#but like...by 1525 he owned thirty manors

[fideidefenswhore]

[fideidefenswhore]

Hello! I wonder…how do you think Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn met (and I mean the meeting that led to their courtship because I know they probably encountered each other at other times earlier)? I feel like this bit gets glossed over a lot or people say they just encountered each other at court. What I find curious about that is that, if they just ‘met at court’ why did Anne only catch his eye in 1525/6, why not when she was at court before (in 1522/3)? Or do you think they met somewhere else (I’ve also heard Rochford Hall as a possibility). Is there any evidence of Henry visiting any of the Boleyn’s properties in 1525/6?

Oh, I love questions like this, thank you.

So, I think there are two possible pivotal moments that they would've become more on each other's 'radars', had their first 'conversation of significance', etc. The first would either be at, or in relation to, the wedding of the future George & Jane Rochford. There's no record that Henry was in attendance, but he might've made an appearance, particularly because the Boleyns were on the up and he had made up the shortfall of Jane's dowry (as gift, not loan) in this match. This has been estimated either late 1524 or early 1525.

& the second would be her father's elevation to the peerage as Viscount Rochford in 1525, an event Henry definitely attended (it's the same where Fitzroy was granted a veritable cascade of titles and high offices as well). It's probable both of these signs of favor would be something Anne would express gratitude for, this expression possibly opening the gateway to further conversation.

This is all very interesting because the common narrative is that she hated Henry for his interference in her relationship with Percy, etc. Unless she held a torch, though, there's not really much to indicate that she wouldn't have had a favorable view of Henry at the time. Really the only black marks would be that Henry denied her father a position he had promised him by word of mouth some years earlier; and possibly his prior relationship with her sister, depending on what Mary had divulged about that (did she feel 'abandoned' or had it been an enjoyable little interlude, etc, I don't know if this view is going to gain any traction but Gristwood and Paranque have recently both argued it's doubtful that Mary Boleyn even was Henry's mistress, so there's that too...). So when we're considering like, whether she was attracted to him, how favorably his attentions were received in the upcoming year(s), I think that's something to consider.

As for places, we only have intensive records of royal progresses for some years. Luckily one of those is that of 1526, but it's not very revealing. At times he was in the area of various Boleyn estates (which would not be that difficult, Thomas Boleyn owned upwards of thirty manors by 1526); but I don't see any scheduled stops unless I'm missing something.