Editing Anne Boleyn (section)

== Early years ==

Anne was the daughter of [[Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire|Thomas Boleyn]], later [[Earl of Wiltshire]] and [[Earl of Ormond (Ireland)|Earl of Ormond]], and his wife, [[Elizabeth Boleyn, Countess of Wiltshire|Elizabeth Howard]], who was the eldest daughter of [[Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk|Thomas Howard]], then Earl of Surrey and future 2nd Duke of Norfolk, and his first wife [[Elizabeth Tilney, Countess of Surrey|Elizabeth Tilney]]. Anne's date of birth is unknown.

[[File:Attributed to Remigius van Leemput (d. 1675) - Portrait of a Woman - RCIN 402991 - Royal Collection.jpg |thumb|upright=0.85|Portrait of Anne's elder sister [[Mary Boleyn]], by [[Remigius van Leemput]], c. 1630–1670]]

The academic debate about Anne's birth date focuses on two key dates: {{circa|1501}} and {{circa|1507}}. [[Eric Ives]], a British historian and biographer, advocates 1501, while [[Retha Warnicke]], an American scholar who has also written a biography of Anne, prefers 1507. The key piece of surviving written evidence is a letter Anne wrote sometime in 1514.<ref>{{harvnb|Starkey|2003|pp=260–261}}</ref> She wrote it in French to her father, who was still living in [[Kingdom of England|England]] while Anne was completing her education at [[Mechelen]], in the [[Habsburg Netherlands]], now Belgium. Ives argues that the style of the letter and its mature handwriting prove that Anne must have been about 13 at the time of its composition, while Warnicke argues that the numerous misspellings and grammatical errors show that the letter was written by a child. In Ives's view, this would also be around the minimum age that a girl could be a maid of honour, as Anne was to the regent,<ref>{{harvnb|Ives|2004|pp=14–15}}</ref> [[Margaret of Austria, Duchess of Savoy|Margaret of Austria]]. This is supported by claims of a chronicler from the late 16th century, who wrote that Anne was 20 when she returned from France.<ref>{{harvnb|Ives|2004|pp=18–20}}.</ref> These findings are contested by Warnicke in several books and articles, and the evidence does not conclusively support either date.<ref>The date 1507 was accepted in Roman Catholic circles. The 16th-century author [[William Camden]] inscribed a date of birth of 1507 in the margin of his ''Miscellany''. The date was generally favoured until the late 19th century: in the 1880s, Paul Friedmann suggested a birth date of 1503. Art historian Hugh Paget, in 1981, was the first to place Anne Boleyn at the court of Margaret of Austria. See Eric Ives's biography ''The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn'' for the most extensive arguments favouring 1500/1501 and [[Retha Warnicke]]'s ''The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn'' for her proposal of 1507.</ref>

An independent contemporary source supports the 1507 date: [[William Camden]] wrote a history of the reign of Elizabeth I and was granted access to the private papers of [[William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley|Lord Burghley]] and to the state archives. In that history, in the chapter dealing with Elizabeth's early life, he records that Anne was born in 1507.<ref>{{harvnb|Warnicke|1989|p=12}}.</ref>{{efn|Historian Amy Licence notes that surviving examples of Burghley's handwriting show that he would use a long lead-in stroke for the number "1", so that it could be mistaken for a "7".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Licence |first1=Amy |title=Anne Boleyn Adultery, Heresy, Desire |date=2017 |publisher=[[Amberley Publishing]]|location=Stroud, England |isbn=978-1445643533 |chapter=Anne's World 1501–6}}</ref>}}

As with Anne, it is uncertain when her two siblings were born, but the evidence indicates that her sister [[Mary Boleyn|Mary]] was older than Anne. Mary's children believed their mother was the elder sister,<ref>The argument that Mary might have been the younger sister is refuted by firm evidence from the reign of Queen Elizabeth I that the surviving Boleyns knew Mary had been born before Anne, not after. See {{harvnb|Ives|2004|pp=16–17}} and {{harvnb|Fraser|1992|p=119}}.</ref> and her grandson claimed the Ormond title in 1596 on the basis that she was the elder daughter, which [[Elizabeth I]] accepted.<ref>{{harvnb|Ives|2004|pp=16–17}}.</ref><ref name="Fraser119">{{harvnb|Fraser|1992|p=119}}.</ref> Anne's brother [[George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford|George]] was born around 1504,<ref>Warnicke, p. 9.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Ives|2004|p=15}}.</ref> and Thomas Boleyn, writing in the 1530s, stated that his children were born before the death of his father, [[William Boleyn]], in 1505.<ref>{{harvnb|Fraser|1992|p=117}}</ref>
Anne's paternal ancestor, [[Geoffrey Boleyn]], had been a mercer and wool merchant before becoming [[Lord mayor|Lord Mayor]].<ref name="Ives, p.3">{{harvnb|Ives|2004|p=3}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Fraser|1992|pp=116–117}}.</ref> The Boleyn family originally came from [[Blickling]] in Norfolk, {{convert|15|mi}} north of [[Norwich]].<ref name="Ives, p.3"/> Anne's relatives included the [[Howard family|Howards]], one of the preeminent families in England; and Anne's ancestors included King [[Edward I of England]]. According to Eric Ives, she was certainly of more noble birth than [[Jane Seymour]] and [[Catherine Parr]], Henry VIII's other English wives.<ref>{{harvnb|Ives|2004|p=4}}. "She was better born than Henry VIII's three other English wives".</ref> The spelling of the Boleyn name was variable, as common at the time. Sometimes it was written as ''Bullen'', hence the bull's heads which formed part of her family arms.<ref name="Fraser115">{{harvnb|Fraser|1992|p=115}}.</ref>

At the court of [[Margaret of Austria, Duchess of Savoy|Margaret of Austria]] in the Netherlands, Anne is listed as ''Boullan''.<ref name="Fraser119"/> From there she signed the letter to her father as ''Anna de Boullan''.<ref name="Ives, plate 14">{{harvnb|Ives|2004|loc=plate 14}}.</ref> She was also called "Anna Bolina"; this Latinised form is used in most portraits of her.<ref name="Ives, plate 14"/>

Anne's early education was typical for women of her class. In 1513, she was invited to join the schoolroom of Margaret of Austria and her four wards. Her academic education was limited to arithmetic, her family genealogy, grammar, history, reading, spelling and writing. She also developed domestic skills such as dancing, embroidery, good manners, household management, music, needlework and singing. Anne learned to play games, such as cards, chess and dice. She was also taught archery, [[falconry]], horseback riding and hunting.<ref>Wilkinson, p. 12.</ref>

=== The Netherlands and France ===
[[File:Claude de France (1499-1524).png|thumb|upright=0.85|Drawing of [[Claude of France]] by [[Jean Clouet]], c. 1520. The wife of [[Francis I of France]], she was served by Anne as [[maid of honour]] for nearly seven years.]]
[[File:Court of Savoy, Mechlin.jpg|thumb|Interior [[Hof van Savoye|Court of Savoy]], [[Mechelen]]]]
Anne's father, Thomas, continued his diplomatic career under Henry VIII. In Europe, his charm won many admirers, including [[Margaret of Austria, Duchess of Savoy|Margaret of Austria]], daughter of [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor]]. During this period, Margaret ruled the Netherlands on her nephew [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles]]'s behalf and was so impressed with Thomas Boleyn that she offered his daughter Anne a place in her household.<ref>{{harvnb|Starkey|2003|pp=259–260}}.</ref> Ordinarily, a girl had to be 12 years old to have such an honour, but Anne may have been younger, as Margaret affectionately called her {{lang|fr|la petite Boulin}} {{sic}}.<ref>Fraser and Ives argue that this appointment proves Anne was probably born in 1501; but Warnicke disagrees, partly on the evidence of Anne's being described as "petite" physically. See Warnicke, pp. 12–13.</ref> Anne made a good impression in the Netherlands with her manners and studiousness; Margaret reported that she was well spoken and pleasant for her young age,<ref>Warnicke, p. 12.</ref> and told Thomas that his daughter was "so presentable and so pleasant, considering her youthful age, that I am more beholden to you for sending her to me, than you to me".<ref>{{harvnb|Fraser|1992|p=147}}.</ref> Anne stayed at the [[Court of Savoy]] in [[Mechelen]] from spring 1513 until her father arranged for her to attend Henry VIII's sister [[Mary Tudor, Queen of France|Mary]], who was about to marry [[Louis XII of France]] in October 1514.

In France, Anne was a maid of honour to [[Mary Tudor, Queen of France|Queen Mary]], and then to Mary's 15-year-old stepdaughter [[Queen Claude]], with whom she stayed for nearly seven years.<ref>{{harvnb|Starkey|2003|pp=261–263}}.</ref><ref name="Fraser_a">{{harvnb|Fraser|1992|p=121}}.</ref> In the Queen's household, she completed her study of French and developed interests in art, fashion, [[illuminated manuscripts]], literature, music, poetry and [[religious philosophy]]. Ives asserts that she "owed her evangelicalism to France", studying "reformist books", and [[Jacques Lefevre]]'s translations into French of the bible and the [[Pauline epistles]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ives |first1=Eric |author-link=Eric Ives|title=A Frenchman at the court of Anne Boleyn |journal=History Today |date=August 1998 |volume=48 |issue=8 |pages=21 |url=}}</ref> She also acquired knowledge of French culture, dance, etiquette, literature, music and poetry; and gained experience in flirtation and [[courtly love]].<ref>{{harvnb|Starkey|2003|p=263}}.</ref> Though all knowledge of Anne's experiences in the French court is conjecture, even Ives suggests that she was likely to have made the acquaintance of King [[Francis I of France|Francis I]]'s sister, [[Marguerite de Navarre]], a patron of humanists and reformers. Marguerite de Navarre was also an author in her own right, and her works include elements of [[Christian mysticism]] and reform that verged on heresy, though she was protected by her status as the French king's beloved sister. She or her circle may have encouraged Anne's interest in religious reform, as well as in poetry and literature.<ref name="Fraser_a"/> Anne's education in France proved itself in later years, inspiring many new trends among the ladies and courtiers of England. It may have been instrumental in pressing their King toward England's break with the Papacy.<ref>{{harvnb|Ives|1994}}</ref> [[William Forrest (poet)|William Forrest]], author of a contemporary poem about Catherine of Aragon, complimented Anne's "passing excellent" skill as a dancer. "Here", he wrote, "was [a] fresh young damsel, that could trip and go."<ref name="Fraser115"/>