Boleyn
Noble house
The arms of the Boleyn family, showing three bull's heads on a white field
CountryKingdom of England
Place of originNorfolk
Founded1283; 741 years ago (1283)
FounderJohn Boleyn
Final headThomas Boleyn
SeatHever Castle
Titles
Dissolution1637 (1637)

The Boleyn family was a prominent English family in the gentry and aristocracy. They reached the peak of their influence during the Tudor period, when Anne Boleyn became the second wife and queen consort of Henry VIII, their daughter being the future Elizabeth I.[1]

John Boleyn of Salle, Norfolk first appears on the register of Walsingham Abbey.[2] There is possibility that this John Boleyn had a father called Simon de Boleyne who bought lands in the same village of Salle in Norfolk in 1252.[3]

Due to the irregularity of English spelling at this period, the name in documents is also spelled Bulleyn or Bullen. It has been suggested that the surname “Boleyn” was originally pronounced as "Boulogne", owing the idea of a French origin for the family.[4]

Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, Queen Elizabeth II, and King Charles III are descendants of Mary Boleyn, Anne Boleyn's sister.[5]

Hever Castle in Kent was the family seat of the Boleyns and the childhood home of Queen Consort Anne Boleyn.[6] Sir Geoffrey Boleyn bought Hever Castle in 1462 and Blickling Hall in Norfolk in 1452.[7][8] The Boleyns lived off the profits of the estates, only visiting them occasionally, but Hever Castle was home when they were not at court or on the king’s missions.[9]

Notable members

Members of the family include:

Further reading

Boleyn Family tree

Boleyn family tree
John Boleyn I [10]
(relationship to Nicholas unclear)
Nicholas Boleyn [10]
John Boleyn II [10]
(c. 1300 – c. 1369)		Emma [10]
Sir John Bracton [10]Thomas Boleyn I [10]
(c. 1350–1411)
Builder of St Peter and St Paul's, Salle		Agnes
Alice Bracton [10]
(c. 1390 – )		Geoffrey Boleyn I [10]
(c. 1380 – 1440)
Yeoman of Salle, Norfolk		Sir Thomas Hoo [10]
(c. 1396 – 1455)
Baron Hoo and Hastings
William Boleyn
(d. 1481)		John BoleynThe Very Rev Thomas Boleyn II [10]
(c. 1405–1472)
Master of Gonville Hall, Cambridge		Sir Geoffrey Boleyn II [10]
(1406–1463)
Lord Mayor of London		Anne Hoo [10]
(c. 1424 – 1482)		Thomas Butler
Earl of Ormond
(1426 - 1515)
Thomas Howard
(1443 - 1524)
Duke of Norfolk		Sir Thomas Boleyn III [10]
(c. 1442 – 1471)
Lord of Blickling Hall		Sir William Boleyn II [10]
(1451–1505)
Sheriff of Kent, Norfolk and Suffolk		Lady Margaret Butler [10]
(c. 1454 – 1539)
Elizabeth Howard
(c. 1480 - 1538)		Sir Thomas Boleyn [10]
(c. 1477–1539)
1st Earl of Wiltshire and Ormand		William Boleyn
(1491–1571)		Sir James Boleyn
(1493–1561)		Sir Edward Boleyn
(c. 1496 - )
George Boleyn
Viscount Rochford
(1503/4–1536)		Mary Boleyn
(c. 1499 - 1543)		Anne Boleyn [10]
(c. 1501 - 1536)
Queen Consort		Henry VIII
(1491 - 1547)
King of England
Elizabeth I
(1533 - 1603)
Queen of England

References

  1. ^ "Anne Boleyn | Biography, Children, Portrait, Death, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
  2. ^ Harvey Purse, Amanda (2022). The Boleyns: From the Tudors to the Windsors. United Kingdom: Amberley Publishing. p. 12. ISBN 9781398100220.
  3. ^ Harvey Purse, Amanda (2022). The Boleyns: From the Tudors to the Windsors. United Kingdom: Amberley Publishing. p. 12. ISBN 9781398100220.
  4. ^ Harvey Purse, Amanda (2022). The Boleyns: From the Tudors to the Windsors. United Kingdom: Amberley Publishing. p. 12. ISBN 9781398100220.
  5. ^ Harvey Purse, Amanda (2022). The Boleyns: From the Tudors to the Windsors (1st ed.). United Kingdom: Amberley Publishing. ISBN 1398100226.
  6. ^ "History of Hever Castle". Hever Castle. 2014-08-07. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
  7. ^ "Boleyn Family | Anne Boleyn Family Home". Hever Castle. 2014-09-11. Retrieved 2023-01-07.
  8. ^ "The history of Blickling Estate | Norfolk". National Trust. Retrieved 2023-01-07.
  9. ^ Harvey Purse, Amanda (2022). The Boleyns: From the Tudors to the Windsors. United Kingdom: Amberley Publishing. pp. 74–75. ISBN 9781398100220.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Elizabeth Norton, 2013. The Boleyn Women, Amberley Publishing
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