The Marriage of Anne Boleyn to James Butler (1521-1537)
On the 18th of August, 1521, Lord James Butler was married to Lady Anne Boleyn in a ceremony at Hever Castle. The ceremony, which was recorded in the journal of George Boleyn. As a wedding gift, the King of England had sent the Earl three fine horses and the bride a jewellery set including sapphire earrings and three rings. The bride, aged 19 years old, was all but a French woman born. The groom was the new Irish Earl of Ormond.
After the wedding, the newlywed couple then left to survey their Earldom. After three months in their new home, Castle Ormond, the couple found that they were expecting their first child. The Earl immediately sent for the finest midwife in Ireland. Lady Anne patiently waited through her pregnancy as her husband fretted and worried, writing to her brother that she just felt tired all the time. Finally, on the 3rd of June, 1522, Lord Geoffrey Butler was born.
Over the next three and a half years years Lady Butler gave birth four times and had three live children (Thomas Butler -1523-, Henry Butler -1524-, Margaret Butler -1524-) until, after her husband was called to court, she left to visit Hever Castle for her brother's wedding to Jane Parker.
In 1527 Lady Butler was given the position of Lady In Waiting to Queen Catherine, who had lost another noblewoman from her service to pregnancy. Lady Anne, with her French manners and unique beauty, was welcomed with open arms.
During this time, her sister, the King's former mistress, left the court, leaving to live at Hever with her mother, who has taken ill. During this time, King Henry VIII moved to have his marriage to Catherine of Aragon annulled. The Queen, who had not been pregnant in almost a decade, took a defensive stance. And her biggest supporter was Lady Butler, who took a reformist view but agreed with the Queen that her marriage was true.
In 1531 the Queen, after being sent to the More, sent a message with Lady Butler under the guise of visiting her husband. Lady Butler, upon re-entering the court, immediately got an audience with the King. When there, she gave her mistress' message. Catherine would enter a convent and their marriage would end, if her daughter was not made illegitimate and she would be allowed the title of Queen until her death. Henry VIII agreed.
After her mistress left for the convent, she was brought back to court and stayed there until her pregnancy in 1534, when she left for Hever, where she delivered twins (Claude Jane Butler -1534- and George Butler -1534-) and stayed to nurse her mother while her sister was banished from the castle after remarrying to a local merchant.
After her mother's death in 1535 and her son Henry's death early in the next year, she returned to Ormond Castle and awaited her husband's return.
Her husband, who had earned a few minor titles and lands, eventually left the court after an affair with Lady Mary Brandon, Baroness Monteagle was discovered (the affair was generally seen as still in innocent beginnings but still, the shame was too much to bear for either party). Lord Butler returned in 1536 and by the end of the year his wife was pregnant. Then tragedy struck.
Lord Butler, after years of good health, came down with a bad illness and was nearly dead three months later. Clinging on to life, he lived long enough to see the birth of his last child, a son (James Butler -1537-) and then promptly died. The death was a huge blow to all involved. But the effects on Lady Butler would not be seen for years to come.