Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire

It may have been at Blickling Hall in Norfolk, which belonged to her family at the time, and the family later moved to Hever Castle in Kent, which is the place most people associate with her today.

Her father was Thomas Boleyn, a gifted courtier and diplomat who rose high in royal service.

He was fluent in French, a skilled negotiator, and an ambitious man who knew how to advance his family's interests.

Her mother was Lady Elizabeth Howard, daughter of the Earl of Surrey, later Duke of Norfolk, which connected the Boleyns to one of the most powerful noble families in England.

Margaret's court was one of the most cultured in Europe, famous for its music, its art, its learning, and its elegant manners.

It was a remarkable opportunity for a young English girl, and it came about largely through her father's diplomatic connections.

Margaret wrote to Thomas Boleyn that she found his daughter so bright and pleasant for her young age that she was more beholden to him for sending her than he was to her for receiving her.

From there, Anne moved to France.

He had probably already made up his mind to try and divorce Catherine when in 1527 he met and fell in love with Anne Boleyn.

Anne was the daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn and had been brought up at the French court where she had acquired a very comely elegance.

A contemporary account of her reported, ''Mistress Anne is not one of the handsomest women in the world.'' She's of middling stature, swarthy complexion, long neck, wide mouth, bosom not much raised, and in fact has nothing but the English king's appetite and her eyes, which are black and beautiful.

In fact, the lecherous king was first attracted to her elder sister Mary, who was for a time his mistress.

He loves the Boleyns anyway.

He loves Thomas Boleyn.

The Boleyns are formidable and they are incredibly cultured and intelligent.

And Henry does like to be surrounded by people who are intelligent, who are cultured until they sort of start grading on him and then that's a different story.

... rats, not grifters.

And so Thomas Butler really, really takes a shine, the Earl takes a big shine to his Boleyn godson, Thomas Boleyn.

And the Irish aristocracy don't allow the title to be inherited by a woman.

[lips smack] And in fact, there's kind of a, a, a movement happening at the minute in Irish historiography where it is assumed that everything in England was deeply patriarchal and everything in traditional Irish law was, was the opposite.

But there's no question that Margaret can't inherit the earldom, and she has no brothers.

[lips smack] So Thomas, clever Thomas, the Earl, in his will states, "I want the horn of the Butlers," this kind of ivory horn or unicorn's horn that had been given to them the minute they t- first took Kilkenny.

Uh, he leaves that to Thomas Boleyn, so it's very clear who he wants this earldom to go to.

[lips smack] And it seems that the H- the Howards pick Thomas Boleyn for Elizabeth because they think he's gonna be the next Earl of Ormond.

So last time we heard that Anne Boleyn was mentored by effectively half a dozen of the coolest feminists in Renaissance Europe, most of whom were called Margaret.

Her dad, Thomas Boleyn, one of I'm gonna say five total Thomases in the story, it might be six.

Her dad was, kept getting more and more prestigious positions.

The Boleyns, like, they were still kinda new money, but they were making their way around court, which is kind of a good time for them to be, to be doing all this because Henry VIII was, he saw himself as a Renaissance man, and he, he was more open to giving people jobs who didn't have, like, a thousand years of family heritage already.

So the Boleyns were, were up there with some others.

He liked to look good.

He had lots of outfits.

He was one of Anne's dad's friends.

Instead, it took the arrival of Anne Boleyn to the Tudor court at this time to lead Henry down this path.

Anne was a daughter of Thomas Boleyn, Henry's former ambassador to France.

She had recently returned from the French court with her father, and was much admired for her cosmopolitan air, her style, wit, and charm.

Her year of birth is unclear, though it was probably 1501, making her a woman entering her mid-20s at the time Henry became infatuated by her.

Now they're here.

So her father's name was Thomas Boleyn.

It had been like, I think, three generations.

His great-grandfather had gone from being like a guy in the textile biz to like really elevating the family through like some clever marriages to wealthy women and just like his success being a merchant.

In fact, he was just like a popular guy in the scene.

In fact, he was there in the background of some very notable events, such as when Catherine of Aragon first arrived from Spain, he was there in the entourage to greet her.

So Thomas Boleyn, Anne's father.

the oldest son of William Boleyn.

This is very true.

All right, so Thomas Boleyn, daddy, in 1522 gets Anna positioned as a lady-in-waiting for Queen Catherine.

Okay.

So there is still a queen.