Being Anne Boleyn

The ultimate marmite queen - from the day she became noticed at court to the present day, Anne always gets people talking

She's about to get a whole new interpretation of her tumultuous reign so now is perhaps the right time to ask - has history really got Anne Boleyn that wrong? That's a difficult question to address because history presents us with several different Annes.  There's the sexy, sultry, super clever seductress who wound one of England's most powerful kings around her little finger and got him to change his known world to make her queen.  There's the woman killed by her husband after a show trial, a martyr.  There's a clever political adviser who was as integral a part of Henry's council as any man but who got too powerful for her enemies.  There's the social climber who bit off more than she could chew.  Or how about the over ambitious girl who thought her king loved her so much she could do whatever she wanted - and who got things fatally wrong?

A 19th century etching showing Henry and Anne reconciling.  Their tempestuous relationship still puzzles historians, five hundred years after they first met

Ambition, determination and self belief all shine through however you tell Anne's story.  As does the idea that the divorce from Catherine of Aragon was all down to her.  And yet didn't Henry gain far more from dispensing with his first wife that Anne did? 

Did dumping a royal wife and marrying a commoner make Henry more powerful?

 

Sometimes it's forgotten how clever Anne really was.  She would have known better than anyone that if Henry could get rid of one wife, he could get rid of another.  She may have thought she was a match for anyone that tried to undermine her and she may have thought Henry would stick to divorce rather than the shocking events that led to her death in May 1536.  But she knew that marriage to the king was just one step on the way rather than the end of the story and a chance to put her feet up.

But Henry, ultimately, got a lot more from the marriage.  I've always been really interested in Henry's devotion to his maternal grandfather, Edward IV.  He put him on a pedestal early on in his life and kept him there to the very end.  And Henry's marriage to Anne bears all the hallmarks of Edward's marriage.  But did Henry find that copying history was harder than he imagined?

Edward IV, King of England and grandfather of Henry VIII - did a desire to be like granddad have as much influence on his decision to divorce and marry again as his attraction to Anne Boleyn?

Edward was born the son of one of the most powerful men in England but one who never wore the crown despite a strong claim to it and despite managing the kingdom for many years.  Edward himself became king thanks to the support of Warwick the Kingmaker but within a few years of taking power he defied his greatest adviser by marrying a commoner - despite Warwick being about to seal a deal for a union with a French princess.  Romantic tellings of the story show love conquering all but by marrying Elizabeth Woodville, Edward clipped Warwick's wings and made one of his first big stands as a king who was independent of his council.  And as previous councils and advisers had been instrumental in creating the turmoil that had swirled through England for decades in the War of the Roses, ruling without them sometimes was one way of trying to bring peace and establish kingly authority.

Henry Arthur Payne's famous painting of the Houses of York and Lancaster choosing the white and red roses that would become their symbols.  Edward IV's father, Richard of York, is in the forefront of the painting holding the white rose of York.

Edward's choice of bride also provided a great opportunity for some serious divide and rule.  His Queen Consort had a gaggle of brothers and sisters who could be married off to every wealthy heir and heiress going - and while some historians argue this was all Elizabeth's doing to further her family, Edward gained a great deal by making sure that great chunks of cash and land didn't fall into the hands of anyone who might be able to get big enough to challenge for the throne.  It also stopped Warwick making any more potential kings through strategic marriages among the myriad of people who could lay claim to the throne because of descent from Edward III. 

And by marrying Anne, Henry did pretty much the same.  Firstly, he showed his council that he could pick a bride for himself.  Any question of replacing Katherine of Aragon would need the king to provide an answer.  In fact of all six wives of Henry VIII, his advisers picked just one.  Thomas Cromwell was instrumental in the choice of Anne of Cleves - Henry hated her on first sight, refused to sleep with her, let it be known publicly he wouldn't consummate the marriage and had Cromwell executed within weeks of divorcing her.  A pretty strident rejection of courtly matchmaking.

 

Anne of Cleves endured one of the worst blind dates in history

 



But back to Anne.  She was Henry's choice and a very public one at that.  So he had established who chose the queen.  And just like Edward again, he was confident enough in his stature as king to select someone who needed him to make her royal as his bride.  Kings had always married royalty or nobility, partly for the alliances and allegiances the weddings brought with them and partly because it enhanced their prestige.  Because if you weren't sure of your throne, if others could question your role as a divinely appointed monarch, then a royal wife helped answer some of those doubts.  But Edward and Henry had no doubt they should be king and no doubt that if anyone disagreed, they could deal with it.

 

And lastly, just like granddad, marrying Anne allowed Henry to shake up his advisers and keep his court on their toes.  Anne came with an ambitious father and brother who wanted to go further and she was part of the Howard family which was used to royal favour but who needed to keep it.  Like Edward, Henry chose a wife whose relations needed him but whose kith and kin would fall if he chose to let them. 

 

 

Thomas Howard, third Duke of Norfolk, was uncle to both Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard

 

Henry's grandfather had relied on his wife's relatives for advice and counsel and Anne's brother also had a prominent role at court. But while the Woodville brothers arrogance was tolerated, George Boleyn's attitude started to win him enemies.  Unlike Edward, Henry didn't wait to see if time would be a great healer.  But perhaps most tellingly, Henry chose a wife who didn't provide nearly enough blood relatives to marry off to the fortunes that needed to be kept close to the crown.  And less than three years after making her Anne his queen, Henry found a family that was a bit more useful in that regard.  Enter the Seymours.

 

So with all the benefits that their marriage brought to Henry - was Anne really the schemer that history portrays or a willing participant in a political act that she could never have imagined would end in the way it did?