Anne Berkeley (''née'' Savage), Baroness Berkeley (c. 1496 – 1564) was a

lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom sh ...

and companion of

Queen Anne Boleyn Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and of her execution by beheading for treason and other charges made her a key ...

, the second wife of

Henry VIII of England Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

. She was reputed to be one of the witnesses at the secret wedding ceremony of the King and Anne Boleyn which occurred on 25 January 1533.

Family

Anne was born in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

sometime around 1496, although the exact date is not known. She was the only daughter of John Savage,

Sheriff of Worcestershire This is a list of sheriffs and since 1998 high sheriffs of Worcestershire. The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the ...

, and his wife Anne Bostock. She had seven brothers, including Sir John Savage of Clifton, who married Elizabeth Savage, daughter of Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester and a second cousin of Henry VIII. In 1516 Sir John and his henchmen killed a local magistrate and

Thomas Wolsey Thomas Wolsey ( – 29 November 1530) was an English statesman and Catholic bishop. When Henry VIII became King of England in 1509, Wolsey became the king's almoner. Wolsey's affairs prospered and by 1514 he had become the controlling figur ...

took the opportunity to send both Anne's brother and her father to the Tower.

Marriage and children

Anne married in April 1533, as his second wife,

Thomas Berkeley, 6th Baron Berkeley Thomas Berkeley, 6th Baron Berkeley (c. 1505 – 19 September 1534) was an English peer and member of King Henry VIII's court. Family Thomas Berkeley, sometimes called Thomas the Hopeful, was born at Hovingham in Yorkshire around 1505. He was the ...

(died 19 September 1534), son of

Thomas Berkeley, 5th Baron Berkeley Thomas Berkeley, ''de jure'' 5th Baron Berkeley, (1472 – 22 January 1532) was an English soldier and aristocrat. He was born to Sir Maurice Berkeley, ''de jure'' 3rd Baron Berkeley, and Isabel Meade, in England. He was the younger brother t ...

and Eleanor Constable.

Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English lawyer and statesman who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false charge ...

was one of the trustees of her marriage settlement. Thomas and Anne together had two children: * Elizabeth (January 1534- 1 September 1582), married in 1559 as his first wife,

Thomas Butler, 10th Earl of Ormond Thomas Butler, 10th Earl of Ormond and 3rd Earl of Ossory PC (Ire) (; – 1614), was an influential courtier in London at the court of Elizabeth I. He was Lord Treasurer of Ireland from 1559 to his death. He fought for the crown in th ...

Lord Treasurer of Ireland The Lord High Treasurer of Ireland was the head of the Exchequer of Ireland, chief financial officer of the Kingdom of Ireland. The designation ''High'' was added in 1695. After the Acts of Union 1800 created the United Kingdom of Great Britain a ...

and a cousin of Queen

Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...

. The marriage was childless and they separated in 1564. *

Henry Berkeley, 7th Baron Berkeley Henry Berkeley, 7th Baron Berkeley, KB (26 November 1534 – 26 November 1613) was an English peer and politician. He was Lord Lieutenant and Vice-Admiral of Gloucestershire. He was the grandfather of George Berkeley, 8th Baron Berkeley. F ...

(26 November 1534- 26 November 1613), who was born after his father's death.

As lady-in-waiting

Anne seems to have been a friend and close attendant of Anne Boleyn from before Anne's marriage to Henry VIII. Only four, or possibly five, witnesses attended the King's second wedding, and these are widely thought to have included Anne. This was on 25 January 1533, and was conducted in secrecy as Anne Boleyn was pregnant and Henry had not yet annulled his marriage to

Catherine of Aragon Catherine of Aragon (also spelt as Katherine, ; 16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536) was Queen of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 11 June 1509 until their annulment on 23 May 1533. She was previously ...

. Anne was said to have borne the train of Anne Boleyn at the wedding. However, recent research has suggested that her marriage was not a reward for her involvement in the wedding. Anne had been at court for several years and was a dependent of her brother John's widow, Elizabeth and Elizabeth's second husband, William Brereton. Brereton was then a groom of the

Privy Chamber A privy chamber was the private apartment of a royal residence in England. The Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber were noble-born servants to the Crown who would wait and attend on the King in private, as well as during various court activities, f ...

and one of the other guests at the secret royal wedding, along with

Thomas Heneage Sir Thomas Heneage PC (1532 – 17 October 1595) was an English politician and courtier at the court of Elizabeth I. Early and personal life Thomas Heneage the Younger was born at Copt Hall, Epping, Essex, the son of Sir Robert Heneage and Lucy ...

and Henry Norris. Both Norris and Brereton would later be executed for alleged adultery with Anne Boleyn. With the fall of their allies, the Savages could have seen a decline in their fortunes, but it seems that they, and the newly widowed Elizabeth Savage, kept the friendship of

and therefore many of Brereton's estates were returned to his wife. Anne was described as being of ''middling stature, with a comely, brown complexion, and much tender-hearted with her children''. Thomas Berkeley, Anne's husband, was one of several Boleyn allies who was created a

Knight of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as one ...

at Anne Boleyn's coronation. Anne's husband Thomas died on 19 September 1534, when Anne was almost seven months pregnant with their son and heir, Henry. In a letter to Cromwell dated 1 May 1535, Anne, then Dowager Baroness Berkeley: ''Complains of the delay of the master of the King's wards in sending out the writs concerning the office to be found after the decease of her husband. It is great loss to her, for she can get nothing from her jointure. Asks him to move the King in this behalf. Acknowledges that the fee of Silebe is unpaid, but very need causes her to be slack.'' Despite her association with the Boleyn circle, Anne remained a staunch catholic. She had a "masculine spirit", which was demonstrated in her legal disputes and clashes with local protestants.Broadway, Wives of the Berkeleys, 26-7 Anne died at

Caludon Castle Caludon Castle is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and Grade I listed building in Coventry, in the West Midlands of England. A second moated site to the south is a Scheduled Ancient Monument in its own right. The castle is now a ruin, and all th ...

outside Coventry in October 1564.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berkeley, Anne Savage, Baroness 1490s births 1560s deaths English ladies-in-waiting 15th-century English women 16th-century English women 15th-century English people 16th-century English nobility English baronesses Household of Anne Boleyn