Her Majesty, The Queen

"She who has been the Queen of England on earth will today become a Queen in Heaven"

[queenanne-boleyn]

Flowers left at Anne Boleyn’s execution site on 19th May 2015. (taken from Tower of London twitter)

[lissabryan]

In fiction, Elizabeth sometimes visits her mother’s grave while she is imprisoned in the Tower, and contemplates the terrifying possibility she’ll soon be lying beneath the paving stones of the tiny chapel beside her. Other stories have her visiting Anne Boleyn’s resting place the…

[bloodblackrose65]

If you remember me in your prayers as strongly as I adore you, I shall hardly be forgotten for I am yours. Forever.

King Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn (via bloodblackrose65)

[fyeahanneboleyn]

Anne Boleyn, etched by Wenceslaus Hollar in 1649.

[real-tudor-confessions]

[thisfalconwhite-deactivated2017]

Henry and Anne were both genuinely relieved when Catherine died. It meant that England was free to resume peaceful negotiations with Charles V, the most powerful ruler in Europe, and that it was free from the threat of invasion. (Sure, Charles was never really going to invade England, but they didn’t know that at the time.) And honestly, can you blame Anne? In her mind, both she and her daughter were safe. The old queen was dead and her title was now secure. Little did she know, Catherine’s death actually made it easier for Henry to get rid of Anne in the end.

Anne’s jubilation was a very human reaction to a screwed up situation. And I don’t think that Anne’s defendants would say that “she was a great person.” She was human, and I think that’s why most people like her. She did many great things and she had many good qualities, but she also made mistakes and had a good many flaws. And ruthlessness towards her enemies was certainly one of those flaws. But that quality didn’t belong to Anne alone. Let’s not forget that Catherine of Aragon, decades before, had offered to send Henry VIII the head of James IV after she had defeated him in battle. James was technically her brother-in-law… Pretty ruthless, I’d say.

Let’s not focus on designating the wives, or all historical figures, with the titles “good” or “bad.” Instead we should be focusing on what makes them dynamic and interesting, flaws and all.

[video-et-taceo-deactivated20230]

There seems to be this general trend of assuming fans of certain historical figures believe their faves are perfect and that they willingly ignore their flaws.

People are not perfect and historical figures were actually living, breathing human beings with emotions. A lot of these women were in life or death situations. Placing anyone in the category of “good” or “bad” really isn’t very helpful and it certainly isn’t when these are people living in the 16th century.

[lissabryan]

   Who says it was her idea?

    Chapuys, who despised Anne and usually wanted to blame every bad thing Henry did on her, wrote that it was Henry who was behaving in a celebratory and tactless manner:

The King, on the Saturday he heard the news, exclaimed “God be praised that we are free from all suspicion of war”; and that the time had come that he would manage the French better than he had done hitherto, because they would do now whatever he wanted from a fear lest he should ally himself again with your Majesty, seeing that the cause which disturbed your friendship was gone. On the following day, Sunday, the King was clad all over in yellow, from top to toe, except the white feather he had in his bonnet, and the Little Bastard was conducted to mass with trumpets and other great triumphs. After dinner the King entered the room in which the ladies danced, and there did several things like one transported with joy. At last he sent for his Little Bastard, and carrying her in his arms he showed her first to one and then to another. He has done the like on other days since, and has run some courses (couru quelques lances) at Greenwich. 

    As for Anne, Chapuys says she put on a brave face in public, but wept in private.

Some days ago I was informed from various quarters, which I did not think very good authorities, that notwithstanding the joy shown by the concubine at the news of the good Queen’s death, for which she had given a handsome present to the messenger, she had frequently wept, fearing that they might do with her as with the good Queen. 

    Chapuys may not have wanted to believe Anne was crying because it showed her in a less vicious light than he usually liked to present her, but he didn’t try to blame the celebrations on her this time.

    Seigneur de Dinteville also said that Anne wept when she heard Katharine was dead, locking herself away in one of her chambers. Whether she was crying over Katharine’s lonely and sad demise, or worrying about her own skin depends on your perspective, I guess. But to me, it sounds like even Chapuys accepted that it was Henry who led the celebrations.

[queenanne-boleyn]

1st June 1533: Coronation of Anne Boleyn as Queen of England

[tiny-librarian]

Anne Boleyn Commending the Princess Elizabeth to the Care of Matthew Parker

Anne Boleyn standing in front of a portrait of Henry VIII, holding a prayer book, talking to Matthew Parker, kneeling at left, kissing the hand of Princess Elizabeth; two young women watching from behind a half-open door in background at left.

Source

[annesidora]

historical figures + tumblr text posts

[its-anneboleyn]

this is the best thing EVER

[thayets]

Following the coronation of her daughter, Elizabeth, as queen, Anne was venerated as a martyr and heroine of the English Reformation, particularly through the works of John Foxe. Over the centuries, she has inspired or been mentioned in numerous artistic and cultural works. Anne has been called “the most influential and important queen consort England has ever had”, since she provided the occasion for Henry VIII to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, and declare his independence from Rome. (text/quote credit)

[coolchicksfromhistory]

Hever Castle, the childhood home of Anne Boleyn which was sold to the crown after her death and eventually given to Anne of Cleves by Henry VIII.

Photo via Facebook

[heavyarethecrowns]

Royal Fact

Henry VIII’s second wife, Anne Boleyn, had six fingers on one hand. She wore special gloves all her life to hide her deformity.

[royalweddingsandtiaras]

Do you honestly think that a woman with six fingers in the 1500s would have gained a position in the royal court, let alone end up marrying the King of England? This rumour was made up after he execution when rumours went around that she was witch and surely it’s time to stop spreading this lie by now?

[tiny-librarian]

Anne Boleyn’s signature, dated to 1528, before she was Queen of England.

Source

[real-tudor-confessions]

[real-tudor-confessions]

[lissabryan]

Henry VIII set Europe in a roar and broke a thousand years of religious tradition to marry Anne Boleyn. Three years later, he killed her. For seven years, he had sought the hand of this woman, and yet their happily-ever-after lasted only a thousand days.

What...

[finjigoga-deactivated20190408]

Anne Boleyn’s Gold Book. Anne Boleyn purportedly handed this miniature book of psalms, which contain a portrait of Henry VIII, to one of her maids of honour when on the scaffold in 1536.

This precious manuscript is owned by The British Library.

[lissabryan]

In June, 1528, Anne Boleyn hovered on the brink of death from a mysterious ailment known as “the Sweat” or sudor Anglicus, the “English Sweat.”

Scholars still aren’t sure what “The Sweat” was. The latest theory is that it was a hantavirus. It was a mainly English...