History Lesson: Anne Boleyn

Image created using cover art of the novel, drawing by Hayes

Quick Facts:
Born: (debated) 1501 – 1507 (one of those years)
Died: May 19th 1536
Reign: May 28th 1533 – May 17th 1536
Motto: The Most Happy
Parents: Thomas Boleyn and Elizabeth Howard
Siblings: (debated) Henry, Mary, Thomas, George, Anne

Appearance:
Now the one thing that most of her peers could agree on is that Anne did not match the ideal beauty in her lifetime. The ideal beauty was light haired, blue eyes, “peaches and cream” complexion, and a nice full figure. Anne was not any of those things, but her sister was. They were the opposite of one another as most books and current views portray them as. Historians also state that Elizabeth (her mother) was also of the ideal beauty, with that it makes me think. . . Did Anne get her looks then from her father’s side? Her brother George was once described to look like a gypsy…in which the author conjured up a vision of tanned skin, dark hair and dark eyes. A contemporaries of Anne’s described her as “medium stature, long neck, sallow skin/olive skinned, dark eyes that were expressive and she knew how to use them”.

Now a quick Google definition look up states that sallow means “unhealthy in appearance – often yellow in color” Now if she leaned towards the sallow skin tone that would mean she has some health issues. Which Google illudes to, but I am not going to dwell to much on that.

I am going to touch a teeny bit on the controversy that happened not terribly long ago when they made a show regarding Anne and casted a woman of color as Anne herself. The internet blew up. Everyone had an opinion, even those who previously had no idea who Anne was. **My opinion** Now I have not seen the show, but I heard that Jodie Turner-Smith did a great job in her portrayal. But casting a black actress was a choice, but I am not sure it was a choice because of her acting ability as it was to cause a stir to have people put interest in the show. Now this is my own opinion because if you look at all the reviews its all negative on the basis of her skin color. Don’t review a show based on skin color. . . seriously. I do think that it was a brilliant choice though, to cast a person of color, it helps cement the fact that early on Anne was written off very quickly as a passing fancy of the king, that she was just something new to look at and would not make a huge impact on court life. I am interested in seeing the show but with everything needing your credit card and a subscription it will be a struggle to see it. *** Bottom of the page will have a trailer for the show **

Personality:
Whether you like Anne or not, you have to admit that Anne was a force of nature and has made an impact as a wife of Henry VIII. She was witty, confident, assertive, and clever. She was talkative and absolutely charming. She was very passionate in all things that she did, and she was described as highly intelligent. Though there was other things that were not so praised about Anne, it was said that she had a fiery temper that she had problems controlling. She was a nervous wreck when it came to Henry and his wandering eye. Some would say that she didn’t care what others thought, others would say she was full of anxiety. Either way to describe Anne, you have to attribute brave to her personality.

(NEXT SECTION WILL BE A TON OF PARAPHRASING!!!! JUST A QUICK SYNOPSIS IF YOU WILL)

https://www.hevercastle.co.uk/visit/hever-castle/timelines/anne-boleyn-timeline/

Anne Boleyn’s father, Thomas was an ambitious man, he knew that he should educate his daughters to the full extent of what he would be able to provide. He wanted them to be intelligent and be able to hold their own. Anne took the education he provided and ran with it. Through her father’s connections, Anne was welcomed to the court of Margaret of Austria, Where she learned courtly manners, duties and overall furthering her education. She was then sent over to France, in the household of Mary Tudor, then in the household of Queen Claude of France. Due to souring relations between France and England and her supposed betrothal to an Irish lord, Anne was told she needed to come home.

Anne arrived back in England and was new and exotic to them. She was so “french-ified” in her ways (dress, speaking, manners ect.) that no one really could believe that she was indeed a English born woman. She was charming and soon she had a circle of friends and admirers. Her betrothal fell through and she flirted with the idea to marry Henry Percy, (future Earl of Northumberland). It was said they both admired one another and wanted to marry. But that was not to be, Henry was verbally berated in front of his peers, and Anne was sent to Hever. Such was their punishment, his for wanting to go against his parents wishes and marrying low, and hers for the same but marrying to high. Whatever her father felt about the slight of the Northumberlands, he kept Anne at Hever for some time.

https://commons.wikimedia.org
/wiki/File:Daniel_Maclise_Henry_VIIIs_first_interview_
with_Anne_Boleyn.jpg

She was welcomed back in time, and in a short while caught the eye of Henry VIII. He fell in love and she was ready to begin her expert game of cat and mouse. But who was the cat and who was the mouse? Some people’s opinions is that Anne was a tricky, manipulative woman who had whore talents.. others believe that the game of chase was in fact her not wanting to do anything with Henry and being forced by him and her family into a tough spot. (between a rock and a hard place) Whichever side you are on, she was able to hold Henry at arms length for some time. Then the his whole desire for a divorce arose (aka the Great Matter) It lasted a while, they married. Katherine’s marriage declared invalid, only wife was Anne and only heirs were hers. Sounds like a pretty decent deal right?

Marriage was off to a pretty good start and had a healthy child. A girl, a bit of a bummer there (little did they know Elizabeth would be awesome) but then the bad started happening. As in miscarriages and not to full term pregnancies. Henry was not happy, and was getting a little tired of Anne’s personality. He found the opposite in Jane. They began an “affair” Eventually Henry had some charges brought up against Anne, (all untrue their dates and information was clearly made up) and it quickly snowballed into terror for Anne and she lost her head.

Did she or didn’t she?

Anne was villainized much after her life and unfortunately during her life as well. One thing that people use against her is that she had a 6th finger and a mole on her neck that would signify her “contract” with the devil. Henry (100%) would not have married or even looked her way more than once because of that fact. Henry was a very religious man and would not have threw his “lot” in with the Devil.

There is so many books, articles, and documentaries regarding Anne. Like I mentioned in the Katherine of Aragon post, I am not particularly fond of David Starkey but there are other great gems out there.

BOOKS!
Click the Title of the book to go to the review page!