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Heirs of Ambition: The Making of the Boleyns
Heirs of The Making of the Boleyns uncovers the story and the family behind England's most obsessed-over queen, Anne Boleyn.
From the fields of Norfolk to the royal court, via city commerce, local government, liberal education and numerous wedding bells, the Boleyns emerge as just one of many newly prosperous and ambitious families seeking to make the best of a changing world. As they struggle upwards, England is visited by famine, plague, revolt and civil war – but also opportunity.
Struggling peasants in dirt-floored cottages scratch a living on tiny scraps of land. More than half are swept away by plague while revolt soaks the south-east in blood, but hope lies in the teeming, timber-framed streets of London amongst ambitious merchants who speculate and scheme. Meagre rations become venison pasties and straw-filled mattresses, featherbeds, but some things remain the same. Disease has no respect for gold and silver; war takes sons whose lives have barely begun. While the Boleyns' new-found wealth delivered power and status, they still lived in a violent world and life could be precarious, even for a queen.
From steady climb to bone-breaking fall, the Boleyns' story is medieval life at its messy, prejudiced and unstable best.
From the fields of Norfolk to the royal court, via city commerce, local government, liberal education and numerous wedding bells, the Boleyns emerge as just one of many newly prosperous and ambitious families seeking to make the best of a changing world. As they struggle upwards, England is visited by famine, plague, revolt and civil war – but also opportunity.
Struggling peasants in dirt-floored cottages scratch a living on tiny scraps of land. More than half are swept away by plague while revolt soaks the south-east in blood, but hope lies in the teeming, timber-framed streets of London amongst ambitious merchants who speculate and scheme. Meagre rations become venison pasties and straw-filled mattresses, featherbeds, but some things remain the same. Disease has no respect for gold and silver; war takes sons whose lives have barely begun. While the Boleyns' new-found wealth delivered power and status, they still lived in a violent world and life could be precarious, even for a queen.
From steady climb to bone-breaking fall, the Boleyns' story is medieval life at its messy, prejudiced and unstable best.
350 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 28, 2023
3 people are currently reading
181 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 14, 2023
The story of the Boleyn family in the 16th century and their ultimate fall from grace has been told for centuries. However, there is a more intriguing tale hidden in the Boleyn family tree. The origins of the family and how they became such a dynamic family that revolutionized the 16th century. How did this family of peasants rise through the ranks to have one of their own become the Queen of England? It is a tale of struggle, survival, and triumph that is told in Claire Martin’s debut book, “Heirs of Ambition: The Making of the Boleyns.”
I would like to thank The History Press and Claire Martin for sending me a copy of this book. I have read many books about Anne Boleyn and her family in the 16th century, but I did not know much about the medieval origins of the family. When I heard about this book, I was captivated by the concept.
Martin begins with a brief explanation of the social hierarchy of the medieval world and how the Black Death radically changed society as a whole. The story of the Boleyns begins with Nicholas Boleyn of Salle, who was arrested for thief in 1318. His son, John Boleyn, was able to expand the amount of property the Boleyns possessed in the aftermath of the Black Death. John’s son Thomas was able to increase the land holdings of the Boleyns through investments, but it was the Geoffreys who were able to make a name for the Boleyns.
Thomas’s son Geoffrey the Elder married well to Alice Bacton. Their two sons, Geoffrey and Thomas, had the future of the Boleyns in their hands. It was Geoffrey the Younger who was able to expand the Boleyns' outlooks for the future even further as he took on an apprenticeship as a hatter and became a citizen of London. As Geoffrey learned his trade and rose through the ranks to become the mayor of London, England was facing a crisis as the beginning of what would be known as the Wars of the Roses began to rumble.
During a tumultuous time Geoffrey, his wife Anne Hoo, and his young family were able to navigate complex political situations and continue to rise in prominence. Geoffrey’s son William Boleyn would marry Margaret Butler and would witness the rise of the Tudors. It was their son Thomas Boleyn who would marry Elizabeth Howard and be the father of George, Mary, and Anne Boleyn.
As a debut book, I think Martin does an admirable job of balancing her research into the origins of the Boleyn family and a writing style that is relatively easy for readers to follow. Martin weaves a story that is fresh and new for the average fan of the Boleyns and the Tudors, which is thrilling to think about that there is always something to learn from the past. It makes me view the fall of the Boleyns in a different light. I am looking forward to what Martin will write about next. If you want to learn more about this illustrious family and their rise to power, I highly recommend you read, “Heirs of Ambition: The Making of the Boleyns” by Claire Martin.
I would like to thank The History Press and Claire Martin for sending me a copy of this book. I have read many books about Anne Boleyn and her family in the 16th century, but I did not know much about the medieval origins of the family. When I heard about this book, I was captivated by the concept.
Martin begins with a brief explanation of the social hierarchy of the medieval world and how the Black Death radically changed society as a whole. The story of the Boleyns begins with Nicholas Boleyn of Salle, who was arrested for thief in 1318. His son, John Boleyn, was able to expand the amount of property the Boleyns possessed in the aftermath of the Black Death. John’s son Thomas was able to increase the land holdings of the Boleyns through investments, but it was the Geoffreys who were able to make a name for the Boleyns.
Thomas’s son Geoffrey the Elder married well to Alice Bacton. Their two sons, Geoffrey and Thomas, had the future of the Boleyns in their hands. It was Geoffrey the Younger who was able to expand the Boleyns' outlooks for the future even further as he took on an apprenticeship as a hatter and became a citizen of London. As Geoffrey learned his trade and rose through the ranks to become the mayor of London, England was facing a crisis as the beginning of what would be known as the Wars of the Roses began to rumble.
During a tumultuous time Geoffrey, his wife Anne Hoo, and his young family were able to navigate complex political situations and continue to rise in prominence. Geoffrey’s son William Boleyn would marry Margaret Butler and would witness the rise of the Tudors. It was their son Thomas Boleyn who would marry Elizabeth Howard and be the father of George, Mary, and Anne Boleyn.
As a debut book, I think Martin does an admirable job of balancing her research into the origins of the Boleyn family and a writing style that is relatively easy for readers to follow. Martin weaves a story that is fresh and new for the average fan of the Boleyns and the Tudors, which is thrilling to think about that there is always something to learn from the past. It makes me view the fall of the Boleyns in a different light. I am looking forward to what Martin will write about next. If you want to learn more about this illustrious family and their rise to power, I highly recommend you read, “Heirs of Ambition: The Making of the Boleyns” by Claire Martin.
January 6, 2024
Martin takes us back and back and back, generations before Anne Boleyn first batted her eyes at Henry VIII, and shows how the Black Death became an opportunity for the Boleyn family to start the transition form country yeomen to the highest ranked in the land. We watch the Boleyn's go from renters to owners, using the vacuum created by the plague to make opportunities for themselves, getting into the merchant class and then, by money and marriage, into the nobility. Its an amazing rags to riches tale, not just for who this family was specifically, but also to show how the medieval ages weren't as stolid as they appear at first glance.
An excellent biography of the Boleyn family!
May 16, 2024
Excellent study on the history of the Boleyn family, largely on Geoffrey Boleyn and his wife, Anne Hoo, the great grandparents of Queen Anne Boleyn. Geoffrey’s life was extraordinary, as he rose from a trade apprentice to entrepreneur to government official and one of the richest men in London. All the while, his wife Anne was nurturing the home fore’s and establishing the importance of family connections, education and fulfilling marriages. It truly put the family in the time and place of the Wars of the Roses, and I learned a great deal.
February 28, 2024
Just finished this book I ordered from the UK.
I really appreciated the author's research depth and historical details, I learned so much!
And Dr Martin being a scholar, no need to constantly second guessing the book as with other 'historical' novels that are getting so many facts wrong.
A real pleasure.
I would be so glad if Dr Martin would pursue the research and write on the next generation of Boleyn: Mary, George and Anne of course.
I really appreciated the author's research depth and historical details, I learned so much!
And Dr Martin being a scholar, no need to constantly second guessing the book as with other 'historical' novels that are getting so many facts wrong.
A real pleasure.
I would be so glad if Dr Martin would pursue the research and write on the next generation of Boleyn: Mary, George and Anne of course.
October 23, 2024
I really enjoyed it! I liked the author’s writing style. My only complaint would be each chapter is broken up by theme so it can difficult to tell where you are in their story. The previous chapter might end in 1481 and then you’re back in 1443 in the following chapter.
October 30, 2023
Average read I have been waiting to see what others thought cos it could quite easily me
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December 6, 2023DNF
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews