH WAS TRYED YET OF MY LIBERTY DENIED-THOMAS MIAGH"
Miagh was imprisoned in the Beauchamp Tower, and, if we are to believe his inscription, tortured for his links with Irish rebels.
Charles Bailly 1571
This rather wordy carving is dated 1571 and reads:
"Principium sapientie timor Domini. I.H.S. X.P.S. Be frend to one. Be ennemye to none. Anno D. 1571. 10. Sept.
"The most unhappy man in the world is he that is not pacient in adversities. For men are not killed with the adversities they have, but with ye impacience which they suffer. Tout vient apoient, quy peult attendre. Gli sospiri ne son testimoni veri dell' angoscia mia. aet. 29. Charles Bailly."
Bailly was the Bishop of Ross's servant and a member of Mary, Queen of Scots's household. He was implicated in the Ridolfi Plot against Elizabeth I when incriminating letters were found on him at Dover in April 1571. He was racked and imprisoned in the Tower of London, but was released sometime around 1573.
The Gates
The Court Gate, through which Anne entered at her coronation and when she was arrested, is a bit of a disappointment. It is found outside the Tower on the river-side. Instead of having a plaque telling of Anne's entrance into the Tower and her first public kiss with Henry, it is sadly neglected; when I visited it had rubbish bags piled up against it. Instead, visitors are shown Traitors' Gate and told that that is where Anne Boleyn entered.
Figure 36 - The Court Gate at The Tower of London
When Anne's daughter, Elizabeth, was imprisoned in the Tower on 18th March 1554 after Wyatt's Rebellion, she didn't enter by Traitors' Gate either. It was low tide, so she was taken to Tower Wharf. David Starkey comments on how terrifying her walk from the wharf would have been, She would had to have walked past the Tower menagerie, past a line of guards and under the Bloody Tower where she may well have seen, across the court, the scaffold left over from the execution the previous month of Lady Jane Grey.12 Although some books state that Elizabeth was imprisoned in the Bell Tower, she actually stayed in the royal palace, just like her mother before her. Elizabeth was released from the Tower on 19th May 1554, the 18th anniversary of her mother's execution.
Figure 37 - Traitors' Gate at the Tower of London
A Royal Fortress
When you visit the Tower of London, you may think of it as simply a tourist attraction, but it's not. The Tower is still a royal fortress and the Yeoman Warders, or Yeoman of the Guard, are not everyday people dressed up in silly costumes. In fact, it's a requirement that they be former senior non-commissioned officers who have served in the armed forces with an honourable record for at least twenty-two years, and who have received the Long Service and Good Conduct medal. Yeoman Warders were royal bodyguards in the past and their commander in chief today is still Her Majesty the Queen.
Ceremony of the Keys
The Ceremony of the Keys takes place every night at the Tower of London and has been going on for around 700 years.
At 9.53pm, on the dot, the Chief Yeoman Warder, wearing his long red Tudor watchcoat and bonnet, makes his way out of the Byward Tower to Traitors' Gate to meet his escort, a member of the Tower of London Foot Guards. They lock the main gates of the Tower, and also the gates of the Middle Tower and Byward
Tower, to secure the fortress for the night.
As they make their way back towards Traitors' Gate, they are stopped in Water Lane by a sentry who says, "Halt, who comes there?"
The Chief Yeoman Warder replies, "The keys."
"Whose Keys?'" asks the sentry.
"Queen Elizabeth's Keys." replies the Chief Yeoman Warder.
"Pass Queen Elizabeth's Keys, and all's well." replies the sentry.
The party then makes its way through the archway of the Bloody Tower and to the Broadwalk Steps, where the Tower Guard and escort present arms. The Chief Yeoman Warders steps forward, raises his bonnet and proclaims "God preserve Queen Elizabeth". "Amen", replies the Guard as the bell strikes ten o'clock. The Last Post is then played and the Chief Yeoman Warder takes the keys to the Queen's house.
The only known time in history when the ceremony has been interrupted was during the Second World War. During an air raid, incendiary bombs fell on the guardroom as the Chief Yeoman Warder and his escort were walking through the Bloody Tower archway. They were unhurt and simply dusted themselves off and carried on with their duty. They were simply late that night completing the ceremony and even wrote to King George VI apologising for the delay. The King did not mind!
Members of the public can apply for tickets to attend the ceremony at the Historic Royal Palaces website.
Notes and Sources
1 Ives, The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn, 175.
2 Weir, The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn.
3 Ross, "Winchester Castle."
4 Russell, "May 17th 1536 - Deaths on Tower Hill."
5 Bell, Notices of the Historic Persons Buried in the Chapel of St Peter Ad Vincula in the Tower of London, 21.
6 Ibid., 26.
7 Bell, Notices of the Historic Persons Buried in the Chapel of St Peter Ad Vincula in the Tower of London, 30.
8 Freeman-Mitford, Lord Redesdale, A Tragedy in Stone and Other Papers.
9 "Red Roses for Anne Boleyn."
10 "Tower Green."
11 de Lisle, The Sisters Who Would Be Queen, 114.
12 Starkey, Elizabeth:Apprenticeship, 143.
19. Thomas and Elizabeth Boleyn, Parents of Anne Boleyn
I recently read a comment on a Tudor history Facebook page which really got me thinking, as well as causing me to bang my head on my desk. The writer was of the opinion that Thomas Boleyn did not deserve to be buried in St Peter's Church in Hever; indeed, that he should have been buried in a field somewhere, in an unmarked grave, because of the "horrible things" he did to Anne and to George. I considered these to be incredibly harsh words, but it made me think that perhaps this was the general perception of Thomas Boleyn, father of Mary, Anne and George.
I decided to carry out a bit of an experiment on Facebook and Twitter to see what people thought of Thomas. Obviously, you have to bear in mind that Anne Boleyn Files followers are Tudor history lovers with some knowledge of the Boleyns rather than people who know nothing about the period. Even so, the general consensus was that Thomas Boleyn was an awful man who forced his daughters into their relationships with the King so that he could rise at court. There were a few comments giving him the benefit of the doubt, but the comments below summed up the general perception and got "liked" by other Facebook members:
"Her father?! I don't like him at all. He seemed to only care about his position, his wealth, how much power he had. Did he care that 2 of his children were killed?! That one was disgraced?! I doubt it."
"Overly ambitious, not the best Father for pretty daughters…Yes I know it was the way of court to sell off your daughters to the highest bidder…however I think he took it toooooo [sic] far."
"I think he used his children for family advancement."
"He was very greedy and wanted power."
"Used his family to gain power. In the end, it destroyed his family."
"He was definitely a clever character, but I do not like how he treated the situation with his daughter Anne, when she was executed. To save his own life, he just let her die without a fight."
Although his intelligence is recognised, the comments are rather damning, don't you think?
I thought I'd try the same experiment with his wife, Elizabeth Boleyn (née Howard), and here are a few of the comments left:
"Don't know much about her...if she was a real mum I just can imagine the horror she went through."
"I think she was an intelligent woman; she saw that her children needed a good standard of educating in a day that it wasn't seen fit to educate girls."
"So little is known about her."
"She must have loved her children dearly because Anne said something like 'my poor mother will die of sorrow' upon learning of her execution."
"I feel for her. The execution of one child would be horrible enough, but having two of your children executed...I can't imagine the sorrow she went through."
"She isn't buried with her husband, so perhaps she never did speak to him again."
"Elizabeth seems like she was such a product of her times; very much the homemaker, handling things within the home."
"I don't think Elizabeth was without ambition either - after all, she was a Howard."
"I thought that Anne's mother had died when she was young and that Mrs Boleyn was her step-mother. I read that they were very close and had a loving relationship."
The comments about Elizabeth are much more sympathetic. People feel that Thomas was a cunning, manipulative, money grabbing man who prostituted his daughters and then abandoned Anne and George to their fate in 1536, and that Elizabeth Boleyn died of a broken heart and never forgave her husband. Great fiction, but is it really true?
Where do people get this kind of idea of the Boleyns from? Well, more often than not it is from The Other Boleyn Girl or The Tudors, so let's look at how this couple are presented by Philippa Gregory and Michael Hirst.
The Boleyns of The Other Boleyn Girl
In The Other Boleyn Girl, Thomas and Elizabeth always seem to be having family conferences with Elizabeth's brother, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk. Norfolk is the man in charge, the one pulling the strings; and when he says "jump", everyone else says, "how high?". It is then up to Thomas and Elizabeth to put these plans into place and to tell Mary, Anne or George what they should do to ensure the family's rise in status and wealth. Their children are like puppets, and every action they take has to be good for the family or woe betide them.
The Boleyns of The Other Boleyn Girl appear happy to prostitute their daughters and to use them to climb the ladders of success and wealth. We see Thomas Boleyn being created Viscount Rochford when Mary becomes pregnant by the King; yet when the King appears to be looking for a new wife, Thomas comments that he won't pick Mary because "she's had her heyday". Everything is just business to him, and he doesn't think about his children's feelings. In the book, Thomas Boleyn is quite a strong, intelligent character, but in the movie he is spineless and is completely controlled by his brother-in-law. Elizabeth seems the stronger of the couple.
Elizabeth is a cold, unfeeling character. When Anne confesses to secretly marrying Henry Percy and to consummating the marriage, her mother tells her to forget about it and to keep it to herself otherwise she'll be "whipped and sent to Hever". Elizabeth continues, saying, "I would rather see you dead at my feet than dishonoured....You make yourself hateful to us all." Not at all motherly and caring. She then forces Anne's sister, Mary, to forge a letter to Percy from Anne to break up the relationship, and comments that Anne and Mary need to be taught obedience. Elizabeth seems to lack all maternal feeling. When Mary misses her baby, Elizabeth just can't understand it. When Mary asks her if she missed her daughters when they were sent to France, Elizabeth is surprised by the question and answers that she simply did the best she could for her daughters; in her opinion, there was no better place than the French court. Her life revolves around supporting her husband in his bid to help the family climb the social scale.
Although Th
omas and Elizabeth were happy to reap the rewards when Mary and Anne were in favour with the King, they abandoned Anne and George when they were arrested, and Thomas advised Mary to "keep out of sight." He thought she was mad for wanting to help them and advised her against it.
As you can see, they weren't your dream parents. Money and status definitely came first, and their children were just a means to an end.
The Thomas Boleyn of The Tudors
Although The Tudors has, in many ways, followed Philippa Gregory's example and maligned Thomas Boleyn, I do prefer its portrayal of Thomas because he's a "somebody", not just his brother-in-law's puppet.
So, how is he portrayed in the series?
The good
• Thomas is close to the King. We see him playing chess with the King and reassuring Henry that Francis I is nowhere near as good looking as Henry: "Your majesty, no one has calves like you." We see the King entrusting him with important missions and embassies.
• He's important and influential. We see him interacting with the Dukes of Norfolk, Buckingham and Suffolk, and also Cardinal Wolsey and Thomas Cromwell. He is a powerful man even before the King starts courting Anne. For example, the Duke of Buckingham calls Thomas to him for support when he is plotting against the King. Ambassadors also seek him out because they know he has influence.
• Thomas has a career. He is an ambassador and is given offices and titles like Lord Privy Seal and Comptroller of the King's Household, during which latter position we see him uncovering Wolsey's corruption.
The Anne Boleyn Collection II: Anne Boleyn & the Boleyn Family Page 17