Elizabeth Howard

1480 - April 1538. Countess of Wiltshire. Mother of Anne Boleyn, Mary Boleyn and George Boleyn. Wife of Thomas Boleyn. Grandmother of Elizabeth I.

Elizabeth Howard, later Elizabeth Boleyn, was the daughter of English nobleman and Earl of Surrey, Thomas Howard and his wife Elizabeth Tilney. Elizabeth's Grandfather had fought for Richard III in the Battle of Bosworth Field. Her family sent Elizabeth to court, where she worked for the mother of Henry VIII, Elizabeth of York, and later became an entourage for his first wife Catherine of Aragon.

She met and married her husband Thomas Boleyn, who came from a family of London merchants, around the year 1500. Their children Mary Boleyn, Anne Boleyn and George Boleyn were the only three to survive childhood. In addition to them, the couple is said to have had at least two deceased children named Thomas and Henry.

While the relationship she had with her eldest daughter Mary was rather cold and distant, Elizabeth was very close and friendly with her younger daughter Anne. Elizabeth taught Anne embroidery and familiarised her with poetry.

The rumor that Elizabeth used to be the mistress of King Henry VIII circulated widely but was quickly denied by the King himself. Most likely Elizabeth Boleyn was confused with Elizabeth Blount, the actual mistress of Henry VIII.

After the execution and humiliation of their daughter Anne and their son George, Elizabeth and her husband retired to Hever where she lived for the rest of her life. Elizabeth died in April of 1538 and was buried in the Howard Aisle in Lambeth Church. Her husband died a year later.

Sources

Ives, Eric. The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn. Blackwell Pub., 2004. Weir, ALison. The Six Wives of Henry VIII. Grove Atlantic, 2007.