Elizabeth Boleyn, Countess of Wiltshire
The Countess of Wiltshire | |
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Born | Elizabeth Howard c. 1480 |
Died | 3 April 1538 (aged 57–58) |
Buried | Howard (by birth) |
Spouse(s) | Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire |
Issue more... | |
Father | Elizabeth Tilney |
Elizabeth Boleyn, Countess of Wiltshire (born Elizabeth Howard; c. 1480 – 3 April 1538) was an English noblewoman, noted for being the mother of
Family and early life
Elizabeth was born c. 1480 into the wealthy and influential Howard family, as the elder of the two daughters of Sir Thomas Howard, later 2nd Duke of Norfolk, and his first wife Elizabeth Tilney.[1] Her paternal grandfather, Sir John Howard, was created Duke of Norfolk in 1483 by King Richard III.
Her family managed to survive the fall of their patron, King
Marriage and lady-in-waiting for the royal court
It was while she was at court, that she wed Thomas Boleyn, an ambitious young courtier, sometime before 1500, probably in 1498.[2] According to Thomas, his wife was pregnant many times in the next few years but only three children lived to adulthood. The three children were:
- Henry VIII of England(c. 1499 – 19 July 1543).
- George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford (c. 1504 – 17 May 1536).
- Henry VIII of England(c. 1501/7 – 19 May 1536)
Throughout this time, Elizabeth was a
1519–1536
In 1519, Elizabeth's daughters, Anne and Mary, were living in the French royal court as
In the words of historian M.L. Bruce, both Thomas and Elizabeth "developed feelings of dislike" for their daughter Mary.
In contrast to Mary, Elizabeth's other daughter, Anne, is thought to have had a close relationship with her mother. Elizabeth had been in charge of her children's early education, including Anne's, and she had taught her to play on various musical instruments, to sing and to dance, as well as embroidery, poetry, good manners, arithmetic, reading, writing and some French.
Elizabeth remained in her daughter's household throughout her time as
Elizabeth Boleyn sided with the rest of the family when her eldest daughter, Mary, was banished in 1535 for eloping with a commoner,
Only a year later, the family was overtaken by a greater scandal. Elizabeth's younger daughter, Anne, and her only living son, George, were
Later life and death
Following the annihilation of the family's ambitions, Elizabeth retired to the countryside. She died only two years after her two younger children and her husband died the following year. Elizabeth is buried in the Howard family chapel at St Mary's Church, Lambeth. The church, decommissioned in 1972, is now the Garden Museum.
Footnotes
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/2795. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ a b "The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn", by Eric Ives, p.17 (2004).
- ^ "Anne Boleyn," by Marie-Louise Bruce, p. 13 (1972).
- ISBN 978-0-7524-4835-0.
- ^ "The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn," by Eric Ives, p. 16 (2004).
- ^ a b "Anne Boleyn," by Marie-Louise Bruce, p. 23 (1982).
- ^ Henry VIII: The King and His Court, by Alison Weir, p. 216.
- Alison Weir, p. 81 (1991).
- ^ "The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn," by Eric Ives, pp. 15–16.
- Alison Weir, p. 148 (1991).
- ^ "Divorced, Beheaded, Survived: A Feminist Reinterpretation of the Wives of Henry VIII," by Karen Lindsey, pp. 58–60 (1995).
- ^ "Divorced, Beheaded, Survived: A Feminist Reinterpretation of the Wives of Henry VIII," by Karen Lindsey, p. 73 (1995).
- Alison Weir, p. 273 (1991).
- ^ "The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn," by Eric Ives (2004) and "The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn," by Retha Warnicke (1989).
- ^ For the debate, see the introduction to J.J. Scarisbrick's 1997 edition of his biography "Henry VIII," "The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn," by Eric Ives, pp. 319–337 and "The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn," by Retha Warnicke, pp. 189–233 (1989).
Bibliography
- Block, Joseph S. (2004). "Boleyn, George, Viscount Rochford (c. 1504–1536), courtier and diplomat". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/2798. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Cokayne, George Edward (1959). The Complete Peerage, edited by Geoffrey H. White. Vol. XII, Part II. London: St. Catherine Press.
- Head, David M. (2008). "Howard, Thomas, second duke of Norfolk (1443–1524), magnate and soldier". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/13939. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Ives, E. W. (2004). "Anne (Anne Boleyn) (c. 1500–1536), queen of England, second consort of Henry VIII". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/557. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Lindsey, Karen (1995). Divorced, Beheaded, Survived: A Feminist Reinterpretation of the Wives of Henry VIII. Reading, Maine: Perseus Books. Archived from the original on 28 June 2011. Retrieved 8 March 2011.
- Richardson, Douglas (2004). Plantagenet Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company Inc.
- Weir, Alison (1991). The Six Wives of Henry VIII. New York: Grove Weidenfeld.