10 Misconceptions and Facts You Don't Know About Anne Boleyn

Henry VIII

It's so easy to obsess about Anne Boleyn. She is the most mysterious and questionable wife of all of the six of Henry VIII, who is the king you might recall I wrote before (see the post here).  There are so many fascinating facts and misconceptions about her, no wonder people are interested in her. 

Here is a little summary of her: She was the 2nd wife of Henry VIII of England who left his first for Anne because she could provide him with a heir.  The Catholic Church declared his marriage to Anne void and Henry separated England from the Church and declared himself as head of the Church of England. In this Church his marriage to Anne was legal and now Henry was able to receive a legitimate heir from Anne. However Anne was not able to give him a male heir. She was executed for adultery by the King. Henry went on to have six wives.

First are the 5 misconceptions:

1. Portraits of her are without a doubt accurately showing her.  

The coin showing Anne Boleyn.

The famous portrait of her

This is not true. Almost all of her portraits are debated and it is not even known if any of them actually portray her. The most famous painting is anonymous and is thought to be a copy of a lost original. It is the one pictured on the right. The only surviving official likeness of Anne is the badly damaged 1536 metal coin of her inscribed 'most happi'. Here are some of speculated portraits of her.

2. Anne Boleyn had an extra finger and in fact it was said by a contemporary she had "on her right hand six fingers."

This claim can be written off as a rumor by her political enemies because when her body was found in the Chapel of St. Peter Ad Vincula it showed no deformities. 

3.  Anne was guilty of adultery.
Some have protested this, but the overwhelming evidence says to the contrary.

4. Anne was Henry's one true love.
Though it is a romantic theory, Henry VIII chose to be buried with the 3rd wife, his 'one true love.'

5. Anne Boleyn was ugly.
She was not ugly but just pretty. She had a long neck and dark hair and beautiful eyes she knew how to use.

Here are the facts about Anne you don't know:

1. Anne had a pet dog called Urian.
Urian was a greyhound which Anne had a brought from France.


2. Thomas Wyatt wrote a poem about her, here is a excerpt.
'Who list her hunt, I put him out of doubt,
As well as I may spend his time in vain.
And graven with diamonds in letters plain
There is written, her fair neck round about:
Noli me tangere, for Caesar's I am,
And wild for to hold, though I seem tame.'

3. Anne was feisty.
Enough said.

4. Princess Mary, later bloody Mary hated Anne and Anne hated her.
Here is a quote by the Spanish Ambassador that mentions their relationship:
'Your Majesty must root out the Lady and her adherents.... This accursed Anne has her foot in the stirrup, and will do the Queen and the Princess all the harm she can.  She has boasted that she will make the Princess her lady-in-waiting, or marry her to some varlet.' 

5. Anne Boleyn was mother of Queen Elizabeth I, often called the virgin queen.

Elizabeth I

If want more check out 
The Lady in the Tower: the Fall of Anne Boleyn by Alison Weir! Click on the Image.

Anne Boleyn

Sources:
-Lives of the Queens of England by Agnes Strickland
-Could the Real Anne Bolyen Come Forward: http://onthetudortrail.com/Blog/2011/02/07/would-the-real-anne-boleyn-please-come-forward/
-The Rise and Fall of Anglican Schism
 http://archive.org/stream/riseofschism00sanduoft/riseofschism00sanduoft_djvu.txt
-http://englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs/boleyn-poems.html
-http://englishhistory.net/tudor/annedesc.html
-Notices of the Historic Persons Buried in the Chapel of St. Peter Ad Vincula by Doyne Courtney Bell