One of my very favourite books on the Boleyns is Dr Lauren Mackay’s “Among the Wolves of Court”, a dual biography of Thomas Boleyn and George Boleyn, so I’m very excited to have Lauren as a speaker at my “Anne Boleyn, the Woman who Changed England” online event.
Here’s the trailer for her excellent talk…
Anne Boleyn’s story is one of the most famous of the Tudor Age, but that of her father, Thomas Boleyn, is less known. Far from the myth of a grasping courtier who sacrificed his daughters to the royal bedchamber, Thomas Boleyn enjoyed a successful career as one of the Tudor period’s most highly skilled ambassadors and courtiers, serving as one of Cardinal Wolsey’s right-hand men and cultivating impressive personal connections with European monarchs and the nobility.
The relationship between father and daughter is reflected in the sophisticated education he secured for Anne in the courts of Europe, as well as the connections he helped her create at the English court. Lauren Mackay delves into this underappreciated element of Anne’s life, to discover just how instrumental Thomas was in shaping the extraordinary woman we have come to know.
Dr Lauren Mackay, B.Mus, M.Hist, PhD, is an historian of Early Modern Europe, author, lecturer, and historical consultant, whose focus of study goes beyond familiar historical figures and events to lesser-known individuals, as well as beliefs, customs, and diplomacy of the 16th Century.
Lauren is the author of “Inside the Tudor Court: Henry VIII and his Six Wives through the eyes of the Spanish Ambassador” (Amberley, 2014), “Among The Wolves of Court: the Untold Story of Thomas and George Boleyn” (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2018), and “The Wolf Hall Companion” (Batsford Books, 2020). Her fourth book, “Thunder Through the Realms: Five Kingdoms and the shaping of Early Modern Europe” is due out late 2022 with Bloomsbury Publishing.
Lauren gives talks regularly around the UK for venues including Hampton Court, the Tower of London, Hever Castle, Windsor Castle, Leeds Castle, The National Portrait Gallery, London, and the BBC History weekends. Lauren is a regular contributor for BBC History and All About History magazines, and her television appearances include “Henry VIII and the King’s Men” for Smithsonian Channel UK, and “The Boleyns: A Scandalous Family” which also drew on her PhD research.
I do hope you can join us for Lauren’s talk and Q&A session, along with those of our other Boleyn experts.
