Did Anne Boleyn truly love Henry VIII?
Rating: +1
Full question: Do you think that Anne Boleyn was simply power hungry and wanted to be a Queen; or did she truly love Henry VIII? - Marie
I don't think that Anne loved Henry from the start but I think that she did fall in love with him. He pursued her relentlessly for so long, sending her letters and gifts and this must have been quite intoxicating, particularly as Henry was giving up so much for her and marrying her for love.
Their relationship was also a real meeting of minds. Both of them were intelligent and loved debating subjects like theology. Henry also involved Anne in planning palaces like Whitehall. Anne showed jealousy when Henry became interested in Jane Seymour and I don't think that it was just fear for her position, I think she and Henry had a passionate relationship and loved each other.
Did Henry and Anne’s courtship begin before/during/after the birth of Anne’s sister Mary’s first child?
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I think that Mary Boleyn (Carey) gave birth to her daughter, Catherine, in 1524 and her son, Henry, in 1526. 1526 is when Henry becomes attracted to Anne and many believe that this coincided with a loss of interest in his mistress, Mary (Anne’s sister) after the birth of her second child.
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I think Anne was not in love with Henry at first, but was definitely in awe of him–he towered over her in both physical size and position. I believe she allowed him to court her because she did not have any choice or did not believe she had any choice. Given that, she decided not to become his mistress in order to hold him at bay. But slowly, over the years as she observed how much he loved her and what he was willing to do to prove his love, I think she fell for him. He was handsome, athletic, very smart, gifted in music–the perfect Renaissance man. Once her feelings were deeply engaged, I think their love exploded–and then imploded.
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I think she loved him and that she wasn’t a adaulteress or a witch (for obvious reasons) but that henry was tired of Anne’s fighting (my favorite wife was Jane Seymour because of the way she learned from Anne and Catherine’s mistakes)
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I believe that she most likely saw him as a man of his time and nothing more, at first. He could have any woman he wanted and to deny him could be dangerous. This is where Anne was different because she was not afraid to deny him, causing him to want her more. The fact that he was willing to practically split his nation apart to have her probably endeared him to her because, at that time, why would a king give up so much for a commoner if not for love? It seems to me that it most likely became a love affair for her, while for him it was simply an obsession that would eventually give way to the next.
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I think Anne became quite interested in King Henry and enjoyed the cat and mouse game, which really was a period of time for her to figure out whether Henry looked upon her as yet another conquest. There came a time in their relationship where a little light went off in her mind to the realization that Henry did care, lets say really cared or even lets say loved her. I mean how could one look upon what happened to her sister and not think that she was just the next toy to be played with. She had to overcome those kind of feelings first and I believe she did and eventually they both merged into a very real relationship. A relationship I feel remained with Anne to death but not with Henry. Yet I firmly believe that on those moon lit nights when maybe King Henry was gazing out his palace window at the moon light dancing upon the Thames, he thought back upon Anne with extremely fond memories, memories that he had to keep to himself. You could not have supposedly hated someone so much without remembering the fine line between love and hate. Well I guess I wondered a bit there but in answer to this persons question, yes I believed they did love each other very much!
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I’m with everyone here. I think she grew to love him after a while. I feel so sorry for Anne. I know she was a Vixen-Diva type lady but she didn’t deserve what happened to her. It must have been horrible for the poor woman. I would not have wanted to be in her shoes. She did give England one of it’s greatest rulers so she made a huge contribution to her country. RIP Dear Anne.
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I think what the most emportant thing for Anne is that she wanted to become queen at first so she pursued him to get rid of Katherine of Aragon as she was her enemy. Henry however, made Anne fall in love wi.h him in what he said in the love letters he sent to her. I think that Anne and Henry did fall in love with each other. The only problem was that the Pope didn’t want to upset spain so he would not allow it. Eventualy he got rid of he Pope and became head of the church himself. Anne anyway just wanted to be queen as she did become a queen.
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Why are you people so into history!!!! What is the point in learning about the past for gods sake !!! It’s already happned , get OVER IT !!!
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Claire Reply:
October 3rd, 2011 at 11:49 am
Because it’s history that is responsible for the world today and that has shaped us. Also, don’t you have any hobbies?
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Linda Reply:
October 9th, 2011 at 12:23 am
I am sooooo….? You get over it what are u intrested in huh? Clair is 1000000,0000 times right durr!
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I truely believe Anne loved King Henry VIII. I also believe Anne wanted so dearly to be Queen but once she gained the title she carried it with grace and fortitude. At the hour of her death she still displayed the most beautiful manner and died with dignity, grace, and the trust in God that he knew her charges were untrue and unjust! I am absolutely obsessed with British Royal History and particularly Anne Boleyn and the time in which existed! Thanks so much Clare for providing the perfect spot for me to indulge. Xo
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I don’t believe she really loved Henry, not deeply. I think she was a very intelligent woman, who knew who he was – with all of his shortcomings. She was probably in awe of him, in love with how much he loved her, in love with his power, etc, but I think she was honestly very frustrated with him at times, and frustrated with her situation. When he first approached her, she saw what he had done to her sister, knew she didn’t love him, and tried to get away by denying him, which only made the situation worse.
She never had the chance to refuse him, or the chance to follow her true feelings. There was a quote attributed to her, shortly before she was executed – “I never wished to choose the king in my heart.” (Obviously, she may have been a little biased at the time, or the story may have been made up, but I think it is still how she felt.) I believe she was a calculating woman who would always choose what was best for her, but I would say, had she been given a choice, she would have chosen Henry Percy over the King. She was locked in a time/situation where she wasn’t allowed to choose what she wanted, so she made the best of the situation.
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I believe from what the tudors,and history portray it was a battle of wills, it was like they both individually wanted to be in control, the thought of loosing it too the other,set about a game of fight fire with fire, henry was a cancer male, they love passion, fairy tales, and need to be needed by others, i believe for him it was the conquest of not wanting to be rejected, he became obsessed with attaining his prize, he convinced himself it was love, it was a turblant and passionate affair based on desire and attainment, so no i do not think it was love beetween them it was profane,not sacred, Ann was believed to be a Gemini, us gems are the same as cancers in that deep down we whish to be loved, yet there is so many diffrent facets of are personality that things change very quickly,i no all this because i am a gem,he is a cancer and we are very similar to this historic royal couple, we crave each other, miss each other, but when it comes down to it we destroy the very thing we are suppose to love,henry loved Anns cheeky regections at first because he was always getting what he wanted,it was new and fresh, and he physically desired her,and she refused, this sent him wild with passion,not love,they got lost in there own game, over time the tables turned ann seen henrys soft and vunrable side,and began to love him unconditionally to which then henry became bored seeing this to which he slowley started to retreat on to his next conquest,leaving Ann angry and vengfull, un be known to astologers gemins love a great deal, they can be fickle if love is not serious, but when in love they can love and never forget a lover for years, Ann went to her grave loveing henry, henry simply realised he had shown this great women and his country his greatest weakness and he wanted rid of her, to re build his macho and hard nose exterior, he was a callous man, a self absorbed, trynnant, who hated the thought of not being in control. All ask your selves this question, even if someone betrayed you as she was suppose to have done, if you truelly loved a person, or had done in the past, could you let a man take a sword to his or her neck, the answer i no you all think automatically is (no) It was about control,image,showing the world he could attain any prize, when henry married and stayed with catherine of arogan for 17-18 years it was out of respect,duty,honour, for his brother and for his county again this world of being in power was new to him, so he faced the challenge and sacrafice willingly,also catherine was a virgo, cancer and virgo compliment each other very well,because the virgo women is domestic,family orientated,dedicated, and aims to please, i believe though cancers can get bored of the routine,and repetivness of a virgo lady,she is also critical and has no probleam like a gem saying it how it is if you push her too far, i was in a triangle situation, with guess what cancer male (him) the girl he was with (virgo) and me the Ann bolyn, has soon as cancer finds out your intreast they are gone,and in this instance the virgo gal won out in the end,a respectable, pretty competitor i must give credit.i believe unlike some refuse to believe,when you are born effects some of your charactristics,there is living prove if you study astrology and then look at a actual person example henry-cancer you can see a clear link to this, i also believe when henry met catherine howard, he saw that ann bolyn conquest all over again and he wanted to recreate that passion with her, inrespective of her being his apparant great love, the cousin of ann bolyn, when she betrayed him in a apparant similar fashion, all henrys emotions of ann came back to the surface to which he had her punished in the same way, i remeber watching the last episode of the tudors which is a great patron to the tudor history,in my opion, and you seen a broken, weak, man, a man who spent his life in a bubble going from thing to thing-person to person, to wake up in old age and see all the people he hurt and had lost, i believe in henrys last days he would have lied there and some of the greatest regretts man could have, and like in the show rys myers-henry the 8th says to his right hand man “of all things in this world what is most irrecuvrable to man” to which “he replys virtue” no henry replies, “for virtue can be reedeemed” “honour “he replies” “no for there again it can be reedeemed” to which he then goes on to say “Time of all things least recuvrable to man is time” that quote will stick with me till the day i pass from this world i am learning to heed this as should you all, if you take the time to watch the tudors esspecially the last series,you see a mans life flash before his own eyes, his achivements,success,joys,and his errors,failures, and above all his serious errors of judgement to which one has to face in the next calling,be that death or life, LX
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