the dilettante, earl of allington and, in some people's view, the concubine's wastrel
penned by velvet for @bloodydayshq
BULLETPOINTS:
name: thomas wyatt age/dob: fifty-five / 12th september 1503 status/rank: earl of allington country of origin: england place of birth: allington castle, kent birth order: second mother & father: sir henry wyatt ✟ & lady anne skinner ✟ siblings: henry wyatt (premature) ✟, margaret lee (nee wyatt) ✟ sexuality: heterosexual? horoscope: virgo virtues: passionate, sympathetic, eloquent vices: disloyal, over-imaginative, perverse martial status: married to dowager queen anne boleyn issue: thomas wyatt the younger (1521-1554) ✟ henry darrell ✟ francis darrell, edward darrell ✟ alliance(s): the tudors, the boleyns adversaries: not many, tbh
TIMELINE:
1503 — born at Allington Castle, Kent 1508 —Margaret Wyatt is born 1515 — made "Sewer Extraordinary" at Henry VIII's court 1516 — attended St John's College, Cambridge 1518 — graduated with a Bachelor's degree 1520 — married Elizabeth Brooke, the daughter of Thomas Brooke 8th Baron Cobham & Dorothy Heydon 1521 — his son, Thomas Wyatt, is born at Allington Castle 1524 — made an ambassador and Keeper of the King's Jewels whilst publishing his poetry, his sister Margaret marries Sir Anthony Lee 1525 — Wyatt meets Anne Boleyn at Hever Castle, before going on a Spanish meeting. Upon his return he takes part in the Christmas Tournament at Greenwich, his mother dies at the end of the year 1526 — accompanies Sir John Russell, Earl of Bedford, to Rome to petition for the divorce of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, before being sent to negotiate with the Republic of Venice 1527 — is captured by the Holy Roman Empire by Emperor Charles V in whilst in Rome, alongside the Pope before managing a valiant escape back to England in the same year 1528 — made High Marshal of Calais for his bravery 1530 — given leave of Calais 1532 — is a member of the party that accompanies King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn to Calais 1533 — attends Boleyn's coronation 1535 — knighted by the King 1536 — created High Sheriff of Kent before being arrested and held in the tower for a few months of suspected adultery, though he is later released when Boleyn's own warrant is overturned 1537 — takes a former maid of honour to Catherine of Aragon as his formal mistress, her name is Elizabeth Darrell and in the same year they have a son called Henry who dies some months after his birth 1538 — He is given a post of English Ambassador to the court of Charles V, HRE. 1540 — granted the site of Boxley Abbey which had been dissolved in 1537, Darrel gives birth to a third son, Edward 1541 — Elected Member of Parliament for Kent, before being arrested on charge of treason after being rude to the King and dealing with Reginald Pole, is later released due to the interference of Anne Boleyn, Darrell gives birth to a second son, Francis who takes his mother's name 1544 —Darrell gives birth to Edward, who only survives a few months 1549 — Certayne Psalmes, 7 palms by Wyatt is published, 1556 — Elizabeth Darrell dies in Dorset 1557 — Songes and Sonnettes, a collection of 96 songs is published, and he is made Earl of Allington 1559 — marriage between himself and Anne Boleyn is arranged
BIOGRAPHY
A polymath in a number of skills, Thomas Wyatt (the poet) was always a wonder in a flock of English men. His story is long and detailed, with many complex sudden turns that lead the man into worlds previously unknown. From a family originally from the wilds of Yorkshire that were quickly named black sheeps after their deflection to the Lancastrian side in the War of the Roses, Thomas Wyatt was meant to be unsuspecting, to be normal.
Henry Wyatt, who had been earlier imprisoned and tortured by Rihard III, had been a Privy Councillor of Henry VII and remained a trusted adviser when Henry VIII ascended to the throne in 1509. Married to Anne Skinner, the daughter of John Skinner of Surrey, they welcomed Thomas in 1503 but were cursed with a stillborn son only a few years later, a sadness that plagued the family until the birth of their last child, Margaret. Whilst his childhood was peaceful at best, he nurtured an artistic personality. He’d often brood over life’s most important questions, swoon over the ladies in his life and spent many hours taken to his bed writing poems that would be the starting point of what was to become his published works.
It was at thirteen years old when everything changed for the young lad, whilst following his father to the court of Henry VIII, he caught the eye of many courtiers with his love for the arts, leading the King to bestow upon Thomas the role of a “Sewer Extraordinary”, which meant he waited the King’s table. Court itself influenced the boy to adopt a way of speaking that frequented the royal household and ultimately left him to observe the many goings on of romance, foreign ambassadors and the ladies in waiting who very obviously caught his eye. He remained there until 1518, where he was enrolled into a prestigious Cambridge University. Though school was a good and fulfilling experience, Thomas often yearned for what was to come - for the glory of court and the King who seemed benevolent and a master one would do anything for. But it was there, in the final years of his Bachelor’s degree ,that Thomas fell hopelessly in love with Elizabeth Brooke, the daughter of Baron Cobham, Thomas Brooke, and Dorothy Heydon, daughter of Sir Henry Heydon.
This so-called love soon manifested itself into spite once the usual honeymoon phase burnt itself out. By the time Thomas grew bored with his wife, Elizabeth had given him a son named after his father - but that was not to fix the marriage. With both partners growing dispatched, especially with Thomas’ new position at court as a diplomatic ambassador for England, they both fell into the realm of adultery. Both furiously unhappy, they two separated from one another on the grounds of adultery, leaving them scandalised but not unsuccessful. Where his career triumphed, she remarried and had her second set of sons, but she mostly cared for her firstborn, leaving the first Thomas separated from his firstborn son.
Whilst travelling Europe with a keen eye, he divulged himself with poetry, art and music. INfluenced by Italian, Spanish and German couplets, Thomas would send work back to the King and his court for evaluation and eventual praise. Nurturing a love for various stanza forms (rondeau, epigrams, terza rima & ottava rima), Thomas’ fame grew steadily along with his various conquests. Whilst he wrote poems for many women he admired, none stuck so heavily as the one that fell on Anne Boleyn’s doorstep.
And now I follow the
coals that be quent,
From Dover to Calais
against my mind.
//
Graven in diamonds with letters plain,
There is written her fair neck round about,
“Noli me tangere [Do not touch me], Caesar’s, I am.”
It was this poem that the Seymour Loyalists strove to use against Thomas Wyatt and Anne Boleyn, and which caused his first bout in the Tower of London for a mere few months by lay of Thomas Cromwell and Boleyn herself. Released without charge, Thomas sought life by the horns, writing many poems that strung on heartstrings - eventually finding peace in the arms of Elizabeth Darrell, who was Catherine of Aragon’s former maid of honour. This love affair, still strained by adultery, resulted in three illegitimate sons and finally forced Thomas to finalize a divorce with the help of the King between himself and his first wife.
Many things occurred between these times set in stone including hostage situations, audiences with the Pope and many, many women due to his youthful complexion. But time had done its work on Thomas Wyatt, who was once the most handsome of his kind. By 1549, after the death of Elizabeth Darrell and finally of Elizabeth Brooke, Thomas Wyatt returned to court revigorated with a new lease of life. For ten years he continued on with spirit, offering discourse to the aging king and then to the son upon the succession as a gilded Earl. But, mostly, he found himself tied amongst the old love of the ever-bewitching Anne Boleyn, and though he would've been quite happy to ponder his years among the great splendour of court, he found himself suddenly intertwined into a marriage once thought untouched or unthought off. Anne was his, but at what cost? Now a step-father to the King and the Princess, Thomas finds himself both safe and entirely at sea.
