Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire
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Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire and 1st Earl of Ormonde (about 1477 - 12 March 1538/9), was a Tudor era English diplomat and politician and the father of Anne Boleyn, the second Queen 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.
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[edit] Family
He was born to William Boleyn (c. 1451 - October 10, 1505) and Margaret Butler (1465 - 1540). His paternal grandfather Geoffrey Boleyn (d. 1471) had served as Lord Mayor of London in 1457. His paternal grandmother Anne Hoo (c. 1425 - 1484) was herself daughter of Thomas, 1st Baron Hoo and Hastings and Elizabeth Wychingham. His maternal grandfather was Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormonde (c. 1424 - August 3, 1515). His maternal grandmother Anne Hankford was herself granddaughter to John Montacute, 3rd Earl of Salisbury.
Boleyn married Lady Elizabeth Howard, daughter of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk. They had at least five children:
Lady Mary Boleyn (c. 1499 - July 19, 1543).
Lady Anne Boleyn, later Queen Anne (c. 1501 - May 19, 1536).
George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford (c. 1504 - May 17, 1536).
Thomas Boleyn. Considered to have died young.
Henry Boleyn. Considered to have died young.
The author of Threads' site and book proves that Mary was the elder sister. Mary's grandson Lord Hunsdon petitioned to receive the title Earl of Ormonde by her right; a title which would have been Elizabeth I's by right had Anne been the elder sister.
[edit] 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 3 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 Frances 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 - perhaps not the best person to send when the Henry planned to marry Thomas's own daughter Anne. This was followed by another envoy to France.
In between, he sacrificed the members of his family to win favours from King Henry VIII: He garnered honours by letting the King dally with his elder daughter Mary, then marry his younger daughter Anne. Thomas's ambition was so considerable that rumour had it that he had even allowed his own wife to have an affair with the King, but these rumours have been disproved by modern historians.
Boleyn was created Viscount Rochford in the Peerage of England in 1525, and Earl of Wiltshire in the Peerage of England and Earl of Ormonde in the Peerage of Ireland on 8 December 1529, probably due to Anne's relationship with the King. His son, who predeceased him, was known by the viscomitial title; due to this, all of his titles became extinct upon his death.
Thomas acquiesced in the judicial murder of Anne and her brother Viscount Rochford when the king discarded Anne in favor of Jane Seymour. The kindest assessment of him is that he was very much a product of the times.
[edit] Viscount Rochford
Viscount Rochford is an aristocratic title awarded to Sir Thomas Boleyn in 1525 by King Henry VIII. The title was taken from Boleyn's Rochford country estate in Essex. In 1529, Thomas was promoted even further when the King created him Earl of Wiltshire. In that same year, Thomas also inherited the wealth and title of his mother's ancestors, the earls of Ormonde. Thus, the title of Viscount Rochford went to Thomas's only son, George.
The title Viscount Rochford fell out of use in 1536 when George was executed on false charges of treason. In 1542, his widow was also executed after she was implicated in the fall of Queen Catherine Howard.
[edit] In Pop Culture
Thomas Boleyn was portrayed by Sir Michael Hordern in Anne of a Thousand Days (1969), Benjamin Whitrow in Henry VIII, and by Jack Shepherd (actor) and Mark Rylance in the 2003 and 2007 versions of The Other Bolyen Girl (film), respectively.
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[edit] See also
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Cuthbert Tunstall |
Lord Privy Seal 1530–1536 |
Succeeded by Thomas Cromwell |
| Peerage of Ireland | ||
| Preceded by New Creation |
Earl of Ormonde 1529–1539 |
Succeeded by Extinct |
