The Fall of Anne Boleyn: A Countdown Read Free Page A

(late 1490s-1536)
    Sir Henry Norris was the son of Richard Norris. He married Mary Fiennes sometime before 1526 and the couple had three children before Mary's death circa 1530. Norris was Henry VIII's Groom of the Stool and was one of the King's best friends. By 1536, he was courting Anne Boleyn's cousin, Margaret Shelton.
    Mark Smeaton (d.1536)
    Mark was a talented musician who had been a member of Cardinal Wolsey's choir before joining the King's Chapel Royal. He became a Groom of the Privy Chamber in 1529 and was a member of the Boleyn circle.
    Sir Francis Weston (c.1511-1536)
    Sir Francis Weston was the son of Sir Richard Weston and Anne Sandys, a former lady-in-waiting to Catherine of Aragon. He became a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber in 1532 and was a popular courtier and member of the Boleyn circle.
    Sir William Brereton (c.1487/1490-1536)
    Sir William Brereton was the sixth son of a leading, landowning Cheshire family and himself became an important man in Cheshire and North Wales. He was married to Elizabeth Savage, daughter of Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester. He had a colourful reputation and was not a member of the Boleyn circle of friends.
    Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury (1489-1556)
    Thomas Cranmer was born in Nottinghamshire in 1489 to Thomas and Agnes Cranmer. At the age of 14 he attended Jesus College, Cambridge, where he studied for a Bachelor of Arts degree, followed by a Masters. He was then elected to a fellowship but had to relinquish this when he married. Unfortunately, his wife, Joan, died in childbirth. He married his second wife, Marguerite, in 1532.
    In 1526, Cranmer was awarded a Doctorate of Divinity and from 1527 he was involved in the proceedings to get Henry VIII's first marriage to Catherine of Aragon annulled. He was consecrated as Archbishop of Canterbury on 30th March 1533 and opened a special court for the annulment proceedings on 10th May 1533. On 23rd May, Cranmer ruled that the marriage between Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon was against the will of God, the marriage was declared null and void. Five days later, on 28th May, Cranmer declared the marriage between Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn valid and on the 1st June he crowned Anne Boleyn Queen of England. In September 1533, he had the pleasure of baptising the couple's daughter, Elizabeth, and becoming her godfather.
    Sir Thomas Wyatt the Elder (1503-1542)
    Sir Thomas Wyatt, "the Father of English Poetry", was born in 1503 at Allington Castle, Kent. He was the son of Sir Henry Wyatt and Anne Skinner. In 1520, Wyatt married Elizabeth Brooke, the daughter of Lord Cobham. In 1521, the couple had a son, Thomas Wyatt the Younger.
    In 1524, Wyatt followed his father's example and started a career at court as Clerk of the King's jewels. In 1525 he was made Esquire of the Body and he went on to become an ambassador, undertaking many foreign missions for King Henry VIII. He served Anne Boleyn at her coronation in 1533 and was knighted in 1535.
    Sir Richard Page (d.1548)
    A gentleman of the privy chamber from 1516 and a man who started his court career in the employ of Cardinal Wolsey.
    Sir Francis Bryan (c.1490-1550)
    Sir Francis Bryan was born circa 1490 and was the first surviving son of Sir Thomas Bryan and Lady Margaret Bryan (née Bourchier). He was a cousin of Anne Boleyn, and had a reputation for liking rich clothing and for gambling. He was a popular courtier, skilled hunter and jouster, and lost an eye in a joust in 1526. Both Thomas Cromwell and the King referred to Bryan as "the Vicar of Hell".
    Sir William Kingston (c.1476-1540)
    Nothing is known of the early life of Sir William Kingston or of his first two marriages, but by 1534 he had married Mary Scrope, daughter of Richard Scrope and the widow of Edward Jerningham of Suffolk. 1 From 1497-1509, he served Henry VII as a yeoman of the chamber and was a gentleman usher at the King's funeral. In the early years of Henry VIII's reign he served as a soldier and was