Kristin Scott Thomas as Elizabeth Boleyn in The Other Boleyn Girl
Elizabeth Boleyn is widely remembered as the mother of the famous Boleyn siblings, each one considered just as scandalous as the other two. These children were; Anne, George and Mary.
Anne Boleyn had married Henry VIII in 1533 and thus became Queen of England. However, she soon fell from grace and was beheaded for adultery, incest with her brother, and treason in 1536 after her marriage to Henry VIII was annulled. Her son, George Boleyn, was also executed for incest and treason. Therefore, Elizabeth lost two children to execution by the hands of Henry VIII. The impact of this must have been heartbreaking for Elizabeth and there is a view that Anne and George were her favorites after she disowned her other daughter, Mary. The reason for this will be addressed later.
This blog post will examine her life and death.
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Firstly, there is some debate on the exact year of Elizabeth’s birth, but historians tend to put it around 1480. She was the daughter of Thomas Howard, the Earl of Surrey, and Elizabeth Tilney. She was born into the Howard family who had royal blood as they were descended from Edward I. Another prominent member of the Howard family was Catherine Howard, who was the fifth wife of Henry VIII, which made Elizabeth was her aunt. So, both her daughter and niece were married to the King and both would meet horrific ends. The man behind the creation of these marriages was Thomas Howard, the 3rd Duke of Norfolk and, one would assume, Elizabeth may have been involved in these preparations to see the elevation of her daughter to Queen of England.
In terms of her family legacy, her family were descended from York supporters as her paternal grandfather, the 1st Duke of Norfolk, had died fighting for Richard III. Therefore, it is impressive that her family regrew their status, fortune and standing in Henry VII’s favour and Anne Boleyn, who was descended from York supporters, would become Queen of England to a descendant of the Lancastrians. This highlights the ever-changing political spectrum of the Tudor court.
Furthermore, one way Elizabeth Boleyn elevated her status as a child was to serve as a lady-in-waiting at court. Here, her family arranged for her to be married to Thomas Boleyn. There is uncertainty over the year they married, but it is widely believed to be between 1498 and 1501. In addition to this, there is uncertainty over the number of children Elizabeth and Thomas had, but there is evidence that it could have been between four and seven as Thomas claimed to Thomas Cromwell that his wife gave birth every year. However, it is hard to extract the true meaning of this statement because it leads us to question the number of years she gave birth to a child. Nevertheless, only three survived to adulthood. These were Anne, Mary, and George. Mary is generally believed to be the oldest as she married first and usually, the oldest child would be married off first but there is debate over whether Mary or Anne was the oldest.
Her family did face scandal as there were rumours that Mary had an affair with Francis I when she served at the French court, and also she became Henry VIII’s mistress. It is unknown exactly when she was Henry’s mistress but there are rumours that her first child, Catherine, was Henry’s child. Some historians believe this to be a possibility whilst others think her second child, Henry, was fathered by Henry, but this is debatable, as would Henry had kept the relationship going after her first child's birth?
It is hard to know the exact answer to this. Mary was married to William Carey, and her family hoped this would have helped cover up the extent of the scandal. However, William died in 1528 and, for her second marriage, Mary married William Stafford out of love in 1534. William was a landowner’s son, which led the Boleyns to believe she had married below her status and consequently, they disowned her. The marriage also occurred during her sister’s reign, so this would have further damaged the family’s reputation.
Furthermore, there is a rumour that Elizabeth herself was Henry VIII’s mistress and that Anne was his daughter. However, this is unlikely as Henry would have been around ten at the time of Anne’s birth and it could be suggested that people used this rumour as a source to undermine and ruin the reputation of the Boleyn family at a fragile time. Eric Ives believes that people confused her with Elizabeth Blount, who was a mistress of Henry and gave him an illegitimate son. Also, Henry himself stated that he had slept with Mary but not Elizabeth.
In terms of court events, Elizabeth attended the Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520 where Henry VIII and Francis I met near Calais. This is significant because it highlights the status of her family. Also, when her daughter was crowned queen in 1533, Elizabeth attended the coronation in Westminster Abbey. Elizabeth would have been proud that her daughter was now Queen of England, and she was the mother of the Queen and quite possibly the grandmother to a future monarch of England. Historians are confident that her and Anne had a close relationship.
Anne’s first child, the future Elizabeth I, was born in 1533, and it is possible she was named after Elizabeth Boleyn but she was more likely named after her paternal grandmother; Elizabeth of York. However, the birth of Elizabeth and the continuing failure of Anne to deliver Henry a son was her downfall, and she was arrested in 1533. Apparently, Anne feared what would happen to her mother during her time in the tower as she knew that her family would be in danger. After Anne and George’s death, Elizabeth and Thomas Boleyn resided at Hever Castle, their family home. This would belong to Henry’s fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, after their deaths.
Elizabeth Boleyn died on 3rd April 1538, two years after Anne and George’s deaths. She was buried at Lambeth Church in the Howard family aisle which signifies her lasting connection to the powerful Howard family.
In terms of media representation, there have been a significant number of films and TV shows about Anne Boleyn, but, surprisingly, most do not include Elizabeth as a character. There are only a select few featuring her including The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) where Kristen Scott Thomas played her. In the movie, she had more of an expanded role compared to the book and she is portrayed as a loving considerate mother who loathes how her children are being treated like pawns. However, she does not appear in The Tudors.
It appears that Elizabeth Boleyn, very sadly, is overlooked in terms of her other more scandalous family members. However, that does not in any way suggest that her life was any less important than theirs nor that she is not worth remembering.
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