Content warning: This post considers issues of sexual assault and child sexual assault. In 1536, Henry VIII had his wife, Anne Boleyn, executed for adultery and treason. They had been married for only three years after a six year courtship that had turned the country on its head and forever changed the religious landscape of… Read More Condemning Katherine Howard
Philippa Gregory’s The Other Boleyn Girl written in 2001 arguably turned an entire generation onto historical fiction. It prompted a slew of novels written about the royal court, specifically the overlooked women who are forever relegated to the sidelines. The Other Boleyn Girl follows the life of Mary Boleyn, the lesser known sister of Anne… Read More Everything Wrong with The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)
The most frequently asked question of 2017 (on this blog at least, I missed it at Prime Minister’s Questions) was: Did Henry VIII have sex with Anne Boleyn? Now I’m assuming that this refers to premarital sex as we can say with some certainty that they slept together after Anne became Henry’s Queen in 1533.… Read More Did Henry VIII sleep with Anne Boleyn?
I love The Tudors, I probably shouldn’t, but I really do. The history is so ridiculous and mashed together and I wonder why at various times they make up stuff when the actual history is far more interesting and dramatic, but the acting is good and the costumes are stunning. It would take far, far… Read More The Tudors, Artistic Licence and Outright Fictions
Part of Anne Boleyn’s mystery is that we have so little evidence directly relating to Anne from which we can draw conclusions about what she was like as a person. Even though she became Queen of England what we don’t know about Anne Boleyn could fill volumes compared to the surprisingly little we do know.… Read More Anne Boleyn’s Love Letters
The Mistresses of Henry VIII (2009) The Mistresses of Henry VIII attests that while the lives and personalities of Henry VIII and his six wives are well documented, Henry was involved in numerous affairs with women who have been largely forgotten by history. Hart’s book claims to ‘rescue’ these women from ‘obscurity’ relating the tales… Read More The Mistresses of Henry VIII – Kelly Hart
The position of royal mistress, even a recognised maîtresse en titre was fraught with difficulties. The lucky, or perhaps more aptly, unlucky woman would have to work tirelessly to maintain the king’s interest. She would have to dispose of rivals without reducing herself to nagging the king or displeasing him in any way lest she… Read More The Mistresses who would be Queen
It’s almost Halloween! Therefore break out the ghost stories! Yay! Given that Henry VIII and his six wives are still immensely popular centuries after their deaths, it is hardly surprising that people still claim to have seen them, haunting various palaces and castles. Ghosts are thought to remain in places of importance, especially if a… Read More Henry VIII and his Six Ghosts
Recently I watched The Last Days of Anne Boleyn, part of the BBC Tudor season. It is a documentary but also a debate between historians and authors of historical fiction, trying to piece together what happened to cause Anne Boleyn’s downfall and the events of her last days. While looking at the hows, whys and… Read More Sidelining Jane Seymour
Pssst, I’m going to let you in on a secret. Anne Boleyn was Queen of England for three years! We know, you cry! But think about it, how much of our fiction shows Anne Boleyn as a queen, performing her duties or highlights any of her achievements while she held the crown? Now compare this… Read More Anne the Quene
