Eleanor Carey

For the Australian-American actress, see Eleanor Carey (actress).

Dame Eleanor Carey (d. after 1528) was an early modern English noblewoman and nun, known for being endorsed as a candidate for abbess of Wilton Abbey by Anne Boleyn until her scandalous life was discovered.

Life

Ancestry and early life

Eleanor Carey was one of the eight or so children of Sir Thomas Carey of Chilton Foliat and his wife, born Margaret Spencer. Through her mother, Eleanor was a great-granddaughter of Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, making her a third cousin of Henry VIII, King of England.

Sir William Carey, Eleanor's brother who looked after her career.

Nothing is known about her childhood. One of her brothers, the courtier William married a former mistress of Henry VIII, Mary Boleyn in 1521. Eleanor and at least one of her sisters became nuns at Saint Edith's Nunnery in the Abbey of Wilton (sometimes called Wilton Priory), a Benedictine convent near Salisbury in Wiltshire. There, they lived in the company of around fifty nuns, most of whom were said to lead dishonourable lives. Eleanor Carey herself gave birth to "two children by two sundry priests". For a time, she left the convent to live as the mistress of an unnamed servant of Robert Willoughby, 2nd Baron Willoughby de Broke.

Endorsement by Anne Boleyn

It seems Carey's brother Sir William obtained a promise from Thomas Wolsey, Cardinal Archbishop of York and main adviser to King Henry VIII, that Eleanor Carey would be made prioress of Wilton when the office became vacant. He probably also pursued the superior position of abbess on her behalf.

Anne Boleyn, Carey's patron after her brother's death.

Cardinal Wolsey, who promoted Isabel Jordan.

On 24 April 1528, Cecily Willoughby, Abbess of Wilton died. Cardinal Wolsey put forward the prioress, Dame Isabel Jordan. She was said to be an "ancient, wise and discreet" woman and her sister Dame Agnes was the abbess of the much better-run Syon Abbey. It is possible that the nuns also favoured Jordan. Carey's brother William turned to his sister-in-law Anne Boleyn, the intended bride of the king, for help. Both her and the sovereign endorsed Carey, dismissing Dame Isabel as too old and being of a doubtful reputation. When Sir William died of sweating sickness on 22 June 1528, Anne Boleyn continued to upheld the claim of her Carey kinswomen, wanting either of them to become the ruler of the nunnery. This made Eleanor Carey and her sister the momentary focus of Anne Boleyn's conflict with Wolsey.

The cardinal personally investigated the nunnery, and Eleanor Carey admitted to her past lovers and illegitimate children. When the king was informed of this, he immediately asked Wolsey to search for a third candidate, withdrawing support from both Carey and Jordan. Despite this, Wolsey confirmed Isabel Jordan as abbess at a time when Anne Boleyn was not present at the royal court. The king publicly rebuked him for this, but Jordan remained abbess for some time. Nothing further is known of the fate of the Carey sisters.

References

Sources

• Chapman, Hester W. (1974). "The Love-Letters". Anne Boleyn. London: Jonathan Cape. p. 66. ISBN 9780224009553. LCCN 74159472. OCLC 643588170 – via Internet Archive.
• Erickson, Carolly (1984). Anne Boleyn. London: Papermac. pp. 130–131. ISBN 0333395883 – via Internet Archive.
• Fraser, Antonia (1993). "The King and His Lady". The Six Wives of Henry VIII. London: BCA. p. 146 – via Internet Archive.
• Power, Eileen (1922). Medieval English Nunneries. C. 1275 to 1535. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 54–56 – via Internet Archive.
• Warnicke, Retha M. (1989). "Papal Response". The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn. Family politics at the court of Henry VIII. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 81. ISBN 0521370000 – via Internet Archive.
• Weir, Alison (1991). "A thousand Wolseys for one Anne Boleyn". The Six Wives of Henry VIII. London: The Bodley Head. pp. 188–189. ISBN 0370313968. LCCN 91190018. Retrieved 11 December 2022 – via Internet Archive.