Anne Received a Renaissance Education
In 1513, when she was around 13, Anne Boleyn was sent abroad by her diplomat father. She was away for almost nine years. During that time, Anne served in various influential European royal courts as a maid of honor. However, the courts also acted as a kind of finishing school for Anne’s talents. It was during this time that she acquired the renaissance education that was to make her stand out and shine once she joined the English court.
Anne’s first port of call was the court of Margaret of Austria, Governor of the Hapsburg Netherlands, where Sir Thomas himself had served as the English ambassador. After just two years, Sir Thomas recalled Anne this time to join the entourage of her future sister-in-law, Mary Tudor. Mary had recently married the elderly French king Louis XII. However, the marriage did not last long for within months, Louis was dead and Mary was on her way home to England. Anne, however, stayed behind as an attendant to the new Queen of France, Claude.
Anne’s time in the French court allowed her to perfect her French, refine her dancing and overall gave her such an exotic, European air that she stood out as foreign in the English court. It was in France that Anne reputedly acquired her protestant tendencies from Marguerite of Angoulême, an early royal supporter of the Reformation. However, although her stay at the Hapsburg court was relatively brief, it was here Anne learned her most important lessons: how to play at politics.
It was to stand her in good stead on her return to England in 1521.