<p>Coat of Arms of Queen Anne Boleyn. Her sinister half shows six quarters, the first three relate to her titles, actual or in pretence, which she bore in right of her husband. Only the last three relate to her own ancestry. Royal arms of King Henry VIII impaling: 
Quarterly of 6:
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<ul><li>1: <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arms_of_Edmund_Crouchback,_Earl_of_Leicester_and_Lancaster.svg" class="image"><img alt="Arms of Edmund Crouchback, Earl of Leicester and Lancaster.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b4/Arms_of_Edmund_Crouchback%2C_Earl_of_Leicester_and_Lancaster.svg/50px-Arms_of_Edmund_Crouchback%2C_Earl_of_Leicester_and_Lancaster.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="58" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b4/Arms_of_Edmund_Crouchback%2C_Earl_of_Leicester_and_Lancaster.svg/75px-Arms_of_Edmund_Crouchback%2C_Earl_of_Leicester_and_Lancaster.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b4/Arms_of_Edmund_Crouchback%2C_Earl_of_Leicester_and_Lancaster.svg/100px-Arms_of_Edmund_Crouchback%2C_Earl_of_Leicester_and_Lancaster.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="410" data-file-height="478"></a>  <b>Duchess of Lancaster</b>: <i>Royal arms of King Henry III with a label of three points of France for difference</i>. As the wife of King Henry VIII, Duke of Lancaster, Anne Boleyn was Duchess of Lancaster. Blasoned otherwise: <i>Plantagenet with a label of three points azure on each point three fleur-de-lis or</i> (Duchy of Lancaster). Arms first borne by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Crouchback,_1st_Earl_of_Lancaster" class="extiw" title="w:Edmund Crouchback, 1st Earl of Lancaster">w:Edmund Crouchback, 1st Earl of Lancaster</a> (1245-1296), the second surviving son of King Henry III (1216-1272). Many commentators have been puzzled by these first three quarters, assuming that they related to Anne's ancestry, not her titles (theoretical or otherwise) on marriage. For example: "The Duchy of Lancaster as one of her quarters alluded to perhaps her descent from Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster, son of Prince Edmund, 1st Earl of Lancaster, son of Henry III of England (the 3rd Earl was a 6x great-grandfather via the Howards and her great-great-grandmother, Elizabeth Beauchamp, Countess of Ormonde)". (quotation from:  tudorqueen6.com)</li>
<li>2: <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blason_comte_fr_Anjou.svg" class="image"><img alt="Blason comte fr Anjou.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/92/Blason_comte_fr_Anjou.svg/50px-Blason_comte_fr_Anjou.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="55" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/92/Blason_comte_fr_Anjou.svg/75px-Blason_comte_fr_Anjou.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/92/Blason_comte_fr_Anjou.svg/100px-Blason_comte_fr_Anjou.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="600" data-file-height="660"></a>  <b>Countess of Anjou</b>: <i>France ancient, a label of three points gules</i> ("Anjou (ancien)" Anjou-Naples / Angoulême). King Henry VIII considered himself Count of Anjou, by right, although that county had been deprived of the English kings by force in 1453. King Henry VIII also considered himself King of France, by right (King Edward II married the heiress Isabella of France and his son King Edward III duly claimed the throne of France and quartered the royal arms of France, which practice continued until the Hanoverian monarchs), although that kingdom had likewise been deprived of the English kings by force. He described himself as "King of France" on his coins and displayed the royal arms of France in a superior position to the arms of England (Plantagenet, Counts of Anjou). Likewise he still considered himself Count of Anjou, by descent from King Henry II, Count of Anjou. The County of Anjou had been wrested from the English crown in 1453 by the King of France. That did not affect Henry's claim by right to Anjou. The way to express the claim by right heraldically was to assume to himself the arms of the current de facto holder, just as as the King of France by right he had kept up with the arms of France modern adopted by later French kings. These arms were first borne by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_I_of_Anjou" class="extiw" title="en:Charles I of Anjou">en:Charles I of Anjou</a> (1226/7-1285), Count of Anjou, King of Naples (youngest son of King <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_VIII_of_France" class="extiw" title="w:Louis VIII of France">w:Louis VIII of France</a>), and thus came to symbolise "the County of Anjou". Many commentators have been puzzled by these first three quarters, assuming that they related to Anne's ancestry, not her titles (theoretical or otherwise) on marriage. For example: "The Anjou-Naples doesn’t even apply to her ancestry .... at the very least, Anne only descended from Margaret of France (7x great-grandmother), daughter of Philip III of the House of Capet!" (quotation from:  tudorqueen6.com)</li></ul><div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:222px;"><a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blason_Charles_de_France_(1446-1472)_duc_de_Guyenne.svg" class="image"><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/28/Blason_Charles_de_France_%281446-1472%29_duc_de_Guyenne.svg/220px-Blason_Charles_de_France_%281446-1472%29_duc_de_Guyenne.svg.png" decoding="async" width="220" height="242" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/28/Blason_Charles_de_France_%281446-1472%29_duc_de_Guyenne.svg/330px-Blason_Charles_de_France_%281446-1472%29_duc_de_Guyenne.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/28/Blason_Charles_de_France_%281446-1472%29_duc_de_Guyenne.svg/440px-Blason_Charles_de_France_%281446-1472%29_duc_de_Guyenne.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="600" data-file-height="660"></a>  <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blason_Charles_de_France_(1446-1472)_duc_de_Guyenne.svg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Arms of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_of_Valois,_Duke_of_Berry" class="extiw" title="w:Charles of Valois, Duke of Berry">w:Charles of Valois, Duke of Berry</a> (d.1472) (<i>Charles de France</i>), created duc d'Aquitaine by his elder brother King Louis XI of France. The 2nd and 3rd quarters show one lion of Plantagenet, representing the former English Dukes of Aquitaine, the Kings of England</div></div></div>
<ul><li>3: <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blason_de_l%27Aquitaine_et_de_la_Guyenne.svg" class="image"><img alt="Blason de l'Aquitaine et de la Guyenne.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/72/Blason_de_l%27Aquitaine_et_de_la_Guyenne.svg/50px-Blason_de_l%27Aquitaine_et_de_la_Guyenne.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="55" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/72/Blason_de_l%27Aquitaine_et_de_la_Guyenne.svg/75px-Blason_de_l%27Aquitaine_et_de_la_Guyenne.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/72/Blason_de_l%27Aquitaine_et_de_la_Guyenne.svg/100px-Blason_de_l%27Aquitaine_et_de_la_Guyenne.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="600" data-file-height="660"></a>  <b>Duchess of Aquitaine</b>: <i>Gules, a lion passant guardant or</i> (Duke of Aquitaine / Guyenne / Guienne (the name "Guyenne" comes from Aguyenne, a popular transformation of the Roman Province of Aquitania)). King Henry VIII considered himself Duke of Aquitaine, by right, although that duchy had been deprived of the Kings of England by force in 1453. The title Duke of Aquitaine / Duke of Guyenne/Guienne was held by the kings of England from Henry II (1154-1189) (who married Eleanor of Aquitaine, the daughter and heiress of William X, Duke of Aquitaine / Duke of Guyenne) to Henry VI (1422-1461), when the territory was conquered in 1453 by the King of France. In 1469 King Louis XI of France recreated the duché d'Aquitaine (or de Guyenne) for his younger brother <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_of_Valois,_Duke_of_Berry" class="extiw" title="w:Charles of Valois, Duke of Berry">w:Charles of Valois, Duke of Berry</a> (d.1472) (<i>Charles de France</i>) who quatertered the Royal arms of France, differenced by a bordure engrailed gules, with one of the lions of Plantagenet, the former dukes from before the heraldic era; thus no other heraldry existed to symbolise Aquitaine other than the arms of Plantagenet. Many commentators have been puzzled by these first three quarters, assuming that they related to Anne's ancestry, not her titles (theoretical or otherwise) on marriage. For example: "Anne Boleyn was descended via her Howard mother from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_of_Brotherton,_1st_Earl_of_Norfolk" class="extiw" title="w:Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk">w:Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk</a>, the 5th son of King Edward I of England, Duke of Aquitaine".</li>
<li>4: Quarterly of 4:</li></ul><dl><dd><ul><li>1&amp;4: <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BoleynArms_(modern,Walter,Butler).svg" class="image"><img alt="BoleynArms (modern,Walter,Butler).svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/08/BoleynArms_%28modern%2CWalter%2CButler%29.svg/50px-BoleynArms_%28modern%2CWalter%2CButler%29.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="58" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/08/BoleynArms_%28modern%2CWalter%2CButler%29.svg/75px-BoleynArms_%28modern%2CWalter%2CButler%29.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/08/BoleynArms_%28modern%2CWalter%2CButler%29.svg/100px-BoleynArms_%28modern%2CWalter%2CButler%29.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="578" data-file-height="666"></a>  <i>Or, a chief indented azure</i> (Augmented paternal arms of Boleyn (arms of Butler, Earl of Ormonde and Earl of Wiltshire). Anne was the daughter of Thomas Boleyn, who following her royal marriage was created Earl of Wiltshire, Earl of Ormond and Viscount Rochford, all references to his descent from the Butler family,  Earls of Ormonde and Earls of Wiltshire. He also was permitted to adopt the arms of Butler (<i>Or, a chief indented azure</i>) as his own, in lieu of his canting paternal arms of Boleyn (<i>Argent, a chevron gules between three bull's heads and necks couped sable armed or</i>). These augmented arms of Butler survive on his Garter stall plate in St George's Chapel, Windsor.</li>
<li>2&amp;3:  <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rochford_(of_Rochford_Hall,_Essex)_arms.svg" class="image"><img alt="Rochford (of Rochford Hall, Essex) arms.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1a/Rochford_%28of_Rochford_Hall%2C_Essex%29_arms.svg/50px-Rochford_%28of_Rochford_Hall%2C_Essex%29_arms.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="58" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1a/Rochford_%28of_Rochford_Hall%2C_Essex%29_arms.svg/75px-Rochford_%28of_Rochford_Hall%2C_Essex%29_arms.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1a/Rochford_%28of_Rochford_Hall%2C_Essex%29_arms.svg/100px-Rochford_%28of_Rochford_Hall%2C_Essex%29_arms.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="578" data-file-height="666"></a>  <i>Argent, a lion rampant sable crowned gules</i> (de Rochford of Rochford Hall, Essex, an heiress of Butler) (Burke, Sir Bernard, The General Armory, London, 1884, p.864). Text from: www.rochfordtown.com<a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="https://www.rochfordtown.com/historic-rochford/rochford-hall-ht/">[1]</a></li></ul></dd></dl><blockquote>
<p>"In 1247 Sir Guy de Rochford of Rochford obtained licence from King Henry III to hold a market and fair. In 1340 Edward III granted the Manor of Rochford to William de Bohun, Earl of Northampton. In 1381, the arranged marriage took place at Rochford Hall of Mary de Bohun, aged 11, and Henry Bolingbroke (later King Henry IV), aged 14. Their son was King Henry V. The old stone manor house was replaced by the grander project that would eventually become a magnificent Tudor mansion, with turrets, gables and twisted brick chimneys. James Butler, 5th Earl of Ormond, inherited Rochford Hall from his ‘de Bohun’ grandmother around 1450 and later added Viceroy of Ireland and Earl of Wiltshire to his titles. He supported Henry VI and the Lancastrian faction during the ‘Wars of the Roses’ and became Earl of Wiltshire. He fought in a number of battles but was executed following the Yorkist victory at Towton in 1461. As a result, his family lost possession of Rochford Hall when the Manor was given to the Duchess of Exeter, the Woodvilles, and then to the Greys. Rochford Hall was returned to Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond (brother of the 5th Earl). The Butler coat of arms appears on the fine brick tower of the church. When Thomas Boteler died in 1515, his 72 Manor Estates were divided equally between his two daughters, Anne Butler and Margaret Butler, with Rochford being inherited by Margaret Butler, the wife of Sir William Boleyn". 
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<ul><li>5:  <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arms_of_Thomas_of_Brotherton,_1st_Earl_of_Norfolk.svg" class="image"><img alt="Arms of Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/86/Arms_of_Thomas_of_Brotherton%2C_1st_Earl_of_Norfolk.svg/50px-Arms_of_Thomas_of_Brotherton%2C_1st_Earl_of_Norfolk.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="58" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/86/Arms_of_Thomas_of_Brotherton%2C_1st_Earl_of_Norfolk.svg/75px-Arms_of_Thomas_of_Brotherton%2C_1st_Earl_of_Norfolk.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/86/Arms_of_Thomas_of_Brotherton%2C_1st_Earl_of_Norfolk.svg/100px-Arms_of_Thomas_of_Brotherton%2C_1st_Earl_of_Norfolk.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="410" data-file-height="478"></a>  <i>Royal arms of King Edward I (Plantagenet), a label of three points argent for difference</i> (Arms of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_of_Brotherton,_1st_Earl_of_Norfolk" class="extiw" title="w:Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk">w:Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk</a> (5th son of King Edward I), an ancestor of the Howard Dukes of Norfolk) (Anne Boleyn's mother was Lady Elizabeth Howard, the eldest daughter of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk by his first wife Elizabeth Tilney). As her mother was not an heraldic heiress (she had brothers), Anne would not be entitled under the normal rules of heraldry to quarter the arms of Howard or any Howard quarterings, including Brotherton. Clearly this quartering was sanctioned to appear, if not insisted upon, by King Henry VIII. However as "the king is the fount of all honour", he can grant whatever arms he wishes. It is unthinkable that the idea to display this royal quarterings (and the first three) was the idea of Anne herself. Her nephew Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (died 1547) was later executed by Henry VIII for quartering the royal arms (undifferenced) and the attributed arms of King Edward the Confessor, for which he had insufficient qualification.</li>
<li>6: <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arms_of_John_de_Warenne,_6th_Earl_of_Surrey_(d.1304).svg" class="image"><img alt="Arms of John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey (d.1304).svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/Arms_of_John_de_Warenne%2C_6th_Earl_of_Surrey_%28d.1304%29.svg/50px-Arms_of_John_de_Warenne%2C_6th_Earl_of_Surrey_%28d.1304%29.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="55" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/Arms_of_John_de_Warenne%2C_6th_Earl_of_Surrey_%28d.1304%29.svg/75px-Arms_of_John_de_Warenne%2C_6th_Earl_of_Surrey_%28d.1304%29.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/Arms_of_John_de_Warenne%2C_6th_Earl_of_Surrey_%28d.1304%29.svg/100px-Arms_of_John_de_Warenne%2C_6th_Earl_of_Surrey_%28d.1304%29.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="600" data-file-height="660"></a>  <i>Chequy or and azure</i> (de Warenne, Earl of Surrey (an ancestor of the Howard Dukes of Norfolk). As her mother was not an heraldic heiress (she had brothers), Anne would not be entitled under the normal rules of heraldry to quarter the arms of Howard or any Howard quarterings, including de Warenne. Clearly this quartering was sanctioned to appear, if not insisted upon, by King Henry VIII.</li></ul><h2><span id="Omission_of_Boleyn_.2F_Bullen_paternal_arms"></span><span class="mw-headline" id="Omission_of_Boleyn_/_Bullen_paternal_arms">Omission of Boleyn / Bullen paternal arms</span></h2>
<div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:222px;"><a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BoleynArms_(ancient).svg" class="image"><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fc/BoleynArms_%28ancient%29.svg/220px-BoleynArms_%28ancient%29.svg.png" decoding="async" width="220" height="253" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fc/BoleynArms_%28ancient%29.svg/330px-BoleynArms_%28ancient%29.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fc/BoleynArms_%28ancient%29.svg/440px-BoleynArms_%28ancient%29.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="578" data-file-height="666"></a>  <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BoleynArms_(ancient).svg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Canting arms of Boleyn "ancient": <i>Argent, a chevron gules between three bull's heads and necks couped sable armed or</i></div></div></div>
Her canting paternal arms of Boleyn / Bullen (<i>Argent, a chevron gules between three bull's heads and necks couped sable armed or</i>) (Boleyn "ancient") were omitted altogether, as they had been superseded by the arms of "Boleyn modern" (<i>Or, a chief indented azure</i>), namely the arms of Butler, Earl of Wiltshire, as an augmentation of honour, granted by Henry VIII to her father Thomas Boleyn, who following her royal marriage was created Earl of Wiltshire, Earl of Ormond and Viscount Rochford. The absence of the paternal arms of Boleyn / Bullen (Boleyn "ancient") has been mis-understood by many commentators. For example it has been suggested that the Boleyn arms were shameful to Anne and the king due to the mercantile origins of the Boleyn family, which although very wealthy, was gentry not nobility. "Anne was the only one of Henry’s English wives who avoided her paternal coat of arms. Katherine Parr, Katherine Howard, and Jane Seymour all displayed their paternal coats of arms because that was the rule which Anne contradicted". (from Ecclesiastical biography, ed. Christopher Wordsworth, p. 590.). "To Katherine Howard, Jane Seymour, and Katherine Parr, Henry also granted augmentations, but in their several achievements the (paternal) coats of Howard, Seymour, and Parr formed the second quarter. Anne Bullen’s is the exception". (Zupanec). (quoted in Source:  tudorqueen6.com). Anne was indeed displaying her paternal arms, but augmented paternal arms.
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