The Howards had been an integral piece of England’s social fabric for centuries. Beginning with William Howard, a lawyer in the county of Norfolk who was summoned to Parliament in 1295, the family sought their elevation through commerce or the law, and married well. When Robert Howard married Margaret Mowbray, daughter of Thomas Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk, he acquired the duchy of Norfolk. Their son, John, eventually succeeded to most of the Mowbray estates and was created Duke of Norfolk and hereditary Earl Marshal in 1483 when the Mowbray line died out. The Howards were a politically powerful family, but they backed the wrong horse (or the wrong rose), with the head of the family, John Howard, killed on the field of Bosworth fighting for Richard III in 1485. During Henry VII’s reign, they found themselves in a political eclipse. And worse – for the Howards, being out of favour meant being out of money. John’s son, Thomas Howard, would spend his entire career clawing back the Howard reputation. A councillor and military commander for both Henry VII and Henry VIII, he would restore the Howard name, becoming one of the most powerful men at court, enjoying the favour of the Tudor kings. Thomas Howard had at least 16 children across two marriages – to Elizabeth Tilney, and then her cousin, Agnes (for which Howard received a papal dispensation). Many of his children would become powerful members of Henry VIII’s court – the young and dashing Edward Howard became Henry VIII’s first Lord High Admiral of his navy, but was killed at sea by the French in 1513. Of the other siblings, Edmund Howard would father Catherine, destined to become Henry VIII’s fifth queen, and William Howard would serve four Tudor monarchs in various capacities, but it is Thomas Howard, the eldest son, who we know best.
The Duke of Norfolk is, of course, chief of the Howard family and Boleyn’s brother-in-law: a sinewy little twitcher, always twitching after his own advantage.
(Wolf Hall)
Norfolk is almost a comic relief, a tactless, rough bully of a man who, according to Cromwell, lives in the old world of saints, relics and superstition, is convinced Wolsey has sent demons to prick at his heels, and enjoys speaking in vividly violent terms to noble and commoner alike. Historically Norfolk was something of a wolf about court, and he did favour violent turns of phrase, once threatening that he would sooner eat Wolsey alive than allow him to return to favour. His brusque manner was better suited to dealing with the Scots than the easily offended French, and he could be found at court drinking and gambling with various ambassadors, and along with the Duke of Suffolk, he provided the muscular strikes. Following Wolsey’s demise, Norfolk became one of the most powerful men at court and resented his niece’s influence over the king, even if that influence benefitted his own family. Norfolk was a survivor, extracting himself from Anne Boleyn’s fall and presiding over her trial and that of her accused lovers. He also oversaw the execution of his other royal niece, Catherine Howard, and outlived his own son, living to witness the reigns of Edward VI and Mary I.
T
HE
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OLEYNS
Every story needs a villain, and in Mantel’s trilogy the Boleyns gratify; history and popular fiction would seem to concur. They, like all the substantial families at court, prospered: they came from yeoman stock, thrived in small businesses, married well in successive generations, and served their king well. But they are not favoured: their success is seen as greed; their marriages into titles and estates is avaricious, their promotions at court only attributable to their promiscuous women. Of all the key players of the Tudor court who orbited the power-rich world created by Henry VIII, the Boleyns – although deftly drawn in Mantel’s works – are not necessarily as they appear.
The Boleyns came from modest beginnings in Norfolk, not born into wealth or privilege, but by the 15th century, they were among those who had achieved it. Thomas Boleyn’s great-grandfather Geoffrey Boleyn and his wife Alice were one of the great families of Salle, in Norfolk. Their son, also called Geoffrey, launched the family by making a family fortune from trade and commerce. It was this Geoffrey who introduced the Boleyns into the realm of nobility in around 1437 or 1438, marrying Anne Hoo, daughter of Lord Thomas Hoo, a socially superior family to the Boleyns, who offered the all-important connections for the family to advance. He reached the pinnacle of his career when he was elected Lord Mayor of London in 1458. It was Geoffrey who purchased the premier Boleyn estate of Blickling in Norfolk, which is where Geoffrey’s son, William, chose to raise his family. William married Margaret Butler, who hailed from Ireland, and whose family held the prestigious title of Earl of Ormond. Thus, their children, including Thomas Boleyn, born in 1477, were raised in a world of wealth and privilege. Thomas, as the eldest son, was well-educated, learned French and Latin and, like generations before him, married well. His wife Elizabeth was the daughter of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk and Earl of Surrey, one of the most distinguished and powerful families in the country.
Three generations of Boleyns had allied themselves with three powerful and influential families – the Hoos, the Butlers and the Howards. Thomas Boleyn served Henry VII alongside his father William and went on to become one of Henry VIII’s leading diplomats; his grandfather, Thomas Butler, was Lord Chamberlain to the first Tudor queen, Elizabeth of York, and then Katherine of Aragon, and his father-in-law, Thomas Howard,
