The Birth Controversy

The "Nidd Hall" portrait of Anne Boleyn. (Disputed.)
Private Collection.
Scanned by Douglas Dowell.
Anne Boleyn's early years are the subject of much debate. Even her date of birth is disputed, with estimates ranging from 1499 to 1507. Nowadays, historians generally believe that Anne was born in 1501 or thereabouts. This conclusion is based on the fact that Anne arrived in Mechelen, Burgundy (now in Belgium) in 1513 - if she was born in 1507, she would have been six or seven at most, and a birthdate of 1501 would make her twelve or thirteen. Lord Herbert of Chadbury states that Anne was twenty when she returned from France, setting the birthdate at 1500 and 1501. This is made more convincing when one discovers that twelve was the minimum age for a maid-of-honour. A portrait at Nidd Hall believed to be of Anne, which is in stark contrast to her other portraits, is also used to argue that she was older than the twenty-eight or twenty-nine attributed to her by the 1507 school. Chapuys later described her as "that thin old woman", which surely fits in with an earlier date than 1507. The only hint we have as to the time of year Anne was born in late May or early June; Jane Dormer described her as being "not quite twenty-nine" when she was executed (on May 19).1 As this suggests a birthdate of May/June 1507, though, given the balance of evidence in favour of 1501 it must be treated with some caution.

However, several sources comment on the youth of Anne Boleyn. Margaret of Austria refers to her young age - "son josne [sic] age" - and another contemporary refers to the little Boleyn - "la pettite Boulain [sic]". Anne Brandon was sent to Margaret of Austria's court, and she was born in 1506. William Camden made the first remark surviving about Anne Boleyn's birthdate, and he supports 1507.2 In 1876, archaeologists estimated that Anne had been between twenty-five and thirty at her death, although pathology was then in its infancy.3

A Holbein portrait of a woman at Basel, inscribed "HR 1530 - aetatis 27", and later had Anna Regina painted on, is treated by Paul Friedmann as proof that Anne was born in 1503 or 1504 - he also says that the authenticity of the portrait is "above suspicion".4

If Anne was born before 1505, she was born in Blickling Hall, Norfolk. In 1505, Sir Thomas Boleyn moved to Hever - after his father, Sir William Boleyn, died - and made Blickling over to his brother Sir James (although some books say that James inherited the property after Sir Thomas' death - but after all, Mary Boleyn was alive with children, and Hever went to the Crown).

There is also controversy about the Boleyn family order. Some authors believe that Mary, Anne and George Boleyn were born in 1499, 1501 and 1504 respectively. Others advocate 1508, 1507 and 1503. The case for Anne being younger than Mary is strong: the patent creating her Lady Marquess of Pembroke referred to her as "one of the daughters" of Sir Thomas Boleyn (by then Earl of Wiltshire and Ormonde) - if Anne had been the eldest, the patent would surely have said so. Mary Boleyn was married before Anne, which would strongly hint that Anne was younger; while Mary's grandson, George Carey, Lord Hunsdon, referred to her as "the eldest daughter". Friedmann's argument that because he also said she was his sole heir, he was implying that Elizabeth was illegitimate and therefore did not count,5 is of course extremely unlikely; in Elizabeth's reign, this would have surely been tactlessness of the first order.

On the other hand, it has been argued that Sir Thomas Boleyn would never have sent his younger daughter to Burgundy at the expense of the elder (those who believe that Anne was younger say that at twelve - counting from 1501 - Anne was "quite old enough to have demonstrated a particular brightness . . ."). It is also argued that the traditional practice of marrying off daughters in order of seniority was ignored, as Anne was reaping the benefits of the best education Europe could offer and might marry a French nobleman. Friedmann believes it explains why only one Mistress Boleyn was listed when Anne and/or Mary went to France in 1514; others believe that only Mary went, and Anne was in England until 1519, while it is argued by Ives and Weir that Anne came direct from Mechelen to France, and that therefore she was not there in England when the list was drawn up. George Boleyn's birthdate is generally considered to be 1503-1505.

The 1503/4 thesis seems extremely implausible - titles painted on a portrait after the portrait itself was completed are not evidence. The original inscription does not say anything about the sitter's identity, except that she was a 27-year-old woman at the court of Henry VIII (explaining the "HR"? After all, Holbein would have been in England at this juncture) in 1530. This argument can therefore be discounted, as Friedmann does not give convincing evidence for the identification of the portrait as Anne Boleyn; Ives refers to it, at any rate, as a "fallacious pictorial identification".6

If twelve was the very minimum age for a maid-of-honour7, then Anne's age could arouse comment. Anne Brandon, as the child of a peer, was of considerably higher rank than the daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn, which would explain why she was sent to Margaret of Austria's court so early. According to Friedmann, many details of Camden's early life of Anne Boleyn in his Annals of Elizabeth "can be proved to be quite incorrect"; certainly, given his distance from events there is no need to treat his word as gospel. Mary's earlier marriage seems to me far harder to explain away than Anne's residence in the Netherlands; there would have to have been at least an element of biology here, whereas by the time Anne and Mary were twelve and fourteen respectively (if we take 1501 and 1499 as their birthdates) there would have been ample opportunity to note Anne's greater promise.

In conclusion, then, most of the arguments in favour of deciding on Mary as the younger sister can be rebutted. Friedmann's argument over the Hunsdon letter can be dismissed, considering it (the letter) was written in the reign of Anne's daughter. It seems, therefore, that the evidence most strongly supports birthdates of 1499 (Mary), 1501 (Anne), and 1504 (George).

Notes

1 Ives, pp. 17-21; Weir, pp. 146-147

2 Warnicke, pp. 9-12

3 Weir, p. 147

4 Friedmann, p. 315

5 Friedmann, pp. 319-320

6 Ives, p. 1751

7 Warnicke, p. 19


Anne Boleyn's Appearance | The Birth Controversy | Anne Boleyn's Early Years | Anne Boleyn and Sir Thomas Wyatt | Anne Boleyn's Later Life | Anne Boleyn and Religious Reform | The Fall of Anne Boleyn | Anne After Death | Bibliography | Portrait Gallery

Anne Boleyn
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