Marquess of Pembroke was a title in the Peerage of England

Peerage of England

The Peerage of England comprises all peerages created in the Kingdom of England before the Act of Union in 1707. In that year, the Peerages of England and Scotland were replaced by one Peerage of Great Britain....

 created by King Henry VIII of England

Henry VIII of England

Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...

 for his mistress and future spouse, Anne Boleyn

Anne Boleyn

Anne Boleyn ;c.1501/1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536 as the second wife of Henry VIII of England and Marquess of Pembroke in her own right. Henry's marriage to Anne, and her subsequent execution, made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that was the...

. It was the first hereditary peerage title

Hereditary peer

Hereditary peers form part of the Peerage in the United Kingdom. There are over seven hundred peers who hold titles that may be inherited. Formerly, most of them were entitled to sit in the House of Lords, but since the House of Lords Act 1999 only ninety-two are permitted to do so...

 granted to a woman.

Background

The then extinct title of Earl of Pembroke

Earl of Pembroke

Earl of Pembroke is a title created ten times, all in the Peerage of England. It was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title is associated with Pembroke, Pembrokeshire in West Wales, which is the site of Earldom's original seat Pembroke Castle...

 had been very significant for the House of Tudor. It was held by Henry VIII's grand-uncle, Jasper Tudor, and it referred to the birthplace of King Henry VII

Henry VII of England

Henry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor....

. Henry VIII decided to raise his mistress to the dignity of a Marquess prior to finally marrying her and he chose to grant her the Marquessate of Pembroke.

Creation

On Sunday, 1 September 1532, Anne Boleyn was granted the Marquessate of Pembroke and land, mostly in Wales, worth over ₤1,000. The investiture ceremony was performed by Henry VIII himself in Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle is a medieval castle and royal residence in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, notable for its long association with the British royal family and its architecture. The original castle was built after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I it...

. The ceremony was an elaborate affair, witnessed by the highest ranking peers and clergy in the kingdom, including Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire (Anne's father), Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk (uncle), Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk (Henry's brother-in-law), the Archbishop of York, the Bishop of Winchester

Stephen Gardiner

Stephen Gardiner was an English Roman Catholic bishop and politician during the English Reformation period who served as Lord Chancellor during the reign of Queen Mary I of England.-Early life:...

 and the Bishop of London

John Stokesley

John Stokesley was an English church leader who was Catholic Bishop of London during the reign of Henry VIII.He was born at Collyweston in Northamptonshire, and became a fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford in 1495, serving also as a lecturer. In 1498 he was made principal of Magdalen Hall, and in...

. The French ambassador was also present. The Bishop of Winchester read the patent of creation while Anne knelt before the King who then invested her with the coronet, the robe of estate and the charters of creation and of the lands. Henry Grey, listed previously as the first Duke of Suffolk, was Brandon's son-in-law and inherited the title only on Brandon's death. He may have been at court at the time of the wedding, but this is doubtful.

The sixteenth-century spelling of her title was often Marquesse or Marquess of Pembroke, sometimes Lady marquesse; a feminine, like Duchess, of the relatively rare title Marquys.

Succession

The Marquessate was granted to Anne and her heirs male, but the patent did not include the usual provision that the said heirs male had to be of legitimate birth, thus enabling the title to pass to any illegitimate son Anne might have had. The attending peers did not fail to notice this unusual omission.

End of the Marquessate

It is not clear how the Marquessate of Pembroke ceased to exist. There are three possibilities:

1. It may have merged with the Crown on the marriage of the Marquess to the King on 28 May 1533.
2. It may have been forfeited on 15 May 1536, when Anne was declared guilty of high treason.
3. It may have become extinct on Anne's death, without male heirs, on 19 May 1536.