Chapter Fourteen:
Sometime in early February, 1528, Drs Stephen Gardiner and Edward Foxe arrived at Hever Castle. They had been sent by the King on a mission, as described in the novel. The letter is genuine; it was written by Henry and seems to have accompanied his two ambassadors. (NB: Ultra posse non est esse – ‘what is beyond possibility cannot exist’).
The description of Stephen Gardiner is taken from a contemporary portrait, painted late in his court career when he was Bishop of Winchester.
As far as I am aware, no known portrait of Edward Foxe (c. 1496 – 8 May 1538) exists. Whilst there are descriptions of Gardiner’s character, I was not able to find similar for his companion. However, it seems that Foxe was a strong supporter of Anne. He is described as ‘an English churchman’ Bishop of Hereford (created at Winchester in 1535, alongside two other churchmen of reformist leanings). He was the most Lutheran of Henry VIII’s bishops, and assisted in drafting the Ten Articles of 1536.
In 1527, Rome was sacked by the Emperor’s forces and the Pope taken captive. Eventually, Pope Clement was exiled to Orvieto.
The scene that takes place between Anne and Dr Foxe in the long gallery at Hever is entirely fictional. However, we do know that Tyndale’s, The Obedience of a Christian Man was printed in 1528, and that Anne had a copy in her possession that same year. It was seized by Cardinal Wolsey, as we shall later see.
Chapter Fifteen:
The location of Hampton Court Palace, its dimensions and the buildings that could be seen from the south bank of the River Thames, are taken from contemporary, 16th century drawings of the Palace.
Cardinal Wolsey was infamously a butcher’s son from Ipswich in Suffolk, who had risen to be arguably the most powerful man in England, next to the King.
After four months in seclusion at Hever Castle, Anne returned to court at the end of February 1528. She was the King’s guest of honour, and appears to have been no longer in Katherine’s service.
The scene in which Henry greets Anne on arrival at Windsor is entirely fictional.
We know from Henry’s suit of armour that the King was approximately 6 feet 2 inches in height. We do not know Anne Boleyn’s exact height, only that she was of ‘middling’ stature’, which would be about 5feet 2 to 4inches, an average height for a woman in the 16th century.
We do not know the exact nature of the lodgings in which Anne was housed when she arrived at court in February 1528. Nor do we know exactly when the first members of her household were appointed (only that this occurred sometime during 1528). We do know that Nan Gainsford was one of the first ladies appointed to attend upon Anne. The appointment of Mary Fiennes, Lady Norris is fictional.
The description of the interior of the lodgings in this chapter is based on Wolsey’s lodgings at Hampton Court Palace; such lodgings were clearly meant to accommodate a person of very high status at court. I used these as an inspiration to describe Anne’s accommodation at Windsor. (NB: Wolsey’s apartments can still be seen today at Hampton Court). It is however possible that Anne was not lodged at Windsor Castle, but in one of the hunting lodges in Windsor Park. Further research has uncovered that the banquet that Henry held in Anne’s honour was at the ‘lodge in the little park’ at Windsor and not in the Castle, as is described in the novel. The little park is now known as ‘Home Park’ and we know that a Lodge of some description did exist in the grounds, although it is no longer standing today.
Questions which arise are: Was Anne housed here at a discreet distance from Katherine and the rest of the court during her entire stay at Windsor? Did this allow Henry and Anne a degree of privacy that could not be obtained at the Castle? Did this help maintain the pretence that Henry was seeking an annulment only on account of his conscience?
The description of the dress worn by Anne (and its various layers) has been verified by an expert in Tudor costume. I have always found the dress of the Tudor noblewoman slightly mysterious and wanted to include this detailed account to convey how Anne would have been dressed every day.
As I have mentioned, we do not know exactly where Anne was lodged whilst at Windsor. The novel describes lodgings within the castle itself. However, as ever, the layouts of the rooms in the King’s apartments at Windsor Castle are as they would have been. This information has been taken mainly from four plans included in Simon Thurley’s, The Royal Palaces of Tudor England.
Joan Champernowe was pregnant again in early 1528.
As described above, on 25 February, 1528 Henry put on a lavish banquet at ‘the Lodge in the little park’ at Windsor in honour of Anne. In the Letters and Papers of Henry VIII an account for this day survives which details the costs of this banquet, and includes a list of the food that was served. This is reflected in the novel.
The wardship issue between Sir Thomas Cheney and Sir John Russell is accurate and is an example of one of Anne’s earliest interventions in court politics. It made an ally of Sir Thomas Cheney who Anne supported in gaining the wardship of Anne Broughton, but a long-term enemy of his adversary, Sir John Russell, who would later speak of her in spiteful terms.
The scene in which Anne rides out hunting with Henry from Windsor is completely fictional. Engine Court can still be seen at the Castle today.
The encounter between Anne and Katherine is purely fictional. However, the place in which this scene is described did exist within the 16th century Castle.
Chapter Sixteen:
On the 3 March, 1528 Anne did have supper with Thomas Heneage, who was no doubt being courted by Anne as a proxy for Cardinal Wolsey. At the time, Thomas was part of Wolsey’s household and a rising man at court, soon to be transferred to Henry VIII’s service, where he would later supplant Sir Henry Norris as Groom of the Stool in 1536.
The letter from Cardinal Wolsey to Anne in this chapter is entirely fictional. However, it is constructed from the influence of other contemporary letters and signed as Cardinal Wolsey often signed his letters. (NB: Ebor is an abbreviation of Eboracum, the Latin name for ‘York’. It is a title that the Archbishop of York is permitted to use to sign his name with instead of his surname).
Chapter Seventeen:
At some point during the court’s stay at Windsor Castle, the King and Anne picnicked at Windsor Manor. It is not entirely clear which lodge this was, as more than one existed within Windsor Park. I chose the ‘old Manor of Windsor’ which appears to have been a medieval hunting lodge buried deep in the heart of Windsor Great Park, and close to what is now called Virginia Water. Some of the earthworks which formed the moat can still be seen today. The lodge itself no longer exists. The King in fact did borrow tables and stools from the townsfolk of Windsor; whilst food and kitchen equipment were brought down from the Castle.
The Ankerwycke Yew is an ancient tree which still stands today. It is an ancient yew tree, to be found close to the ruins of St Mary’s Priory, near Wraysbury in Berkshire, England. St Mary’s was the site of a Benedictine nunnery built in the 12th century. It is a male tree with a girth of eight metres (twenty six feet). Various estimates have put its age between 2,000 and 2,500 years. It is believed that the Magna Carta was signed here. For Anne and Henry, it is associated with the stuff of legend, as it is believed that the couple courted beneath its very branches in the early days of their romance. Both events have been captured in the following poem:
‘What scenes have pass’d, since first this ancient Yew
In all the strength of youthful beauty grew!
Here patriot Barons might have musing stood,
And plann’d the Charter for their Country’s good;
And here, perhaps, from Runnymede retired,
The haughty John, with secret vengeance fired,
Might curse the day which saw his weakness yield
Extorted rights in yonder tented field.
Here too the tyrant Henry felt love’s flame,
And, sighing, breathed his Anne Boleyn’s name;
Beneath the shelter of this Yew-tree’s shade,
The royal lover wood’d the ill-
star’d maid; And yet that neck, round which he fondly hung, To hear the
thrilling accents of her tongue;
That lovely breast, on which his head reclined,
Form’d to have humanized his savage mind;
Were Doom’d to bleed beneath the tyrants steel,
Whose selfish heart might doat, but could not feel.
O had the Yew its direst venom shed,
Upon the cruel Henry’s guilty head,
Ere Englands sons with shuddering grief had seen
A slaughtere’s victim in their beauteous queen!’
The detail of the picnic at medieval Manor of Windsor, and the scene in which Anne dances for Henry, is entirely fictional. However, the Letters and Papers of Henry VIII indicate the food that was eaten at that picnic; as is written in the novel.
Apparently, Anne was famed for creating new dance steps and was clearly a most accomplished dancer who was noted for her grace and elegance.
Chapter Eighteen:
As was often the case, the court found itself at Greenwich for the annual May Day joust. It would be at this very same joust in 1536 that Henry would receive a message which would cause him to depart immediately, never to see Anne again.
In 1528, Anne lent Nan Gainsford her copy of William Tyndale’s The Obedience of a Christian Man. This book was proscribed as an heretical text. It was in turn taken from Nan by her beloved, George Zouche and subsequently seized by the Dean of the Chapel Royal on behalf of Cardinal Wolsey as described in the novel. We do not know the exact circumstances in which Nan was lent this book; therefore, the detail of this particular scene is entirely fictional.
It is known that Anne often marked particular tracts which interested her in a text with her thumbnail.
Chapter Nineteen:
We do not know exactly when Wolsey seized a copy of The Obedience of a Christian Man, nor the specific circumstances in which Anne found out the news. However, we do know that she was audacious and bold in her response; clearly confident in the King’s love for her, Anne took the initiative, going immediately to Henry before the Cardinal could reach his ear.
In writing this book, I have come to understand how pivotal this moment was in setting England on its course to break from Rome. Anne’s quick thinking and courage brought to the King’s eye the book which would change his thinking forever about the relative position of King and Church in England.
Once more, we do not know the exact details of the moment in which Anne confronted Henry with Wolsey’s treachery. Yet some of the words Anne used, and which were recorded by 16th century contemporaries, are included in the text. We also know that the Henry gave Anne his ring to deliver to the Cardinal, ensuring that his first minister knew that the request to return it was by the King’s command.
Chapter Twenty:
The scene in which Anne talks with her father in the gardens at Greenwich is entirely fictional.
There was an outbreak of measles at Greenwich Palace in May that year, which affected the Princess Mary. Henry was concerned, and as a result, moved Anne and her mother to alternative accommodation in the Tiltyard Towers—at a distance from the main Palace buildings. The description of the Tiltyard Towers is taken from contemporary sketches, known archaeological evidence, and descriptions of modern day historians including, Simon Thurley and David Starkey. The latter describes the following:
‘In 1515 work started on the tilt-yard. It was as well equipped as any modern stadium with two five-storey viewing towers, a spectators’ gallery, a sort of ‘hall of fame’ in which armour for horse and men were displayed on wooden dummies, and nearby, the royal armour manufactory.’
We know something of Dr Edward Foxe’s return to court as he penned a letter on 11 May, 1528 to his companion, in which he describes how he was received by the Henry and Anne. Having reached Greenwich Palace (on Sunday, 3 May), Henry immediately dispatched Edward Foxe to take the good news to Anne that the two of them had been successful in their mission to procure a decretal commission from the Pope. Whilst I describe Anne and Henry receiving the news together at dinner, in fact, initially Anne received Edward Foxe alone in the Gallery of the Tiltyard Towers, later being joined by Henry. We know that Anne made ‘marvellous demonstrations of joy’ and one can only believe that the couple was elated at this fortuitous turn of events. Foxe also states that Wolsey left the palace two hours earlier (i.e. at 3 pm in the afternoon). Therefore, Henry dispatched Dr Foxe immediately to Durham House, as described in the novel. Wolsey subsequently found that the Pope had played a blinding hand by including a loophole in the commission which both ambassadors had missed; this rendered the document virtually useless.
Chapter Twenty One:
On Tuesday, 16 June, 1528 Cardinal du Bellay reports that one of Anne Boleyn’s, filles de chambre (chambermaids) fell ill with sweating sickness and subsequently the King left in ‘great haste and went a dozen miles off.’ There is also a letter from Henry himself dated 16 June, 1528, in which he writes that Anne has been taken ill and dispatches his physician to attend her. However, a later letter of Cardinal du Bellay, dated 21 July, 1528 states that, ‘in Kent it [sweating sickness] is rife at this moment. Mlle de Boulen and her father have had the disease, but they recovered.’ Most historians seem to state that Anne did not contract sweating sickness until she was at Hever. Therefore, it is possible that either the King was mistaken that she had fallen ill with sweating sickness, or perhaps she was suffering from some lesser malady which coincided with the outbreak of sweating sickness in her household. It is also possible that this letter was misdated during its transcription into the letters and papers archives and that it in fact refers to the following month.
The combination of lavender, sage, marjoram and rosewater is a Tudor remedy for a headache.
Dr William Butts: later, Sir William Butts (c. 1486 -22 November 1545) was a member of King Henry VIII of England’s court and served as the King’s physician. Butts was a Protestant and became a close associate of Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury and later, Catherine Parr, the sixth wife of Henry VIII. His family also became significant leaders of the Puritan faction in Norfolk.
The scene in which Anne hears that Bess has fallen ill with sweating sickness is entirely fictional, but based on the report (described above) that a young lady of Anne’s household had been the first to fall ill with the dreaded disease. Henry fled sweating sickness at Greenwich by travelling to Waltham Abbey with Katherine at his side. We do not know what Anne’s reaction was to the King’s sudden departure from Greenwich.
Chapter Twenty Two
To this day, nobody knows the exact cause of sweating sickness. ‘Sweating sickness’ also known as ‘English sweating sickness’ or ‘English sweate’ (Latin: sudor anglicus), was a mysterious and highly virulent disease that struck England, and later continental Europe, in a series of epidemics beginning in 1485. The last outbreak occurred in 1551, after which the disease apparently vanished. The onset of symptoms was dramatic and sudden, with death often occurring within hours. Its cause remains unknown. However usefully, in a letter dated 18 June, 1528 written by Cardinal du Bellay, the French ambassador, we have a description of the symptoms typically associated with the disease and are as described in the novel.
George Boleyn fell ill with sweating sickness whilst at Waltham Abbey, whilst attending upon the King. However, he made a full recovery. The letter included in this chapter is a genuine letter penned to Anne by the King’s hand.
Part Three:
Chapter Three:
The Ankerwycke Yew can still be visited today. Yew trees were often planted close to religious houses, as they have a strong symbology in Christianity around death and rebirth. Oftentimes, the Yew tree outlived the Priory or monastery next to which it was once planted. Such is the case with the Ankerwycke Yew.
Chapter Four:
The original medieval village of Hever was positioned just to the west of the Cast
le as described in the novel. It was moved by Lord Astor during his refurbishments of Hever Castle in order to give the family more privacy.
In Anne’s time, the kitchens at Hever were located where the Inner Hall currently stands.
Anne Boleyn’s Book of Hours, in which she has inscribed the eponymous title of this novel, is on display at Hever Castle today.
The tapestry described in this chapter is also on display in the ‘Book of Hours’ room. It has been suggested that Anne and her sister Mary are probably depicted in this tapestry. I personally believe that she is, in the top right-hand corner, as described in the text. If so, this is possibly one of the most contemporary images of Anne that is currently known to exist.
St Peter’s Church just outside the entrance to the Castle was probably the family’s place of worship, as it is thought that there was not a private chapel within the Castle itself. In 1465, Sir Geoffrey Boleyn, Anne’s great grandfather, was responsible for establishing a chantry in the church. Within this chantry is the very fine Purbeck marble tomb of Sir Thomas Boleyn, Anne’s father.
Dear Reader,
You’ve read the book, now bring it to life and experience Anne’s journey for yourself.
If you want to visit the locations mentioned in the novel, please visit www.letempsviendra.co.uk and go ‘In Search of Le Temps Viendra, a Novel of Anne Boleyn’ through the interactive ‘Le Temps Viendra’ trail.
You can also follow and contact the author on Facebook, see Search for ‘Le Temps Viendra: a novel of Anne Boleyn’
Sarah Morris
2012
Table of Contents
Part One
Chapter 1 Hever Castle, June 21, 2007
Part Two
Chapter 1 Hever Castle, May 31, 1527
Chapter 2 The Rose Garden, May 31, 1527
Chapter 3 The Hunt, May 31, 1527
Chapter 4 Hever Castle, June 1, 1527
Chapter 5 Allington Castle, June 2, 1527
Chapter 6 Hever Castle, July 21, 1527
Chapter 7 Journey to Beaulieu, July 22, 1527
Le Temps Viendra: A Novel of Anne Boleyn Page 38