Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire

Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire and 1st Earl of Ormonde, KG [cite book
last =Richardson
first =Douglas
authorlink =Douglas Richardson
coauthors =
title =Plantagenet Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families
publisher =Genealogical Publishing Com
date =2004
location =
pages =p. 180
url =
doi =
id =
isbn =0806317507 ] (c. 1477 – 12 March 1539) was an English diplomat and politician in the Tudor era, and the father of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII. As such, he was the maternal grandfather of Queen Elizabeth I. He was born and buried at the family home, Hever Castle. His parents were William Boleyn (1451 – 10 October 1505) and Margaret Butler (1444–1539).

Family

Boleyn married Lady Elizabeth Howard, daughter of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk. They had five known children, only three of whom survived:

* Mary Boleyn (c.1499 – 19 July 1543); Lady Carey (1520–1528); Lady Mary Stafford (1534–1543)
* Anne Boleyn (c.1501/1507 – 19 May 1536); later Queen Consort of England
* George Boleyn (c. 1504 – 17 May 1536); later Viscount Rochford by courtesy
* Thomas Boleyn (thought to have died young)
* Henry Boleyn (thought to have died young)

Career

Through the connections of his extended family, he became one of King Henry VIII's leading diplomats. Known missions were:
*1512: One of a party of three envoys to the Netherlands.
*1518–1521 : Ambassador to France, where he was involved in arrangements for the "Field of Cloth of Gold" meeting between Henry and the new French King Francis I in 1520.
*1521 and 1523 : Envoy to Charles, Prince of Castile, the Holy Roman Emperor.
*1527: One of a large envoy to France
*1529: Envoy to a meeting of Charles, Holy Roman Emperor and Pope Clement VII, to seek support for the divorce of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. This was followed by another envoy to France.

He garnered honours by letting Henry dally with his elder daughter Mary, then marry his younger daughter, Anne. Boleyn's ambition was so considerable that unsubstantiated rumours had it that he even allowed his own wife to have an affair with the King.

Boleyn was invested as a Knight of the Garter (KG) in 1523 [ [http://www.heraldica.org/topics/orders/garterlist.htm List of the Knights of the Garter (1348–present) ] ] and was created Viscount Rochford in the Peerage of England in 1525, and Earl of Ormonde in the Peerage of Ireland in 1527, the former title referring to his estate at Rochford in Essex and the latter being chosen due to his descent from the 7th Earl of Ormonde, who had died in 1515. He was finally created Earl of Wiltshire in the Peerage of England on 8 December 1529. His only surviving son, George, Viscount Rochford, predeceased him, and consequently these titles became extinct upon his death (although the use of the Viscountcy continued until the execution in 1542 of his son's widow, Jane, Viscountess Rochford, after she was implicated in the fall of Catherine Howard, the King's fifth wife).

Boleyn was appointed Lord Privy Seal in 1530. In 1532, his daughter Anne was granted a peerage, being created Marquess of Pembroke in her own right, before marrying Henry the following year and becoming Queen Consort. Wiltshire acquiesced in her judicial execution and that of her brother Lord Rochford when Henry discarded her in favour of Jane Seymour. At this point Boleyn was replaced as Lord Privy Seal and left in disgrace until his death a few years later.

In popular culture

Thomas Boleyn has been portrayed by Sir Michael Hordern in "Anne of the Thousand Days" (1969), by Benjamin Whitrow in "Henry VIII", and by Jack Shepherd and Mark Rylance in the 2003 and 2008 film versions of "The Other Boleyn Girl", respectively. The 2007 Showtime series "The Tudors" has Nick Dunning in the role depicting him as impetuous and devious, constantly working to curry favour for his family and always willing to "motivate" his daughter, Anne, lest Henry lose interest in her.

tyles and honours

* Mr Thomas Boleyn (1477–1523)
* Sir Thomas Boleyn KG (1523–1525)
* The Rt. Hon. The Viscount Rochford KG (1525–1527)
* The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Ormond KG (1527–1529)
* The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Wiltshire and of Ormond KG (1529–1539)

ee also

*Palace of Beaulieu
*Ambassadors (from United Kingdom to France)

References

External links

* [http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/BOLEYN.htm A pedigree of the Boleyn family]