Sir Tim Ridgway’s sources at court have told him that Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford, has sent a message to Sir William Kingston for her husband George Boleyn, Lord Rochford. Obviously a personal visit or letter are out of the question but the distraught Lady Rochford desperately wants to give her husband some comfort at this time.
We don’t know the full content of this message, only that Lady Rochford promised to “humbly [make] suit unto the king’s highness” for him, in other words petition His Majesty the King or His Council. Lord Rochford was understandably comforted by her words and said that he wanted to “give her thanks”. We only hope that Lady Rochford is successful in her petition.
There are rumours that Thomas Cromwell has been examining various court ladies, including the Countess of Worcester, Nan Cobham and Lady Rochford, regarding the Queen’s behaviour. We don’t know the ins and outs of what is going on and the results of these interviews but we will, of course, keep you updated as we hear news from Court. Sir Tim has his finger on the pulse!
Sources
- Jane Boleyn: The Infamous Lady Rochford, Julia Fox, p189-192
- LP x. 798
Things are getting serious…
Yes, indeed! As Thomas Wyatt said “circa regna tonat” or “about the throne the thunder rolls”. Very dark days.
Oh, now I think SHE is two-faced! Accusing George with one breath and trying to comfort him with the next—I find her an odious character, which she goes on to prove in later events. She must have hated George to have done so with him.
I’ve often wondered if she really did accuse George … she could have said something comparatively harmless (such as “they spend a lot of time together”) that Cromwell twisted. Cromwell would definitely want it believed that she accused him … an accusation coming from the wife would be treated much differently than from someone else.
There was no mention in court that Jane gave any evidence against George or Anne other than saying Anne had told her the King had sexual problems. It seems that by 1536 the only thing that was regularly erected in Henry’s court was the scaffold! There is no evidence to suggest Jane raised the incest allegation. In fact, Chapuys said the only evidence against George was that he had one time spent a long time alone with Anne. Perhaps Jane said they spent a long time together and perhaps she said they were closer than usual for siblings, but that is hardly evidence of incest.
Having said that, Jane did give evidence of Anne’s indiscretion when talking about Henry, and she must have known the damage that would do to Anne in Henry’s eyes.
There is also the fact that for Jane to have known that George had not as yet been before the council she must already spoken to Cromwell and given her damaging evidence. So was she lying to George about her concern for him? Or did she realise she had made a comment which may have resulted in him being harmed as well as Anne and was trying to make amends? Who knows.
How frightening it must have been to watch these powerful people working around the court to bring down Anne. Wondering wheather you could have done something, no matter how small or innocent, that might implicate you in the web of lies that were being fabricated. Being in Anne’s employ, in her past, related to her, just someone who maybe delivered her something, any small link could put you in front of Cromwell for interrogation, who would have had others with him,his secretary taking notes, men there just to intimidate. More than likely done somewhere that would instill fear, worse case the Tower. people like Cromwell fed off the fear show by those being questioned, as the ladies above said twisting the most innocent of statements. Maybe through the fear these people felt, especially the ladies of that time, something was said just to please Cromwell and get them out of that situation. It could have been anyone, and maybe because Jane was in close contact with Anne, and married to George she was the perfect scapegoat. Who would know better than her! I would have been a little cautious about writing to someone who had been arrested for being a traitor, so she must have cared enough for him to do this, she could have put herself in danger by doing this, unless it was a ruse to remove the blame from Jane, instigated by herself or Cromwell even!! I dont think we will ever know for sure, but its great to open up new avenues, after all if people didnt questiion what has been written about the past Anne would still be know as the Google-eyed wh*re and all the other untruthful names she has been labeled with.