History, writing and general mayhem.
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Anne Boleyn (1501?-1536) is accused of playing hard to get during the early years of her courtship with King Henry Vlll (1491-1547). Letters surviving from King Henry to Anne present a man pinning over his love, someone who is keeping their distance from him. But while some feel that Anne holding out on getting into a physical relationship with the king, others are quick to point out that we do not have the other side. King Henry destroyed the letters Anne sent him, and there is no evidence that the king would have left his wife, a Spanish princess, for the daughter of a subject.
2. Anne Boleyn had “experience” at the French Court
By “experience” I mean the type one gets when they have been around the block a few times. The French court was notorious for its lecherous behaviour, courtesy of King Francis l (1494-1547). A man whose relationships would have put his English counterpart to shame his King Henry had not gone and married six times. During the Great Matter rumors went around regarding Anne Boleyn and her going-ons in France, where she served Queen Claude (1499-1524) for a time. Many women gained notorious reputations as mistresses, Anne was not one of them. This rumor only came about to tarnish her reputation.
3. Thomas Boleyn never pimped out his daughters
To this day you will still find people claiming Thomas Boleyn (1477?-1539) encouraged his daughters Mary Boleyn (1499?-1543) and Anne Boleyn to have affairs with both the King of France and King of England. His younger daughter Anne would later become Queen of England. He is blamed for forcing her under the king’s eye and then letting her be executed later on. This is unfair and ignores Thomas as a capable diplomat in his own right. Thomas was not responsible for the actions of King Henry or anyone else involved. This rumor was invented later on to absolve King Henry of wrongdoing.
4. Villanizing Jane Seymour is the same as villanizing Anne Boleyn for what happened to Catherine of Aragon
Jane Seymour (1508?-1537) became queen when Anne Boleyn was executed on trumped up charges of adultery and planning to kill the king. Anne’s death and rehabilitation have put Jane under scrutiny as the woman who benefited the most from her death. Jane essentially “played innocent” and Anne was labeled as the villain, the former reminding us of people/characters who played “innocent” while the latter got the short end of the stick. Anne and Jane were boxed into misogynistic stereotypes of vixen(Anne)/madonna(Jane). This was unfair to Anne but I find it problematic when people give Anne the benefit of the doubt but feel Jane was the architect of her downfall. We can not critisize people for holding Anne responsible for Henry’s actions while turning around and doing the same. Henry was a grown man in control of his actions and like with Anne, Jane could not have said no.
5. Catherine Howard lack of education does not make her stupid/vapid
Catherine Howard (1523?-1542) had the misfortune of being the second wife of King Henry to be executed. In an unnerving coincidence she was also the cousin of Queen Anne Boleyn. Catherine’s story inspires pity along with misconceptions about her character. Assumptions based on her age and lack of education, people have assumed that she was stupid compared to the other wives. Catherine is hardly at fault that no one provided her with an adequate education worthy of being queen, or that the other wives (Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Catherine Parr) enjoyed more academic persuits. They did, after all, enjoy longer lives.
6. Anne of Cleves got a better ending than most of Henry’s wives, but how she was treated is often overlooked
Anne of Cleves (1515-1557) is considered lucky compared to the other wives, and she was. But when you consider that two hand been executed, one left to die in exile and another in childbirth, that is not saying much. Anne of Cleves was given a generous settlement which left her rich and treated as “The Kings Sister”. She even got along with Henry’s children.
Anne did not escape unscathed. She had to leave her homeland with the expectation that she would become queen into a country utterly foreign to her. At the English court Henry ridiculed her body and created a reputation that has lasted for centuries. There is no way that Anne was not in some way harmed by that. Anne being left a rich single woman is seen as a victory. I have seen comments that mention she was lucky to not deal with another forced marriage and childbirth. But we have to remember that this was not a woman who chose to remain single and have no children. A man took that choice from her. We have no idea how she felt about having them. Henry giving Anne wealth, but it does not make up for everything he did for her.
(non of this is written to devalue Catherine or Mary. The point I wanted to make was about why some stories are told more than others. In no way am i pitting them against each other.)
Parents: Richard Neville Earl of Warwick, Anne Beauchamp Countess of Warwick
Spouse(s): Prince Edward of Lancaster, King Richard 3rd (Duke of Gloucester
Children: Edward of Middleham
Titles: Lady Anne Neville, Princess of Wales, Duchess of Gloucester, Queen of England
History: Anne Neville is most famous as the wife King Richard 3rd, the last Plantagenet king. With the death of her husband the Medieval Age of England drew to a close. Because of this Anne Neville as the last Plantagenet queen represents a time period which is the subject of intense fascination. Although her presence in history is hard to spot this has not stopped novelists from writing about her, Anne Neville has enjoyed some notoriety because of this.
She was born to one of the most ambitious men in England during that time. Richard Neville 16th Earl of Warwick played a key role in the succession of King Edward 4th and is himself a fascinating historical figure. Anne and her elder sister Isabelle Neville were heirs to their father, given that there were no sons. Early on it was suggested that she marry Richard Duke of Gloucester, younger brother to King Edward 4. But the king was not eager for this match, and the fallout was spectacular. King Edward 4 married Elizabeth Woodville, the daughter of a knight (her mother on the other hand was the daughter of the Count of Saint-Pol) and Lancastrian widow. Hostilities broke out when Anne's elder sister Isabelle married George Duke of Clarence, the second brother of King Edward, and Warwick had Elizabeth Woodville's father and brother executed. Warwick would attempt to place George and Isabelle as king and queen, but it was unsuccessful. For a brief period there was peace before Warwick and Clarence made another bid for the throne. It failed and both men, along with his wife and two daughters (Anne included) fled. They would end up in France where Warwick made an unexpected alliance with exiled Queen Margaret of Anjou, wife to King Henry 6 who was overthrown by the collective efforts of King Edward and Warwick. An alliance between the two former enemies saw Anne Neville married to King Henry's son Prince Edward of Lancaster.
This marriage did not last long. Within less than a year of being married Anne would find herself widowed and fatherless. Warwick briefly succeeded in toppling King Edward reinstalling King Henry. Upon the news that King Henry had once more taken the throne Anne travelled with her husband and mother in law to England. They set foot in England only to hear that Warwick had been killed in battle, King Henry had once more been locked up and her mother Anne Beauchamp taken to an abbey. Not long after her husband was killed in the Battle of Tewkesbury and Anne now found herself a widow. And what happened next is a discussion of much speculation amongst historians and novelists alike.
Anne was put in the care of her sister Isabelle and brother-in-law George, who had returned to his brother's side and turned on Warwick. Anne's time with the Clarence's is unknown, but it does appear George did not want Anne to remarry so that he could take her wealth for himself. This did not work and in 1472 Anne married Richard Duke of Gloucester. Some stories say that George had Anne dressed up as a servant so that Richard could not find and marry her. Another says that Richard, in love with Anne, married her for love. Whatever the reason, the match benefited them both as Anne brough her inheritance and Richard could provide the security she needed. Anne does not seem to have played a large role in the business of England. A few years later on an unknown date Anne gave birth to her only child Edward of Middleham. Why Anne had only one child we do not know.
King Edward died on April 9 1483 and his 12 year old son who was now king. On route to London Richard took possession of the young king. This is when the waters once more become murky. Richard would depose his nephew on the grounds the King Edward supposedly had already been married to Eleanor Talbot when he made Elizabeth Woodville his queen. Whether this is true or not is still unknown. Richard would become king and Anne Neville would be queen. They were crowned together in a dual coronation. We do not know what Anne felt about being queen. Perhaps if Anne had a longer career as queen we might know more about her. Unfortunately Anne's reign was not only short but tragic. Her only child Edward died on the April 9 1484 a year after King Edward, his uncle. Anne's health went under a steady decline and died less than a year later. On March 16 1485 Anne Neville, Queen of England, passed away.
Anne of Cleves was never called The Flanders Mare. Poor Anne should unionize with Richard the 3rd and Catherine the Great against these horse accusations.
A short expert from my writings on the War of the Roses. Richard was one of the first people/characters I wrote about, with his chapters being the most developed. Anne and Isabelle Neville's pov's will be next if everything goes to plan.
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